Kumogakure.
Kakuzu, the treasurer of the Akatsuki Organization, entered the village along with some Kumogakure ninja to collect the reward money.
Orochimaru, who was supposed to wait outside, also sneaked in secretly.
He arrived at the village cemetery and opened the coffins of the Fourth Raikage and B.
B's corpse remained relatively intact, but inside the Fourth Raikage's coffin were only a few chunks of almost rotted flesh.
Concerned that Kumogakure ninja might appear at any moment, Orochimaru wasted no time sealing everything from both coffins into scrolls.
Raikage Tower, reception room.
Kakuzu counted the cash by licking his fingers, all the while watching Yugito from the corner of his eye.
In fact, even before Yeyue Ibuki assigned this mission, after Yugito took over as Raikage, Pain had already ordered them to test her power.
Accepting this task was simply going with the flow.
"Everything's accounted for."
With a clang, Kakuzu shut the box filled with money and turned to leave.
Yugito's posture relaxed slightly.
At that moment, Kakuzu's head twisted 180 degrees backward as his mouth opened wide.
[Wind Release - Pressure Damage]
Instantly entering partial transformation, Yugito was covered in blue chakra. Her hands morphed into feline paws, each claw long, razor-sharp, and glistening coldly.
The moment Kakuzu launched his attack, she shot forward in a ghostly blur, raking her claws through the air toward him at lightning speed.
A thunderous explosion echoed outward, blowing apart the wall of the Raikage Tower.
Inside the reception room, Kakuzu's severed head hit the floor with a thud. A shadow flickered momentarily nearby.
Numerous black threads shot simultaneously from both his neck and head, connecting the two parts together. Then, his body reattached itself and returned to normal.
Yugito looked seriously at this scene. With a few "whoosh" sounds, six Anbu appeared beside her.
"What exactly are you implying, Kakuzu?"
Kakuzu's eyes shifted warily.
This woman could apparently shift into partial transformation at will, without any need for preparation.
According to the intelligence from Yeyue Ibuki, she carried two tailed beasts within her body. Right now, she used only Nibi's chakra, leaving Hachibi still untouched.
This money wasn't easy to earn.
Whatever, this was enough… time to slip away quietly.
Snatching up the black money chest, Kakuzu chuckled. "The Akatsuki takes all sorts of missions. Raikage-sama, if you're willing to pay five million, I can tell you who commissioned this assassination."
"Do you really think you can walk out of here alive?" Yugito sneered.
Kakuzu laughed sinisterly. "Raikage-sama, do you really believe my comrade couldn't infiltrate Kumogakure? As a Kage, you should at least consider your people."
Yugito's expression darkened even further.
"The Akatsuki will do anything for a price—we're a professional group. Farewell for now, Raikage-sama."
Shooting out a business card from his pocket, Kakuzu strode away.
"Follow him, but don't make a move," Yugito instructed the Anbu standing nearby.
"Yes." The Anbu vanished.
Soon after, someone went off to call repair crews for the broken wall.
Yugito alone returned to her residence.
"Yugito, this must be the work of someone within the Council of Advisors. They've all been around since the reigns of The Third and The Fourth. According to your human saying, those people are what you'd call relics from a previous dynasty (former officials loyal to an old regime)." Matatabi the Two-Tails roared from within her.
"You're starting to make sense again."
In her heart, she already had a suspect. It was Yeyue Ibuki who proposed hiring Akatsuki, and he was also the one tasked with contacting them — making him the most suspicious.
"Look at those people — is anyone truly giving their best advice for you? Some of them need to be eliminated. If you won't do it, I will." Matatabi shouted.
"If you don't take action, someone else surely will..."
Yugito didn't respond to that statement and instead brought up another matter.
"I noticed something strange recently. My body is still in its developmental phase, so my chakra should be increasing rapidly. But my chakra reserves haven't improved at all. Two-Tails, do you know why?"
"Uh..."
"Isn't that a good thing?" Gyuki the Eight-Tails interrupted their conversation.
Yugito looked surprised. "A good thing?"
Gyuki explained, "Chakra is a mixture of spiritual and physical energy. That means it won't strain your body in the future."
"Are you two trying to take me for a fool?" Yugito felt something was off.
"That 'chakra is a mixture of spiritual and physical energy' line — isn't that straight from your textbook? Does this theory even hold water?" Gyuki countered with a question.
"Then how would you explain it?"
"We're not humans."
Yugito fell silent.
After a long silence, she stopped pursuing this matter and began thinking about what to do with Yeyue Ibuki and the others — whether or not to eliminate them.
This matter would have to wait until after the conflict between Konoha and Cloud Village completely settled down.
Within the sealed space inside her body, having severed connection with Yugito, the two tailed beasts were chatting.
"You know what's going on with her, right?" Gyuki asked Matatabi in his deep voice.
"You've already figured it out. Why bother asking me?" Matatabi shrugged.
"...It's because her body is still in the recovery phase, isn't it? Without our chakra, she wouldn't be able to manage this easily."
"Perhaps this is the price for using non-human power," Matatabi sighed.
"That person..."
Muttering these words, both beasts simultaneously sighed and fell silent.
Over these past few days, they had also tried using the method taught by the Sage of Six Paths — communication between tailed beasts through chakra — to contact the other tailed beasts. Unfortunately, their chakra couldn't be transmitted out.
When Kakuzu and the others returned, Akatsuki convened another meeting. Everyone attended except Obito, who remained hidden in the shadows, standing atop the fingers of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
Kakuzu briefly described his confrontation with Yugito.
"...I estimate that a two-man squad won't be able to handle her."
"It could affect our plans..."
"Just leave her for last then."
"As long as we get her before the Nine-Tails, right?"
Black Zetsu listened silently to these discussions while thinking about when he should go ask his "mother" about her intentions.
Four days later, Shikaku arrived at Kumogakure with six other Konoha ninja, making a group of seven.
He carried the Third Hokage's seal, representing the Hokage himself.
Along the way, the group overheard many sarcastic remarks.
"Hindsight's 20/20."
"In the end, did anything even matter?"
"Fighting all that time just wasted everyone's time and cost so many lives."
"Should've done this ages ago..."
Inside the meeting hall, waiting for them was someone especially familiar from the battlefield—Dodai.
Shikaku carefully reviewed the set of terms and conditions the Kumo representatives had handed over.
"...By the way, the compensation fund mentioned here doesn't include ransom fees."
"Hmm?" Shikaku questioned.
"There are still eleven captured Konoha ninja. If you want to bring them back—you know the old rule," Dodai said with an ambiguous smirk.
The Konoha delegation fell silent.
"Actually, by now, we probably understand them better than even Konoha does."
Shikaku caught the hidden meaning behind their words immediately—it meant if Konoha didn't ransom those people back, Kumo would make sure the news about Konoha abandoning its own comrades spread far and wide.
Even after everything ended, they're still playing games like this. Shikaku silently grumbled in his mind.
But he couldn't deny that this tactic would definitely work.
Many ninja who had fought on the battlefield were already losing trust in the village.
He personally witnessed some of these ninja forming secret groups privately; the Hyuga had recruited quite a few among them.
Because of their strength, of course, none of them dared openly defect as rogue ninja or voice inappropriate opinions,
But would they actually step up when Konoha faced trouble again? Doubtful.
Who knew how many others might come to the same conclusion after hearing about these cases?
"We'll take all our people back," Shikaku finally said.
"If there's no objection, then just sign the documents," Dodai nodded slightly.
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