Chapter 254: Swift Release

Chapter 254: Chapter 254: Swift Release

Land of Birds.

A group of four from the Akatsuki was slowly making their way through a dense forest.

Glancing at Hiruko beside him, Sasori, concealed within his defensive puppet Hiruko, complained in a hoarse voice, "I really don’t understand why the leader agreed to such an absurd request of yours—and even sent us along to assist you."

Hiruko smiled proudly. "Even the leader, who possesses the legendary ’Eyes of the Sage,’ has no choice but to take my experiment seriously."

An inferiority complex was a shadow buried deep within Hiruko’s heart.

Countless times, he had tried to prove himself, but his mediocre talent had caused him to be overlooked and ridiculed again and again.

Back when he was in Konoha, he had desperately chased after the backs of the Legendary Sannin, yet the distance between him and the three only grew wider and wider.

Unwillingness and resentment festered wildly within his heart. In the end, he broke free from the restraints of morality and plunged headfirst into cruel and insane human experimentation.

The Chimera Technique was the culmination of all his efforts, and the support that Pain, the leader of the Akatsuki, had shown toward his experiment filled him with immense satisfaction.

What Hiruko desired most was not power, but the recognition of others.

For Pain—the leader who possessed the legendary ’Eyes of the Sage’—to acknowledge and support his experiment was itself a form of recognition.

And for the first time in his life, Hiruko felt that he truly belonged somewhere.

"Hmph!"

Sasori let out a disdainful snort.

Hiruko grinned. "Sasori, I regret to inform you that your decision to abandon your flesh-and-blood body was a mistake!"

Sasori stopped in his tracks and stared fixedly at Hiruko, his eyes brimming with killing intent. "You fool. Are you trying to challenge my eternal art?"

During his previous battle with the Third Hokage, Sasori had lost an arm. That loss had finally pushed him to make up his mind and complete the transformation of his entire body into a puppet.

Hiruko said without the slightest concern, "There’s no need to get angry out of embarrassment. The facts will prove everything."

Sasori replied coldly, "Once you’ve completed your experiment, I’ll personally show you what the facts really are!"

Unlike Sasori and Hiruko at the front of the group, who were practically at each other’s throats due to their completely opposing views on science, Shinno and Kakuzu at the rear were casually chatting from time to time.

Shinno smiled. "I really have to trouble you this time, Kakuzu-san. Hopefully, this operation won’t take up too much of your time."

Everyone in the Akatsuki knew that Kakuzu had an extraordinary obsession with money. Whenever he had any free time, he would head to the black market to pick out missions and collect bounties, so he was usually extremely busy.

Kakuzu’s expression darkened. "It’s not just the Land of Fire cracking down on the black markets anymore. The other major nations have started purging them as well. Right now, I can’t even find a single decent commission!"

Shinno frowned slightly. "It seems this Kamigami is far stronger than we imagined!"

Having traveled throughout the ninja world, Shinno had a fairly clear understanding of its overall balance of power.

In his eyes, the Akatsuki he belonged to was already an incomparably powerful secret organization in the ninja world. Even if they were to go up against any one of the Hidden Villages, they would not necessarily be at a disadvantage.

Yet Kamigami, which had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, had displayed strength no weaker than the Akatsuki’s—enough to make even the Five Great Shinobi Villages deeply wary of them.

That left Shinno both surprised and intrigued.

After pondering for a moment, Shinno asked, "Shinichi is an Uchiha too. Shouldn’t he know something about the identity of Kamigami’s ’Homura’?"

Kakuzu shook his head. "I asked Shinichi about it the last time I ran into him. He didn’t have the slightest clue either. This Kamigami is almost as if it appeared out of thin air!"

Shinno sighed with emotion. "An Ice Style shinobi, a Mangekyo Sharingan wielder, and now even a Magnet Style shinobi... With strength like that, they could easily overthrow a small nation. I really have no idea where all these powerful shinobi came from!"

Kakuzu said, "Ever since I started dealing with Kamigami, my luck with money has gone straight down the drain. If I get the chance, I’ll personally rip out their hearts to make up for my losses!"

Before long, the four of them arrived at a fork in the road.

The signpost on the left pointed toward the Land of Bears, while the one on the right pointed toward the Land of Earth.

After glancing at the signs, Hiruko said, "We’ll split up from here. My group will head to the Land of Bears and deal with that Dark Release Kekkei Genkai shinobi. You two head to the Land of Earth and deal with the Steel Release Kekkei Genkai shinobi."

Sasori ignored Hiruko entirely. He merely called out to Kakuzu before turning and heading in the direction of the Land of Earth.

Hiruko smiled, then set off toward the Land of Bears together with Shinno.

......

Land of Whirlpools.

BOOM...

Amid a thunderous crash, Uchiha Shinichi was sent flying backward, smashing through several large trees in succession!

Before Shinichi could even recover, a blurred afterimage flickered in and out of sight within the cloud of dust, its movements utterly unpredictable.

In the span of a single instant, it was already right in front of him, throwing a punch straight at him.

Just then, Juzo Biwa barely managed to arrive in time, swinging the Kubikiribōchō at the afterimage.

CLANG...

The afterimage’s fist collided with Juzo Biwa’s Kubikiribōchō, producing a sharp metallic clang!

After temporarily forcing the afterimage back, Juzo warily scanned their surroundings and asked Shinichi, who had fallen to the ground behind him, "How are you? Are you alright?"

"Ptooey..."

Spitting out the blood in his mouth, Shinichi cursed, "Damn it! Why the hell are we fighting a monster like this for no reason?!"

Juzo said, "Since it’s the leader’s order, you should stop complaining so much."

"This guy is ridiculously fast!" After a brief pause, Shinichi wiped the blood trickling from the corner of his mouth and continued, "Even my Mangekyo Sharingan can barely keep up with his speed. Just who the hell is this guy?"

Juzo explained, "According to the leader, he’s a shinobi who possesses the Swift Release Kekkei Genkai. Judging by that light-red hair of his, he probably has some Uzumaki blood in him as well."

Shinichi curled his lips. "Wasn’t the Uzumaki Clan wiped out a long time ago?"

The Uzumaki Clan of the Land of Whirlpools were close relatives of Konoha’s Senju Clan, so relations between the Uchiha and Uzumaki Clans had never been particularly good either. Having grown up surrounded by those sentiments, Shinichi naturally had a poor impression of the Uzumaki Clan.

Jūzō Biwa was also well aware of the conflicts between Konoha’s great shinobi clans, so he didn’t say much about it. He merely remarked casually, "The Land of Whirlpools may have been destroyed, but some Uzumaki blood was bound to survive. Doesn’t Kamigami have a surviving member of the Yuki Clan with Ice Release too?"

Shinichi’s face fell. "Hey, hey, forget about all that useless stuff! This guy is way too fast. We can’t do anything to him!"

Jūzō glanced at Shinichi and said, "Shinichi, if we can’t capture him, it’ll be difficult to explain ourselves to the leader. You can’t keep slacking off like you did on those previous missions."

Having been called out by Jūzō for deliberately shirking his duties, Shinichi chuckled. "So you noticed after all!"

Jūzō warned him, "I don’t know why you’re so resistant to the Akatsuki, but since you’ve already joined, you’d better put in some effort. Otherwise, the leader won’t let you off!"