Takigakure, Earth Grudge Fear, and Defection
Shinobi World.
In the narrow gap between Konoha and Iwagakure, Takigakure.
Inside a gloomy secret room, the elders of Takigakure wore stern faces, their gazes all falling on the two young men standing in the center.
The one leading them spoke in a low and solemn voice:
"Toji, Kakuzu. You are both the strongest ninjas of our contemporary Takigakure."
"The village now has a mission to entrust to both of you."
"Assassinate Konoha's Hokage, Hashirama Senju. Whoever can bring back his head and make our Takigakure famous in the Shinobi World shall be the next leader of Takigakure."
Stepping out of the secret room, Toji removed his mask.
He narrowed his eyes, enjoying the sunlight.
Toji's height was over one meter eight.
He wore a pure black tight-fitting top that outlined his rugged muscle lines, and loose white kung fu harem pants on his lower body. A narrow, slanted scar at the corner of his eye added a touch of unbridled rebellion to him.
Toji was a transmigrator, eighteen years old this year.
Ten years ago, while still staying up late studying medical doctoral entrance exam materials, he opened his eyes and transmigrated to the Shinobi World, becoming an unnoticed orphan in Takigakure.
With no system, no bloodline, and mediocre talent in ninjutsu, he had no choice but to practice taijutsu and Medical Ninjutsu in order to avoid being reduced to cannon fodder.
The taijutsu talent of this body was quite good.
He successfully formed a duo with Kakuzu, who excelled in ninjutsu, and they were called the "Strongest Duo of Takigakure", forging a rather deep friendship in the process.
However, there were gaps even among the strongest.
Toji knew clearly that just relying on him and Kakuzu to assassinate Hashirama Senju was undoubtedly a pipe dream.
He didn't even have the courage to throw a shuriken from eight hundred miles away and then run for his life.
Toji glanced at Kakuzu beside him.
Kakuzu's appearance now wasn't much different from decades later. He also wore a mask and had long black hair. The only difference was that he didn't have the dense stitches all over his body yet.
"Hey, Kakuzu, what do you think?" Toji asked casually with his hands resting behind his head.
Kakuzu frowned: "What do you mean?"
"Of course, the mission to assassinate Hashirama Senju."
"A village mission must be executed," Kakuzu said in a deep voice.
"Do you really think so?" Toji stared at him: "You should know very well that we are no match for that God of Shinobi at all. The elders knew this and still sent us..."
"Don't you find it strange?"
Seeing that Kakuzu didn't speak, Toji went on in a mocking tone: "In my opinion, the higher-ups of the village want to get rid of us using Hashirama's hands. We are too strong, to the point where they are sitting on pins and needles."
Kakuzu remained silent, but his flickering gaze had already exposed his thoughts.
Being able to become a Jōnin in a place lacking in resources like Takigakure, Kakuzu naturally wasn't any kind of fool.
It was just that Toji's words shattered the last remaining shred of fantasy he had about the village.
"A ninja's life has only the fate of being chosen..." Toji sighed, and then his tone shifted: "But we are different. We are the 'Strongest Duo' of Takigakure, and we have the right to choose."
Toji's gaze was burning: "So, should we kill them? Here, right now."
The stern face of Kakuzu suddenly cracked into a smile: "Toji, you really are an unbridled lunatic, but I like it."
"Then let's kill them!"
Just like that.
Toji and Kakuzu immediately turned back to the secret room and went on a killing spree.
Not a single one of the Takigakure higher-ups was spared; all of them were killed.
The secret room was filled with a pungent smell of blood.
Toji pulled a piece of black cloth and wiped the blood-stained fists clean, unable to help feeling a sigh: "Weak... simply too weak."
A transmigrator unconstrained by Japan's distorted hierarchical concept felt no psychological burden at all when killing the elders.
A moment later.
Kakuzu walked out of a certain room, carrying two items in his hands--
A scroll, and a gourd-style glass bottle filled with transparent water.
Toji recognized these two items, the most precious treasures of Takigakure.
The former was the secret technique Earth Grudge Fear; it was precisely this secret technique that gave Kakuzu the ability of eternal life and pushed his strength close to Kage Level. The latter was Hero's Water, which could make chakra surge dozens of times when drunk, but the price was that it would devour the user's life.
"Everything is here," Kakuzu spoke in a deep voice. "How do you plan to handle it?"
Toji lowered his head to inspect the scroll of Earth Grudge Fear, and unexpectedly discovered that this was actually a combination of Summoning Jutsu and a secret technique. He needed to first form a contract with Earth Grudge Fear before he could proceed with cultivation.
The main body of Earth Grudge Fear was merely a mass of living yet mindless black threads.
He spoke up immediately, "First sign the summoning contract with Earth Grudge Fear, and burn the scroll after memorizing the secret technique. Once we leave this secret room, not a third person will know about this power. As for the Hero's Water, you and I will each split it half and half."
Kakuzu casually tossed the gourd bottle to Toji. "It's just that Hero's Water kills whoever uses it. I don't need it, so it all belongs to you. As for the elders' money, it all belongs to me."
"Agreed."
Thinking of Kakuzu's love for money, Toji readily agreed.
After establishing a summoning contract with Earth Grudge Fear.
The two quickly memorized the contents of the Earth Grudge Fear secret technique in their minds. Afterward, Kakuzu raised his hands to form seals, blasting out a Fire Release. The scroll was instantly swallowed by the raging flames, leaving not even a speck of ash behind.
Having finished all this, Kakuzu looked at Toji and said in a deep voice,
"What do you plan to do next? Burn all the corpses completely, and then shift the blame onto the Grass Ninja, Frost Ninja, Stone Ninja, or Konoha ninja. No matter which one it is, you can continue to stay in the village and act as a hero."
After a pause, he added another sentence, his tone flat and unrippleable, "Or you can pin it on me just the same. Just say I killed the elders."
"Forget it. For me, there's no need to continue staying in Takigakure anymore." Toji shook his head. "Takigakure's strongest duo both becoming missing-nin together, how ironic."
Toji was silent for a moment, then issued an invitation, "I plan to change my appearance and develop in Konoha. Kakuzu, do you want to come along?"
This was a decision Toji made after deep consideration.
First, Konoha was the city with the most complete urban construction in the Shinobi World. As long as one had money, they could live a prosperous and stable life.
Second, Konoha was brimming with talent.
The reason Earth Grudge Fear was strong lay in the fact that it could grow stronger at zero cost by relying on the hearts of powerhouses.
Konoha gathered the Shinobi World's most bloodline clans and powerhouses, providing a steady stream of top-quality hearts. He didn't need to take personal risks fighting and killing; he only needed to sit back and reap the profits by picking up corpses.
There, he had his path leading to the heavens.
"Go to Konoha?" Kakuzu didn't even think about it before shaking his head directly. "That place is too dangerous. I'm not interested. I'm going to be a bounty hunter."
Just as expected, history returned to its proper track.
Toji shrugged. "Then we'll part ways here. Good luck, Kakuzu."
"I'm stronger than you, you'd better worry about yourself instead."
Kakuzu scoffed, turned around, and left, waving his hand with his back to Toji.
"Don't die, Toji."
"I hope I can still see you alive a few years from now."
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