With the matter of the Vote of Confidence that is to be held in six days decided, Kuroto left the Anbu base, and upon returning his home, he again found a piece of parchment in the very same bamboo grass in the lawn of his house.
"Again, and this soon…?" muttered Kuroto with a frowned expression, and thought, 'The frequency at which they are contacting me is increasing with each contact… Akatsuki Organization is becoming more and more impatient!'
Although not very pleased, Kuroto still took out the parchment from the Bamboo grass, and after noting that like all time, there was again a coordinate position marked in it, Kuroto pondered over it a little and finally decided to go to that place…
Remaining in touch with Akatsuki Organization can not only temporarily ensure Neji's safety, but also allow Kuroto to keep track of the Akatsuki Organization's movements and intentions to some extent. This is very important since Kuroto cannot openly contact Shinichi because the other guy is probably being closely monitored and is unable to transmit the inside information about the Akatsuki Organization.
Similar to the last few contacts, the location that he was asked to come to was not too far from the Konoha Village, as such, it didn't take him too long to reach there.
As Kuroto arrived at the location that was marked on the map, suddenly there was some noise in the grass not far away from him.
With his Byakugan activated, Kuroto glanced in that particular direction and upon noticing that a presence was coming closer to him, he couldn't help but think to himself, 'Is Akatsuki finally arranging someone to meet me?'
Up until now, whenever Kuroto came to deliver any intelligence upon receiving instructions from Akatsuki, no one was coming to meet him at the location, and he was only leaving behind scrolls, but now that someone is finally meeting him, it means that Obito and Akatsuki have developed some trust in Kuroto's credibility and this is undoubtedly a good start.
Kuroto didn't have to wait too long, as not long after he noted a presence, which is actually a white figure came out of the bushes and appeared before him.
The person who came out had a completely white body with greenish hair along with a pair of yellow eyes.
Obviously, the white being standing before Kuroto isn't a normal 'clone' of White Zetsu, rather, it is one of the hundred thousand Zetsu that Kaguya left behind after she was sealed.
One strange thing to note about these hundred thousand Zetsu's is that they all have the same personality despite the fact that each of them used to be a different human being before turning into a Zetsu being… this just doesn't make sense to him no matter how Kuroto thinks about it…
Logically speaking, if they were different human beings before turning into Zetsu beings, then they must at least have some differences even after turning into Zetsu beings, but no…! Each and every one of them is exactly the same, with the exact same personality… which is bizarre… but well, putting this issue aside, after Kuroto looked up and down at the Zetsu-like-being standing in front of him, he then asked, "Who are you?"
The Zetsu-like-being looked at Hyuga Kuroto for a moment, then immediately said, "Hyuga Kuroto, I am the one responsible for collecting intelligence from you… you can call me Jozetsu-sama!"
'Jozetsu-sama? Is he being serious?' Kuroto looked strangely at the Zetsu being, but seeing that the other party was quite serious, he had to believe it and asked, "So, when will you give me what I want?"
Juzetsu shrugged, "Our leader is not very satisfied with the information you have given us up until now… if you want to get what you want, you must give us something noteworthy that is useful to us… perhaps more valuable information… like when is the next the members of Amatsukami will appear in Konoha, how many of them will come… et cetera, et cetera…"
"Are you kidding me?" asked Kuroto with a gloomy expression.
"No… no… you are misunderstanding something…" Jozetsu shook his head and explained, "This is how Akatsuki works, and we have always been fair… if you want some kind of reward, then you have to exchange it for something that is of equal worth. The information you have given us up until now is not of equal value compared to what you want in return from us…"
Kuroto said in a chilling tone, "You think this is all a game? Did I not say that except for Hokage-sama no one else is aware of such information!"
Jozetsu nodded, "Exactly… as you have said, Hokage is the one who has such information, if this is the case… then you should find a way to steal such information from the Hokage to get what you want, of course, you can als--!…!"
Swish!
Before Jozetsu could finish his words, he felt a sharp feeling invade his right arm, at the same time he caught the sight of a silver light for a moment, and the next thing he knew, his entire right hand was cut off from the shoulder region and had fallen to the ground!
"You! What are you doing?!!" Taken aback by the sudden change, Jozetsu backed away immediately and looked at Kuroto who has unknowingly unsheathed his Kusanagi no Tsurugi and was standing only an inch away in front of him with a surprised expression.
In the aghast expression of Jozetsu, Kuroto slowly put back his Kusanagi no Tsurugi into its sheathe, then said to Jozetsu with a cold expression, "I will tell you one thing, and I want you to pass it to your fake Uchiha Madara… I have limited patience… if he wants to use me to get any more information on Amatsukami, then firstly I want him to return my disciple back… If Akatsuki Organization cannot even show their sincerity, then don't expect me to take any more risk…!"
Jozetsu didn't expect Hyuga Kuroto to attack him so suddenly and even be bold enough to present such a condition in front of him, so although flabbergasted, he still tried to threaten Kuroto, "Don't forget… all the information you have given us up until now is still in our hands… Think of the consequences, what would happen… if all these scrolls that are proof of your treachery are made public knowledge… you will be branded as traitor… and…"
Before Jozetsu could complete his sentence, the blade of Kuroto's Kusanagi no Tsurugi was already resting on his neck… With just an inch away from killing him, Kuroto coldly said, "Then go ahead and do your worst…! My conditions will not change… If Akatsuki wants me to take to risks and steal the information that they need, then I want Akatsuki to fulfil my first demand too… I know that cracking Cage Bird Juinjutsu can take a lot of time so I am willing to wait for it, but the safety of my disciple must be confirmed immediately… Return my disciple, and I will be willing to cooperate, otherwise, I won't give a damn! If you people are not even willing to let go of my disciple who had nothing to do with you, then why should I take risks for you?"
Seeing the blade of Kuroto's sword resting on his neck, and hearing Kuroto's arguments, Jozetsu was completely silent… rather, he was kind of afraid to speak anything as he was worried that he will be killed if he spoke anything wrong…
Seeing that White Zetsu was not speaking anything, Kuroto asked, "Did I make myself clear?"
Seeing the blade of Kuroto's sword resting on his neck, and hearing Kuroto's arguments, Jozetsu was completely silent… rather, he was kind of afraid to speak anything as he was worried that he will be killed if he spoke anything wrong…
Seeing that White Zetsu was not speaking anything, Kuroto asked, "Did I make myself clear?"
Jozetsu hurriedly nodded…
The reason why Jozetsu chose not to threaten Kuroto more than necessary is for three reasons, firstly he did not have enough strength to do so, second, even if they made the fact that he has turned into a traitor, it would be of no benefit to the Akatsuki Organization, and finally, even if they kill Hyuga Kuroto and replace him with some other spy, they would face the same problem again…
With his point made clear, Kuroto took back his sword and again put it back into the sheathe.
Now that the sword was away, Jozetsu breathed a sigh of relief and said, Now that the sword was away, Jozetsu breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I will report your condition back to our leader and maybe he will be willing to let your disciple go… but to get the help in regards to the Caged Bird Juinjutsu, you must provide us effective and useful information… there will be no room for bargaining in this matter…"
After saying so, Jozetsu did not wait for Kuroto's answer, he hurriedly dived into the ground and immediately left this place… He didn't know why… but when facing Hyuga Kuroto at this moment, he was feeling extremely scared… it was not just any kind of fear, but instinctual fear…
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