Kakuzu Was Here Already?

A few days later.

"Hey, Aunt Cai, is something going on at the shop?" Dave had been thoroughly enjoying himself these past few days, spending every day playing with his little wife, Tsukimi. Right now, he was lying in her lap while she tenderly peeled grapes and fed them into his mouth.

"Little Boss, th-there's a strange man wearing a mask here... He said you told him he could come find you after he defected from his village... And now he's here," Aunt Cai said nervously over the phone. The man kept talking about defecting and killing people, frightening an ordinary civilian like her half to death.

"Oh? Kakuzu? This soon? I thought he'd take six months, maybe a year or two," Dave asked in surprise.

As far as he was concerned, Kakuzu should have taken at least six months to a year to come looking for him. First, he would cause a stir in his own village and steal his signature technique, Earth Grudge Fear. Then he would spend a few months roaming the Black Market, learn how cruel the world was, and finally come back to find Dave. But it had only been a few days—not even half a month, right? Why had he come so soon?

This guy sure had a solid grasp of how the world worked.

"It's fine, Aunt Cai. Just hand Kakuzu the phone. I'll talk to him," Dave hurriedly reassured her, hearing the panic in her voice.

A moment later.

"Hey, brat. You said I'd defect from my village, fail to get by, and come looking for you. Well, I'm here. You'd better explain what you're after, or not even Hashirama Senju and the others will be able to save you," Kakuzu's rather cold voice came over the phone.

"Uncle Dave is very