Uzumaki Gamu thought for a moment, then asked, "Um... you wouldn't happen to be Kakuzu, would you?"
The young man's eyes widened-This guy knew him?
Yes, this young man was none other than Akatsuki's future finance minister (though it only had nine members in total)-Kakuzu.
Kakuzu had originally been an elite member of Takigakure and later became a member of Akatsuki. Hidan's partner, he possessed the secret technique Earth Grudge Fear, which allowed him to use chakra to control the black tendrils released from his body and steal other people's hearts. Including his own, he could store up to five hearts in his body, extending his life by replacing them. He was known as "the man who lived as long as heaven and earth."
During the earlier part of Shippuden, Naruto severely injured him with a Rasenshuriken, and Kakashi finished him off. He died at the age of ninety-one-a man who certainly knew how to stay alive!
Judging from his age, he died in year 67 (or 66) of the Konoha calendar, which meant he had been around twenty-five when Konoha was founded. According to the information the author had found, Hashirama and Madara were twenty-nine when Konoha was founded in the original story, making them roughly four or five years older than Kakuzu.
Hashirama and Madara were twenty now, so... was Kakuzu currently fifteen, the age of a high school student?
He was about the same age as Uzumaki Gamu!
Kakuzu's reaction confirmed it for Uzumaki Gamu-the boy in front of him, who was roughly his age, was the future money-obsessed man!
Of course, he hadn't been that way from the beginning!
Originally, as an elite shinobi of Takigakure, Kakuzu had been an exemplary ninja. The village came before everything!
One day, he accepted a mission from the village leadership to assassinate the First Hokage. After infiltrating the Land of Fire, Kakuzu fought the First Hokage, Hashirama, and ultimately lost to his secret Wood Release techniques. (Because Hashirama's strength was later tied to Madara's, it skyrocketed to the level of the God of Shinobi, leading many readers to jokingly describe this encounter as: Kakuzu threw a kunai at Hashirama from four hundred kilometers away, then was chased all the way back to Takigakure by Hashirama's Wood Clone.)
Unable to defeat Hashirama, Kakuzu had no choice but to flee. Yet when he returned to the village, charges of mission failure and severe punishment awaited him-a ninja who had risked his life for his village was treated with cruelty. Kakuzu couldn't accept that outcome.
Filled with intense hatred, Kakuzu broke out of prison and took the secret technique the village regarded as a treasure. He used it to steal the hearts of every member of the village leadership. That technique was the vascular tendrils Kakuzu used-Earth Grudge Fear.
From then on, Kakuzu no longer believed in villages or anything of the sort-he believed only in money. Everything else could be fake, but money alone was real!
Of course, that was all in the future. Right now, he was still someone willing to give everything for his village!
After Uzumaki Gamu said his name, Kakuzu immediately declared, "Forget it! I won't give you any useful information. Just kill me!"
"...Then why the hell were you asking questions earlier?!" Uzumaki Gamu said, speechless. "You're ninja from the Land of Waterfalls. (Takigakure hasn't been founded yet, so they're merely ninja belonging to a shinobi organization under the Land of Waterfalls.) Your leader probably accepted a mission to take my head, which is why you're here. Of course, at your level, you probably don't even know who the client is. Well, I won't make things difficult for you."-Uzumaki Gamu had already figured out all the information himself, so there was no reason to keep giving them trouble.
And so, Uzumaki Gamu left with the Body Flicker Technique-huh? He wasn't going to kill them?
Well, meeting Kakuzu had put Uzumaki Gamu in a pretty good mood. (Uzumaki Gamu: "After all, Impure World Reincarnation Kakuzu helped me reach Super Kage rank. As a stern father to those Super Kage players, I'm very grateful for his help, so I won't hurt him!") So he let them off!
Those left behind were dumbfounded... he had just let them go?
After waiting a while and confirming that Uzumaki Gamu had really left, the deputy captain told everyone, "Pack up. We're heading back to the city... this mission is beyond our abilities!"-With the captain dead, the deputy captain had been promoted straight to captain. It was his turn to give orders now!
Did that count as a promotion?
Yet the deputy captain didn't feel the slightest bit happy-after all, his younger brother was dead!
The team could only make a miserable retreat-what, no "All troops, heed my command! Slit your throats and depart this world"?
Well, they weren't samurai. They'd have to have far too much time on their hands to commit seppuku over a failed mission.
-Preparing ninja tools-
After dealing with that group, Uzumaki Gamu returned to Mito and Lala.
Mito asked curiously, "Second Brother, you let them go?"
"I ran into someone I knew, so I let them off~" Uzumaki Gamu said with a smile.
"Someone you knew? Second Brother, you know people abroad too?" Mito asked in surprise!
