Three months had passed since the Five Kage and Senya announced the founding of the Ninja Association during the Chunin Exams in Konoha.
From that day onward, Kakuzu noticed that there were far fewer missions at the black-market Bounty Brokerage. Only some particularly unsavory jobs remained posted.
Today, after Kakuzu had just completed a Bounty Brokerage mission to hunt down a jonin, he and his troublesome teammate Hidan were preparing to head to the Bounty Brokerage hidden in a restroom at the forest bordering the Land of Rain and Konoha to collect their five-million-ryo commission.
The two arrived at the restroom with practiced ease. The stench of ammonia in the air made Hidan's nose twitch twice.
"Still as stinky as ever..."
After saying that, he silently went to the innermost urinal, let little Hidan out to relieve himself, then shuddered all over after a dozen or so seconds.
"Ah~ Finally let it out. Feels great~"
Then Hidan suddenly felt as though something was missing.
Why hadn't Kakuzu mocked him like usual? Over the past several years, every time they came here, Hidan would take a leak in this VIP golden spot, and Kakuzu would habitually curse him out a couple of times.
But why wasn't Kakuzu cursing today? It made Hidan feel extremely uncomfortable, both physically and mentally. While pulling up his pants, he walked behind Kakuzu.
"Hey, why are you mute today? Why aren't you saying anything?"
Kakuzu ignored Hidan's trash talk. His right hand held the pale, dead jonin corpse slung over his back, while his left hand felt along the restroom wall, knocking on it repeatedly.
"Knock knock, knock knock, knock knock..."
As the knocking continued, Kakuzu's expression beneath his mask grew uglier and uglier. His brows furrowed tightly, his five hearts began beating faster on their