Ridiculous

A lone monster cannot fight on her own; Yura needs subordinates, and she needs powerful ones at that.

Kakuzu would be quite suitable, yet he is also unsuitable; otherwise, who would take the blame for slaughtering the upper echelons of Takigakure, right?

Therefore, Yura needs to cultivate Lucy. No matter which ninja village one goes to, there will always be factional strife. Being alone makes one an easy target for bullying. Beyond that, there are many dirty and tedious tasks that require an obedient subordinate to handle.

Even Tsunade requires an assistant like Shizune to take care of her daily life.

"Little Monster~"

"It's Lucy!" Flying to the side, Lucy tilted her head to look at Yura and asked, "What is it?"

"Your culinary training needs to be stepped up," Yura said. "This morning's bird soup was unqualified." It was to the point where one would lose their appetite just by looking at it.

"I know, I know!" Lucy muttered. "I hate this... all you do is order me around..."

When one has been lonely for too long, they get used to talking to themselves. When there is someone by one's side, one subconsciously wants to speak. Yura turned her head to look at the simple-minded Lucy beside her, opened her mouth, and then closed it again.

After being lonely for so long, she was still more accustomed to silence.

"Um, Great Monster..." Lucy said, struggling with her words.

"Hmm?" Yura tilted her head slightly, her scarlet eyes fixed on Lucy.

Lucy shook her head and lowered it in silence.

When one has been lonely for too long, they forget how to talk. Having chanced upon someone so similar, there were many things she wanted to say and many feelings she wanted to share, yet she did not know where to begin. But...

"If I knew how to kill, you wouldn't have left me behind, right?"

"Yes."

"Next time, I won't hesitate."

"Then do your best, Little Monster~"

The two monsters drifted further and further into the forest. On the road below lay several fresh corpses, their blood staining and spreading across the ground. With this, only one thing remained to be done upon arriving at Takigakure.

The prison where Kakuzu was held was not inside the village. There were few guards to begin with and even fewer prisoners; due to the village tightening its defenses, the guards were even scarcer.

When Yura arrived, Kakuzu had just finished a round of beatings and was hanging from a cross-shaped rack, covered in wounds.

Leading Lucy out from the shadows, Yura looked up at Kakuzu.

"It is time, Senior Kakuzu."

Opening his eyes, Kakuzu's small, bean-like eyes looked at Yura, then swept toward Lucy behind her, his pupils constricting slightly.

This young girl gave him a very subtle feeling; vaguely, there was a sense of immense danger and dread.

"Who is she?"

Kakuzu asked.

"The village's jinchuriki," Yura introduced. "She is my subordinate now."

Hearing this, Kakuzu's pupils shrank.

A jinchuriki? No wonder she gave him a faint sense of danger.

This creature had become even more dangerous.

"At noon two days from now, we will launch the attack. At that time, the old fogies of the village will gather at the leader's building in the center of the village," Yura said.

"Understood," Kakuzu said.

"As for who you want to kill then, that is up to you," Yura said.

"Hmph, naturally. I am not your subordinate."

"Then, Senior Kakuzu, until we meet again." With those words, Yura took Lucy and turned to leave.

"Wait..." Kakuzu raised his head, and a pitch-black luster spread across his bare upper body.

Earth Style: Earth Spear.

No hand seals were used; it seemed he had mastered this technique with great proficiency—one could call it his specialty.

Stopping in her tracks, Yura turned to look at Kakuzu and smiled faintly. "Senior, what is the meaning of this?"

Lucy gripped the black blade in her hand, eager to try, her bright smile turning sinister.

"Let me confirm your strength." The moment the words fell, a slash abruptly bloomed across Kakuzu's torso. Kakuzu looked stunned, slowly lowering his head to look at the wound on his chest; it was a shallow cut, just enough to break his defense.

The sharpness of a blade is one thing, and while Earth Spear is not difficult to use to block kunai or sword strikes, swordsmanship is an entirely different matter.

