The Land of Waterfalls was a small country with barely any presence.
In a sense, Kakuzu was actually this country's great hero.
The fact that Takigakure's leaders had once sent Kakuzu to assassinate Hashirama Senju showed that they, too, had wanted a place on the grand stage of the shinobi world.
But fate had other plans. Kakuzu stole Takigakure's secret technique, Earth Grudge Fear, and slaughtered those ambitious leaders. As a result, Takigakure escaped unscathed through the next several Shinobi World Wars, remaining quietly tucked away in a corner of the Land of Waterfalls.
Visits between daimyo were considerably more complicated. Tetsuya first sent a formal request to the Daimyo of the Land of Waterfalls and only set off after receiving his reply.
The Land of Grass and the Land of Waterfalls were neighbors, but even so, the previous Daimyo of the Land of Grass had never exchanged visits with his counterpart. Tetsuya's visit would actually be the first formal meeting between the two countries' highest leaders.
That alone elevated this ordinary visit to an entirely different level.
"Boss? Aren't we here for Takigakure? Why are we making such a big production out of this?"
Kakuzu hurried alongside Tetsuya's carriage in the procession and asked.
Tetsuya drew back the curtain.
"Come up here and we'll talk."
Kakuzu stood on no ceremony and hopped straight into the carriage.
Once Kakuzu had sat down inside, Tetsuya lowered the curtain and rubbed his brow.
"I didn't expect it to turn out like this either. Who knew that the Land of Waterfalls and the Land of Grass had never held a formal meeting despite being neighbors? Why didn't you tell me these two countries had never had any exchanges?"
Kakuzu felt rather helpless at that.
"Boss, how was I supposed to know? I'm just