It'll Cost Extra

Kakuzu didn't bother with him; as long as he wasn't lost, that was all that mattered.

The two walked along the river.

Following the great river, they entered the Land of Iron.

Although both are neutral countries, the Samurai Country is much more assertive than the Land of Waterfalls, and it doesn't treat ninjas very well.

But the premise remains the same: ninjas from the five great ninja villages are not included.

The samurai understood that the ninjas from the five great ninja villages sometimes passed by.

If they are at the level of the Five Kage, they understand even better.

If you're just passing by, then you truly understand.

Kakuzu and Yotsuki Mats, who perfectly met the above conditions, traveled smoothly without any obstacles.

Then they entered the Land of Rice Fields, and upon arriving there, Yotsuki Mats felt half relieved.

But Kakuzu stayed in this country.

He stopped heading east.

Perhaps sensing Yotsuki Mats's doubts, Kakuzu finally spoke a second sentence along the way.

"Somewhere in this country is the meeting place you, Raikage, agreed to meet with us."

"Okay, you can arrange it." Yotsuki Mats said immediately.

"It's not my responsibility to make the arrangements." Kakuzu found this Cloud Ninja quite easy to manage, unlike some clients who liked to nag. He was very comfortable with it. "My other companion is here; he'll make the arrangements."

"Oh, to be regarded as a companion by Mr. Kakuzu, one must be an extraordinary person."

"No, he's disgusting. I really want to get his head for money," Kakuzu said.

Yotsuki Mats shut her mouth.

Is this organization without problems? Are the relationships between colleagues really this bad?

"Don't say that, Kakuzu, I still quite like you." A sinister voice rang in Yotsuki Mats's ear.

Upon hearing this sound, Yotsuki Mats felt a chill run down his spine, as if some strange thing was crawling inside his body, causing him immense discomfort.

He turned his head and saw a man standing beside him, also dressed in Akatsuki cloak and a face like a snake.

"Mr. Orochimaru." Yotsuki Mats hadn't expected to see one of the Legendary Sannin here.

The Kumogakure was actually a little unsure whether this person had truly betrayed Leaf Village.

To say he betrayed the Hidden Leaf Village hasn't actually taken any action.

While it's said he didn't betray the party, he was indeed on Leaf Village's bounty list, which was announced to the entire Ninja World.

If Orochimaru is feigning defection and is actually a spy for Leaf Village —putting aside whether Leaf Village would be willing to send out a ninja of that caliber to pull off this tactic, the mere thought of such a thing happening to someone like him would be mind-blowing!

Anyway, I can't figure it out.

"Kakuzu, you still want to kill me?" Orochimaru ignored Yotsuki Mats and stared at Kakuzu with a playful expression.

"Orochimaru, it's your turn to work now," Kakuzu said coldly.

Currently, Akatsuki, including Pain, has four Five Kage- level ninjas.

Pain aside, Sasori is an idiot; a puppeteer who insists on talking about art.

But Orochimaru really does have something wrong with his head.

They actually asked him if he wanted to cooperate with the research.

Why don't you lend me your heart? I wouldn't need it for long; I'll return it to you on my centennial celebration.

"Okay," Orochimaru said nonchalantly. "Since we're going to travel together anyway, let's chat."

"Not interested, stay away from me." Black tentacles of Earth Grudge Fear sprouted from Kakuzu's body.

Orochimaru's eyes lit up when he saw this.

However, Kakuzu's killing intent was genuine, and he certainly wouldn't tear off any pieces for Orochimaru to study. Thinking of this, Orochimaru felt quite disappointed.

He felt a pang of nostalgia for Shimura Danzō.

Uchiha Shingen thought Kakuzu was magnanimous, while Orochimaru thought the opposite, finding Kakuzu petty.

Shimura Danzō very magnanimous.

"Let's leave it at that for today, there's always another time." Orochimaru chuckled, turned and led the way, "Follow me, the Raikage is already there."

Kakuzu withdrew the Earth Grudge Fear, then looked at Yotsuki Mats.

