Chapter 156: Kakuzu

Chapter 156: Chapter 156: Kakuzu

"Akatsuki?"

Hyuga Kagami was somewhat surprised. He hadn’t expected that Shinichi would have only just sent word warning him that Akatsuki was searching for Yama, only for him to immediately run into members of the organization himself.

After thinking it over for a moment, Kagami turned around and walked out of the black market, then stood quietly in the middle of the street.

At that moment, the two Akatsuki members approaching from the opposite direction, both dressed in black cloaks patterned with red clouds, also came to a stop.

From a distance, they faced off against Kagami, who was clad in a black cloak of his own.

The pedestrians coming and going along the street quickly noticed Kagami and the two Akatsuki members.

Whether it was the Akatsuki members in their red-cloud cloaks and conical hats, or Kagami in his black cloak and water-patterned mask, none of them looked like people you wanted trouble with.

As a result, the pedestrians quickly began slipping away in twos and threes.

Before long, the street that had just moments ago been bustling and filled with noise became deathly silent.

The two Akatsuki members simultaneously removed the conical hats from their heads.

One of them looked at Kagami and asked, "Are you the bounty ninja known as Yama?"

Kagami sized up the two men across from him before chuckling lightly.

"You’ve got the wrong person. I’m Kawa."

Of the two Akatsuki members standing across from him, Kagami was quite familiar with one. It was none other than Kakuzu, the man who claimed to have once fought the First Hokage.

As for the other, he was an ordinary-looking middle-aged man. Kagami searched through his memories but couldn’t recall who he was. As far as Kagami remembered, there had never been anyone like this in Akatsuki.

Kakuzu said in a low voice, "Kawa!? Hmph, are you messing with me?"

Hearing this, Kagami immediately understood that Kakuzu must have obtained information about the appearance of his Yama persona. That was why he was so certain Kagami was Yama.

Pointing at the mask on his face, Kagami said teasingly, "Take a good look. I’m Kawa, not Yama! Though if you have a commission, hiring me works just as well."

The other Akatsuki member leaned toward Kakuzu and whispered, "The pattern on his mask really is different from Yama’s. They’re probably members of the same organization."

Kakuzu remained completely composed. With the condescending tone of someone issuing an order, he said to Kagami, "Tell me Yama’s whereabouts, and everything you know about your organization!"

Kakuzu knew better than anyone just how many monsters existed within his own organization. Because of that, he didn’t take other organizations seriously at all.

He barely even regarded the Five Great Shinobi Villages as worthy of concern.

Kagami shrugged.

"Come on, then. Catch me, and won’t you find out everything you want to know?"

Kakuzu’s voice turned cold. "You’re courting death!"

Kagami didn’t waste another word. He immediately turned around and sped toward the outskirts of the town.

There were too many civilians in town. If they fought here, even if Kagami deliberately restrained himself, countless innocent people would inevitably be caught in the crossfire.

So he intended to lure the Akatsuki duo outside the town.

Kakuzu was a prominent figure in the black-market world himself, and he had no desire to let their battle spill over and damage the black market.

Thus, without needing a word between them, he followed after Kagami and chased him out of town.

Watching the three of them leave the town, the black-market boss let out a long sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness they didn’t start fighting here..."

In a forest outside the town.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Accompanied by the sound of air being torn apart, three figures landed on the ground one after another.

Kagami stood with one hand on his hip, a hint of excitement on his face.

There was absolutely no questioning Kakuzu’s strength.

Even Kakashi more than a decade later, when he was far stronger than he was now, had been completely suppressed by Kakuzu in a one-on-one fight. If reinforcements hadn’t arrived in time, Kakashi’s heart would have already become Kakuzu’s property.

And at that point, Kakashi was one of the highest-ranked elite jōnin in the entire village in terms of strength, as well as the leading candidate to become Konoha’s Sixth Hokage.

From that alone, one could imagine just how powerful Kakuzu was.

Right now, Kagami was controlling his Type-A Water Release clone and was unable to use the abilities of the Tenseigan.

So for him, this battle would be a considerably difficult challenge.

But a challenge was exactly what he needed right now!

Having chased Kagami out of town, Kakuzu said impatiently, "I have no interest in people without a bounty on their heads. I’ll give you one last chance. Hand over the information, and I’ll spare your life!"

Kagami couldn’t even be bothered to answer.

He immediately formed hand seals and shouted,

"Water Style: Water Flow Wave!"

Splurt...

In an instant, a thin jet of water shot from Kagami’s mouth, slicing toward the two Akatsuki members.

Kakuzu and his partner immediately leaped aside, dodging Kagami’s Water Flow Wave.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Although the attack missed its targets, the Water Flow Wave continued onward like a long, slender blade of water, slicing through a large swath of trees behind the Akatsuki duo. One severed tree after another crashed to the ground with thunderous booms.

Out of the corner of his eye, Kakuzu glanced at the devastated forest behind him, and his expression grew considerably more serious.

The other Akatsuki member also wore a grave expression as he hurriedly drew a long blade.

The Water Flow Wave Kagami had just used was a weakened version of Water Style: Water Severing Wave, the S-rank ninjutsu developed by the Second Hokage.

But even as a weakened version, it was still an A-rank ninjutsu comparable in destructive power to the Chidori.

Realizing that his opponent was somewhat troublesome, Kakuzu slowly unfastened the buttons of his red-cloud cloak before casually shrugging it off, revealing his body covered in countless stitched seams.

"He’s taking his clothes off already?"

After a brief pause, Kagami inwardly quipped,

"Heh, I suppose that’s a good sign for me."

"Ughhh...!"

With a low growl, four monsters wearing white masks, their entire bodies composed of masses of writhing black threads, burst out from inside Kakuzu’s body.

They immediately scattered in all directions.

"So this is the Earth Grudge Fear technique!"

Kagami’s gaze sharpened as he secretly activated his Byakugan.

And within his Byakugan’s field of vision, he could clearly see that both Kakuzu and each of the four masked monsters scattered around him possessed their own independent chakra source.

Whoosh!

At that moment, the Akatsuki member wielding the long blade lunged toward him.

Kagami immediately formed hand seals and stomped his foot.

"Water Style: Water Formation Wall!"

In an instant, a wall of water surged up from the ground, blocking the blade-wielding Akatsuki member charging toward Kagami.

At the same time, a hand suddenly reached through the wall of water and seized the Akatsuki member by the throat.

Immediately afterward, a sphere of water formed around him, trapping him inside.

The entire exchange had lasted only a few breaths, yet Kagami had already captured one member of the Akatsuki duo.

Everything had gone so smoothly that even Kagami himself found it a little hard to believe.

Suddenly, the light around him dimmed.

A dazzling bolt of lightning shot straight toward Kagami!

Acting purely on instinct, Kagami pulled the Akatsuki member trapped inside his Water Prison Technique in front of himself, using him as a shield.

Bzzzt—!

Amid the piercing crackle of electricity, both Kagami and the Akatsuki member were struck by the Lightning Release ninjutsu.

Forcing his paralyzed body to move, Kagami leaped backward and landed on the branch of a large tree.

Looking at the Akatsuki member who had taken the Lightning Release ninjutsu head-on and was now lying motionless on the ground, Kagami clicked his tongue.

"Tch, you’re pretty ruthless even toward your own people!"

Kakuzu looked indifferently at Kagami standing in the tree and said,

"Now that I’ve gotten rid of that useless deadweight, you’re next!"