"Clang—!"
The sound of metal striking metal rang out. Two ninja collided and immediately sprang apart, each adjusting his stance before charging back into the fight.
One of the two wore the Akatsuki uniform, black with red clouds.
The other was the target of the Akatsuki's bounty on this mission, a powerful rogue ninja.
Behind a massive boulder in the distance, a pair of pale green eyes watched the clash intently. They belonged to Kakuzu, who had been lying in wait to observe the fight.
After watching for a while, Kakuzu realized that his partner and the bounty target were evenly matched. Neither could get the upper hand.
This wouldn't do!
When an ally was in trouble, standing by without lifting a finger was the way of the Nationalist Army.
As for Kakuzu, whenever an ally was in trouble, he always had to step in and do something about it!
"Whoosh!"
Without another moment's hesitation, Kakuzu decided to join the fight.
A masked Earth Grudge Fear monster suddenly rose behind him. As his partner and the bounty target closed in on each other again, Kakuzu decisively unleashed a wide-area Fire Release Ninjutsu, blanketing the battlefield.
"Fire Style: Headhunter!"
In the world of Naruto, most Fire Release techniques were merciful deterrents, with few recorded instances of them actually killing anyone.
But Fire Style: Headhunter was an exception.
As Kakuzu poured out Chakra, the Earth Grudge Fear mask monster threw its head back and spewed a torrent of flames.
In an instant, orange-red fire filled the sky and swept over the two ninja fighting up ahead, swallowing them whole and burning them to a crisp!
Only after confirming that both of them were well and truly dead did Kakuzu reluctantly stop using Fire Release. He ordered the masked monster to cease its flames and pulled it back behind him.
He shook his head and muttered without a hint of guilt, "Fools! You're partners on a two-man team, yet you don't have the slightest teamwork. You couldn't even predict when I was about to use a jutsu and dodge in time."
He might have said that, but the grin at the corner of Kakuzu's mouth was harder to suppress than an AK.
After all, this bounty target was worth ten million ryo, and his unfortunate partner was worth twenty million.
Without breaking a sweat, he had just earned himself thirty million ryo in bounty money.
He was practically winning so hard he'd gone numb!
The Akatsuki's rules strictly forbade killing teammates, but accidents happened during missions.
Those trivial details didn't matter now. What mattered was taking the bounty target's corpse—and the corpse of his unfortunate teammate—to the Bounty Exchange in the Black Market and collecting the money.
But just as Kakuzu was about to get moving, the five hearts inside him suddenly lurched in unison. A powerful sense of danger washed over him.
The massive boulder that had sheltered him moments ago seemed to come alive, hurtling toward him with a deafening rush of wind.
If it hit him head-on, most people wouldn't even have the chance to become an Obito Bro.
Faced with the sudden attack, Kakuzu reacted at once, completely unfazed.
He planted one hand on the ground and dropped his body low, narrowly dodging the enormous rock flying at him.
At the same time, he glared in the direction it had come from, searching for the attacker.
But Kakuzu saw no sign of an enemy. Instead, an ominous foreboding welled up inside him.
"Shit!"
He spun around, realizing that the corpses of his unfortunate partner and the bounty target had vanished from the ground behind him!
At the edge of his vision, a black-haired young man in traditional Konoha armor was carrying both corpses and sprinting away at full tilt, using the Body Flicker Technique.
The young man looked to be in his twenties. His Konoha-standard combat clothes were neat but visibly worn, with several patched holes.
He certainly looked like a Konoha Ninja, but someone with that kind of skill shouldn't have been living in such dire straits.
To Kakuzu, this black-haired kid who seemed to be a Konoha Ninja was just like Mai Shiranui's younger brother: utterly clueless.
He dared to lay hands on Kakuzu's spoils!
But the guy wasn't actually clueless. He had a name: Uchiha Genba.
The Uchiha were indeed one of the great clans of the Leaf Village, but that had little to do with Genba.
For one thing, he was just an unremarkable civilian descendant of the Uchiha Clan, with no talent for being a ninja.
For another, he had defected from the Leaf Village long ago. Now he was nothing more than a rogue ninja, constantly on the run and scrounging for a living.
The grin that had been so hard for Kakuzu to suppress had now spread across Genba's face.
Genba was so happy he couldn't stop grinning. He felt like flowers were blooming in his heart.
Over the past few months, he had repeatedly milked Kakuzu for all he was worth, and he'd already made a fortune.
