Bab 17: Chapter 17: Kakuzu, where's Your Teammate?
Chapter 17: Kakuzu, Where's Your Teammate?
"Kakuzu, where's your teammate?"
Deva Path Pain looked over, his brow furrowed deeply. Although he had an idea of what the answer might be, he couldn't help but ask.
"That unlucky guy was killed by the enemy, so I just took his head to collect the bounty!"
Upon hearing this, a sinister smile appeared on Kakuzu's face – the kind of face that could make even a child cry at night. It was as if he were recounting a trivial matter. However, the reality was that during a mission, Kakuzu had "accidentally" killed his unfortunate teammate with a Fire Release jutsu.
Predictable answer!
The older Akatsuki members were used to Kakuzu's tendency to "lose" teammates. Situations like this had occurred more than once or twice.
Since the shinobi world isn't that big and powerful rogue ninjas are scarce, the requirements for Kakuzu's teammates kept lowering.
To this, Kakuzu always said, "If my teammates are too weak and end up dead, you can't blame me, right?"
Aside from a headache, Pain couldn't find a real reason to blame Kakuzu.
"Alright then, Zetsu, please continue to search for a suitable partner for Kakuzu." (Black and White Zetsu combined is referred to as Zetsu.)
Pain's gaze swept across the group, finally landing on the yin-yang, pitcher-plant figure of Zetsu.
"Wait…"
"Speaking of suitable candidates, I've found someone interesting… His name is Hidan, a Jashin cultist from Yugakure, with an immortal body. He seems to meet Kakuzu's requirements quite well."
Zetsu interjected, revealing information about the target in detail.
After hearing Zetsu's words, Pain nodded with satisfaction. Then his gaze returned to the two newcomers, with more attention on Uchiha Itachi.
From what he had gathered, Itachi was ruthless and extremely cold-blooded. Since he had even turned against his clan and family, there was a lingering doubt about whether Itachi might turn on the organization as well.
Although Pain was cautious about this extremely dangerous and unstable individual, Akatsuki was in dire need of talent, so he didn't push Itachi away.
All Pain cared about was the strength of Akatsuki's members. Besides, under his Rinnegan, Itachi couldn't escape "God's" control. His focus was on how to best use this individual effectively.
As for Uchiha Yi, who had just sparred with him and whose abilities Pain had acknowledged, there were some guesses about his identity, but these were trivial matters.
"Welcome, both of you, to the Akatsuki organization!"
"Uchiha Itachi, here's your ring. Your codename is [Shu]!"
"And you…"
Pain pulled two rings from his pocket, tossing one to Itachi. But when he turned to Uchiha Yi, he realized he didn't yet know Yi's name, pausing slightly.
"Leader, you can call me Aho," Uchiha Yi said, giving a false name.
"Then, Aho, here's your ring. Your codename will be [Hi]!"
Pain pulled out another ring and threw it to Uchiha Yi.
Catching it, Uchiha Yi slipped it on his finger. He recalled the codenames of other Akatsuki members: Pain (Nagato) was [Zero], Konan was [White], Zetsu was [Gen], Kakuzu was [Hoku], Sasori was [Gyoku], Orochimaru was [Ku], Juzo Biwa was [Nan], and Uchiha Itachi was [Shu].
Future members who would join included Deidara with the codename [Ao], Hidan with [San], Uchiha Obito who would later take on Sasori's [Gyoku], and Kisame Hoshigaki who would take on Juzo's [Nan].
The [Hi] ring on his finger didn't appear in the original story. It seemed that Akatsuki had prepared numerous rings, though few were worthy of wearing them.
While deep in thought, he heard Pain continue.
"Uchiha Itachi and Aho, you can pick up your Akatsuki uniforms later!"
"From now on, you represent the Akatsuki!"
"Next, let's discuss Akatsuki's recruitment targets."
"The first target is Hoshigaki Kisame from the Hidden Mist Village…"
As Pain spoke, a spatial distortion appeared in one corner of the cave, and Uchiha Obito's figure reappeared before everyone.
"Haha, Aho-senpai is truly impressive!"
"You almost killed me!"
Obito, posing as Tobi, looked directly at Uchiha Yi, waving his arms, patting his chest, and expressing his lingering fear.
Hearing this, Uchiha Yi only chuckled without any interest in responding, simply watching with cold eyes to see how long he would play the fool.
The other members weren't particularly interested in Tobi's antics. What piqued their curiosity was how Tobi managed to escape unharmed from such a situation.
It seemed that Akatsuki's intern Tobi wasn't a simple character either!
With this in mind, they silently observed him, none of them humoring his performance.
"Add me to the mission to recruit Kisame Hoshigaki!"
"As an Akatsuki intern, I can't be entirely useless!"
"By the way, the mission might be tricky; could Aho-senpai come with me?"
After being ignored, Tobi dropped the playful act, got to the point, and asked with a smile.
"I refuse!"
Hearing this, Uchiha Yi immediately rejected the idea. Knowing that Uchiha Obito had ulterior motives, only a fool would go along with it.
"In that case, Juzo Biwa will handle this mission, with Uchiha Itachi and Tobi assisting."
Seeing the tension between them, Pain decided it was best not to assign Aho and Tobi together.
With Tobi unwilling to take the lead, there weren't many options left. Ideally, Orochimaru and Sasori, as senior members, would take on this task together. However, the two didn't get along and had nearly fought several times, making them unsuitable teammates.
Moreover, they had both suffered some damage recently in their mission to eliminate the Salamander Hanzo's forces in the Hidden Rain Village, needing time to recover. Finding good teammates for them was difficult at the moment.
"What a shame!"
"I really wanted to go on a mission with Aho-senpai!"
"It seems my intern status isn't appealing to Aho-senpai!"
"So sad!"
Feigning disappointment, Tobi crouched in a corner, poking his fingers together in mock sadness, drawing disdain and scorn from the others.
Everyone knew he was acting, so why bother?
"Yes!"
The other two responded in unison.
"Next, the second recruitment target: Hidan!"
"Konan, I'll leave this mission to you. Kakuzu and Aho will assist."
With Orochimaru and Sasori unavailable, Pain assigned the second target to Konan, even involving the new recruit, Aho, which showed how short-handed Akatsuki was.
"Understood!"
Konan nodded.
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