Bab 44: Chapter 44: Rise of the Akatsuki Part II
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
"Hmm…."- Bijuu, Black Zetsu
Chapter 44:
Rise of the Akatsuki Part II:
First Strike
"Who exactly is their target?"
White Zetsu was crackling like never before. He couldn't help it. The irony in all of this was too good, after all. Never would he have expected for things to develop in such a way.
Due to his lack of response, however, Tobi ignored him in favor of focusing his attention on Black Zetsu who was the one to answer.
"One of White Zetsu's clones managed to locate the bounty that they're pursuing. It's none other than the jinchuriki for the Yonbi."
Behind them stood both Kazuki and Sasori, the latter of which wasn't really paying attention. The small band of Akatsuki members were now regrouped inside Madara's hideout which would serve as their base of operations for the time being until they had the funds for the new bases. Tobi already had an idea about using some old Uchiha hideouts scattered throughout the Elemental Nations. But he could focus on that later.
Kazuki h'mphed. "So does this mean that we will be joining them then?"
Kazuki had already heard about these bijuu from Black Zetsu. They were said to carry extraordinary power. They also had distinct characteristics from one another which set them all apart. But that didn't concern the Uchiha. To him, they were nothing more than a means to an end. In the end, their whole purpose was so that they could revive the Juubi and carry out the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Nothing more.
Tobi contemplated this. He hadn't exactly expected for Kakuzu to be on the hunt for a jinchuriki this early. Then again, he hadn't exactly been paying attention to the man's movements during this time period. He was nothing more than a naive brat stuck in a world that didn't exist. But his past self wasn't something that concerned him in the least. Uchiha Obito was nothing now. He was now a nobody. "Tobi" was nothing more than a cover. That was all.
"It seems that it would be beneficial for us, especially if it gets Kakuzu to join," he finally answered.
"What of the woman with him?" White Zetsu asked with a grin. "She seems feisty. Kakuzu has also vouched for her skills."
"If she wants to join, let her," Tobi replied with a shrug. "It matters not in the end. If she can be of use to us, then it's fine. At the moment, what we need is to fill our ranks. And if she seems to have great skills, then we have no reason to turn her down."
"Are you really going for the jinchuriki?" Sasori asked, joining the conversation. The others all turned their attention to him. "The Tsuchikage isn't just going to allow that to happen. From what intelligence Suna has gathered from Iwa, the Yonbi jinchuriki is one of the best assists that the Tsuchikage has. He'll be heavily guarded."
"Kakuzu must have a plan if he was already going to attempt this on his own," Tobi answered. "If not, then it doesn't matter. My jutsu is impenetrable. No matter what the Tsuchikage throws at me, it won't make a difference."
Turning his attention back to White Zetsu, Tobi continued, "What of Hidan? Have you found him yet?"
If anything, White Zetsu became even more amused at hearing the name. "Yes. It seems that he's trying to murder the village leader that he once served. His village is no longer a shinobi one, having turned their attention instead to business since a few months ago. Namely to hot springs. Most of the old shinobi that were once employed there have left and gone to other nations in search of positions. There's no one that can stop him in that area. One of my clones offered to help him take out his old employer in exchange for joining us. He took it. It'll be a few days before he can reach us, though."
Tobi nodded, satisfied. That only left Kisame. But he could reach the swordsman whenever he wanted. He was pretty much the Sandaime Mizukage now that Madara was gone. In a few years, he would let Yagura take over. While controlling him from the shadows of course. He still needed to find information on the whereabouts of the rest of the bijuu. And no matter how much White Zetsu boasted, he would prefer to have more intel than less. That would leave two remaining spots. Unlike last time, though, Akatsuki would not approach Orochimaru. The snake bastard had betrayed them and had left with one of their rings. Orochimaru just couldn't be trusted. Of course, he could always trick Nagato into his side again. But the brat wasn't useful anymore. No, he couldn't allow any other betrayals. After he had Kakuzu and Hidan, he would head straight to Ame and kill the boy after taking back Madara's eyes. Not only that, but the first bijuu was soon going to be in their grasps.
"Sasori, wait here for now," Tobi stated without facing the redhead. "Rest up. We will return with the Yonbi in hand. After that, we will have several restless days and nights. You should look forward to that too, Kazuki."
Said Uchiha didn't respond while Sasori simply nodded.
Tobi h'mphed before his Kamui sprung into life around him and Kazuki. "Then let us go. We will be waiting for you in Iwa, Zetsu."
