Early morning on the third day.
Kakuzu pushed open Senju Chen's door.
Senju Chen was sitting at the table having breakfast. There were several plates of exquisite side dishes and a bowl of steaming porridge in front of him.
Seeing Kakuzu come in, he just raised his eyelids lightly and continued eating his breakfast.
"How about it, old guy, have you thought about it carefully?" Senju Chen's tone was very casual, as if he was asking how Tenten was feeling today.
Kakuzu stood at the door and was silent for a moment.
Then, he took a deep breath and said three words hoarsely:
"I promise."
Senju Chen put down his chopsticks and raised a smile on his lips.
"Very good."
He stood up, walked to Kakuzu, and patted him on the shoulder.
"I have nothing to do recently. Your first task is to go to Land of Earth and help me find Land of Wind, the traitorous ninja Sasori of the Red Sands."
Kakuzu was stunned.
Sasori of the Red Sands?
That Land of Wind S level rebel ninja puppet master?
"You... you want me to go find him, and am I not the accountant in charge of money now?" Kakuzu was speechless.
"Isn't there nothing happening lately? In terms of money, you can just come over occasionally and do statistics." Senju Chen shook his head, "And we're not looking for him, we're recruiting him."
Kakuzu's pupils suddenly contracted.
"Recruiting? Are you crazy? That guy is an S-class traitor! And I heard he has a weird personality. It's impossible for such a person to listen to anyone!"
"That's why I need you to go." Senju Chen smiled, "You are also an S-class rebel. I believe that you must have something in common."
Kakuzu's mouth twitched.
Why, in your eyes, if we are both rebels and tolerants, we have a common topic???
"Don't worry." Senju Chen patted Kakuzu on the shoulder, "I'm not asking you to die. I will give you enough intelligence support, and... a 'meeting gift'."
"Meeting gift?"
"Yes." Senju Chen took out a scroll from the ninja tool bag and handed it to Kakuzu, "This is a new puppet material developed by my teacher and Amado. Among the materials you have seen is the tail of Xuanyuan Gari and theirs. I believe that Sasori of the Red Sands will be very interested in it."
"Go." Senju Chen turned around and sat back at the table, "Remember, what I want is the living Sasori of the Red Sands, not his body."
In the desert of Land of Earth, the sun is like a soldering iron, baking the ground to smoke.
Kakuzu was wearing that iconic green robe, walking Earth Flow on the sand step by step. His shadow was stretched very long, like a black nail, nailed into this dead land.
"Damn brat..." Kakuzu cursed in a low voice, "You made me run so far just to find a madman."
In his hand, he held a piece of information bought from the black market - Sasori of the Red Sands, Land of Wind S level rebel ninja, good at Puppet Technique, with a withdrawn personality, suspected of hiding in an abandoned mine on the border of Land of Earth.
The information was very expensive, costing him five hundred thousand taels.
Kakuzu My heart twitches every time I think of this number.
"I must ask Senju Chen to reimburse me for this money."
The entrance to the mine is hidden behind a pile of rocks.
Kakuzu stood at the entrance of the cave and squinted his eyes to look inside. It was pitch black and nothing could be seen, only a damp musty smell wafted out.
"Sasori of the Red Sands!" Kakuzu shouted at the top of his lungs, and his voice echoed in the cave, "Come out to meet the guests!"
No one responded.
Kakuzu frowned and was about to walk in, when suddenly there was nothing under his feet.
"Huh?"
He reacted extremely quickly, retreated instantly, and black tentacles surged out of his body, grabbing onto the rock wall at the entrance of the cave.
"Boom--"
With a muffled sound, the ground collapsed, revealing a bottomless trap. At the bottom of the trap, sharp steel thorns were densely inserted, shining with cold light.
"Hmph, little trick." Kakuzu sneered, flicked his tentacles, and landed firmly on the edge of the hole.
As soon as he finished speaking, the surrounding rocks suddenly moved.
"Click--click--"
The sound of mechanical friction sounded, and several humanoid puppets emerged from the ground, holding various weapons in their hands - knives, swords, hammers, chains... Their eyes glowed with a faint green light, and they all stared at Kakuzu.
"Welcome."