"You go first."

Yotsuki Mats: "..."

How could he, an ordinary Jonin, be forced to walk between two missing-nin of the Five Kage level?

Even though his village paid for it, he still felt very uneasy...

Then Yotsuki Mats followed Orochimaru.

"What happened to your leg?" Orochimaru suddenly turned his neck 180 degrees, startling Yotsuki Mats.

His first thought was that Orochimaru was going to commit suicide to liven up the atmosphere.

Seeing those snake-like eyes staring straight at him, he knew he was overthinking things.

A neck of Five Kage level expert is definitely different.

"I'm a little injured," he said.

"Interesting. I'll take a look at you later; maybe I can cure you."

"No need, Mr. Orochimaru." Yotsuki Mats swallowed hard. "The people from Leaf Village examined me and said that it's beyond cure."

"After Tsunade left, Leaf Hospital was left with nothing but mediocre people." Orochimaru turned his head back. "Just hope you don't regret it."

Chapter Twenty-Six: More Money Required

The Land of Rice Fields, as a neighboring country of a great power, is relatively fortunate.

Because it only has one large neighbor, with the neutral Samurai Country on the left and the Land of Land of Hot Water on the right, which has a ninja village but is practically nonexistent.

Having solidified their position through the First Shinobi World War, the five major powers in the Hokage world, in order to reduce the intensity of friction between them and to facilitate the handling, concessions, and coordination afterward, established a principle of non-bordering between them, making the smaller countries between them buffer zones.

After the Second Shinobi World War, in order to prevent a repeat of the Amegakure situation, the Five Great Nations began to do their utmost to weaken and divide the power of the smaller neighboring countries.

By the time of Uchiha Shingen, the so-called buffer zone had become a grand theater for tragedies. In times of peace, it was suppressed and exploited by powerful countries and villages, and in times of conflict, it was filled with suffering and the land was shattered.

However, the degree of suffering varies from country to country; the Land of Grass and the Land of Rain are among the hardest-hit areas.

The Land of Rice Fields was not a major disaster area, mainly because it was located in a position that was best positioned to shift the cost of war when the Cloud Village and the Leaf Village were engaged in a large-scale battle, and it was also next to the Land of Iron, a neutral country.

However, when Cloud Village clashes with Leaf Village and Sand Village, it still has a certain possibility of becoming the target of shifting the cost of war. Thus, unlike the Land of Land of Hot Water, which is single-mindedly clinging to the Land of Fire, the Land of Rice Fields dares not offend either side, even though it is an ally of the Land of Fire.

So the Raikage suggested holding a small meeting on the land of the Land of Rice Fields, and the Land of Rice Fields had no objections whatsoever.

When the Fourth Raikage A, set foot in this country with his Kage Guard, the first thing he thought of was his father, who had passed through here during the Third Shinobi World War.

The Cloud Village attacking the Sand Village was truly unexpected for many people at the time.

No one expected that the Cloud Village would travel so far to fight the Sand Village, even if it was to seize the other's Tailed Beasts.

Compared to other ninja villages, the Kumogakure's Ninjutsu system is particularly biased towards ninjutsu and taijutsu, lacking field control capabilities. Therefore, the power of the Tailed Beasts is especially important. Like the Hidden Leaf Village, the Kumogakure's research focuses on Jinchūriki, and their research methods are quite straightforward.

If you lack the skills, you can make up for it with your life; here's your household registration certificate, do as you please.

After losing an entire family, they actually figured out a way to train Perfect Jinchuriki, and they did train Perfect Jinchuriki. Unfortunately, their joy was short-lived, as Hidden Leaf Village wiped them out in one fell swoop.

It's true what they say, competitors are enemies!

Ai brought only a few people with her to the Land of Rice Fields this time; besides the Kage Guard, there were only the ANBU.

At this time, Cloud Village lacked high-end combat power, so every bit of strength they could save was precious.

A was confident in his strength; after all, the primary condition for him to become Raikage was that he had to be invincible throughout Kumogakure.

