Land of Waterfalls, Takigakure.
Kakuzu fled back like a stray dog. In Konoha, he had thought he was done for. Unexpectedly, the Konoha ninja stopped pursuing him halfway through, allowing him to barely escape with his life.
Kakuzu's chakra was depleted, and Hero's Water's side effects had begun to torment him. His meridians and internal organs burned with searing pain, as though he were trapped in an inferno. Yet through sheer force of will, he staggered back to Takigakure.
"Kakuzu, how did it go? Did you succeed?"
Seeing Kakuzu in such a bedraggled state, Takikage Shui Xuan's heart clenched. Could Kakuzu really have succeeded in assassinating the Hokage? If the Hokage had not died and Konoha had not been too occupied to deal with an assassin, how could Kakuzu possibly have escaped alive?
"Lord Takikage, this subordinate failed the assassination," Kakuzu said dejectedly.
"Failed? Then why did you come back?" The moment Shui Xuan heard that Kakuzu had failed to assassinate the Hokage, his expression immediately changed.
Shui Xuan looked down at Kakuzu from above. He had failed the assassination, yet he had returned to Takigakure? Did this idiot not know how much trouble that would bring upon the village?
"Kakuzu, you failed your mission and fled without authorization. That is a grave crime. And you still dared to come back?"
"Guards, throw Kakuzu into the death row prison!"
Shui Xuan stopped pretending entirely, his eyes filled with coldness and disgust. Damn Kakuzu. Failure was one thing, but how could he have survived? If Konoha traced this back to Takigakure, the entire village would be buried with him.
The blame for assassinating the Hokage had to be pinned firmly on Kakuzu. Only by dumping all the filth on him could Takigakure preserve itself.
When Kakuzu heard that Shui Xuan intended