An outrageously high-paying commission!

Fortunately, the organization had earned quite a bit through Uzumaki Shixia this month.

Otherwise, he really would not have been able to afford this commission.

Nagato looked up and said to Uzumaki Shixia, "The organization is now hiring you to bring Kusagakure under our control for a payment of 36 million ryō."

[New commission mission detected!]

[Employer: Nagato, leader of the Akatsuki]

[Mission objective: Bring Kusagakure under control]

[Mission payment: 36 million]

[Mission rank: S-Rank]

[Mission reward: 36,000 commission points]

Uzumaki Shixia was delighted.

36,000 commission points.

That meant a full thirty-six ten-pulls. Once he finished this mission, he would hit the jackpot.

He had ground through plenty of missions this month.

But Amegakure was only a small village, after all. S-Rank missions were pitifully scarce, and the few available involved assassinating the Land of Fire's Daimyo, the Twelve Guardian Ninja, or the Third Hokage.

He wanted to take them, but Kakuzu refused!

He kept saying the Akatsuki was still lying low and could not afford to go too far.

As a result, his missions had quantity but were sorely lacking in quality.

It made him green with envy!

The Akatsuki was still too conservative.

When would he find a rich, ruthless employer wholly devoted to wreaking havoc on the shinobi world?

At that thought, Uzumaki Shixia shook his head.

"Don't worry, boss. Leave this mission to me. I'll get it done!"

Pain nodded. "Go."

Uzumaki Shixia wasted no time. Holding Karin's hand, he walked over to Kakuzu and patted his shoulder.

"Little Kaku, quit spacing out."

"Time to move."

Kakuzu sighed at that.

He would rather carry out missions alone now than run all over the place with Uzumaki Shixia doing commission missions.

Though working with Uzumaki Shixia did have its benefits.

Uzumaki Shixia completed missions incredibly efficiently, with a one hundred percent success rate.

As the missions steadily wore his body down, his income kept climbing.

In the end, Kakuzu did not delay and left with Uzumaki Shixia.

Before long, Uzumaki Shixia was happily making his way out of the village with Kakuzu and Karin.

Knowing they were returning to Kusagakure, Karin could not help feeling nervous.

In Kusagakure, Karin had been used as a human medicine pack, just like her mother.

When Kusagakure's ninja were injured, they could heal by biting her, taking advantage of her restorative constitution.

Her and her mother's experiences in Kusagakure had therefore been dark and painful.

Uzumaki Shixia seemed to remember this too, so he reached out and tousled Karin's hair despite her protesting look.

Then he flashed a handsome smile and waved his fist. "Don't be nervous. Once we get to Kusagakure, I'll beat up everyone who ever bit you, one by one."

At his words, Karin suddenly realized something.

Compared to those people in Kusagakure, Uzumaki Shixia seemed far more frightening in some ways!

And after he completed this mission, his strength would become even more terrifying!

Once Amegakure and Kusagakure joined forces, he could take on even more missions, using the Shinobi World Mercenary System to grind missions and grow rapidly.

Besides, another major mission was waiting for him in Kusagakure.

Mui of the Grass Fruit Faction wanted to capture a jinchūriki and obtain enough chakra to open a ninja tool called the Box of Ultimate Bliss.

Mui only needed chakra.

He did not need the tailed beast, so his objective did not conflict with the Akatsuki's at all.

In a way, he and the Akatsuki shared the same goal.

Since both sides had a common goal, Lord Mui could serve as an ally of the Akatsuki, as well as an employer who issued him missions.

This mission to bring Kusagakure under their control!

It had barely begun, but he was already winning big!

Kusagakure was a small shinobi village located between several major nations, including the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth.

For the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth, this location was a strategically vital buffer zone.

For Kusagakure, being situated here was hardly a good thing.

After all, Kusagakure had been one of the main battlefields in all three previous wars of the shinobi world.

With its small size and tangled web of ninja forces and factions, Kusagakure had no Kusakage.

Kusagakure's nominal leader was its village chief.

Its true rulers, however, were the upper ranks of its two major factions, the Grass Fruit Faction and the Grass Flower.

Three figures wearing Black Sky, Red Clouds Robes appeared on the road to Kusagakure.

Leading them was a red-haired young man, his handsome face relaxed and carefree.

It was as though they were going sightseeing rather than setting out to subjugate a shinobi village.

Naturally, this was Uzumaki Shixia.

Karin followed nervously beside him.

She knew Uzumaki Shixia was an extremely powerful ninja.

But returning to Kusagakure still weighed on her, bringing back the dark memories of her childhood.