Uzumaki Gamu waved a hand. "Well... it's a one-sided acquaintance. Anyway, it's nothing important. Don't worry about it!"
All right, if her second brother said so, Mito wouldn't concern herself with it. Just then, however, she sensed something else and immediately told Uzumaki Gamu, "Second Brother, more people are coming. Northwest, two of them, moving very fast!"
"Northwest? I don't see anyone," Uzumaki Gamu said in confusion.
"Up in the sky!!" Mito reminded him.
"In the sky? Holy shit, they're flying?"-Was it a bird? Was it a plane? No, it was Superman!!-Well, whoever was coming certainly wasn't Superman, but someone could actually fly?
Considering that this country bordered the Land of Earth, Uzumaki Gamu had already narrowed down the visitor's identity.
Once the man flew closer, Uzumaki Gamu confirmed that he was exactly who he'd expected-the future First Tsuchikage, Ishikawa.
Ishikawa was the First Tsuchikage of Iwagakure in the Land of Earth and the village's founder. He possessed a strong Will of Stone, was frank and broad-minded, and didn't fuss over trifles. One of the five Kage who brought peace to the war-torn era, he appeared in his grandson Ōnoki's memories, teaching him the Will of Stone, and participated in the first Five Kage Summit in history. Ishikawa was also one of the few ninja in the Five Great Nations who could fly. (According to the established lore, the Light-Weight Rock Technique should have been created by the Second Tsuchikage, Mu, but among Ishikawa's few appearances in the anime was a scene of him using it, so... he probably knew this move. Well, he might also have learned it from Mu. It's not as though the older generation has never learned ninjutsu from the younger generation... right, Jiraiya~?)
(Since there are no scenes of him fighting or relevant details about his abilities, and he doesn't appear in the Naruto games either, all that's currently known is that he could use Earth Release and the Light-Weight Rock Technique. I'll have to come up with his fighting style myself!)
With a young man around Uzumaki Gamu's age in tow, Ishikawa flew above the trio. After checking something with the young man beside him, he called down to Uzumaki Gamu, "Young man, please don't be nervous. We mean you no harm!" ()
Mito thought, We're supposed to stop being nervous just because you say so?-Who knew what he'd come here for?
Uzumaki Gamu, however, said calmly, "A ninja who can fly... I take it you must be Ishikawa from the Land of Earth, sir?"
"Oh~ Even young people in the Land of Fire have heard my name?" Ishikawa asked curiously.
"Well... there aren't many ninja in the shinobi world who can fly. It's only natural for someone with such a distinctive ability to be famous!" Uzumaki Gamu said with a smile, while thinking, Hahaha, I finally got to see how the Light-Weight Rock Technique works! I see, so that's how it operates... all right, I've learned it!!
Earth Release: Light-Weight Rock Technique used precise chakra control to alter the molecular density of a target object (including the user), greatly reducing gravity's effect on it. The basic version could lower an object's weight to one-tenth of its normal value, while the enhanced Ultra-Light-Weight Rock Technique could even achieve complete weightlessness. This allowed the user to hover and fly, increasing movement speed severalfold, but the dispersal of force also weakened physical attacks. Cursed technique reversal (just kidding)-using it in reverse produced the Added-Weight Rock Technique!
Of course, the other man had no idea that his signature move had been learned in the blink of an eye!
Hearing Uzumaki Gamu's words, Ishikawa laughed heartily and said to the young man beside him, "Hahaha, Mu, your technique has made a name for itself~"-Huh? The one beside him was the Second Tsuchikage, Mu?
Why did he look so normal?
Well, that was perfectly normal-Mu was Iwagakure's Second Tsuchikage. His entire body was wrapped in bandages, making it impossible to see his true appearance, but he hadn't come out of the womb looking like a mummy. He ended up that way after being caught in an explosion during a later battle-his whole body was burned, with only a patch in the middle of his face remaining relatively intact. From then on, he'd stayed wrapped in bandages.
Right now, it seemed he hadn't been injured by that explosion yet and still looked like an ordinary person!
Mu wore his emotions close to his chest and showed no reaction to Ishikawa's words.
Then the two descended from the sky and stood in front of Uzumaki Gamu's group!
Uzumaki Gamu spoke first. "May I ask what brings you here, Mr. Ishikawa? This isn't within the Land of Earth's sphere of influence, is it?"
"Hahaha, I merely heard rumors that you were heading to the Land of Earth, young Uzumaki Gamu, so I hurried over to meet this young man who's become so famous lately!" Ishikawa explained his reason for coming.
"Famous? What kind of reputation do I have now?" Uzumaki Gamu asked curiously-it had been a week since he'd left Rōran. He'd barely seen another living soul during that week, much less heard any news about himself!
