A flicker of satisfaction passed through Kakuzu's dark green eyes. Looking down at Sarutobi Asuma, who was barely clinging to life beneath his feet, Kakuzu truly felt that this trip had not been in vain.
He had killed a guy named Chiriku earlier and made a good amount of money from it. Now another fifty thousand ryo was about to fall into his pocket. Hmm, today really was a lucky day for Kakuzu!
Just as Kakuzu was about to press down with his foot and finish Asuma off—
"Eight Trigrams—Air Palm!"
A powerful blast of compressed air struck him. Kakuzu's expression changed, but he was too late to evade. With a boom, he was sent flying and smashed hard into the wall behind him.
Four figures swiftly arrived beside Asuma. It was Shikamaru, Neji, and the others, who had come to rescue him!
Strictly speaking, there had been other search teams and Anbu members closer to Asuma's location.
The reason Shikamaru's group had arrived before those teams was naturally Shikamaru's own judgment. The moment they left the village, Shikamaru had determined the most likely location and headed straight in that direction.
They had spotted Asuma's group's distress signal on the way, so it was only natural that they had arrived ahead of the other teams! They had also arrived at exactly the best possible moment, saving Asuma's life!
"Asuma-sensei, are you all right?!" Ino helped Asuma up, her face full of concern. "I'll treat you right away!"
Seeing Asuma in such a weak and battered state, Ino rapidly formed hand seals. A shimmering green light immediately covered Asuma's wounds, and the injuries across his body visibly began to heal!
"Cough, cough..." Asuma coughed up a trace of black blood. Looking at the worried Ino, he gave a faint smile. "To