Kakuzu: "Don't know, don't care, it's none of my business!"

Konan waved her hand, asking displeasedly, "Kakuzu, where's the commission for this mission? And your partner, where did he go?"

Faced with Konan's questioning, Kakuzu wore an extremely depressed expression.

He answered sullenly, "My partner died unexpectedly during the mission."

Hearing this, Konan's fair forehead couldn't help but bulge with veins, a black "well" character faintly appearing.

The Akatsuki didn't forbid members from dying on missions, but with Kakuzu's partners "accidentally" dying so frequently, let alone the Akatsuki, even the Five Great Shinobi Villages couldn't withstand such losses.

Konan immediately lowered her pretty face, saying with some anger, "Kakuzu, your partner has 'accidentally' died more than once. And there have always been rumors that you deliberately killed your partners."

As soon as Konan finished speaking, Kakuzu secretly grumbled in his heart, "Those are more than just rumors! Those foolish partners were all deliberately killed by me through carelessness."

Of course, such thoughts could only be entertained in his mind; he absolutely couldn't say them in front of Konan, or else Heavenly Path Pain and Konan would surely settle accounts with him later.

While Kakuzu was internally complaining, Konan continued to stare at him, sternly holding him accountable, "The organization is in need of people right now, and recruiting suitable new members isn't easy. Out of responsibility to the Akatsuki and other members, I need a reasonable explanation for this situation."

After saying this, Konan's cold, beautiful eyes fixed on Kakuzu, waiting for him to explain clearly.

Kakuzu felt increasingly stifled and sighed inwardly.

If he could earn the bounty while eliminating his unlucky teammates, then being scolded by the organization's leaders was acceptable. After all, one couldn't go against money in life.

He could endure Konan and Pain's reprimands.

But the problem was, this time his spoils of victory had been snatched by Uchiha Genba, and not just once, but three times!

Thinking of this, Kakuzu took a deep breath, suppressed his inner frustration, and began to explain in detail, "Strictly speaking, this mission wasn't a failure. The bounty target I was responsible for hunting has been successfully dealt with by me."

"However, during the mission, my partner died in an accident due to a lack of coordination with me. I had intended to take the bounty target's corpse to the Bounty Exchange for the reward, and then bring back my partner's body, but the moment the mission was completed, I was ambushed!"

"Ambushed?!"

Konan's beautiful eyes narrowed at the words, a hint of surprise appearing on her exquisite face.

It was well known that only Akatsuki members ambushed others; it had been a long time since anyone dared to attack an Akatsuki member.

Kakuzu nodded affirmatively, "That's right. As soon as I finished the mission, I was suddenly subjected to an extremely dangerous attack. The attacker was a suspected Leaf Village ninja, possessing brute strength comparable to a Tailed Beast and unimaginable speed."

He recalled with a dark gaze, "Just as I killed the bounty target, a huge rock suddenly smashed towards me with lightning speed. Faced with the sudden attack, I instinctively ducked to dodge and tried to locate the attacker. But in that split second, the body of my bounty target and the body of my partner were both snatched away by the opponent."

Kakuzu's account left Konan dumbfounded. She couldn't help but press, "Didn't you chase after him?"

Konan's question completely brought out the bitterness bottled up inside Kakuzu.

Kakuzu sighed heavily and said indignantly, "I chased! I swear, I never moved that fast even when fighting Hashirama Senju back then! But even so, I still couldn't catch that shameless brat!"

The resentment and helplessness in Kakuzu's words made Konan understand a little.

When Kakuzu fought ninjas of Hashirama Senju's caliber back then, he must have fled for his life.

The fact that he claimed to have run even faster this time indicated that the attacker was extremely skilled in speed.

Moreover, the Leaf Village was not short of ninjas who excelled in speed, so it was understandable that Kakuzu couldn't catch up with such an opponent.

Thinking this, Konan nodded slightly, "So, your mission can indeed be considered not a complete failure. If it weren't for the mishap halfway, you would have completed it. However, regarding your partner's death, I still need a clearer explanation."

Mentioning this, Kakuzu truly wanted to shrug and say, "I don't know, I'm unclear, it has nothing to do with me."

But he knew in his heart that he couldn't get away with it like before this time.

Furthermore, he had already successfully blamed Genba for the loss of the bounty target's body. It would be better to shift the blame for his partner's death onto Genba as well.

After a moment of thought, Kakuzu put on a serious expression and said, "According to my investigation, the person who ambushed me was Uchiha Genba, who is active near the Bounty Exchange in the Empty District. The Uchiha Clan of the Leaf Village has unpredictable and mysterious techniques—I suspect that when my partner and I were dealing with the bounty target, we were affected by Uchiha Genba's genjutsu or other means, causing my partner to make a fatal mistake and die on the spot. Judging from the aftermath, my partner was likely also one of Genba's targets in this operation, so he had every motive to commit such a heinous act."

After finishing his elaborate explanation, Kakuzu quietly watched Konan, awaiting her decision.

Konan stared at Kakuzu's earnest face, feeling a headache coming on.

According to Kakuzu's account, it was somewhat plausible, but she felt something was not quite right.

However, this was clearly not the time to delve into such details.

Things had reached this point, and further discussion was useless. The priority was to accept reality and then consider how to minimize losses.

After a moment of contemplation, Konan asked, "How do you plan to deal with this Uchiha Genba?"

Genba's repeated provocations had already enraged Kakuzu.

Before Konan could finish speaking, Kakuzu said without hesitation, "To ensure that scoundrel doesn't interfere with my and other members' missions in the future, I plan to take some time to find an opportunity to kill him and reclaim all the lost bounty, with interest!"

Konan nodded slightly, "Very well. The existence of this ninja has indeed had an extremely negative impact on the Akatsuki's operations. Do you require any assistance from the organization?"

Actually, Konan didn't know why Genba repeatedly opposed the Akatsuki, but it wasn't important.

Since Genba was determined to hinder the Akatsuki's development, he must be eliminated as soon as possible.