Kakuzu: I'll take all the Black Market missions, I'll grind him to death!

Heavenly Path nodded, as if answering Konan's previous question.

He didn't speak further, merely gazing down at Amegakure.

Konan also remained silent. She was rather concerned about Xuan Yu's situation, as it was related to the Akatsuki.

As for Leaf Village's affairs, while they might be significant to the Ninja World, she wasn't particularly bothered.

From what she could see, the conflict between the Uchiha Clan, the various Leaf Village clans, and Leaf Village's higher-ups seemed unrelated to the Akatsuki.

Unaware that Heavenly Path and Konan were monitoring his progress while he was out on missions, Xuan Yu was in the Black Market of the Grass Country.

These past few days, his main body and his Chakra Clones had been relentlessly taking on missions with the assistance of the Ninja Cat Clan.

This high-intensity mission-taking pace caused the mission request scrolls in his hands to dwindle rapidly.

He had already completed all missions ranked C and above.

Next, he planned to have his Chakra Clones continue grinding D and C-rank missions, while his main body would go find Kakuzu and deliver the bounties Kakuzu hunted to the Empty District Black Market to complete the missions.

Stretching languidly, Xuan Yu said to a Ninja Cat nearby, "Take me to Kakuzi. I wonder how his missions are going."

"Meow~" The Ninja Cat chirped, then leaped forward, quickly heading in a certain direction.

Meanwhile, Kakuzu had only completed one-third of his missions.

He wasn't grinding missions non-stop like Xuan Yu, but rather working at a normal pace.

Furthermore, his speed attribute wasn't as high as Xuan Yu's, and his Earth Grudge Fear mask monsters couldn't help him share the mission load like Xuan Yu's Chakra Clones.

Therefore, when Xuan Yu appeared before him, Kakuzu had just completed one-third of his mission requests.

Upon seeing Xuan Yu, Kakuzu asked indifferently, "What is it?"

Xuan Yu chuckled, "Kakuzi, why else would I be here if not to offer you some help!"

Kakuzu didn't respond. He figured Xuan Yu would only cause trouble, not offer help.

But he didn't want to waste time with Xuan Yu now, so he stated directly, "Why are you here instead of grinding missions?"

Xuan Yu took out a stack of cash and patted it in his hand, saying casually, "Kakuzi, you underestimate me, don't you? My missions are basically done. My clones can handle the remaining insignificant ones."

"See? I'm good to you, aren't I? As soon as my missions were done, I came to help you."

Kakuzu blinked in surprise, then asked, "What did you say? Your missions are finished?"

His tone was calm, but his heart was anything but.

If Xuan Yu was telling the truth, then Xuan Yu was simply a monster.

So many tasks, including S-rank missions, and he had already completed most of them in such a short time?

Did Xuan Yu not need to sleep?

Xuan Yu patted Kakuzu's shoulder, "Do I need to ask? How many days has it been? Even if I lived a healthy lifestyle, I'd have finished most of them by now. How are your missions going?"

Seeing Xuan Yu's confident demeanor, Kakuzu somewhat believed that he had indeed finished most of his missions.

However, he refused to answer Xuan Yu's question.

If Xuan Yu's missions were basically done and he had only completed one-third, how could he possibly say it?

But it didn't matter if Kakuzu didn't speak. With the Ninja Cat Clan secretly keeping watch, Xuan Yu knew exactly how many missions he had completed.

Seeing Kakuzu's silence, Xuan Yu couldn't help but say with disappointment, "Kakuzi, look at you, you've been using your mission grinding time to sleep again, haven't you? Otherwise, your missions should be finished by now."

"But it's okay, I'll handle the logistics, you just focus on the killing, and leave the rest to me."

"No need." With those three words, Kakuzu headed directly to his next mission location.

The current situation had caught him off guard.

He had originally thought he could finish his missions long before Xuan Yu, and then watch Xuan Yu struggle painfully with a mountain of tasks.

But now, the situation was completely reversed.

Xuan Yu's resolve to provide all assistance except for helping Kakuzu was, of course, firm.

After Kakuzu left, he immediately followed.

After Kakuzu completed a mission, he understood what Xuan Yu meant by handling the logistics.

After successfully eliminating a bounty target, Kakuzu, as usual, prepared to carry the body to the Bounty Exchange to complete the mission.

But as soon as he made a move, a gust of wind flashed before his eyes.

The next moment, the bounty target he had just hunted was already slung over Xuan Yu's shoulder.

Xuan Yu turned back with a cheeky grin and said, "Kakuzi, hurry up and take on your next mission, I'll go turn this one in for you."

Kakuzu roared, "Put the body down, don't interfere with my mission!"

Xuan Yu, of course, didn't listen. He unleashed his full speed, maxing out his Body Flicker Technique. With a few flashes, he disappeared from Kakuzu's sight.

Kakuzu could only stare in the direction Xuan Yu had left, gritting his teeth in anger.

Kakuzu also secretly decided, "Next time, I can't grind missions like this with this brat. His Cloning Technique is very special, giving him a unique advantage when dealing with D and C-rank missions."

"From now on, I won't take missions below B-rank, and I'll have this brat accompany me on missions. I'll grind him to death!"

With his mind made up, Kakuzu accelerated the pace of his missions.

Then, he discovered that Xuan Yu was like a specter, appearing and disappearing without a trace.

Every time he took down a bounty target, Xuan Yu would promptly appear, hoist the corpse over his shoulder, and bolt.

Xuan Yu's movements were so clean, fluid, and effortless that his proficiency made Kakuzu's heart ache.

Once Kakuzu began grinding missions without sleep or rest, his efficiency finally picked up.

After another three and a half days, he finished all the remaining missions and began splitting the money with Xuan Yu.

Just like before, Xuan Yu actually behaved himself and took only 75 million ryo.

Seeing Xuan Yu act so strictly by the rules, it was hard for Kakuzu not to suspect that something was wrong.

Yet, he truly could not figure out where the problem lay.

However, none of that mattered; what mattered was that it was time for him to take revenge on Xuan Yu.

He hadn't rested during this time, and neither had Xuan Yu, but he possessed the Earth Grudge Fear Secret Technique, while Xuan Yu had to rely on his physical body to endure it.

He intended to keep grinding missions until Xuan Yu was completely exhausted.

After putting away the check worth 75 million ryo, Kakuzu said indifferently, "We've cleared at least a third, if not more, of all the Black Market missions in the Grass Country. I plan to finish off the rest of the Grass Country's Black Market missions in one go, then move to a new location. What is your opinion?"