The Advantage Is Mine

"Uchiha... Shu! That's your name, right?"

Kakuzu stood alone in front of the group, holding a sheet of paper as he read aloud, "Bounty: ten million ryo."

"Ten million?"

Uchiha Hazuki's expression tightened. She naturally guessed what bounty he was referring to.

There were generally two types of bounties in the Shinobi World. One was a public bounty issued by shinobi villages, usually targeting rogue ninja from other villages or those who had caused severe damage to a village.

The other was a bounty from the Underground Gold Exchange, the so-called black market bounty.

The Underground Gold Exchange had a complicated background and a long history. Rumor had it that it was secretly organized by nobles from various countries; they even dared place bounties on the Five Kage.

The situation before them was obviously the latter.

Kurenai Yuhi frowned. "A bounty targeting a genius from another village?"

"Another village?"

Uchiha Shu gave her a cryptic look, then let out a derisive laugh.

Kurenai Yuhi said nothing, but her expression darkened.

After hearing Kakuzu's words, she had instinctively tried to direct suspicion toward other villages. She had not expected Shu to react so quickly.

But...

It was Shu's first mission, yet someone had already put a bounty on him and even leaked their route. This attitude of not even bothering to put on an act clearly showed that they did not regard them as people at all.

"Heh heh heh..."

Noticing their expressions, Kakuzu chuckled softly.

"That's right, that expression. The look of disbelief mixed with reluctant acceptance when you realize you've been betrayed by the village you trusted. Over the years, I've seen it far too many times."

"Oh? Then you must have saved up a lot of money."

Uchiha Shu tilted his head, seemingly unconcerned about the bounty.

"What do you mean?"

Kakuzu froze slightly. He had imagined Shu's faith collapsing, or perhaps him making a desperate last stand, but he had never expected this reaction.

It was like... the expression of a thirsty traveler in the desert who had suddenly spotted an oasis.

What was with that greedy look in his eyes?

Kakuzu was nearly angered into laughter. "I see. You've set your sights on me? Kids these days really are outrageously bold."

"You dared stand so openly before three pairs of Sharingan. If we're talking about boldness, you're the one who's truly audacious."

A flash of crimson passed through Uchiha Shu's eyes. He raised his gaze and cast Genjutsu: Sharingan at Kakuzu, instantly freezing him in place.

Yet the next second, a huge bulge suddenly rose from Kakuzu's left shoulder. The places on his body stitched together with black threads split open, and a masked monster made of countless black tentacles emerged from his left shoulder.

"So that's it. You use that thing to disrupt your own chakra and break Genjutsu? No wonder you had the confidence to block our path." Shu immediately understood. No wonder this guy had never slipped up in decades.

Earth Grudge Fear—a thing that was unclear whether it was a secret treasure or a secret technique—originated from Takigakure.

After Kakuzu had been betrayed by his village back then, he stole it and transplanted it into his own body.

It looked like a mass of twisted, disgusting black tentacles that made one's sanity plummet. After transplantation, black stitch marks appeared all over the body, and it could also be used to sew up wounds on himself and others.

Its ability allowed him to extend his lifespan by stealing other people's hearts. He could also seize their chakra natures along with their hearts, and by continually replacing hearts, achieve immortality.

Those hearts could even leave his body independently, controlling separate tentacle clones in battle.

All things considered, this technique was pretty comprehensive.

Its only flaw was that it was too ugly. So ugly that even though it could easily let someone live for centuries, Shu had never seen a transmigrator set their sights on it.

Yet while Shu recalled Kakuzu's abilities, Kakuzu's expression on the other side grew somewhat grim.

He had long prepared himself for Earth Grudge Fear to be exposed, but he had not expected it to happen so quickly.

It was not as if he had never encountered the Sharingan before, but this was the first time he had met someone who could render him unable to dispel a technique with a single glance.

If being caught in Genjutsu had not disrupted Earth Grudge Fear's chakra control and triggered its preset Genjutsu-breaking procedure, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Why was this brat's ocular power so strong?

Looking at the calm Shu and the other three watching him like tigers eyeing prey, Kakuzu suddenly felt a twinge of regret.

When he first saw the opposing lineup, he had not taken it seriously at all.

No matter how strong the Three-Tomoe Sharingan was, it depended on who wielded it. He had never considered a six-year-old brat a threat.

In his eyes, Kurenai Yuhi and Uchiha Hazuki were merely two small fry without even a bounty on their heads. As long as Earth Grudge Fear's information remained hidden, he could kill them both at the cost of, at most, one heart.

As for Uchiha Izumi, he had simply ignored her entirely.

But now that Earth Grudge Fear had been exposed ahead of time and this brat's strength was so bizarre, he had no choice but to consider the risk of failure.

Should he make a tactical retreat, or gamble on it?

This brat's Genjutsu was troublesome, but Earth Grudge Fear's tentacle clones would not fall for Genjutsu. They could even help the main body break free from it.

There were four people on the other side, and they also had to divide their attention to protect the client, while he had five hearts!

Three hearts could hold off the other three, while his main body and one heart dealt with this brat.

Five against four—the advantage was mine!

He could win!

With that thought, Kakuzu abruptly tore off his shirt, exposing his upper body covered in stitch marks.

Three masked tentacle monsters burst from his back, then scattered through the air and descended in different directions around them.

But at that very instant, the tomoe in Uchiha Shu's eyes spun rapidly, transforming into two eight-pointed star patterns as his cold gaze swept across them!

"Kamui!"

Thud, thud, thud...

The three tentacle clones, their heads twisted off, crashed heavily to the ground like dumplings dropped into a pot.

This sudden, bizarre scene instantly silenced the air around them.

Kakuzu raised his hands, about to form seals, but at the sight of this, he was struck dumb. He stood rooted to the spot like a silly goose frightened witless.

"Pfft..."

At that moment, an ill-timed laugh suddenly rang out.

Oda Toru covered his mouth. Seeing everyone look at him, he hurriedly waved his hands. "Ah, sorry. It's just that he was acting so arrogant earlier, I thought he was someone formidable..."

"Damn it!"

Only then did Kakuzu snap back to his senses, cold sweat immediately breaking out across his back.

What was with that strange Sharingan? Was it some special ocular technique? Did it require seeing the target to activate?

Fenghua dialect: I don't understand!

But whatever it was, the most urgent matter was to retreat immediately!

As thoughts raced through his mind, he suddenly hurled out a smoke bomb. At the same time, his hands formed seals at high speed. "Fire Release: Intelligent Hard Work!"

At the same instant, the mask on his left shoulder opened its mouth and blasted a violent Wind Release toward Shu.

Flames and raging wind tore through the smoke, merging in an instant into a fire tornado dozens of meters wide that roared toward Shu like a dragon's breath.

Then, without any intention of continuing the fight, Kakuzu turned and ran amidst the chaos!

He, Kakuzu, had roamed the Shinobi World for years. His survival relied on backstabbing his companions, having five hearts, and running fast enough!

Run for it~