Ridiculous

It wasn't enough for a monster to fight alone. Yura needed underlings—and powerful ones.

Kakuzu would've been a good fit, but he wasn't suitable. Otherwise, who would take the blame for slaughtering Takigakure's higher-ups? Right?

So Yura needed to train Lucy. No matter which ninja village you went to, there were factional struggles. If you were alone, it was easy to get pushed around. Besides, there was plenty of dirty, exhausting work that needed a loyal subordinate to handle.

Even Tsunade needed an assistant like Shizune to take care of her daily needs.

"Little Monster~"

"Lucy here!" Floating nearby, Lucy turned her head toward Yura. "What?"

"You need to step up your cooking practice," Yura said. "This morning's bird soup wasn't good enough." It had looked unappetizing at a glance.

"Yeah, yeah, I know!" Lucy muttered. "I hate this... You're always ordering me around..."

After being alone for so long, you got used to talking to yourself. When someone was by your side, you instinctively wanted to talk. Yura turned to look at Lucy's innocent face. She opened her mouth, then closed it again.

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

"Um, Great Monster..." Lucy hesitated.

"Hmm?" Yura turned her head slightly, her crimson eyes fixed on Lucy.

Lucy shook her head and lowered it in silence.

When you'd been alone for too long, you forgot how to talk. Then, by chance, you met someone who was just like you. You had so much to say, so many feelings you wanted to share, but you didn't know where to begin. Still...

"If I can kill people, you won't leave me behind, right?"

"Right."

"Next time, I won't hesitate."

"Then do your best, Little Monster~"

The two monsters gradually disappeared into the woods. By the roadside below lay several fresh corpses, blood spreading across the ground. Now only one last thing remained to do in Takigakure.

The prison where Kakuzu was held wasn't in the village. There had never been many guards or prisoners, and with the village tightening its defenses, there were even fewer guards.

When Yura arrived, Kakuzu had just finished enduring another round of beatings. He hung from a wooden cross, covered in wounds.

Yura led Lucy out of the shadows and looked up at Kakuzu.

"It's time, Senior Kakuzu."

Kakuzu opened his eyes. His small, beady green eyes turned toward Yura, then shifted to Lucy behind her. His pupils contracted slightly.

The girl gave him a strange feeling. He sensed a deep, looming danger and fear.

"Who is she?" Kakuzu asked.

"The village's Jinchuriki," Yura introduced her. "She's my subordinate now."

At that, Kakuzu's pupils contracted.

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

This girl had become even more dangerous.

"At noon in two days, we'll launch the attack. The old-timers in the village will gather at the leader's building in the center," Yura said.

"Understood," Kakuzu replied.

"Kill whoever you want then. I'll leave it up to you," Yura said.

"Hmph. Of course. I'm not your subordinate."

"Then I'll see you again, Senior Kakuzu." With that, Yura turned and left with Lucy.

"Wait..." Kakuzu raised his head. Black markings spread across his bare upper body.

Earth Release: Earth Spear

He hadn't formed any Hand Seals. He must've mastered this technique exceptionally well—it was practically his signature move.

Yura stopped and turned to look at Kakuzu with a faint smile. "Senior, what do you mean by this?"

Lucy gripped the black blade in her hand, eager for a fight. Her bright smile turned sinister.

"Let me confirm your strength." The moment the words left her mouth, a slash suddenly opened across Kakuzu's body. His expression turned blank with surprise as he slowly lowered his head to look at the wound on his chest. It was shallow, just enough to break through his defense.

A blade's sharpness was one thing. Earth Spear could easily stop a kunai or even a sword strike, but swordsmanship was another matter entirely.

More dangerous still, Kakuzu hadn't sensed the attack coming at all.

Lucy froze, then grinned with delight. "So the monster who eats people isn't all that impressive."

Kakuzu's face twitched. Eats people? Me? He looked straight at Yura.

"Next time, if you're still confident, I'll aim for your heart, Kakuzu... Senior," Yura said with a faint smile.

Kakuzu closed his eyes. The resentment he'd been waiting with faded away. "I'll follow the plan."

"Good."

Yura took Lucy and stepped into the dark shadows.

"Until next time."

Kakuzu opened his eyes and gazed deeply into the dark passage. Perhaps following her wouldn't be a bad way forward. If he became a rogue ninja, he was destined to spend the rest of his life wandering without a place to call home.

"No, it doesn't matter. Money is what counts..."

Money would never betray me.

A day passed, and the atmosphere in Takigakure grew increasingly tense. That night, the meeting that had ended earlier that day had to be called again.

"What? All twelve squads we sent out have disappeared?"

"Not a single one has checked in?"

The mood in the meeting hall was grim. Every face was tense. As the minutes passed, the squad sent out to scout returned, their faces slick with cold sweat and terror. They dropped to one knee and said in a trembling voice, "My lord, our investigation found that some kind of invisible force has surrounded the village. It extends underground, too. Anyone who crosses it is torn to pieces by an unseen attack."

The moment the words fell, the meeting hall erupted.

What did this mean...?

It meant they couldn't break through the blockade and would be trapped in the village until they died. Someone had set their sights on the village!

"Is it the Jinchuriki!?" an old man cried in terror amid the uproar.

"Impossible!" another old man immediately objected. "This isn't the work of a Jinchuriki. Someone else is targeting us!"

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

Everyone panicked and shouted over one another.

"Silence!" The old man at the head of the room roared, glaring fiercely at them. "If that's the case, then we'll have to fight back!"

"First! Send people to try to break through the blockade! The village cannot be trapped here! No matter what, we have to find a way out!"

"Second! Gather our forces and strengthen the village's defenses!"

At that, the elders of the three clans exchanged glances.

"Wait, Grand Elder Taki." The old woman of the Qian-Gui Clan cackled. "Our clan will handle our own defenses."

The Grand Elder's eyelid twitched slightly. He looked at the old woman and, after a long silence, nodded. "Granted!"

"In that case, the Kusanagi Clan will handle its own defenses as well," said the cold-looking old man from the Kusanagi Clan.

"Agreed," said the old man from Uji, leaning on his cane.

The four clans had never trusted one another. At a critical time like this, they would only look after their own clan and wouldn't care about the village.

Mochizuki Gen raised his eyelids and looked at the four clans, a mocking smile on his face.

Do you see, Sarutobi Sasuke? This is your so-called village, your so-called peace. History will prove that your clan will either perish in the village's infighting or reach the top by stepping over the corpses of other ninja clans. But in a village with the Senju and Uchiha Clans, how difficult would that be? You'd only end up being swallowed whole.

The era of my clan welcoming the ninja village system has already passed. So, for the sake of the ninja village era, let everything be destroyed.

"However..." The Grand Elder spoke in a low voice. "Your three clans must leave some people behind to help defend the village."

Under the night sky, Takigakure remained brightly lit. The God Tree in the lake at the village's center shone with a soft, eternal glow.

The village streets wound around the lake. Ninja hurried back and forth, leaping through the air. As forces were mobilized, most gathered outside the most prominent building in the village center.

"They talk about strengthening the village's defenses, but they're just afraid to die. They're scrambling to gather people to protect a bunch of old men who are nearly dead..."

Yura smiled faintly.

"Ridiculous..."