Just like that, Xuan Yu and Kakuzu swept through every mission in the Grass Country's Black Market, the Black Markets in the parts of the Land of Fire bordering the Grass Country, and the Land of Rivers' Black Market before finally returning to the Land of Rain.
In the Land of Rain, Xuan Yu showed no restraint whatsoever. Like a hurricane, he swept through every mission in the Land of Rain's Black Market.
His furious mission grinding had both good and bad consequences.
On the bright side, his four attributes and ninjutsu levels had improved during that time.
He still had plenty of sweat left to shed, so he could continue improving.
There were more downsides, though—four in all!
The higher-ups of the Land of Rivers and the Grass Country were very unhappy with their reckless plundering of missions from the two countries' Black Markets.
After all, they had been taking missions from the Black Markets in both countries without any thought for sustainability. They were draining the ponds to catch all the fish.
Then there were Heavenly Path and Konan, who also had some complaints about Xuan Yu and Kakuzu's conduct in the Land of Rain's Black Market. The reason was the same: they had disrupted the Land of Rain's mercenary ecosystem.
The remaining two downsides were that they had thoroughly worked over the Black Markets of the Land of Rivers, the Grass Country, and the Land of Rain, so there would be far fewer missions available going forward.
And after fighting nonstop for over a month without sleep or rest, Xuan Yu was still perfectly fine, but Kakuzu looked like he was about to go meet the Sage of Six Paths at any moment.
After clearing out all the missions, Xuan Yu and Kakuzu returned to Amegakure to face Heavenly Path's dressing-down.
They had gone too far with their mission grinding, so Heavenly Path had tried to recall them before. Xuan Yu had been busy grinding missions and hadn't returned right away.
Now that everything was taken care of, he could go back and have a proper talk with the Akatsuki higher-ups.
Amegakure, the tower.
The Akatsuki members were now more or less all present, including Heavenly Path and Konan.
Heavenly Path and Konan both looked displeased.
The others had varied expressions. Zetsu's black-and-white face was full of amusement. If nothing unexpected happened, Xuan Yu was about to get into trouble.
Orochimaru wore a sinister smile. He didn't care whether Xuan Yu got into trouble, and as far as he was concerned, Heavenly Path would at most give him a severe warning. He wouldn't actually do anything to Xuan Yu.
Beside Orochimaru, Kisame Hoshigaki showed off a mouthful of shark-like teeth and chuckled mockingly. "Kakuzu's previous partners were all short-lived. I thought Xuan Yu would die in some mission too, but it turns out the two of them work surprisingly well together—and have managed to cause plenty of trouble along the way."
After Kisame finished speaking, Sasori corrected him. "More accurately, Xuan Yu is the one who's caused all that trouble. As far as I know, he's been leading their recent operations."
As everyone continued to discuss the matter, Kakuzu and Xuan Yu appeared not far away.
When they saw the two of them, every Akatsuki member was shocked.
Kakuzu was trembling as Xuan Yu supported him into the room.
His eyes were bloodshot, with dark circles so deep they seemed impossible to erase. He looked like a withered corpse, as if he might drop dead at any moment.
Heavenly Path asked in confusion, "What happened? Were you ambushed?"
Konan and the others were thinking more or less the same thing.
Anyone could see that Kakuzu looked half-dead, as if he could kick the bucket at any moment.
Hearing Heavenly Path's question, Xuan Yu smiled and waved a hand. "Brother Men, nothing like that happened. Kakuzi's just too out of shape. He needs more training. He only cleared a few missions, and he ended up like this."
Heavenly Path: ...
Behind Heavenly Path Pain, Nagato was speechless.
At first glance, he hadn't realized that Kakuzu hadn't been ambushed at all—he'd simply exhausted himself grinding missions.
Since Xuan Yu and Kakuzu hadn't been ambushed, they could get straight to the point.
Under Nagato's control, Heavenly Path Pain stared at Xuan Yu impassively and asked, "Why did you recklessly take missions from the Black Markets in the Land of Rivers and the Grass Country? The higher-ups of both countries have raised this with Amegakure more than once. Your actions have had a very negative impact on the Black Markets and mercenaries in both countries!"
"Akatsuki is a mercenary organization and needs to take on plenty of missions to raise funds, but I never said its members could act recklessly out there, did I?"
Faced with Nagato's reproach, Xuan Yu replied nonchalantly, "The complaints from the higher-ups of the Land of Rivers and the Grass Country are just the opinions of a few people. Besides, missions are posted on the Black Market for mercenaries to take. If the mercenaries in those two countries can't handle them, that means they need more training. They shouldn't blame me for being too good at taking missions."
"Even if you want to look at it another way, what do the state of those two countries' Black Markets and the plight of their mercenaries have to do with us?"
Heavenly Path wasn't very satisfied with Xuan Yu's explanation, but he set aside his first question and moved on to the second.
"Not long ago, when you were taking missions in the Land of Rain, I tried to recall you. Why didn't you come back?"
For once, the half-dead Kakuzu got his chance to speak. He hurriedly said, "As soon as I received the order, I prepared to return to our base. But this brat kept dragging me around outside to take more missions!"
"Is that so?" Heavenly Path looked at Xuan Yu coldly, his expression deeply displeased.
Xuan Yu remained unbothered. "No. As soon as I got the order, I brought Kakuzi back to our base. We just took a few missions along the way."
Heavenly Path: ...
Konan: ...
Xuan Yu's excuse left both Heavenly Path and Konan completely speechless.
He hadn't taken a few missions on the way back. He'd clearly been taking missions and happened to return along the way.
His carefree attitude made Heavenly Path realize that reasoning with him was pointless. He could only give him a warning first. If Xuan Yu didn't listen, then he'd have to resort to force.
Heavenly Path said icily, "The Land of Rain and Amegakure are the foundation on which Akatsuki is built. They must not be put at risk. Any action that negatively affects Amegakure or the Land of Rain is an act of hostility that threatens Akatsuki's very foundation."
"Whether it's turning the Land of Rivers and the Grass Country against Amegakure or harming the mercenaries of Amegakure, both threaten our village. This sort of thing must never happen again!"
After Heavenly Path finished, he fixed Xuan Yu with a frigid stare, hoping he would acknowledge his mistake.
But Heavenly Path hadn't expected Xuan Yu to flick his fingers and say dismissively, "Leader, you can't put it like that! What Kakuzi and I have been doing lately has done more good than harm!"
"Utter nonsense!" Heavenly Path rebuked him coldly, his expression impassive.
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