Being a rogue ninja is worse than being Hokage.

Page 106

They had been lying in wait watching the battle and had indeed gathered information about the abilities of the rogue ninja named Hidan from Yugakure in the Land of Hot Water.

However, information about Kakuzu remains unknown.

"Four-eyes girl—!?"

Karin, who had been maliciously slandered by Tayuya, immediately gritted her teeth, clenched her fists, and waved them in front of her eyes, shouting at Tayuya:

"I think that 'Sasuke-sama' you're talking about is the one who hides behind women for ages and doesn't dare show his face! Is your 'Sasuke-sama' here? If he is, which one is your 'Sasuke-sama'? Is it the one with 'many hands'? Or the one who's neither human nor ghost? Or the 'fat guy'?"

"Shut your shit-mouthed, filthy mouth!"

Hearing Karin's words, Tayuya finally shifted her attention away from the immortal duo. She glared fiercely at Karin, "I'll kill you first!"

"That's enough, Tayuya."

Just as Tayuya was preparing to put her words against Karin into action.

A white figure appeared beside Tayuya using the Body Flicker Technique, accompanied by Ukon, one of the Sound Four.

"Sasuke-sama!"

Tayuya exclaimed in surprise, not expecting Sasuke to arrive so quickly.

So that's how it is. The older brother, Ukon, who separated from the same body, went to inform Sasuke.

"It has merged with Zuo Jin."

Ukon paid no attention to Tayuya and Karin's argument. He reached out and touched Sakon, and the two merged back into one, transforming back into Sakon and Ukon in their fully human forms.

"Tayuya, didn't I tell you not to swear when we're on missions together?"

Sasuke gave Tayuya a serious reminder.

"I'm so sorry!"

Tayuya hurriedly apologized. Her attitude towards Sasuke was a mixture of fear, respect, and admiration.

Sasuke, however, had already set his mind elsewhere after reminding Tayuya.

Sasuke first glanced at Karin, who was arguing with Tayuya over a pointless verbal dispute.

He only glanced at Karin briefly because she was next to Naruto.

Sasuke did have some recollection of Karin. Karin was the female grass ninja he encountered in Team 7 during the Chunin Exams, whose comrade had been killed by Gaara.

Unexpectedly, she ended up with Naruto.

Sasuke's gaze then lingered on the heavily injured Sarutobi Asuma and the Akatsuki's immortal duo.

Sasuke's gaze then fell upon the kunai at Hidan's feet and Naruto's current position.

With just this information, he had reconstructed the scenario of the previous battle.

That kunai... Naruto intervened and saved Sarutobi Asuma...

Sasuke's gaze finally settled on Naruto: "Naruto, you've disappeared for three years as if you've vanished into thin air."

"I also heard that not long after the Chunin Selection Exams, you defected from Konoha and became Orochimaru's subordinate."

Sasuke's attention to the kunai did not escape Naruto's notice.

Let Sasuke imagine why Naruto, who was forced to defect and would bring suffering and disaster to the ordinary people of Konoha, would help rescue Asuma.

What Naruto needed was precisely this kind of "daydream" from Sasuke.

Otherwise, the reason of "confirming how much information Akatsuki knew about Naruto" alone would not be enough for Naruto to "save" Sarutobi Asuma.

However, the current situation is quite interesting.

Sasuke;

Naruto;

Asmaban;

The immortal duo of "Akatsuki".

What was originally a simple two-way battle turned into a four-way conflict due to the intrusion of Naruto and Sasuke.

However, the already "bloated" number of opposing figures is far from reaching its limit.

"Asuma-sensei!!"

"Naruto?!"

Ino and Sakura, who came in search of Sasuke who had suddenly left, naturally joined Asuma's team, which belonged to Konoha.

Naruto happened to meet Sakura's gaze as she called out to him.

Only Ino and Sakura failed to sense Choji's chakra.

However, seeing Ino and Sakura's clean attire, Naruto didn't speculate that the reason was related to Sasuke.

There was no fighting between them.

Although Sasuke has now defected from Konoha and become Orochimaru's subordinate, he is clearly still the same somewhat naive guy he was three years ago.