What was more dangerous was that Kakuzu had been silent, completely failing to perceive the attack as it reached him.

Lucy was taken aback, then wore a gloating smile and said, "So, a man-eating monster is nothing special after all."

Kakuzu's face twitched. Man-eating? Me? He looked up, staring straight at Yura.

"Next time, if you still have the confidence, it will be your heart that I cut, Kakuzu... Senior..." Yura smiled faintly.

Closing his eyes, the resentment Kakuzu had been harboring vanished. He said, "I will act according to the plan."

"That is good."

Taking Lucy with her, Yura walked into the dark shadows.

"Farewell."

Opening his eyes, Kakuzu stared deeply into the dark corridor. Perhaps tagging along with her wouldn't be such a bad path; if he were to become a rogue ninja, his future life would be destined to be one of wandering without a home.

"No, it doesn't matter. Money is the most important thing..."

Money would never betray me.

A day passed, and the atmosphere in Takigakure grew increasingly tense. At night, the meeting that had just concluded during the day had to be convened once again.

"What? All twelve dispatched squads have gone missing?"

"Hasn't a single one made contact?"

The atmosphere of the meeting was stifling, with heavy expressions on everyone's faces. As time ticked by, the ninja squad sent to investigate returned, their faces covered in terror and cold sweat. Kneeling on one knee, they said with trembling voices, "My lord, after investigation, some kind of invisible thing has surrounded the village, not even sparing the underground. Once crossed, one is sliced into pieces by invisible attacks."

As the words fell, the meeting hall erupted in chaos.

What did this mean...

It meant that if they couldn't break through the blockade, they would be trapped and die within the village. Someone had set their sights on the village!

"Is it the Jinchuriki!?" Amidst the buzzing noise of shock and confusion, an old man exclaimed in terror.

"Impossible!" Another old man immediately retorted, "This is not the work of a Jinchuriki. Someone else has targeted us!"

"What do we do? Has Konoha attacked!?"

The crowd was in a panicked uproar.

"Silence!" The old man sitting at the head of the table shouted fiercely, sweeping a vicious gaze over the crowd before saying in a deep voice, "Since that is the case, we must prepare for battle!"

"First! Dispatch personnel to attempt to break through the blockade! The village must not be trapped to death! No matter what, we must find a way out!"

"Second! Concentrate our forces! Strengthen the village's defenses!"

Hearing this, the elders of the three clans exchanged glances.

"Wait, Great Elder Taki." The old hag of the Qian-Gui Clan cackled with a sinister laugh, "We shall be responsible for the defense of our own clan."

His eyelids twitched slightly. The Great Elder looked at the old woman, and after a long silence, nodded, "Granted!"

"In that case, the Kusanagi Clan will be responsible for our own defense," said the cold, gloomy old man of the Kusanagi Clan.

"Agreed," said the Uchiha elder leaning on his cane.

The four clans had never trusted one another. Especially at this critical moment, they would only look out for their own clans, disregarding the village entirely.

Mochizuki Gen lifted his eyelids, looking at these four clans with a mocking smile.

Do you see, Sarutobi Sasuke? This is the so-called village, the so-called peace. History will prove that your clan will either die in the internal strife of the village, or climb to the top by stepping over the corpses of other ninja clans. But in a village with the Senju and Uchiha clans, how difficult that would be; it would only end in being annexed.

The era of my clan welcoming the ninja village has already perished, so let everything be destroyed for the sake of this ninja village era.

"However..." the Great Elder said in a deep voice, "your three clans must leave personnel behind to assist in the village's defense."

Under the cover of night, Takigakure remained bright. The God Tree in the lake at the center of the village forever emitted a soft, luminous glow.

Surrounding the lake, on the streets built along the water, ninjas hurried back and forth. As manpower was mobilized, most gathered outside the most prominent building in the center of the village.

"Talking about strengthening the village's defense, but in the end, it's just fear of death. They're desperately gathering manpower to protect a bunch of old geezers who are about to die..."

Yura smiled faintly.

"Ridiculous..."