Let's Make a Bet

"Is that Takigakure, the village that received a Tailed Beast?" Gekko Hayate was startled too.

His face turned ashen. He couldn't help asking, "Qin Yu, don't tell me he's the rogue ninja who slaughtered the village leaders?"

"That's right!" Qin Yu smiled and nodded. "I didn't expect to run into you so soon, Kakuzu!"

At his words, Uzuki Yugao and Gekko Hayate went pale.

This was an S-Class rogue ninja who had nearly destroyed a village.

His strength was on par with a Kage.

No matter how hard the Five Great Shinobi Villages had tried, they had never managed to capture an S-Class rogue ninja.

And now one had appeared right in front of them. If that wasn't a nightmare, what was?

"Qin Yu, should we run?" Gekko Hayate panicked.

"We're only a few miles from Konoha. If we push ourselves, we should be able to make it back to the Sealing Gate quickly."

"Once we get there, the people stationed there can come to our aid."

Facing Kakuzu, Gekko Hayate's fighting spirit vanished in an instant.

"Hayate, shut up." Uzuki Yugao snapped at him, then looked at Qin Yu, who still wore a smile, and said gravely, "Don't talk up the enemy and make Qin Yu look bad."

"Just look at Qin Yu. He isn't even the slightest bit afraid. Maybe he can handle this S-Class rogue ninja."

"But why has this S-Class rogue ninja set his sights on us?"

Unlike Gekko Hayate, Uzuki Yugao was a girl with a more perceptive mind.

Since Qin Yu had called the man before them a bounty hunter who reeked of money, and the rogue ninja family they'd just encountered had also kept mentioning bounties, did that mean someone had put a bounty on them?

"Qin Yu, are we being targeted?" Uzuki Yugao asked urgently.

Qin Yu smiled and patted her shoulder. "You're not as dumb as you look."

"Someone's put a bounty on us, and they're offering quite a lot. To get Kakuzu involved, they'd have to put up at least twenty or thirty million ryo."

"What?"

Uzuki Yugao and Gekko Hayate's expressions changed.

As ninjas, they earned around a hundred ryo a month.

Even making two or three thousand ryo in a year was pretty good.

But according to Qin Yu, someone had put up twenty or thirty million ryo for the bounty.

Whoever had ordered the assassination was definitely no ordinary person.

"Qin Yu, are you saying someone in Konoha wants to kill us?" Uzuki Yugao asked cautiously.

Over the past few days, nothing had happened between Uzuki Yugao and Qin Yu.

Still, Qin Yu's affectionate treatment of her had made her care about him, whatever their relationship was.

"They want to kill me. You two just got dragged into it." Qin Yu smiled faintly. "If you're scared, you can leave. He won't chase you. Your lives aren't worth much."

Seeing Qin Yu still joking around at a time like this, Uzuki Yugao shot him a glare, then stubbornly said, "Qin Yu, I'm not leaving. I believe you can beat him. Hayate, you agree, don't you?"

Gekko Hayate had just started thinking about retreating. Before he could even move, he heard her say that.

Under Uzuki Yugao's gaze, he could only nod with a grimace.

"Kid, are you done talking?" After absorbing the chakra from the rogue ninjas, Kakuzu suddenly looked up.

The black veins didn't retract. Instead, they writhed like claws, a horrifying sight.

"Kakuzu, you still reek of money. How about we make a bet? If you win, you can have my head. If I win, you become my subordinate," Qin Yu said with a smile.

"It's a pretty good deal. If you win, you can kill me. If I win, you don't have to die—you just become my subordinate. Doesn't that sound like an honor?"

Uzuki Yugao and Gekko Hayate were both completely bewildered by his casual words.

Was he actually trying to recruit an S-Class rogue ninja?

If word got out, it would be downright shocking.

"Kid, you sure have a way with words. It's been a long time since I met such an interesting brat." Kakuzu untied his cloak, revealing a body that looked pieced together. The exposed black veins made him look even more revolting.

The veins protruding from his mouth resembled a bundle of straw, writhing like a snake's tongue and adding an inexplicable sense of oppression.

Kakuzu looked at Qin Yu, whose expression remained unchanged, and grinned viciously. "I didn't expect you to keep a straight face after seeing what I look like."

"I accept your bet. I'd love to claim your bounty, and I hope you can last four or five moves against me. Otherwise, I'll get bored."

Qin Yu's rise had taken only seven or eight days.

Even people in Konoha Hidden Leaf Village didn't all know about him yet, let alone a wandering ninja like Kakuzu.

Besides, in Kakuzu's eyes, what kind of trouble could a mere Konoha Chunin possibly cause?

"Don't worry. I'll make sure you suffer and enjoy every moment of it!" Qin Yu suddenly laughed.

Kakuzu's expression darkened. Qin Yu seemed completely unaffected by the pressure he was exerting, and Kakuzu's last shred of patience snapped. He barked, "Kid, I hope you can still laugh in a moment."

"Lightning Release: Dark Lightning!"

A Lightning Release mask immediately flew out from Kakuzu's back. It opened its mouth, and bolts of lightning burst forth, surging toward Qin Yu like a raging tide.

"You two, get farther away. This fight will be over soon," Qin Yu said with a faint smile.

Uzuki Yugao and Gekko Hayate's expressions changed drastically. They didn't have time to think and hurriedly leapt back.

They had seen Qin Yu's skills with their own eyes.

If he dared to say that, he wasn't just boasting.

Still, the man standing before them was an S-Class rogue ninja.

They had confidence in Qin Yu's strength, but whether he could end the fight that quickly was another matter.

As they spoke, the few dozen meters between them vanished in the blink of an eye beneath the Dark Lightning's assault.

By the time Uzuki Yugao and Gekko Hayate had steadied themselves, the incoming attack had already struck Qin Yu with a thunderous crash.

Boom!

Lightning exploded like thunder splitting the sky.

Everything inside the Post Station was instantly shredded by the violent arcs, sending up a vast cloud of dust.

"Damn brat, how dare you underestimate me? I'll make sure you die even faster today!" Kakuzu snorted.

The Fire Release mask on his back appeared in an instant.

"Fire Release: Searing Migraine!"

A scorching sea of flames poured from its mouth.

After absorbing the chakra of more than ten rogue ninjas, the flames had spread to a width of twenty or thirty meters.

They engulfed the entire Post Station.

But before Kakuzu could react, the flames suddenly began to swirl like a vortex.

In the next instant, the blazing inferno was blown away.