Orochimaru found the whole situation amusing, while Kakuzu’s mood resembled attending a funeral. He had no idea how Akatsuki’s security measures could have slipped so badly that this was happening.
From atop the Amegakure tower, Nagato and Konan had long siiced the four approag figures. Nagato wouldn’t have been surprised if it was Kakuzu bringing Uzumaki Senshi in. But seeing that Senshi was the one leading Kakuzu over left Nagato a bit puzzled.
Seated oower’s edge, Nagato observed them for a while before asking casually,
“That’s the famous Uzumaki Senshi from the bck market, right?”
Senshi’s name carried some weight in the underworld, so even Nagato had heard of him. Still, Nagato always felt that Senshi was not “their type,” so he’d never sidered recruiting him.
Konan nodded. She was equally curious about why Senshi had e to the tower in the first pce.
“He seems very familiar with this area. It’s like…he’s specifically looking for us.”
Nagato didn’t seem too bothered. At least for now, in his eyes, Senshi wasn’t a threat to be taken seriously. After discussing it briefly, Konan and Nagato heard approag footsteps. Nagato looked over and saw Uzumaki Senshi, apanied by a young red-haired girl.
That familiar color!
Someone had oold him that red hair was characteristic of the Uzumaki . Because of the wars, the Uzumaki had been scattered all over. It was quite rare to see three different people, each presumably of Uzumaki dest, all in the same area.
Nagato gnced briefly at Senshi, then turo Kakuzu.
“What’s going on?”
In a measured tone, Kakuzu replied,
“I believe Uzumaki Senshi is well suited to join the Akatsuki.”
He didn’t mention that Senshi first refused, then abruptly insisted on joining. In Kakuzu’s mind, Senshi’s train of thought back then must have been…abnormal. Still, as long as he was willing to do work for Akatsuki, that was good enough.
Nagato tinued,
“What about his abilities?”
Kakuzu took a breath and answered,
“He’s very strong. His success rate on bck-market missions is one hundred pert—the only person in the Ame’s bck market with that record. Not long ago, during one of my own missions, we crossed paths and he destroyed two of my hearts.”
Nagato and Konan had known Senshi was a det ninja, but they hadn’t realized just how formidable he truly was. For him to destroy two of Kakuzu’s hearts and leave unscathed clearly put him at a level worthy of joining Akatsuki.
Nagato urned his gaze toward Senshi.
“You wish to join Akatsuki? Why?”
Senshi answered without hesitation,
“Leader Nagato, I’m very happy to join. As for why—because Kakuzu-san invited me, so I’ve got to give him some face.”
Hearing this, Kakuzu’s face twitched slightly. Nagato and Konan remained impassive oside, though inwardly they were speechless. What kind of flimsy reason was that?
At least they didn’t have any issues with Senshi’s identity. He’d grown up in the Amegakure, only venturing out for his merary work; he had no real affiliation with other hidden vilges. After a brief pause, Nagato nodded.
“You join, but you’ll have a probationary period. During that time, you and Kakuzu will operate as a two-man cell, and he’ll be you. After the probation is over, we’ll reveal some of Akatsuki’s core information to you—”
Before Nagato could finish, Senshi interrupted:
“No problem. But I have a few ditions.”
Nagato’s eyes flickered slightly. Not just one dition but a few? Akatsuki had taken iy of strong ninja, but someone like Senshi…this was a first.
“Let’s hear them.”
Both Konan and Kakuzu, as well as Orochimaru and Karin, shifted their gazes to Senshi. The young man cleared his throat, then said:
1. “First, I want to join Akatsuki as a hired member.”
2. “Sed, I’ll need a monthly sary. It doesn’t have to be huge—100,000 ryō, about the standard pay for an A-rank mission. I think that’s fair, sidering I did take Kakuzu’s two hearts in three seds. My record speaks for itself.”
Kakuzu was mortified that Senshi would y it all out in front of everyone. But Senshi paid no mind to the awkwardness in the air a on:
3. “Third, if the anization wants to assign me bck-market missions, I’ll only accept ission jobs.”
