"Lord Hokage, a letter has arrived from the capital of the Land of Fire."
After Naruto and the others set out, a Konoha ninja placed a carefully wrapped letter before Madara Uchiha.
The Shin letter's exquisite wrapping made the sender's distinguished status plain.
Madara opened the envelope, and the first thing he saw was the seal of the Land of Fire's Daimyo. After skimming the contents of the Shin letter, he gave a contemptuous sneer.
News that Akatsuki had begun hunting tailed beasts had reached the Daimyo as well. Now, he was urging Madara to have Sasuke "start work" ahead of schedule as his son's bodyguard.
Madara casually burned the Daimyo's Shin letter, then turned his gaze to the map.
The timing was perfect. This time, he would put the Bounty Exchange Office to use.
"Shikaku, deploy the Special Forces we assigned earlier. Their objective is to take down every Bounty Exchange Office in the Land of Fire. Bring me all their money and personnel!"
Once the letter had burned completely, Madara gave Shikaku his orders. At his command, over a hundred ninja swept out in every direction in teams of five.
Meanwhile, in the Land of Rice Fields, Neji Hyuga also received his orders. Madara's subordinates at his bases in the Land of Rice Fields and the Land of Fire rushed toward their respective targets.
The Bounty Exchange Office was an organization funded by the Daimyo of the Nations, with numerous branches throughout the Land of Fire. With help from Madara's intelligence network, however, Sasuke and the others immediately pinpointed the branch Hidan and Kakuzu were heading toward.
"Those bastards killed Chiriku just to trade him for money?!"
Sasuke, Naruto, and Asuma moved swiftly through the forests of the Land of Fire. When Asuma learned that the enemy's