Sasori and Kakuzu: A Grand Gathering of the Underworld?

The situation was indeed as Shuichi had predicted, but the complexity even exceeded his expectations. Many forces had planted spies in the Land of Glass in Dark Operatives, knowing that the wealth and rare metals possessed by the Koizumi Family were a number that could drive people crazy.

Just two days later, the news spread far and wide, and all sorts of strange and supernatural beings flocked to the place.

In the first two days, most of the people who came in to trade were idle homeless people. They could make a considerable profit just by running around and buying and selling. These guys were naturally drawn to the opportunity.

What they didn't know was that the various factions simply didn't want to be the first to act, letting their competitors reap the benefits, and also wanted to test the waters of the Land of Glass; otherwise, they would have pounced like hungry wolves long ago. But by the third night, the situation immediately began to change...

"Ughhhhhh..."

What are you trying to do?

As soon as the group of men carrying rare metals left the city, several figures rushed out from the Yamanaka by the roadside. Without saying a word, they began to hack and slash at anyone they saw. The sound of sharp blades piercing human bodies rang out continuously, and blood was immediately splattered all over the ground in the darkness.

After killing these greed-driven refugees, the large group didn't even have time to search the corpses before they subtly split into two factions and began fighting again.

"Stop!" With a deep roar, the two groups of people, each leaving behind several corpses, took the opportunity to retreat and confront each other on the spot.

"I know it's you, Wild Chicken." A burly man tore off his disguise. "No need to hide. It's not worth it for this little thing. There are plenty more in the city."

The Wild Chicken seemed to agree with him, removing his mask to reveal a scarred face. "But this shipment is quite large, and I have more men now, so you have to give me 70%..."

"Click click..."

Before he could finish speaking, a barely audible sound came from the side, followed by a deluge of silver needles that rained down like a storm. By the moonlight, the people could barely make out the faint glow emanating from them.

"What... Ahhh..."

Dozens of people from both sides had nowhere to hide. Their bodies were riddled with thorns like hedgehogs, and although these wounds weren't fatal, they rendered them immobile. Their painful screams grew fainter and fainter. "Poison..."

Just then, a strange figure moved over, half-lying on the ground. His obese body was covered by a large cloak, and an iron scorpion tail was twitching behind him. As he passed by, he lightly delivered a stab, turning the Wild Chicken into a dead chicken and relieving the others from their pain.

After taking down a group of overconfident individuals, he was just about to search for the metal he wanted when he suddenly sensed a terrifying surge of chakra attacking from the side.

Lightning Release: False Darkness!

Two gun-shaped bolts of lightning struck at incredible speed, exploding on the ground with a deafening boom. The unfortunate corpses were not spared, their flesh and blood flying everywhere and charred black, and a nauseating stench quickly filled the air.

"He actually dodged it? This guy is no ordinary person..." Kakuzu was completely shrouded in a black cloak. He had only been there a short time when he saw this even more mysterious and strange man slaughtering people. It was no surprise that he had been attracted by the wealth of the Land of Glass.

With his extensive combat experience, he instinctively used his fastest Lightning Release, but it was easily dodged by his opponent, whose bulky body was surprisingly agile.

Although Sasori was unharmed after the sneak attack, he was furious. He quickly recognized the attacker, "Kakuzu, the missing-nin Kakuzu Takigakure? Looks like you're tired of living. If you don't want a painful death, just kill yourself!"

Kakuzu scoffed, "That disgusting outfit... you must be 'Tiger,' the new expert who's popped up in the black market lately. You cowardly coward, your parents probably weren't even born when I was a ninja. Don't think you have the right to be arrogant just because you've taken down a few pieces of trash."

"Looks like I can't let you go today." A hoarse, deep voice came from within Hiruko, multiple mechanisms already poised to activate. "Perhaps it'll be even more interesting once you become part of my collection..."

"Boom boom..."

"Hmm?" Land of Glass Village, Shuichi immediately sensed a strong chakra fluctuation in the distance. "Just as I expected, but for powerful ninjas to clash so quickly, has something unexpected happened?"

Since he was on a mission, it would be irresponsible for him to run off and cause trouble. Moreover, if a powerful figure were to launch a surprise attack on Glass City, the distance would be too great to rescue Hong and the others in time. Therefore, he decided to use the Super Beast Imitation Drawing to scout ahead and see who the potential adversary might be.

Not long after the Ink Bird set off, Shuichi frowned quickly. "Finished? So fast? Or did they think the commotion was too great and didn't want to reveal their own information, so they stopped...?"

He could never have guessed that the two members of the Akatsuki Organization would start fighting each other. When Ink Bird returned, he only saw that the area was in a mess, with a large number of corpses lying all over the ground.

The bloodshed that occurred that night was not kept secret for long, and was learned by various forces the next morning, including the Koizumi clan, the main family of the Land of Glass.

"My lord, something terrible has happened!"

A ninja rushed into the council hall in a panic, "There are probably a large number of unidentified people surrounding the city now, and our men have never returned."

Both Koizumi Kenzō and Koizumi Seiji looked grim. Their worst fears had come true: for several days in a row, no one had come to purchase the rare metals, and their plan to sell off the stock had essentially failed.

For greedy criminals, there's no reason to engage in those complicated methods of reselling for profit; they simply want to steal everything.

Now that a wave of people has been killed, no one is foolish enough to come in and buy metal to give away. They certainly won't wait long. The difference lies in who is willing to be cannon fodder and be the first to rush in and test the waters.

Because metal is difficult to move in large quantities, and given the Koizumi Family's high-profile nature, it's obvious that they have powerful protectors within the city. Without eliminating them, the goods simply cannot be moved...

"If the Koizumi Family already possesses considerable wealth, then the ninjas they hire must come from the Five Great Ninja Villages," Kakuzu said expressionlessly outside the castle.

The large, black figure not far away was none other than Scorpion; both of them bore signs of a battle.

After a quick exchange, they realized they were both highly skilled and couldn't defeat each other in a short time.

Furthermore, since everyone is there for money and resources, fighting to the death seems pointless, and trust is impossible to establish.

Besides them, a number of ninjas had also gathered in this area. Those without the strength of Chunin or above were already dead. The rest were all skilled individuals of different backgrounds, including Rogue Ninja, missing-nin, and black market assassins. Everyone kept a buffer distance from each other so that they could escape if things turned sour.

Of course, no one will actively fight each other before they've secured the spoils; they might still be temporary allies for now...

"Regarding this, I have an inside contact who happened to have received intelligence," a Masked Man said in a low voice. "The mission was carried out by Konoha Ninja, a small team of four, two men and two women. My subordinates couldn't discern their specific identities; he only glanced at them before the Koizumi Family assigned them to other tasks."