Work for Me, Kakuzu

After leaving the Bounty Station, Menma and Kakuzu arrived at an open clearing.

"Kid, if there isn't a bounty on your head, leave the money behind and go. I can spare your life." Kakuzu put the cash case into a Storage Scroll, his hoarse warning coming from beneath his mask.

Kakuzu was an extremely arrogant man. After all, he was a powerhouse from the same era as the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, and had even once "assassinated" the First Hokage.

Although Hashirama's Wood Release had left him seriously wounded, Kakuzu often bragged, "I'm the man who fought the God of Shinobi."

Ever since defecting from Takigakure, Kakuzu had spent the past several decades making a living in the Shinobi World by collecting bounties. His greatest hobby was counting money.

Having suffered the village's distrust and a partner's betrayal in the first half of his life, Kakuzu believed that only money would never betray him.

"You think someone capable of killing a Kumogakure envoy wouldn't be worth anything?" Menma stood several meters away from Kakuzu and set the large suitcase full of money aside. A soft chuckle came from beneath his mask.

"True enough. Even without a bounty, taking your corpse to Kumogakure should fetch me some money. Heh heh." Kakuzu snorted and swiftly formed hand seals.

Earth Release: Earth Spear! Several sharp, spear-like rocks erupted around Menma and fiercely stabbed toward him.

Menma leaped into the air, his robe flapping loudly in the wind.

"Good, this is the moment!" A calculating glint flashed through Kakuzu's eyes as his right arm suddenly shot out. Earth Grudge Fear activated!

Black threads burst from his joints like venomous snakes, carrying his right arm toward the enemy in an attempt to pierce through him.

This was one of his usual tactics. Once he forced an enemy into the air, where they could neither change direction nor move, Kakuzu would suddenly unleash Earth Grudge Fear and go straight for their heart!

Kakuzu had killed many shinobi with this opening move.

However, Kakuzu's pupils suddenly contracted.

Because he saw that Menma had not fallen after jumping up. Instead, he floated in midair, looking down at him from above.

"This is troublesome..." Kakuzu muttered hoarsely beneath his mask.

An enemy capable of staying airborne was something Kakuzu had rarely encountered in all his years in the Shinobi World.

The black threads from Kakuzu's right arm danced through the air, Earth Grudge Fear's tendrils weaving into a dense net that attempted to seal off his opponent's movements.

Menma casually threw several kunai, which passed through the net woven by Earth Grudge Fear and shot toward Kakuzu on the ground.

"Hmph!" Kakuzu shifted slightly and easily dodged the kunai.

"Is that all you've got, brat?" Kakuzu had barely finished mocking him when a rumble of thunder came from behind him.

He spun around sharply, but a piercing pain had already erupted from his back.

An arm crackling with dark purple lightning pierced through Kakuzu's body in a single blow. As his blue-green pupils trembled, one of Kakuzu's hearts was directly shattered.

"When?!" Feeling one of the Earth Grudge Fear masks collapse after losing a heart, Kakuzu was utterly shocked.

He swung the arm connected by Earth Grudge Fear and caught the person who had ambushed him from behind, only to discover that it was merely a Shadow Clone. The instant his arm grabbed it, it turned into smoke and dispersed.

"Argh!" With a howl, Kakuzu collapsed.

The scene fell silent for a moment.

"This move really is useful." Menma played with a kunai in his hand.

Transforming either a Shadow Clone or the original body into a kunai, throwing it behind the enemy, then launching a surprise attack with lightning speed—this was a move Uzumaki Naruto often used.

Though it looked simple, it contained tactical thinking built on layers of truth and deception, feints and misdirection.

The vast majority of shinobi in the Shinobi World could not defend against this move.

After all, in such a highly tense state of battle, no shinobi could pay attention to every kunai they had dodged.

On the ground, Kakuzu still did not move.

If it had been someone else, after piercing Kakuzu's heart, they might have thought they had won and walked over to deal with Kakuzu's corpse.

But Menma knew perfectly well that Kakuzu possessed five hearts. Playing dead was merely one of his usual tactics.

After Kakashi had pierced Kakuzu's heart with Chidori, he had let his guard down and been kicked by Kakuzu, who was pretending to be dead. His injuries had not been light.

Menma floated in midair and looked down at him, his tone chilling. "If you keep playing dead, I don't mind crushing your remaining four hearts."

!!!

Kakuzu, who had been lying on the ground pretending to be dead, suddenly opened his eyes. His blue-green pupils trembled.

He climbed to his feet with his body hunched over, a large bulge rising from his back.

Rip—

Suddenly, a black masked creature tore through Kakuzu's black robe from his back. As the mask crumbled, the creature also dissipated into the air.

Hah...

Kakuzu panted. The disdain in his eyes was gone, replaced by deep wariness as he looked at Uzumaki Menma floating in the air. His voice was hoarse. "Why do you know..."

"Takigakure's secret?" Menma stood in the sky like a god. "There are no secrets in the Shinobi World to me."

"Now, I'll give you two choices. Work for me, or let me crush your other four hearts." Menma stood proudly in the air, murder blazing in his eyes.

"Do I have a choice?" Kakuzu gave a hoarse, bitter laugh, then dropped to one knee.

Kakuzu was a man who knew how to adapt to circumstances. His opponent not only knew his secret, but could also destroy one of his hearts in a single move.

If he did not submit, he feared he would have a hard time leaving alive today.

At a port in a city of the Land of Lightning.

Several merchant ships belonging to Gato Company were docked at the pier. Workers in short work clothes hurriedly carried all kinds of goods under the foreman's shouted orders.

Gato stood on the deck at the ship's bow, watching his subordinates work and occasionally bellowing in rage.

Suddenly, Gato's small eyes caught sight of two figures approaching in the distance.

The person walking in front made his whole body tremble. He hurriedly ran down at a quick pace.

On the dock, the subdued Kakuzu silently followed behind the young man before him, his blue-green pupils filled with confusion.

"My lord! My lord!" Gato's small body ran remarkably fast. Reaching Menma, he respectfully said, "My lord, you're back!"

"And this is?" Gato also noticed Kakuzu behind Menma, a tall man radiating an aura that warned strangers to stay away.

"Kakuzu, this is Gato, the member in charge of making money for the organization. For now, your mission is to stay by his side and protect his company as it conducts trade throughout the nations of the Shinobi World," Menma said, turning his head toward Kakuzu behind him.

"I'll give you a fixed salary. You'll also have the authority to inspect Gato Company's accounts. Of course, you can still work part-time as a bounty hunter, as long as you don't leak the organization's intelligence."

"Hmph, the terms aren't bad." Kakuzu snorted, the corners of his mouth lifting beneath his mask.

A fixed salary, the ability to continue working as a bounty hunter, and even a financial position at a major company—this made Kakuzu feel much better about losing to Menma.

After arranging for Gato and Kakuzu to leave the Land of Lightning together first, Menma continued onward to Kumogakure.

He was preparing to deliver some local specialties from his hometown to Kumogakure.