Serendipitous encounters are often accompanied by surprises.
But at that moment, Baki felt only surprise, not joy.
The thing I least wanted to happen has finally happened.
Damn it!
Baki cursed under his breath, his face extremely gloomy.
"How pitiful, was it abandoned by its companions?"
At the border of the Land of Wind, the four members of Akatsuki blocked Baki's way.
Kakuzu's sudden retreat forced Deidara and Sasori of the Red Sands to temporarily retreat as well.
In the previous battle, Kakuzu lost a total of four hearts. Although he took an earth-attribute heart from the Sand Ninja, he only had two hearts left in total.
Hinata still has enough Chakra Kakuzu one move.
If Kakuzu hadn't run away, he might have been killed by Hinata.
With Kakuzu gone, the most dangerous one is actually Sasori of the Red Sands.
Unlike Deidara Sasori of the Red Sands can't fly, and his weak point on his left chest has been exposed. If Hinata gets the chance, she can kill him in one move.
Therefore, Sasori of the Red Sands had no choice but to call Deidara to retreat together.
Kakuzu wanted to replace his heart, Hidan's limbs, which had been shattered in Hinata's first attack, also needed to be reattached.
They must find the ninja.
Looking around, the closest Sunagakure in the Land of Wind.
There are definitely Sand Village patrol teams patrolling the borders of the Land of Wind, as well as dedicated bases serving as eyes and ears to monitor border security.
Kakuzu and Hidan could regain their fighting strength by simply attacking a few Sand Village squads.
Meanwhile, Konoha and Sand Village are now either injured or crippled, and even Kakashi has exhausted his Chakra. The only remaining fighting force consists of Hinata and those two fat guys.
They cannot escape the Land of Rivers.
Once the four Akatsuki members regain their fighting strength, and with Deidara's flying bird, they will soon be able to catch up with Hinata and the others.
However, the Akatsuki members did not expect that they would encounter Baki, Jonin the Sand Village, as soon as they arrived at the border of the Land of Wind.
Kakuzu was overjoyed.
Jonin's heart is different from Chunin's, and Baki's head can fetch a good price, making it a huge profit.
"Twenty-three million taels..."
Kakuzu's eerie green eyes were fixed on Baki, and he said coldly, "Although it's not as valuable as the heads of Kakashi Hatake and Hinata Hyuga, it's still a bit of extra money."
Hidan couldn't help but retort, "Hey! Kakuzu- san, you're not thinking of going to the Bounty Hunter's Guild, are you?"
Kakuzu glanced at Hidan and said calmly, "It won't take long."
"Furthermore... if you utter another word of nonsense, I'll leave you here."
Hidan shamelessly admitted defeat, "Kakuzu- san, good Kakuzu, adorable Kakuzu, incredibly handsome Kakuzu, you can't bear to abandon poor me, can you?"
"..."
Baki has already assumed a defensive stance.
His injuries were extremely severe, and his Chakra was almost depleted.
Facing the four members of Akatsuki, plus the Sand Village Jonin Yura, Baki had no hope of survival.
Baki reflects on his life.
He was also a genius ninja of Sand Village. Although he was not as famous as Kakashi in the Shinobi World, everyone in Sunagakure called Baki a genius ninja.
After being promoted to Chunin, Baki was valued by the Fourth Kazekage and taken in for intensive training, gradually becoming one of the Fourth Kazekage's confidants.
Even the three children of the Fourth Kazekage became Baki's subordinates.
This shows how much the Fourth Kazekage valued Baki.
Baki's early life can be described as smooth sailing, with virtually no major setbacks.
Until he met Kakashi...
During missions with Kakashi has suggested splitting up into separate teams three times.
The first time, perhaps because there were Konoha ninjas in the team, it was a close call.
The second time, Sunagakure suffered heavy losses.
This is the third time that teams have been divided.
Baki... is going to die too!
Baki suddenly realized that Kakashi was his nemesis; whenever he encountered Kakashi, nothing good was sure to happen.
"But..."
Baki looked up at the sky and sighed inwardly, "Perhaps I'll never see him again!"
"I'm entrusting Kankuro and Temari to you. As long as they can reach Konoha safely, I'll forgive you... Kakashi!"
Having already uttered his final words in his heart, Baki turned his gaze to the Akatsuki members and said coldly, "Come on!"
We should at least buy them some time!
Sasori of the Red Sands turned his head to look at Baki and said calmly, "That's more like it. At least you didn't disgrace Sunagakure..."
'Whoosh whoosh--'
As he spoke, a dense Senbon of senbon needles rained down on Baki like a storm.
Baki quickly Hand Seals.
"Wind Style..."
'Puff--'
A hand emerged from the ground, grabbed Baki by the throat, and slammed Baki hard to the ground.
The black threads also wrapped around Baki's body, rendering him completely immobile.
Sasori of the Red Sands's attack missed.
Kakuzu said calmly, "He has a wind-attribute heart, which I need... Also, Hidan needs to reconnect his body."
Sasori of the Red Sands had a calm gaze. Although he admired Baki, he didn't care about Baki's life or death.
Since turning himself into Human Puppet, Sasori of the Red Sands has long forgotten what 'life and death' even means.
Perhaps only in this way can Sasori of the Red Sands forget the pain of his childhood.
He felt nothing anymore.
Even when Sasori of the Red Sands saw his enemy's son, Kakashi Hatake, he did not feel anger.
Baki lay helplessly on the ground, a bitter smile on his face, "In the end... I still didn't buy them much time! I'm really... so useless!"
Baki died, Hidan stood up again, and Kakuzu gained a third heart.
Sasori of the Red Sands looked at Yura and said calmly, "Take us to the Sand Ninja on the border."
Yura respectfully replied, "Yes, Lord Sasori!"
"Everyone, please follow me!"
Ten minutes later, Kakuzu had replenished five hearts.
Hidan stretched his limbs and said with a disgruntled expression, "Hey! I need to get my weapon back... Also, leave that Hyuga Clan member to me. I'm going to personally perform the ceremony for her."
Kakuzu said coldly, "You're in charge of dealing with those two fat guys."
Hidan pleaded, "No way! Kakuzu- san... the offering for the Lord of Evil must be the best. At most, you can sell the corpse for money, okay~"
Sasori of the Red Sands coldly said, "I want to use her body Human Puppet. Hinata Hyuga is no ordinary ninja. She will be my most prized creation, and she might even be stronger than the Third!"
Kakuzu, looking disgusted, shook off Hidan, who was clinging to him, and said coldly, "If you fight Hinata Hyuga, she'll kill you in one move!"
Deidara urged, "Hey! You guys... if you don't leave soon, they'll escape from the Land of Rivers!"
Deidara created two more Clay Bird and hummed, "You two sit in the other two!"
"Sitting with guys like you, whose minds are filled with nothing but 'money' and 'sacrifice', would taint my artistic cells."
Hidan said angrily, "Deidara, I'll curse you next time!"
Kakuzu coldly replied, "Money is the only true faith."
As they spoke, the group of five had already boarded three Clay Bird and sped off towards the Land of Rivers.