That'll cost extra

Xia Yan had never dreamed he would run into Kakuzu while out on a mission!

Unexpected developments were common on missions, and he had encountered plenty of trouble when leading teams himself.

But this was his first time encountering someone so difficult to deal with.

Xia Yan was very familiar with Kakuzu.

Although it had been almost fourteen years since he transmigrated, he had made some notes early on to reinforce his memory and keep himself from forgetting things.

Of course, he did not leave those notes lying around. He kept them sealed in a scroll and carried them with him at all times.

Whenever he had time, he would take them out and read through them to refresh his memory.

As a member of the Akatsuki, Kakuzu's history and information were all committed to Xia Yan's memory. He had originally been an elite member of Takigakure, but later defected.

He had supposedly ambushed the First Hokage and survived. As for how he had done it, Xia Yan had no idea. Perhaps he had thrown a kunai from a kilometer away.

Although that was a somewhat unflattering take, his abilities were the real deal.

He could steal hearts to keep himself alive, and he could also use the hearts' chakra natures to perform corresponding ninjutsu.

On top of that, his taijutsu was far from weak!

"Oh? Someone followed me?" Kakuzu glanced back and chuckled. "I'm curious. Just who would follow me? Are you coming out on your own, or do I have to drag you out?"

As he spoke, Kakuzu casually tossed the corpse on his shoulder onto the ground. At the same time, his chakra began to build.

Kakashi frowned at the sight. This man looked truly strange, and even with his captain wearing a mask, he could sense that Xia Yan seemed somewhat tense.

"Captain, do you know this man?" Kakashi asked quietly as he sent Pakkun back.

"I know of him. His name is Kakuzu." Xia Yan nodded, his hand already resting on his sword. "He's a bounty hunter who frequents the black market year-round. A hundred percent mission success rate. A difficult man to deal with."

That was all Xia Yan could say. This was public information that any Anbu member could easily look up.

He did not dare say anything more, such as how the clothes Kakuzu was wearing belonged to the Akatsuki, the largest terrorist organization in the Shinobi World.

Or how he had multiple hearts, all of which had to be destroyed before he would truly die, or how he could probably use techniques of every chakra nature!

"Is that so?" Kakashi nodded slightly at that, then said, "Captain, if it comes to a fight, I'll deal with him. You seize the corpse."

"Sure," Xia Yan said, immediately pleased. Could he really get such a good deal?

Kakashi was the very man who would personally finish Kakuzu off in the future.

Granted, compared with his self over a decade later, his current experience, physical abilities, chakra, and use of the Sharingan were nowhere close.

But having stolen Naruto's kill, he was undeniably Kakuzu's finisher. With that buff on his side, surely nothing would go wrong.

Still, this was not the time to consider that. Kakuzu's chakra was growing stronger, and he was clearly on the verge of attacking.

Xia Yan did not want to casually engage a terrorist as dangerous as Kakuzu, so negotiation was inevitable.

Leaping up, Xia Yan jumped down from the treetops with Kakashi, then walked slowly forward and stopped about five meters from Kakuzu.

"Oh, Anbu?" Kakuzu raised his eyebrows, his green eyes filled with an icy chill. "Judging by your clothes, you're from Konoha. You want this man?"

As he spoke, Kakuzu pointed at Kashiwagi Sen, who lay on the ground, long since dead. By now, however, the man had a different face.

"Yes, Mr. Kakuzu," Xia Yan said in a friendly, gentle voice. "We do want this man. I wonder if you might do us a favor."

"A favor?" Kakuzu chuckled disdainfully. "I'm no philanthropist. Do you know how much trouble I went through to kill him? Besides, he isn't one of your Konoha ninja, is he?"

"We're willing to pay some-"

"But he's our target."

Before Xia Yan could finish, Kakashi said coldly, "We're taking him back, dead or alive."

The moment Kakashi finished speaking, Xia Yan's expression darkened.

Whether his attitude was forceful was secondary. The real problem was that Kakashi had directly revealed their determination to get this done at any cost.

Under normal circumstances, that was good.

Here, however, it was very bad.

There were many situations in which the Anbu hunted targets, but the two most common were pursuing traitors and carrying out assassinations.

There was also another, somewhat more complicated one: eliminating spies.

"Oh?" Sure enough, Kakuzu's eyes brightened slightly at those words, though his gaze then turned somewhat dangerous. "Do you want a fight, brat?"

"Mr. Kakuzu, don't be angry." Xia Yan immediately pulled Kakashi behind him and said quickly, "Of course you're no philanthropist, so we'll buy his head at market price. How does that sound?"

"Market price?" Kakuzu looked utterly disdainful.

"Do you take me for a fool?

"I know why you're after him now, thanks to that brat beside you.

"This man is a spy, isn't he? And he has intelligence on your Konoha?

"If I let that information slip, who knows how many people would be willing to pay extra for his head? Do you think offering me market price is appropriate?"

"What would you like, then, Mr. Kakuzu?" Xia Yan discreetly shot Kakashi a glare before asking in the same gentle tone.

"Simple..."

At this point, Kakuzu's expression suddenly grew serious. Only then did he speak, enunciating every word.

"That'll cost extra."

"..."

Xia Yan froze. Looking at Kakuzu's utterly serious face, for a moment he wondered whether this guy had transmigrated too.

Still, Xia Yan remained quite calm. Thinking it over carefully, there really was nothing surprising about Kakuzu saying that.

This was a man who had lived so long that he had basically lost interest in everything else.

Only his desire for money could make him feel alive. Money was all he saw!

Taking a deep breath, Xia Yan quietly moved a hand behind his back and gave Kakashi a tactical signal.

At the same time, he kept his voice gentle as he said, "Mr. Kakuzu, Konoha rarely negotiates like this."

"So we're fighting?" Kakuzu's voice immediately turned cold, and his eyes grew dangerous. "Anbu ninja may be troublesome, but perhaps there's a bounty on you after all."

"That depends on whether you have what it takes, Mr. Kakuzu." Xia Yan remained just as calm, but his chakra had already begun to build.

Suddenly, Kakashi rushed out from behind him and hurled several kunai straight at Kakuzu.

Xia Yan moved at that very moment too, heading for the corpse...