Kakuzu

"Ninja?"

Kakuzu looked Jin up and down.

He was twelve or thirteen, dressed entirely in black, with no visible clan emblem or ninja forehead protector.

If not for the black longsword at his waist and his unusually light footsteps, Kakuzu would have taken him for an ordinary child passing by.

"For now, I do have a ninja registration number."

Jin answered with a grin.

"For now?" Kakuzu caught the implication in Jin's words.

He realized it.

This boy was not a ninja in the traditional sense.

Not even Rogue Ninja would describe their ninja registration number that way.

But what did that have to do with him? He pulled out a stack of papers from his chest and began flipping through them.

They were all wanted posters bearing identifying information.

He quickly went through every single one.

None of them contained a wanted notice for the boy before him.

"Alright. Now tell me why you've been following me."

Seeing that the other party had no bounty, he felt far less inclined to make a move.

If the boy could not give him a satisfactory reason,

then he could only bury him here.

"How should I put it?" Jin stroked his chin, thought for a moment, then said, "I plan to hire you in the future."

"Don't joke around, brat!"

Kakuzu laughed at Jin's words.

What future did ninja have? Was this kid trying to sell him dreams? Kakuzu did not fall for that nonsense.

Ninja had never spoken of being hired in the future.

Jin continued, revealing his purpose.

"So, I actually came to get a way to contact you, so it'll be easier to reach you in the future."

That had been Jin's plan from the beginning. Otherwise, finding the man later would be difficult.

Rogue Ninja all had their own methods for evading the surveillance of the great ninja villages.

There were few Rogue Ninja to begin with, and every village would rather kill the wrong person than let one slip away.

Even though Takigakure was weak, if it learned of Kakuzu's whereabouts, it would still find a way to come after him.

If he delayed too long,

and Kakuzu joined Akatsuki, recruiting him would become much harder.

As for now,

Jin knew his own limits. He did not yet have the strength to make others submit to him.

"Do you know who I am, brat?"

Kakuzu asked in a low voice.

The boy's attitude made him realize that Jin had come specifically for Kakuzu, rather than merely picking a random ninja.

"Kakuzu, the man who once assassinated Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage of Konoha—I've heard much of you."

Jin praised Kakuzu.

Not to mention his reputation as the number one working man in the ninja world.

Kakuzu ignored Jin's praise. Black threads emerged from the seams of his arms.

"It seems my information has leaked."

Kakuzu had always moved through the underground Exchange Offices, yet information about him was exceedingly scarce.

The Exchange Offices could not possibly have obtained much information about him either.

So how had this boy learned it?

"Can we not fight?"

Jin tilted his head. Though he was not Kakuzu's match at his current strength, it would not be so easy for Kakuzu to defeat him either.

Besides, Kakuzu was a ninja who had exposed his own abilities to Jin.

His strength had to be discounted to a certain extent.

Kakuzu's strength was enough to place him at the level known as Kage.

But to Jin, because he knew the details of Kakuzu's abilities, Kakuzu was only an Elite Jonin.

The current Jin

was not someone an Elite Jonin could easily defeat.

Did Kakuzu think his Golden Finger was just for show?

Kakuzu had no intention of avoiding battle just because Jin did. Having his information exposed was far too dangerous.

His two fists shot toward Jin at high speed, pulled along by black threads.

Jin stomped down and crossed the distance, appearing at Kakuzu's side. He spun and drove a whip kick into Kakuzu's waist.

The next moment,

black threads burst from Kakuzu's body and wrapped around Jin's leg, swiftly binding him.

Seeing Jin subdued in an instant,

Kakuzu declared his victory.

"Looks like it's over."

"I wouldn't be so sure."

With a bang, Jin's figure turned into white smoke, and several Explosive Tags shot out from the cloud.

With a deafening boom, Kakuzu's body was engulfed by the explosion and turned to dust.

Earth Clone Jutsu.

The two figures appeared again at the same time on another side, facing each other from a distance.

"Looks like you're no simple opponent."

Black threads danced around Kakuzu's body.

Jin had already drawn the Kusanagi Sword from his waist.

"So, how about we settle this with words alone?"

Jin suggested.

Mostly because he truly did not want to fight a battle he could not win.

But Kakuzu had already finished forming hand seals.

"Earth Release! Earth Spear!"

Kakuzu's hands turned pitch-black.

His arms extended once more, rapidly striking at Jin.

Jin swung his sword backhandedly to block the black threads around one fist, producing sparks. The other fist had already curved around and struck toward him.

"Looks like we have no choice but to fight."

Jin sighed and closed his eyes. Just as the other fist came at him, he used Soru and appeared to Kakuzu's left, standing still as he slowly opened his eyes.

Three tomoe slowly rotated within his scarlet pupils.

"Uchiha? A ninja of Konoha."

Kakuzu swung both arms, and the two elongated arms rapidly attacked.

They quickly wrapped around Jin's body.

Yet Jin showed no intention of resisting. A masked black-thread creature emerged from Kakuzu's back and opened its mouth at Jin, lightning flickering within.

At that moment,

Kakuzu saw the curl of Jin's lips.

He inwardly cursed.

Then he heard Jin declare with a smile,

"You made eye contact with me."

Kakuzu felt the scene before him abruptly change.

His own fists had wrapped around himself, while the False Darkness in the masked creature's mouth was aimed at him.

"Sharingan genjutsu!"

Kakuzu controlled the masked creature to disperse the Lightning Release in its mouth, then withdrew the fists binding himself and turned his gaze toward Uchiha Jin.

"Perhaps I'm not your match, but I can still make you pay a painful price. Do you still want to fight, Mr. Kakuzu?"

Jin had merely exploited Kakuzu's arrogance. The man had five lives, so naturally he would not be so wary of the Sharingan.

The masked creature burrowed back into Kakuzu's body.

"When you have a bounty on your head, I'll come find you."

Kakuzu also understood that although Jin was young, he was not an opponent who could be dealt with easily.

With no bounty on him, continuing the fight would not be worth the cost.

"Mr. Kakuzu, I plan to let you manage all the money I earn in the future."

Jin's words made Kakuzu stop. He turned and looked over Jin once more.

The boy's strength was not bad. Possessing Jonin-level strength at such an age was rare, and with the Sharingan, though he was not quite an Elite Jonin, he was no weakling among ordinary Jonin.

Moreover, his attitude differed from that of normal ninja. People like this were usually ambitious.

A boy with strength, as well as the potential to grow stronger,

seemed truly worth investing in.

"Tell me more."

Kakuzu walked over.