It's just the same as always, hiding himself with a cold expression.

That's when Choji's whereabouts become interesting.

Did Choji go to ask for help? That was the only possibility Naruto could think of.

……

Chapter 30 A Sympathetic Cooperation

"Hey! Why are there so many people all of a sudden?!"

Seeing the group of people appearing one after another in the sacred divine ritual, Hidan actually had the mind to count the number of people. "Thirteen people have come all at once, Kakuzu!"

Hidan was even surprised by his own discovery, and in turn reminded Kakuzu, who had been silent all along.

Kakuzu didn't even bother to look at Hidan. In response to Hidan's reminder, he said in a deep voice, "I have my own eyes to see, and I'm more sensitive to numbers than you are."

"Honestly, why are you getting angry at me? Shouldn't we be working together to deal with these guys who want us dead?"

"I see."

Hidan was just muttering complaints in Kakuzu's ear, as usual.

But Kakuzu's answer made Hidan frown.

Given Kakuzu's personality, he rarely takes the initiative to do things that don't bring him any benefit, except when ordered by the organization's leader.

Hidan glanced between Naruto and Sasuke, then asked, "Are these two brats really that valuable?"

Hidan thought Sasuke and Naruto were some kind of valuable goods worth tens of millions on the black market.

"I don't have any information on these two guys on my bounty list."

"Huh? That's just an ordinary kid."

Hidan thought that Kakuzu had made a mountain out of a molehill because he saw too many people surrounding them.

"'ordinary'?"

Kakuzu possesses a battle instinct that he has been active since the Warring States period alongside the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and continues to be active on the front lines of battle even after all the ninjas who lived through the Warring States period have died.

He's not comparable to Hidan, that religious brat who worships evil gods.

"That black-haired boy is Uchiha."

Based solely on his intuition, Kakuzu revealed Sasuke's identity.

However, it shouldn't be based solely on intuition.

"You must be the younger brother who survived the Uchiha clan massacred by Itachi Uchiha, right?"

Kakuzu had previously felt that Sasuke's face looked somewhat familiar. After thinking about it carefully, he realized that the person Sasuke looked familiar to was none other than Uchiha Itachi.

"Do you know anything about Itachi? Tell me, where is Itachi right now!"

Upon suddenly hearing Itachi Uchiha's name from Kakuzu, Sasuke's originally dark eyes turned as red as blood.

In Sasuke's red eyes were three black tomoe.

Sasuke's three-tomoe Sharingan stared directly at Kakuzu and Hidan.

Kakuzu didn't even acknowledge Sasuke.

Hidan, however, took a closer look at Sasuke's Sharingan and muttered to himself, "Wow, it really is the Sharingan of the Uchiha clan! Itachi's eyes were so troublesome that I couldn't stand them, so this kid is no ordinary kid, he's a real troublesome kid!"

Hidan finally revealed a solemn expression, and he twirled the hilt of his three-edged scythe, creating a beautiful blade flourish.

Immediately afterwards, Hidan suddenly attacked, plunging his three-edged scythe into his own chest.

Blood gushed from Hidan's body, splattering all over the ground.

With blood in his mouth, Hidan grinned maliciously and mumbled incoherently, "I don't want any more trouble than this. Let's deal with that Konoha ninja who's demanding 35 million ryo first!"

"Oops!"

Knowing Hidan's methods, Kotetsu, Izumo, and Aoba witnessed Hidan's cruel "suicide" and were all shocked.

The three members of Asuma's team all kept an eye on Asuma beside them.

That attack just now would have killed Asuma, who was under a curse!

But strangely enough, Asuma's injuries at this moment were still only the severe burns on half of his body.

"what!?"

Despite this seemingly fatal curse ritual, Asuma remained alive and kicking.

Even Hidan himself, who uses the cursed technique Death Possession Blood, finds this situation unbelievable and incomprehensible.

"What's going on?!"

Hidan stared wide-eyed, clearly unable to accept that Asuma was still alive.

This mere fatal wound—besides myself, who is favored by the evil god, is there anyone else who can resist it?

"You're such an idiot, look at your feet!"