As long as he managed to shake Kakuzu's pursuit this time, he'd make another killing.
It was like two Qin Shihuangs taking turns in line, both winning and winning again!
Genba ran with growing enthusiasm, while Kakuzu was nearly bursting with rage behind him!
Fuming, Kakuzu pushed the Body Flicker Technique to its limits. He chased after Genba while yelling at the top of his lungs, "Damn it! You again, you little brat! Put down my thirty million ryo, or I'll rip out your heart!"
If someone stole a worthless corpse, Kakuzu wouldn't have bothered.
But Genba had just made off with a full thirty million ryo in bounty money!
That was Kakuzu's hard-earned cash!
Genba could steal anything he wanted, but not his money!
Genba didn't even bother responding to Kakuzu's threats.
Kakuzu wanted to rip out his heart?
He'd have to catch him first!
After all his hard work training—or, more accurately, adding points—Genba had complete confidence in his speed.
If he hadn't had a few tricks up his sleeve, he would've crashed and burned long ago while snatching Kakuzu's prizes right out from under him.
Genba raced ahead with all his strength. Kakuzu ran after him as if his life depended on it, but he still couldn't catch up.
Not only was Kakuzu failing to close the gap, the distance between them was steadily growing.
Realizing that this familiar scene was playing out all over again, Kakuzu felt as if all five of his hearts were cramping in pain.
If nothing unexpected happened, Uchiha Genba was going to steal his thirty million ryo yet again!
The thought left Kakuzu so frustrated he could've spat blood.
He kept chasing with all his might, unwilling to give up, while cursing nonstop, "Damn it, is this never going to end? Three times! This is the third time this month!"
In the past, whenever Kakuzu realized that he couldn't catch Genba no matter what, he would cut his losses and let it go.
But this time was different. He was stuck in a state of mind where holding back only made him angrier, and backing down only made him feel more cheated.
The only thing on his mind now was catching Uchiha Genba, no matter what. He'd rip out the kid's heart and tear him limb from limb.
He'd make Genba pay back every last ryo he'd stolen, with interest.
Unfortunately, that was easier said than done.
Even though Kakuzu was running at full speed, he couldn't close the gap between them. If anything, Genba was pulling farther and farther ahead.
Kakuzu knew perfectly well that continuing the chase was a waste of effort, but he just couldn't swallow his anger.
"That shameless little brat! When he takes a bounty mission, why doesn't he hunt the target himself? He just keeps stealing from other bounty hunters!"
"And if he were at least brazen enough to rob me in broad daylight, that'd be one thing! But every time, he sneaks up and attacks from behind! Goddamn it!"
He kept cursing, but his mind was already racing through the possibilities.
After dealing with Genba several times, he had learned a lot about the kid and felt confident he could find a way to deal with him.
Genba, racing ahead, had no idea that Kakuzu had already gathered a wealth of information about him and was planning to teach him a lesson.
That didn't stop Genba from happily running away.
After all, he wasn't quite like other ninja.
That wasn't to say he was somehow "improper." He simply didn't need to rely on talent, ocular techniques, tattoos, or all sorts of other strange Kekkei Genkai like other ninja did.
For Genba, all it took was hard work and sweat to keep growing stronger!
For ordinary ninja, learning to conceal their abilities was probably one of the first lessons they received.
After all, if an enemy learned everything about a ninja's abilities, it would be easy to devise a way to counter them.
Take Hidan, one of the undying duo. Once Nara Shikamaru figured out his secret, hadn't he been tricked and buried in the forest?
But Genba didn't worry about that at all.
As long as he kept improving quickly enough, the rate at which his information leaked would never catch up to the speed at which he grew stronger.
The outside world would always know an outdated version of him, never the ever-improving version he was now.
For example, right now he was running with all his might.
If Guy and his student Lee saw him, they might be moved to tears and praise him: "Now that's a run full of youthful vigor!"
After sprinting for a while longer, Genba glanced back and saw that Kakuzu had dwindled into a tiny black speck in the distance, almost disappearing from sight.
A smug smile crept across his face.
As the saying went, all martial arts were powerless before the fastest technique!
Back then, he had wisely decided to invest a large number of his stat points in speed.
According to the information Genba had obtained, the two bounty targets he'd stolen this time were worth ten million ryo and twenty million ryo, respectively.
As long as he took the corpses to the Bounty Exchange in the Black Market and completed the job, he'd be able to happily add more points and level up again!
Before you continue