A young and cold voice came from the depths of the mine.
Kakuzu's mouth twitched.
"Is this how you treat guests?"
"Only those who can make it here alive are qualified to see me." The voice said lightly, "Are you... qualified?"
Kakuzu has no answer.
He just raised his hand and spread his five fingers slightly.
The next second, black tentacles surged out from his body like a group of hungry snakes, pounced on the puppets.
"Bang--bang--bang--"
The power of the tentacles is astonishing, and every blow can smash the puppet to pieces. Wood chips, metal fragments, gears... flying all over the sky, like a heavy rain.
In less than ten seconds, all those puppets turned into a pile of scrap metal.
Kakuzu patted the dust on his hands and said expressionlessly, "Now, am I qualified?"
There was silence for a moment in the mine.
Then, the voice sounded again, this time with a hint of interest.
"Interesting... come in."
The mine is very deep.
Kakuzu Walking along the narrow passage, the stones under your feet were wet and made a "pattering" sound when you stepped on them.
On the walls on both sides of the passage, there are some strange things hanging - human arms, legs, heads... all made into puppet parts, arranged neatly.
Kakuzu glanced at it without any fluctuation in his eyes.
He has seen many more corpses than this.
At the end of the passage is a spacious cave. Several oil lamps are lit in the cave, and the dim light shines on the wall, casting distorted shadows.
In the center of the cave, stood a hunchbacked figure.
It was a puppet shell, wearing a black robe, and carrying a huge scroll on its back. The puppet's face was made of wood, with no expression, only two empty eye sockets, with a faint green light shining inside.
"Are you Sasori of the Red Sands?" Kakuzu stopped and asked hoarsely.
"It's me." The puppet slowly turned around and the voice came from its mouth, "Who are you?"
"Kakuzu."
"Kakuzu..." Xie's voice paused, "Takigakure's rebellious ninja? I heard you lived a long time."
"More than ninety years." Kakuzu said expressionlessly, "I have lived seventy years longer than you, a brat."
Scorpio was not angry, but simply said, "Living a long life does not mean living a meaningful life."
Kakuzu's eyes turned cold.
"What do you mean?"
"Human life is short." Scorpio's voice was very calm, as if stating a fact, "No matter how long you live, you will eventually die and turn into dust. Only Puppet Technique is eternal."
Kakuzu frowned.
"Puppet Technique?"
"Yes." Xie raised his hand and pointed at the puppet parts in the cave, "I make people into puppets so that they can always maintain their most beautiful posture. This is my Puppet Technique-eternal life."
Kakuzu was silent for a moment.
Then, he suddenly laughed.
"Hahaha..."
Laughter echoed in the cave, with a hint of mockery.
"Why are you laughing?" Xie's voice turned cold.
"I laugh at you for being a lunatic." Kakuzu shook his head, "If you make people into puppets, can you call it eternal? Then if I kill people and take their hearts, can I also call you eternal?"
In Scorpion's eyes, a faint green light flickered.
"You don't understand."
"Of course I don't understand." Kakuzu shrugged, "I only understand money."
"Money?" Xie sneered, "What's the point of such vulgar things?"
"It makes a lot of sense." Kakuzu said seriously, "With money, you can do whatever you want. Want to study puppets? Buy materials. Want to kill people? Hire assassins. Want to hide? Buy information. Money is the most practical thing in the world."
Scorpion shook his head.
"You and I are not the same person."
"I know." Kakuzu nodded, "That's why I'm not here today to discuss eternity with you."
"Then what are you here for?"
"Recruit you."
Scorpion was stunned for a moment.
"Recruiting?"
"Yes." Kakuzu took out a piece of paper from his arms and handed it to Xie, "There is a kid who wants you to join his organization."
Xia took the paper and glanced at it.
There is only one line of words on the paper: Sasori of the Red Sands is sincerely invited to join "Food Is Heaven".
"Food Is Heaven?" Xie frowned, "What is this?"
"A restaurant." Kakuzu said simply, "On the surface it is doing business, but in fact it is doing intelligence. That kid wants to build a huge intelligence network throughout Shinobi World and needs manpower."
Scorpion was silent for a moment.
Then he threw the paper on the ground.
"Not interested."