As she walked, Karin thought to herself.

Sigh...

Back to this inhuman place again.

Those animals in Kusagakure kept treating Mom and me like human blood bags to heal their injuries.

At that thought, Karin's fists clenched involuntarily.

She and her mother both possessed healing constitutions. Most injuries could be healed simply by biting them.

So whenever Kusagakure's ninja were injured, they would bite her mother or her to heal themselves.

To protect her, her mother had no choice but to keep providing healing to Kusagakure's ninja.

In the end, her chakra ran dry, and she died utterly drained.

Before her death, her mother had been overwhelmed with grief and helplessness, worried that Karin would suffer the same fate.

After walking for a while, Uzumaki Shixia noticed Karin growing increasingly despondent.

He immediately patted her little head and said, "Don't be nervous."

"When we get to Kusagakure, we'll stop by your home first."

"I'll kill those fools while we're there and avenge you and your mother."

"Thank you," Karin whispered, her voice catching.

If Karin had been a little older, Uzumaki Shixia would have considered letting her kill her enemies herself.

But she was still only a pretty ten-year-old girl. It was better not to make her do something like that.

Behind Uzumaki Shixia and Karin, Kakuzu finally broke his long silence with a question.

"How do you plan to bring Kusagakure under our control?"

Subjugating Kusagakure was no easy task.

None of the many missions Kakuzu had undertaken in the past had required him to subjugate a shinobi village.

Uzumaki Shixia answered casually as he walked.

"It's simple. We go straight to Kusagakure's village chief, elders, and other higher-ups."

"Win over whoever we can, and kill whoever we can't."

Kakuzu considered Uzumaki Shixia's words and offered no objection.

Keep the obedient ones around to work, and slaughter the disobedient ones.

The plan was blunt and brutal, but also simple and efficient.

After the three had traveled a little farther, Uzumaki Shixia's gaze shifted.

His Mantra had been covering their surroundings the entire time.

He could sense any movement nearby.

After a month of grinding missions, things had changed.

His mastery of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit had now reached S-Rank, giving him an enormous sensing range.

Karin, who possessed the Mind's Eye of the Kagura, also noticed something amiss and quickly warned Uzumaki Shixia and Kakuzu!

"Some ninja are approaching. There's an ambush in the woods farther ahead!"

At that, Kakuzu's expression grew more serious.

After partnering with Uzumaki Shixia for so long, Kakuzu already knew about Karin's abilities.

He was not surprised that Karin had detected the enemy.

What truly surprised him was that Uzumaki Shixia also possessed extraordinarily powerful sensory abilities.

Previously, whenever enemies approached, Karin had been the one to warn them.

Back then, Kakuzu had not paid close attention to Uzumaki Shixia.

But just now, Kakuzu had clearly noticed that Uzumaki Shixia detected the enemy before Karin did.

Kakuzu could not help marveling inwardly.

Not only does this guy have an unbelievable talent for Lightning Release...

Does he actually have an even stronger sensory constitution than Karin?

As Kakuzu pondered this, Kusagakure's ninja rapidly closed in on them.

Although no one else appeared on the tree-lined road, all seemed quiet.

All three of them knew those ninja had already reached their vicinity.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Suddenly, a vast barrage of shuriken hurtled toward the three of them.

The shuriken came from every direction, cutting off all their escape routes.

Swish-

But Uzumaki Shixia immediately took Karin away with the Body Flicker Technique, while Kakuzu likewise vanished with the Body Flicker Technique.

The Kusagakure ninja froze. None of them had seen what had just happened.

Boom!

Thunder cracked at that moment.

A bolt of lightning streaked across the battlefield in the blink of an eye.

It tore through the Kusagakure ninja, leaving them scattered and slain.

"Aah!"

"Spare me!"

Screams rang out one after another.

Some ninja were killed before they even had a chance to scream.

Clang!

Uzumaki Shixia reappeared beside Karin.

Standing nearby with his arms folded, Kakuzu asked, "Why didn't you leave one alive to interrogate?"

Uzumaki Shixia replied offhandedly, "Do these small fry look like they'd know anything important?"

A cold sneer curled Kakuzu's lips, but he said nothing more.

Had it been him, he would at least have kept their leader alive and interrogated him before proceeding.

After Uzumaki Shixia killed these ninja, those lying in ambush ahead noticed as well.

Sensing the movement ahead, Karin immediately spoke.

"The ninja hiding in the woods ahead have withdrawn. They may have gone back to Kusagakure to warn them."

"What should we do?"