Confrontation

This was something Kakuzu expected. Even with Kakuzu experience far exceeding that of most Ninja World the Ninja World, he hadn't imagined such a technique existed. Without any suspense, the Lightning Release mask was easily pierced by the rock Kunai.

At this point, Kakuzu had lost two of his five hearts.

However, Yichen's situation was not easy either. His Mud Clone, which he had created by diverting a large amount of Chakra, was destroyed, and Kakuzu learned about all his Trump Card. Most importantly, Kakuzu had already realized that Yichen seemed to have some understanding of his Earth Grudge Fear, and was becoming more meticulous in formulating his tactics.

However, at this stage of the battle, both sides seemed to have reservations and were unwilling to continue fighting to the death.

Yichen increased his flight altitude, and in the distance, the Earth Style Clone that Yichen had secretly created earlier flew to Yichen's side with three disciples.

Yichen, positioned high above, confronted Kakuzu.

"Kakuzu, S-rank Rogue Ninja Kakuzu Takigakure, who once assassinated the First Hokage of Konoha, and a master of missions in the underground Bounty Office, has he taken a liking to me today? I wonder how much bounty I have in the underground Bounty Office." Yichen took the initiative to break the silence.

This was also the first dialogue between the two sides since their meeting, Yichen hoped to convey his idea of a ceasefire through the conversation.

Upon hearing Yichen's words, his three disciples were all startled. This strangely-looking missing-nin was actually from the same era as the First Hokage Konoha had even attempted to assassinate him.

What's even more amazing is that he's still alive. This was a huge shock to the three children, who already looked up to Kakuzu's strength, and their perception of Kakuzu was raised even higher.

Kakuzu hesitated for a moment, then said, "Fox of Stone Yichen, your bounty is forty million."

"Wow, not bad." Yichen was quite satisfied with his bounty exceeding Asuma's, but then he frowned and asked, "What Fox of Stone?"

Kakuzu said, "It seems you don't know the title the Ninja World gives you. You stirred up the alliance between Konoha and Mist ninja, and this is the title Mist ninja gave you."

Yichen thought about it and realized that he did seem to be quite suitable for the title. However, "The Fox of Stone" didn't sound very positive; it even had a hint of the Darkness of the Ninja World about it.

However, now is not the time to dwell on this. Yichen said, "Kakuzu, this is the heart of the Land of Earth. Do Kakuzu think we, the Iwagakure, will allow you to leave so blatantly, infiltrating deep into the Iwa ninja of Land of Earth to assassinate an advisor?"

"Assassinating an advisor is nothing special. I just went to the Land of Fire a while ago and exchanged the head of an advisor from Konoha for a bounty."

"Or do you mean you want to keep me here?" Kakuzu's expressionless eyes stared straight at Yichen. "You think you can keep me here by destroying both of my hearts in a sneak attack?"

Yichen was genuinely surprised this time. Third Shinobi War, Konoha had more than three advisors, but Third Shinobi War, there were only three left. Yichen had assumed the missing one had died on the battlefield, but it turned out he had been killed by Kakuzu.

But is Danzo to blame for this?

"Senior misunderstands. I can't possibly stop you on my own, but without the Earth Release mask, do you think you can shake off my pursuit? Or do you think I'm the only one in Iwagakure who can defeat you? It seems you haven't experienced the power of Dust Release."

"Or perhaps, senior, you think you're even stronger than the Third Raikage, capable of easily escaping from the siege of tens of thousands of Iwa ninja?" Yichen's voice was fierce as he said the last sentence, as if he were ready to fight again at any moment.

Kakuzu hesitated for a moment, then slowly said, "What do you intend to do?"

Seeing that Kakuzu's tone had softened, Yichen immediately put away his serious expression and said, "Senior, rest assured, I won't covet your accumulated bounty. During our fight just now, I noticed that you have a considerable collection of Ninjutsu. I wonder if you could share them with me?"

