Kakuzu endured two more nights like that.
Dawn light filtered faintly outside the cave, carrying the chill of early morning.
Kakuzu had barely closed his eyes when the familiar racket from deep inside the cave woke him up.
"Oh, great Chaos God! Hear the prayers of your most faithful servant! Today, please grant me enough sacrifices so that I may use their blood and wails to compose hymns in your praise..."
Hidan's frenzied yet devout chanting echoed through the cramped cave in surround sound, every syllable like a steel needle piercing Kakuzu's exhausted nerves with perfect accuracy.
A savage rage shot straight to his head.
He wanted to use his black tentacles to sew that endlessly yapping mouth shut.
But he held back.
The nightmare of his treasury being emptied last night, along with Hidan's threat about Konan's mark, bound his killing intent tightly like two chains.
He could not lose his temper.
At least not before confirming whether his life savings were safe.
Without a word, Kakuzu got up and walked out of the cave. The cold morning air cleared his muddled mind slightly.
Just then, a white shadow silently cut across the sky. It made no birdcall as it landed as lightly as a feather on a dead branch nearby.
It was a snow-white carrier pigeon, utterly out of place in this filthy, chaotic border town.
A tiny scroll thinner than a finger was tied to its claw.
Kakuzu froze.
A seam on his back silently split open, and a black tentacle thinner than a strand of hair shot out like lightning. It silently wrapped around the scroll and retracted in an instant. The entire process was too fast for the naked eye to follow and did not stir the slightest breeze.
Inside the cave, Hidan had reached