Kakuzu had considered that Xuan Yu might complain about how many missions he took on, or discuss with him taking fewer commissions.
But no matter how hard he racked his brain, he never would have guessed that Xuan Yu would still think it wasn't enough when he took on every commission at three Bounty Exchanges each time.
That instantly left Kakuzu with nothing to say. After taking a mission from the last Bounty Exchange, he planned to drag Xuan Yu into completing missions like mad.
He would show Xuan Yu during their missions whether there were really too few of them.
Kakuzu stopped talking about the missions, and Xuan Yu didn't argue with him about the workload either.
While he and Kakuzu headed to the next Bounty Exchange to take on missions, the Chakra Clones he had scattered around other places had already started grinding through D-Rank and C-Rank missions.
Once all four of his attributes broke through 20,000 and he learned a few more powerful jutsu, his Chakra Clones might even be able to handle B-Rank missions on their own with ease.
The process of taking on missions after that was entirely uneventful.
Kakuzi came through, doing the work of two men.
Xuan Yu would believe it if someone told him Kakuzu had clout at every Black Market in the Ninja World.
After taking on missions at three Black Market Bounty Exchanges in one go, Kakuzu began carrying them out with Xuan Yu.
He looked through the mission slips in his hands, then said to Xuan Yu, "Let's start with the lucrative targets. These few are worth over ten million ryo each, and they're nearby, so they're our priority."
Xuan Yu shook his head. "That's way too inefficient! Even though we took on missions from three Bounty Exchanges, the people we have to deal with are just small fry. Unless we run into a bounty target one person can't handle, we can split up and work separately, then split the earnings fifty-fifty."
"I've already sorted out all the mission slips. These are yours, and these are mine."
As Xuan Yu spoke, he handed some of the mission slips to Kakuzu.
Kakuzu took them and quickly looked them over.
He discovered that his missions were very different from Xuan Yu's.
Xuan Yu's missions ranged from D-Rank to S-Rank, while his own were all A-Rank and B-Rank.
However, once they completed all their missions, they would each earn roughly 75 million ryo in commissions.
After thinking it over briefly, Kakuzu nodded. "Once we've completed all the missions, we'll meet at the inn we stayed at before."
He didn't know why Xuan Yu wanted to divide the missions this way, but it was undoubtedly advantageous for him.
The toughest jobs—the S-Rank missions—had all been left to him.
As for the D-Rank and C-Rank errands, the low-level busywork that didn't interest him at all, Xuan Yu had taken those.
After dividing up their missions, Kakuzu wasted no time and headed straight for one of the bounty targets.
As he left, a Ninja Cat in the forest followed him at a discreet distance.
After Kakuzu left, Xuan Yu also got right to work, happily grinding through missions.
Watching Kakuzu head off, Xuan Yu chuckled to himself. Kakuzi is still too green! I've got Chakra Clones to do the work for me, and the Ninja Cat Clan providing intelligence support. Grinding through these missions will be a piece of cake.
Once I've finished the missions in my hands, I can help Kakuzi turn in his at the Empty District Bounty Exchange. Sure, it adds the extra step of taking the bounty targets to the Empty District Bounty Exchange, but it also means Kakuzi's doing work for me.
While Xuan Yu and Kakuzu were grinding through missions like mad, the Akatsuki's higher-ups were also keeping an eye on them.
Atop the tower in Amegakure, Deva Path Pain stood quietly, gazing into the distance.
Konan stood not far from him. Her stunning face remained as cold as frost, as if a smile would never grace it.
After a long while, Deva Path Pain remarked casually, "It seems Kakuzu and that newcomer are getting along well. A long time has passed, and we still haven't received word that the newcomer died in an accident."
"I just don't know whether Kakuzu really is getting along with Xuan Yu, or whether they've simply had a smooth run of missions and avoided any casualties."
Konan saw things differently from Deva Path Pain.
The cool beauty watched the raindrops falling before her and said calmly, "Perhaps Kakuzu can't make anything happen to this new partner of his."
The other Akatsuki members might not have been entirely sure whether the rumors about Kakuzu killing off his teammates were true, but Nagato, who stood behind Konan and Deva Path Pain, undoubtedly knew some of the facts.
However, Kakuzu was a repeat offender who almost never left evidence that he had deliberately killed his teammates. On top of that, he had contributed a great deal to the Akatsuki's growth and hadn't brought the organization any unbearable consequences.
So as long as Kakuzu didn't go too far, Deva Path Pain and Konan generally didn't look too closely into what he did.
Deva Path Pain didn't mind Konan's bluntness. Instead, he brought up something else.
"That newcomer named Xuan Yu is indeed a little unusual."
Konan asked calmly, "Unusual in what way?"
At present, she considered Xuan Yu to be a solidly capable recruit, better than merely adequate, but she hadn't seen anything particularly unusual about him.
If Kakuzu hadn't successfully invited Xuan Yu to join the Akatsuki, then Xuan Yu, who had repeatedly sabotaged Kakuzu's missions, might even have been an enemy of the Akatsuki.
Deva Path Pain quickly answered her question.
"I've had Xuan Yu investigated from every angle over the past few days. What he told us about himself was basically accurate. For the eighteen years he lived in Konohagakure, he was just an inconsequential civilian Uchiha."
"But the truth is, aside from not showing the Kekkei Genkai unique to the Uchiha Clan, he's a genius in every other respect. Orochimaru is also very interested in him and has met with him privately recently."
The Akatsuki's intelligence network was extremely capable.
Deva Path Pain didn't know what sort of deal Orochimaru and Xuan Yu had made, but he knew they had met.
After thinking it over briefly, Konan asked another question. "Could he be a spy deliberately planted in the Akatsuki by Konohagakure?"
Deva Path Pain shook his head. "That's highly unlikely. Given the state of affairs in Konohagakure, it would be difficult for them to trust an Uchiha to that extent. If our intelligence is more or less accurate, then Konohagakure's powder keg is about to explode."
Konan replied with some surprise, "Has it really reached that point?"
She knew exactly what Deva Path Pain meant by the powder keg.
The feud between Konohagakure's major clans and the Uchiha Clan was no great secret.
Anyone with access to intelligence who kept a close eye on Konohagakure would notice that the Uchiha Clan, the other clans, and the village leadership were locked in an increasingly tense and dangerous standoff.
This conflict would come sooner or later. The only questions were when it would break out and how far it would go.
Before you continue