Recruit Him! The Akatsuki Needs People Like This!

In the dense forest, Kakuzu stared intently at Genba before him, his eyes betraying a hint of unconcealed apprehension.

The strength Genba displayed had far surpassed Kakuzu's imagination.

He even realized that even if he were to go all out and fight Genba to the death at this moment, he wouldn't gain any advantage.

Upon realizing this, Kakuzu immediately concluded that the battle could not continue today.

Kakuzu's mind raced as he calculated, "I'll retreat this time and report the situation here to Konan, letting her decide how to deal with this guy."

Having made up his mind, Kakuzu wasted no more words. His figure flashed, and he decisively retreated.

He had come to find Genba today intending to kill the kid and reclaim his previous losses with interest.

Since this goal was difficult to achieve now, he naturally wouldn't waste any more time here.

As Kakuzu retreated, Genba had no intention of pursuing.

After all, he was still counting on Kakuzu to continue taking on missions and earning bounties, so he could seize the opportunity to fleece Kakuzu again.

Only after Kakuzu's figure had completely disappeared did Genba instruct the Ninja Cats lurking nearby, "Keep watching him from a distance, but don't engage him. After the mission, I'll treat you to Silvervine Drinks."

As soon as Genba finished speaking, the Ninja Cats responded with a chorus of "Meow," and then their figures flashed, scattering to resume their surveillance mission.

However, this time the situation was different from usual.

After retreating, Kakuzu did not immediately embark on a mission. Instead, he made a detour to the Black Market. He didn't accept any commissions but instead inquired about information related to Genba before hastily returning to Akatsuki.

Above Amegakure, the rain fell incessantly, and the village was shrouded in a perpetual downpour.

On the platform of the tall tower, Kakuzu's figure reappeared.

"Swish..."

Countless paper fragments flew in from afar, rapidly converging as they approached Kakuzu, transforming into a blue-haired beauty in the blink of an eye, with a rose adorning her dark tresses.

Seeing Kakuzu return, Konan asked in surprise, "I thought this mission would take you longer to complete. I didn't expect you to be back so soon. Your execution ability is as outstanding as ever."

In Konan's view, Kakuzu's swift return could only mean the mission was completed; otherwise, he wouldn't be here.

As for the possibility of Kakuzu failing, Konan hadn't considered it at all.

Kakuzu's previous failures against Genba were ultimately due to Genba's lack of honor, always ambushing him.

This time, Kakuzu had specifically gone to deal with Genba, so it was only natural that Genba would have a tough time.

Unexpectedly, as soon as Konan finished speaking, Kakuzu replied with some embarrassment in a low voice, "My mission failed."

Konan: (O_O)???

Konan was stunned on the spot.

After a few seconds of silence, her exquisitely beautiful face finally showed a look of utter confusion: "Why?"

Kakuzu sighed and said, "Not long ago, I happened to encounter him in a forest near the Empty District. His speed was like lightning; I couldn't even touch him despite giving my all."

"Later, he displayed extremely terrifying taijutsu skills. When he used Leaf Whirlwind, he could generate high-speed rotating air currents, forming a small hurricane. I was hit head-on by that hurricane and sent flying."

Kakuzu's description left Konan momentarily incredulous.

Akatsuki's intelligence network was extremely powerful.

Akatsuki was well aware of which powerful ninjas were in the Uchiha clan of Konoha.

However, their records contained not a single word about Uchiha Genba.

This was enough to indicate that Genba was just an ordinary Uchiha, not worth their attention.

Yet now, this Uchiha, considered mediocre, was proving troublesome even for Kakuzu.

After a brief pause, Konan looked at Kakuzu and asked, "How do you plan to deal with Uchiha Genba?"

Kakuzu had already considered this question.

Kakuzu answered without hesitation:

"I've thought of two plans. First, to be cautious, Akatsuki could send multiple members to jointly hunt down Uchiha Genba and eliminate him completely, so he can no longer pose any threat to Akatsuki."

"The second plan is to invite Genba to join Akatsuki. I investigated this guy in the Black Market—he's a Konoha rogue ninja with malicious intentions. Konoha's records state he has no ninja talent and is merely a civilian in the Uchiha clan, but the reality is clearly not the case."

"This person deliberately concealed his strength, defected from Konoha, and has been operating in the Black Market, double-crossing others and snatching bounty targets from other mercenaries. In my opinion, Akatsuki needs this kind of talent!"

To translate Kakuzu's words: "Uchiha Genba, dishonorable, with extremely negative social impact!"

It would be a waste of talent if someone like him didn't join Akatsuki.

"Let's go with the second plan," Konan decided immediately.

She also felt that Kakuzu's reasoning was sound; Genba was indeed a talent that Akatsuki urgently needed.

Akatsuki was currently in a phase of rapid development and needed to recruit more powerful ninjas.

After Konan made her decision, Kakuzu shared another piece of intelligence he had gathered.

"While investigating Uchiha Genba in the Black Market, I also discovered that he has been trying to acquire various ninjutsu recently. To persuade him to join Akatsuki, we might need to satisfy his needs in this regard first."

The reasons for Akatsuki members joining the organization varied.

Some agreed with Akatsuki's ideals, some needed the organization's protection, and others were infiltrators.

However, Xuan Yu clearly had no such need to join the Akatsuki.

In other words, the Akatsuki would have to meet certain conditions of his before he would even consider joining.

Konan felt that Kakuzu made sense, though she did not take it to heart.

Konan waved her hand dismissively, "The Akatsuki has channels to acquire ninjutsu, so Xuan Yu's need to learn them can be met. Besides, in my opinion, he is likely a ninja with a talent for taijutsu but none for ninjutsu; giving him a few random ninjutsu should be enough to satisfy him."

Kakuzu: (O_O)???

Kakuzu was stunned for a moment, then nodded.

Konan was right; it was very possible that Xuan Yu truly had no talent for ninjutsu.

After all, he had fought Xuan Yu so many times and had never once seen the brat use any ninjutsu.

Looking at it this way, giving Xuan Yu a few random ninjutsu would be enough to keep him occupied for a while.

Having sorted through these circumstances, Kakuzu set off once again to recruit this talent, Xuan Yu.

Meanwhile, in the Black Market of the Empty District, a number of rogue ninjas were gathered together, filled with righteous indignation as they discussed how to take Xuan Yu down.

"That bastard named Xuan Yu, I have to kill him! I finally hunted down a bounty target worth five million ryo, and in the blink of an eye, he snatched it away!"

"You've got it easy, he only robbed you once. What about me? I've been robbed of targets by this little turtle-egg before, and this time he snatched another bounty worth one million ryo!"

"Hey, I'm the one who has it the worst, okay? The target I worked so hard to hunt was only worth a measly five hundred thousand ryo, and he still snatched it from me!"

"A cancer like this must be removed! Otherwise, there will never be peace in the Empty District's Black Market!"