Along the way, Ai thought that although this country was not as rich as the Land of Hot Water, it was much better than the Land of Frost. Unfortunately, this country was ostensibly an ally of the Land of Fire, so the vast majority of the mission quota was taken by Hidden Leaf Village.

Only a small portion can be delivered to Kumogakure.

Ai was not satisfied with this.

The Kumogakure needs more missions to train its ninjas.

Therefore, Kumogakure must defeat Leaf Village on the battlefield, or force Hidden Leaf Village to publicly submit to Kumogakure through other means. The manner of submission is irrelevant; the action itself is sufficient. Only through these two methods can Kumogakure seize a portion of the mission's share from Hidden Leaf Village.

Upon reaching a hilltop, Ai gazed into the distance with a calm expression, appearing to be in a much better mood than usual.

"Zuo Liang," Ai suddenly called out to his Kage Guard, "What do you think Leaf Village will do?"

"They will probably refuse to negotiate with us on the grounds of unequal status."

"This is the impact of losing Tailed Beasts," A said. "Therefore, we must regain this power as soon as possible."

"Yes, Lord Raikage."

"Are you sure it will be in the Land of Rice Fields?"

"Yes, all signs indicate that this is the case, and judging from the reaction to the Eight-Tails 'Chakra left behind by Killer B Bee, the resurrection of the Eight-Tails is imminent, though it is indeed closer than expected. Perhaps there are other reasons."

"It doesn't matter, sooner is better than later. Once we seal the Eight-Tails, it's about time to consider increasing the number of Tailed Beasts."

Ai thought of the Jinchūriki who had already left the village.

This is hilarious! They can't even control their own Jinchūriki? If that's the case, they might as well give them to the Kumogakure!

Moreover, the Sand Village can be brought in to help with this. As everyone knows, the Sunagakure is focused on researching the One-Tail and has no interest in other Tailed Beasts, but if helping to capture Tailed Beasts can be exchanged for resources, they will be very interested.

"Lord Raikage," Zuo Liang suddenly called out, "Orochimaru is here."

Ai turned around and saw two ninjas dressed in Akatsuki cloak walking towards him.

There's also Yotsuki Mats, a Jonin from this village.

"Too slow! Orochimaru!"

"Lord Raikage, don't be in such a hurry," Orochimaru said. "Didn't we bring your village's ninjas back safely?"

Yotsuki Mats ran up to Ai and presented the document.

"Song, what's wrong with your foot?" Ai immediately noticed that her relative's walking posture was not quite right.

"I'm sorry, Lord Raikage, the rest of the delegation did not survive."

Seeing his most powerful relative, Yotsuki Mats finally felt at ease.

Then he explained the whole thing to Ai in detail.

"It's that Uchiha Shingen again?" Ai roared in anger.

They killed Killer B, captured Yugito Nii, and now they've wiped out his delegation! They've crippled their obedient little brother!

What concerned Ai even more was Uchiha Shingen's Yotsuki Mats.

"So, that Uchiha Shingen is incredibly strong now?" A looked at Orochimaru. "Orochimaru, how much do you know about this Uchiha Shingen?"

"Shingen- kun is so strong now, no wonder he's from the Uchiha Clan." Orochimaru listened with great interest and was about to start a conversation Kakuzu suddenly stepped forward.

"Wait a minute!" he said curtly, "That's a separate service."

"Hmm?" A looked at Kakuzu. "You're also from Akatsuki? Are you trying to bargain with me?"

The Fourth Raikage A, was a Raikage with a bad temper.

Many people are afraid of him.

But this does not include Kakuzu.

"Any problems?" Kakuzu sneered. "Adding services is fine, but you'll have to pay extra."

Who are you trying to scare? If you're short a single penny, see if I don't mess with you!

Orochimaru glanced at A, then at Kakuzu, a slight smile playing on his lips. He took a step back, making way for A.

Seeing the atmosphere in the room becoming tense, Zuo Liang said, "Money is not a problem, but the information must be true and reliable."

Kakuzu nodded and turned to look at Orochimaru.