"Kakuzu, you always brag about being an old veteran of the ninja world, saying no one else's combat experience could compare to yours. But look at this—these people don't even recognize you. Hahahaha."
With Tobi, the resident fool, absent, Hidan had become the Akatsuki Organization's comic relief. At that moment, he patted his partner on the shoulder and mocked him without restraint.
Kakuzu, the target of that ridicule, did not care. If it had been anyone else, he would have likely killed them long ago. But the idiot beside him might have had a screw loose, yet his vitality was genuinely tenacious. No matter what Kakuzu did, he could not kill him.
Since he could not kill him, he could only silently endure it. By now, Kakuzu had long since grown used to having an idiot at his side.
And compared to Hidan's sarcastic taunts, what Kakuzu cared about more now was how much Jiraiya and Minato's heads would fetch on the black market.
Jiraiya, one of Konoha's Sannin—his head should be worth a hundred million ryo, shouldn't it?
The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze—everyone in the ninja world believed he had died more than a decade ago. But since he was still alive, as a former Hokage, his head ought to be worth quite a lot as well, right?
Kakuzu was not angered by Hidan's mockery, but Deidara beside them found it rather unpleasant to hear.
As the youngest ninja in the Akatsuki Organization, Deidara had always regarded Uchiha Itachi, who was around his age yet had defeated him, as a formidable rival.
They were both genius ninjas from their respective villages, and they were close in age.
There was once a time when Deidara had been arrogantly proud of his talent, looking down on every other ninja his age—until