Uzumaki Gamu was quite curious about what people were saying about him!
At that moment, Mu, who had remained silent until now, spoke. "Mastery of the Five Basic Nature Transformations, multiple kekkei genkai, and already the Land of Fire's greatest ninjutsu master at such a young age. Recently, you suppressed a tailed beast single-handedly in the Land of Wind. To every ninja faction, you're an extremely dangerous presence. Your current black-market bounty is as high as fifty million!"
Hearing that, Uzumaki Gamu said smugly, "Not bad... but my bounty went up? Whoever wants me dead is certainly enthusiastic~"
Seeing that Uzumaki Gamu was not merely unconcerned about his increased bounty but actually pleased, Ishikawa struggled to keep his composure. "It seems you're very confident in your abilities, young friend. And rightly so. Anyone who can suppress a tailed beast alone is no longer an ordinary human... I never imagined the Land of Fire would produce three monstrously powerful young men in the same era. It truly is a blessed land!"
Uzumaki Gamu returned the compliment. "Oh~~ Come now, Uncle Ishikawa, you're impressive yourself. I hear you're already the strongest ninja in the Land of Earth?"
Ishikawa said openly, "That's merely flattery from friends in the shinobi world who think highly of me. To be honest, looking at you now, I find you completely unfathomable... truly frightening!"
"You're too kind. I'm not that impressive!" Uzumaki Gamu said modestly-this time, it wasn't just modesty. The man before him, who belonged to his father's generation, really wasn't weak. His title as the strongest in the Land of Earth was definitely no idle boast!
Naturally, Uzumaki Gamu respected someone with genuine ability and a good personality!
After exchanging compliments, Ishikawa stated the purpose of his visit. "Aside from coming to see what sort of person you are, young friend, I also wanted to ask why you're coming to our Land of Earth."-What did that mean? Was he worried Uzumaki Gamu would cause trouble?
"We're just traveling, taking in the Land of Earth's local customs and scenery!" Uzumaki Gamu answered. "Are you worried I have some ulterior motive for going there, Uncle Ishikawa?"
"...I was concerned about that before," Ishikawa admitted frankly. "But now that I've met you, I don't believe you're that sort of person."-There was no other reason. It was purely the excellent judgment of character that came with extensive experience!
Uzumaki Gamu raised an eyebrow-logically, hearing that assessment should have meant there was nothing else to worry about, but he felt certain Ishikawa was about to add a "but"...
"But..." See? Ishikawa really did add a "but." "Those targeting you won't simply sit back and do nothing!"
"Do you know something, Uncle Ishikawa?" Uzumaki Gamu asked curiously.
Ishikawa answered, "No. This is a conclusion drawn from the information we've obtained... there's one faction you should know about. The Kaguya Clan holds a great deal of hatred toward you. Besides the bounty, they've been targeting you at every turn and issuing additional assassination commissions. You were intercepted by people from the Land of Waterfalls just now, weren't you? That won't happen only here. Quite a few ninja clans in our Land of Earth are itching to take on the mission to assassinate you."
"Huh? The Kaguya Clan?" Uzumaki Gamu was dumbfounded-the entire clan had been beaten so badly that they'd fled to the Land of Water not long ago. Did they have the means to put a fifty-million bounty on him now?
Uzumaki Gamu thought, I assumed Black Zetsu had come out to target me because I kept ruining his plans, but it was the Kaguya Clan? That doesn't make sense... how could those enemies in the Land of Wind have been their people?-Uh... had it not occurred to him that both sides might be acting at once, both wanting him dead?
In any case, Uzumaki Gamu lacked enough information to figure it out, so he put the matter aside for now and focused on what was in front of him.
He said to Ishikawa, "In that case, Uncle Ishikawa, you don't want me going to the Land of Earth and bringing conflict there?"
Ishikawa said nothing, merely looking at Uzumaki Gamu.
"If that's the case... then I won't go!" Uzumaki Gamu said, waving a hand-Ishikawa was a decent man, and doing him a favor wasn't a bad idea. There would be other opportunities to visit the Land of Earth. Of course, it wasn't impossible this time either... he could head toward the Land of Lightning first, then use the Transformation Technique to change his appearance halfway there and come back!
Uzumaki Gamu thought his idea was pure genius!
Yet upon hearing Uzumaki Gamu's answer, Ishikawa suddenly laughed. "Hahaha, you truly are a reasonable young man. If our Land of Earth were to turn someone like you away, that wouldn't fit my way of treating guests."-What did that mean? He was agreeing to let Uzumaki Gamu visit the Land of Earth?
Before you continue