Kakuzu was furious upon hearing this. "You're asking a ninja to hand over Ninjutsu he knows? Are you really not treating a prisoner like this?"

Looking at the restless Earth Grudge Fear Kakuzu, Yichen said, "Kakuzu, don't be impulsive. Think about where you are. Since you didn't kill me immediately and can't escape my pursuit, you don't have many choices left."

"Furthermore, I promise you I will keep the secret of Earth Grudge Fear."

Upon hearing this, Kakuzu was immediately intrigued. The importance of intelligence to ninjas is undeniable.

In the original story, Asuma died mysteriously before Hidan's information was exposed, but after the information was exposed, Shikamaru killed him. What's even more infuriating is that before killing Hidan, Shikamaru also used Hidan's ability to destroy one Kakuzu Kakuzu's hearts, and incidentally saved Fifty-Fifty once.

The same applies to Kakuzu. As a lone ninja, he is easily targeted if his information is leaked.

Putting aside the distant past, in today 'First Shinobi War alone, Kakuzu clearly sensed that Yichen was very knowledgeable about his Earth Grudge Fear. This made Kakuzu feel a sense of crisis.

However, if Yichen can keep Earth Grudge Fear's secret, then this trip will not have been a loss.

As for losing two hearts, Kakuzu didn't think it was a big deal; he could just find two more ninjas to replace them.

He's just missing two hearts, so his strength isn't at its peak. There's no need for him to fight to the death with a ninja of Yichen's level at this time.

However, Yichen Chen's demand for all of his Ninjutsu was outrageous, and he definitely couldn't agree to it.

Then, Yichen and Kakuzu, like two middle-aged women buying and selling vegetables, engaged in a fierce bargaining match. In the end, Kakuzu offered three A-rank Lightning Release and one B-rank Genjutsu in exchange for Yichen letting him go and promising not to leak his information.

Yichen didn't have high hopes for this deal. He actually wanted to kill Kakuzu and take the body back for experiments. The Earth Grudge Fear was still worth studying; aside from anything else, its amazing stitching technique was worth investigating.

However, if they could exchange it for three A-rank Lightning Release, it would be a very worthwhile deal for Iwagakure. Moreover, it would save Yichen and the other ninjas from risking their lives.

As for that B-rank Genjutsu, Yichen was just trying his luck by trying to extort money from Kakuzu. After all, Kakuzu was only Ninjutsu Ninja in elemental attributes and wasn't particularly skilled in Genjutsu.

However, Kakuzu gave Yichen a pleasant surprise. Perhaps because he was not good at Genjutsu, Kakuzu far less secretive about Genjutsu than he was about other elemental Ninjutsu, and he readily Kakuzu this B-rank Genjutsu.

After confirming that the Ninjutsu Kakuzu was correct, Yichen nodded to Kakuzu, indicating that he could leave.

But then, Yichen called out to Kakuzu's retreating figure, "Kakuzu- senpai, if you kill any more Konoha High-ranking officials in the future—well, just Elite Jonin- level officials will do—we Iwa ninja are willing to pay an extra bounty, and we don't need the corpses."

Upon hearing Yichen's words, Kakuzu suddenly turned around, staring intently at Yichen, and asked, "Are you telling the truth? Does your word carry weight?"

Yichen smiled and said, "Of course it's true, and of course it works. We Iwa ninja can afford this amount of money."

Actually, this amount of money wasn't small, but Yichen knew this deal was definitely worthwhile. Normally, killing an Elite Jonin Konoha would cost a fortune.

Kakuzu glanced at Yichen one last time, then turned and quickly left.

After Kakuzu left, more than a dozen Iwa ninja squads approached from a distance, including Anbu and squads on missions.

These people arrived gradually while Yichen and Kakuzu were negotiating. After all, the battle between Yichen and Kakuzu was so powerful and had such a wide impact that even though they were not close, they still heard the commotion and rushed over.

At that time, Yichen signaled to them not to approach, but to keep watch from a distance.

