Ten minutes later, outside the dense forest.
Guy glanced at Kakuzu and said flatly,
"Wait here. You'll come with me later."
"By the way, you're not planning to run away, are you?"
Kakuzu hurriedly shook his head, his voice dry.
"Don't worry, sir. I absolutely won't sneak away."
"Hmph. I didn't think you'd dare."
Guy gave Kakuzu another look, then turned and strode toward Yugakure once more.
Watching Guy's back disappear into the woods, Kakuzu hesitated for a moment but ultimately chose not to take the chance to flee.
He walked behind a large tree and slowly sat down with his back against the trunk, bitterness and helplessness on his face.
After Guy had said, "If I kill you, the money will still be mine," Kakuzu had thought he was doomed.
But then Guy had abruptly changed his tone and actually said he wanted Kakuzu to join his faction.
"You're a rogue ninja, and so am I. Now that I've established my own faction, you'll work for me from now on. I'll protect you."
That had left Kakuzu stunned.
But when one was under another's roof, one had no choice but to bow one's head.
The choices before him were either to lose his life immediately or gain the "protection" of this unfathomably powerful man.
Though it meant working for someone else and losing the freedom he had once enjoyed.
Still... at the very least, he could be accepted by an "organization" again, and its leader was someone so powerful.
After weighing the pros and cons, especially under the threat of death,
Kakuzu ultimately resigned himself to his fate.
Guy did not bother further with Kakuzu's thoughts and strode back to Yugakure's publishing house.
The place had mostly been cleaned up. Quite a few newspaper staff members were anxiously busy