"What did you say?"
Kisame Hoshigaki sprang to his feet and snatched the scroll from his clone.
After scanning the information recorded inside, he was completely stunned.
"How could this happen? It shouldn't be like this!"
"Juzo Biwa, wielder of the Broken Blade; Raiga Kurosuki, wielder of the Lightning Blade; and Lord Suikazan Fuguki, wielder of Samehada. The three of them are the face of the village right now. The first two have defected—what high-level combatants does the village have left? Mei Terumi? But her kekkei genkai isn't fully developed. Ao? He may have a Byakugan, but he can't fight."
Kisame paced back and forth like an ant on a hot pan, muttering about Kirigakure's predicament.
At this rate, he felt Kirigakure was doomed sooner or later.
Powerful elite Jonin were what allowed the village to deter the Five Great Nations.
Since the Third Shinobi World War, Might Duy had kicked four of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist to death. Now two of the remaining three had defected, and the Fourth Mizukage was being controlled by a mysterious person.
Kirigakure now seemed to him like a broken ship sailing through a raging storm. One wrong move, and it could be wrecked, with everyone aboard lost.
"This can't go on. I have to find out why they defected."
Kisame no longer felt like eating. He put away the scroll and asked his clone, "And that support squad you mentioned—where are they?"
"The information I received says they'll reach the Tanzaku Town base at three tomorrow afternoon. You'll have to meet up with them yourself."
As the clone spoke, he tossed out two more wanted posters. "Also, both of you have been listed at the Underground Money Exchange. You'd better be careful when you're out and about."
Kisame took the posters and looked them over. Their photos were clearly displayed on them.
Wanted: Kisame Hoshigaki, 70 million ryo.
Wanted: Kazama Kaguya, 35 million ryo.
Kazama Kaguya took his own poster.
The poster showed a sickly-looking boy, exactly as he'd looked before defecting.
"Thirty-five million ryo? That's worth one Asuma. Looks like the person who put out the bounty is almost certainly Danzo, the man I swindled."
Other than Danzo, Kazama Kaguya couldn't think of anyone else who'd be so fixated on him.
As for Kisame, the name of the person who placed the bounty was clearly written beneath his: the Uchiha Clan.
The two exchanged glances, each seeing that the other didn't care.
Kisame dispelled his clone. As he gathered his things to leave, he said, "I need to go to Tanzaku Town. You can handle the next two days of training on your own."
Kazama Kaguya had already been thinking about visiting a big city, so he quickly said, "I'm almost out of supplies, and those stones I use for weight training are really inconvenient. I need to buy a set of training gear."
Training every day with two 250-kilogram slabs of bluestone strapped to him made Kazama Kaguya feel like it was beneath his dignity.
He planned to buy a set of training equipment designed for Taijutsu users.
It would be like the kind Rock Lee used in the original story: small in size but astonishingly heavy, and wearable on the arms and legs for long-term Taijutsu training.
Kisame had no reason to refuse.
Soon, the two disappeared from the border region.
Tanzaku Town.
This was a famous center of prosperity in the Land of Fire, packed with civilians, merchants, and shinobi from villages all over.
It had everything from Kabukicho and taverns to casinos and hot springs.
Behind the scenes, the major Ninja Villages had established bases throughout the Land of Fire. Bounty organizations like the Underground Money Exchange had sprung up alongside them.
Before crossing over, Kazama Kaguya had often wondered who had established the Underground Money Exchange, and how it dared place bounties on the Kage of various villages.
Now, he knew from Kisame who was behind it.
"The Underground Money Exchange is a platform jointly established by the Daimyo of the Five Great Nations. Besides bounties on people's heads, it also handles a complex intelligence network and the exchange of rare resources."
The two didn't linger in the streets. They headed straight to the Underground Money Exchange.
Kisame needed to learn why the two Ninja Blade wielders had defected, while Kazama Kaguya wanted to buy Taijutsu training equipment.
"Do we need to use Transformation Jutsu to go in?"
This was Kazama Kaguya's first time visiting a place like this. Even with his cloak on, he still didn't want to reveal his identity.
Kisame glanced at him. "Transformation Jutsu is only a low-level E-rank ninjutsu. Do you think the people who frequent the Exchange wouldn't see through it? Besides, bounty hunters looking to hunt me? I don't think the Exchange has hunters that strong."
He walked straight inside in his own body.
That confident? Is it because the Akatsuki Organization is still operating in secret? Kazama Kaguya paused, then followed him in without transforming.
Before long, the two came back out, each having taken care of their business.
Kisame was now heading to Kirigakure's secret base to meet the support squad sent by Suikazan Fuguki. Naturally, he wasn't taking Kazama Kaguya with him.
Kazama Kaguya had already strapped on his new weights. As he walked, he stumbled along, getting used to the rhythm, while grumbling to himself about the Underground Money Exchange.
This underground black market is such a rip-off. They charged me five million for a set of weights, and wouldn't even haggle.
He'd donated all his money to the orphanage earlier, so he'd only scraped together enough to pay by selling some of the Kaguya Clan's stored ninjutsu scrolls.
The techniques he'd sold were ones he'd already learned from Kisame.
He'd kept a few rare Water Release Ninjutsu scrolls instead, planning to add them to his collection.
They included the rare Water Release techniques unique to Kirigakure: "Water Release: Cutting Rain Technique," "Water Release: Black Rain Technique," and "Water Release: Shield Cap."
But, to be fair, this set of weights made by Konoha's Fuinjutsu Squad really was effective.
The small leg weights were covered in circles of formulae that could alter gravity.
By feeding them the right amount of chakra, the wearer could adjust the weight freely. They were suited to training needs from Genin to Jonin.
Kazama Kaguya was currently trying to feed them more chakra. His body just hadn't adjusted yet, so his gait looked a little strange.
I remember Tsunade kept gambling here after she left Konoha.
Kazama Kaguya planned to try his luck at the casinos and see if he could find Tsunade.
He'd now developed Blood Release and urgently needed to learn some Medical Ninjutsu.
He passed a street lined with food stalls and picked up some supplies for living in the wilderness. But as he paid, he sensed someone watching him from the shadows.
Hm? I've been keeping such a low profile. Who's still got their eye on me?
"Byakugan, activate."
The world instantly transformed into a three-dimensional landscape in black and white.
Kazama Kaguya saw the shinobi watching him from the shadows.
The man was a middle-aged shinobi dressed in a black cloak, without a Forehead Protector to identify his village. His chakra reserves were slightly above those of an ordinary Jonin, so he probably wasn't weak.
No Forehead Protector? He's not from one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages. So he's a bounty hunter?
For a moment, Kazama Kaguya couldn't pin down the man's identity.
He looked nothing like the person in his wanted poster. There was no reason for someone to target him just because he'd visited the Underground Money Exchange.
After thinking it over and coming up with nothing, Kazama Kaguya decided to ignore him for now.
Civilians were everywhere in Tanzaku Town. He wasn't some bloodthirsty maniac; there was no need to start killing people in a place like this.
After buying his supplies, he'd also completely adjusted to the weights.
He didn't wait for Kisame. Once he left Tanzaku Town, he quickly flew toward the distant mountains.
When the man saw Kazama Kaguya flying, his eyes widened in surprise, and excitement lit up his face.
He made a clone and said, "Go notify Kakuzu."
Then he himself quickly set off after Kazama Kaguya.
He muttered excitedly, "Heh, I knew anyone who came with Kisame Hoshigaki had to be something special. Kisame's worth 70 million ryo and is a real handful, but that kid can fly! His corpse will fetch a fortune at the Exchange."
Before you continue