It was precisely because of the successive arrival of these people that Kakuzu felt a serious sense of crisis, which ultimately led to Yichen obtaining three A-rank Lightning Release and one B-rank Genjutsu for nothing.

Yichen, having reaped a considerable harvest, nodded to the approaching group and said, "This person is Kakuzu, S-rank Rogue Ninja Kakuzu Takigakure. His strength has reached Kage Level, so you shouldn't pursue him. Thanks to you all, the village has made some gains this time. Each of your teams will record one A-rank mission."

The ninjas in these squads were initially terrified upon hearing of Kakuzu's strength, but after Yichen gave each squad an A-rank mission reward, they were all overjoyed.

Especially for those kids who were clearly still Genin, the highest-ranking missions they had ever carried out were only C-rank. This time, they suddenly obtained an A-rank Ninjutsu, which was practically like becoming rich overnight.

Yichen was only being so generous because he had gained so much at once. I believe that if Yichen brings these four Ninjutsu back to the village, Ōnoki will be just as happy.

With three A-rank Lightning Release, plus the Chidori, Chidori Flow, and Lightning Release Stimulation Method that Yichen had previously created, it can be said that the gap in Lightning Release techniques in Iwagakure has been almost completely filled.

However, the village currently has too few B-rank and C-rank Lightning Release. If more of these low-rank Lightning Release could be added, Iwagakure would no longer be a weak point in this area.

However, Yichen also thought of another aspect. Iwagakure was, after all, one of the Five Great Ninja Villages, yet its collection of Lightning Release Ninjutsu was Kakuzu of Kakuzu, missing-nin from a small ninja village. How pathetic!

After giving the ninjas a few more instructions, Yichen led the Team Three towards the village.

On the way back to the village, Yoshimura Kazumasa, Katsuya, and Suda Himezuki remained silent. The three were still immersed in the massive battle between Yichen and Kakuzu.

The three of them had actually witnessed Yichen's Ninjutsu before, but a demonstration by Yichen alone was a completely different matter from a life-or-death battle with an enemy.

They knew their teacher was very strong; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to train Jonin disciples.

But they didn't expect the scene of Yichen fighting the enemy to be so exaggerated. The A-rank Ninjutsu that could change the terrain and the Combination Ninjutsu that could destroy everything deeply stimulated the three of them.

Yichen witnessed an A-rank Ninjutsu of Purple Lightning back then, which allowed him to successfully overcome the hurdle to Jonin.

At the time, Yichen's strength was actually considered quite formidable among Chunin. Even so, he was still incredibly shocked by the A-rank Ninjutsu.

At this point, Yoshimura Kazumasa two companions Genin among the worst-ranked genin. Having suffered such a huge shock, they were only able to accept reality thanks to Yichen's earlier demonstration. Calming down quickly was easier said than done.

Having gone through this experience, the three of them will definitely have a different understanding of ninjas than before. From tomorrow onwards, they should be considered qualified ninjas in terms of mindset.

Yichen hadn't expected such a pleasant surprise when encountering Kakuzu. At this moment, Yichen even hesitated, wondering if he should find a boss to fight next time he led Team Four on a mission?

Upon returning to the village, Yichen immediately taught the four Ninjutsu to Ōnoki, and then, under Ōnoki's astonished gaze, quickly recounted his battle with Kakuzu.

As for the promise Kakuzu to reveal any information about the Earth Grudge Fear, Yichen had long forgotten about it by now.

After some thought, Ōnoki summoned the higher-ups, but his purpose in doing Kakuzu Ōnoki. While an S-rank Rogue Ninja was certainly a serious matter, Kakuzu's personal information had been thoroughly investigated by Yichen, so if the Iwa ninja truly wanted to kill Kakuzu, it wouldn't be too difficult.

Based on Yichen's final agreement to pay Kakuzu's bounty, Ōnoki gave it a thumbs up.

Ōnoki convened the meeting to discuss research on Lightning Release ninjutsu. The Iwagakure's research on Lightning Release Ninjutsu was far too weak.