4. “Lastly, she stays with me.”
Senshi lightly patted Karin’s shoulder to indicate he wanted her by his side.
The main reason he only asked for 100,000 was because he knew his demands might e across as too much. Asking for more money could backfire. As for the “ission only” requirement, it was because of the system:
The bck market basically deals in two job types: bounties and issions.
Bounty missions typically involve killing someone or stealing something with no questions asked. The t sets a reward, the ninja pletes the job, and collects the bounty through the bck market.
ission je from menial tasks like ing or trag down lost pets, up to high-level duties like guarding a daimyo.
Most ninja didn’t care about the difference, but for Senshi it mattered a great deal. His “Ultimate Merary System” only reized ission jobs. Any other kind of mission yielded no system rewards.
At first gnce, his demands seemed excessive. Nagato paused, clearly p, then said ftly,
“No.”
To Nagato, Senshi had the strength to join, but these ditiooo unorthodox. Akatsuki tasks teo be very dangerous. Having Karin tagging along would be a liability. Sure, you could leave her at a safehouse during high-risk missions, so that wasn’t the real problem.
The real stig point was that Senshi insisted on joining as a hired hand. Akatsuki had grand, almost sacred objectives, so secred unity were paramount. Letting someone join on a merary basis seemed eoo unstable.
After Nagato spoke, Kakuzu paused a moment, then said,
“Let him in. For a wandering ninja like him, Akatsuki is an excellent pce to settle. I believe, given time, he’ll ge his perspective.”
Since Senshi would be paired with Kakuzu, Nagato had to sider Kakuzu’s input. After a bit more thought, Nagato nodded:
“For the time being, Uzumaki Senshi will act as your partner. If you have no objes, he spend this probationary period with you.”
Nagato trusted Kakuzu because if any parturned out to be problematic, Kakuzu would simply kill them. Orochimaru, oher hand, just smirked:
“I wonder how long this rookie will st.”
Onagato officially approved Senshi’s membership in Akatsuki, the system prompt finally sounded in Senshi’s head:
[You have joined Akatsuki and accepted a long-term ission!]
[System Reward #1: One SUPER DRAW]
Hearing that, Senshi’s eyes lit up, and he instantly pulled up his system panel.
“Draw!”
He couldn’t care less about the so-called “death squad.” All he wanted was this Super Draw from the system.
[Drawing Super Reward…]
[gratutions! You’ve obtained an SSS-rank reward:
The Rumble-Rumble Fruit (Naruto World Adaption)!]
The Rumble-Rumble Fruit?!
Gng at its info, Senshi couldn’t stop grinning:
[Name: Rumble-Rumble Fruit (Naruto-Adaptive)]
[Rank: SSS]
[in: A rare treasure from the One Piece world, noted for the ninja world with ive side effects removed]
[Development Level: D]
[Current Unlocked Abilities:]
? Mantra (Observation): Sense every disturbahin a certain radius
? Lightning Finger: Release lightning from your fiips to attabsp;
? Lightning Teleportation: Transform iricity, moving through electric fields or ductive materials
? Thunderbolt (Inazuma): Turn an arm into lightning to form a massive thunder pilr, striking targets within your Mantra range
? Lightning Form: Bee pure lightning, geing light ao e all physical attabsp;
? Discharge: 360-degree omnidireal lightning barrage, hitting everything in range
None of the others in Akatsuki knew what Senshi was doing. They just saw him suddenly break into a suspicious grin, which quickly grew wider and more uling. Konan, Nagato, Kakuzu, Orochimaru—everyone was a bit taken aback by the eerie pleasure on his face.
Karin, likewise, was baffled. Senshi was already an oddball for wanting t a young girl on missions and only accepting ission jobs. But now he’d started cag out of nowhere, his griing bigger by the sed, looking dht abnormal. Even Nagato’s gaze grew more serious.
This team is getting harder and harder to manage…
Bleam