"Roger, roger," White Zetsu said with a chuckle as he and Black Zetsu began to sink back into the ground just as the two Uchiha disappeared into the vortex.
Sasori merely closed his eyes as he felt the scroll that contained the corpse of the Kazekage in his robes. He had his own preparations to do right now.
Roshi sighed in irritation as he waited outside Onoki's office. The Iwa jonin was wearing a long-sleeved red shirt with a mesh shirt and fitted black suit underneath, navy blue pants, calf-length shinobi sandals, a brown three pointed crown-like headpiece with his Iwa headband with a ring, a brown back armor plate as well as a brown breast armor plate that was held together by a brown sash wrapped around his waist, and armored lapels falling to the sides. His red hair was tied into a tight ponytail. He also had a beard that he was quite secretly proud of.
'What exactly does he want now?' he thought to himself in more irritation. He was beginning to get quite fed up with all the suicide missions he had been receiving lately. Even though he did possess the Yonbi and thus had a better healing factor than anyone else around, that wasn't an excuse to constantly keep sending him on missions that were certain to get him kill one day. But Roshi already knew that he shouldn't be expecting any better from the man who was his leader. He was ruthless and only took into consideration things that were useful to him. He was a jinchuriki. Thus, his whole purpose was only to serve as the village's little pet before he finally died and was replaced by another poor soul to carry this burden. It was why he had been thinking of leaving the village for the past few months. Of course, he knew that he couldn't become a rogue ninja. That sort of life didn't appeal to him. Nor was it truly freedom. Then again, what really was freedom? To Roshi, freedom had flown out the window the second that he had become a jinchuriki.
No, he could only hope for something that would never be the real deal. That was his life now. For better or worse, it didn't matter.
"You sure are getting awful poetic recently, Roshi. Do you feel your end coming or what?"
Roshi frowned when he heard the Yonbi's voice in his head. For some odd reason, the beast had become a lot more talkative in the last few days. He didn't understand why. But it didn't really concern him all that much either. He was stuck with the bijuu. There was nothing he could do about that. Unless he wanted to die. But that didn't mean that he had to be all buddy buddy with the beast. They were acquaintances stuck together in an awful business deal, nothing more.
That was why he simply ignored the bijuu just like he always did unless he was forced to talk to the beast. Holding a conversation with the bijuu didn't interest him.
After what seemed like eternity, the doors to Onoki's office finally opened. And just like usual, Roshi was met with the grumbling faces of the men that comprised the village's council. But it wasn't like they did anything anymore. All decisions were made by Onoki himself. He was pretty much the complete dictator with the council only being a body of government without any actual powers. It was sad really. But that was the way that Onoki conducted all affairs in the village. And Roshi doubted that the man was going to change anytime soon.
The jinchuriki let the men walk past him before he entered, already knowing that Onoki was expecting him. And just like council members, Roshi was met with Onoki's grumbling face. It seemed like the man was growing tired of the council's constant attempts to gain back their former power.
But Onoki quickly let his grumbling cease when he noticed Roshi walking into his office. Instead, only his serious side remained.
"Ah, Roshi. You're right on time again. The council's complaints took longer than I expected."
Roshi had to fight back a snort. It wasn't like he was here because he wanted to.
Not taking notice of this, though, Onoki chuckled as he picked up one of the papers that was lying on his desk. "There's another mission that I need you to take care of. Like the other ones, it's another S-rank one."
Roshi wasn't surprised. It was just like he had suspected. "What is it this time? Another shinobi that you want me to kill?"
Onoki nodded. "Yes. But not just one: several."
Roshi did raise an eyebrow at this.
Seeing this, Onoki elaborated. "There seems to be a cult acting around Iwa recently. We're not exactly sure what their aim is or know anything about its command structure. But a few have been spotted in a nearby village just outside of Iwa. It seems like this is the exact same group that attempted to kill the Fire Daimyo a few months back. Given that information, I can only assume that their members are tough. That's why I have labeled this as a S-rank mission, one that I know I can entrust you with. But take heed. It's not known if they're on the lookout or if they're expecting anyone to attack them. This is also a solo mission. I expect you to be back within a week's time at the latest. Understood?"
Roshi merely nodded, already knowing that a week was a gift sent to him from the heavens. If the village was nearby, then he could get this mission done in two days, three tops. Then he could have the rest to himself to wonder around before he returned to this stink hole.
"You know that isn't likely. He'll probably send the Anbu to keep an eye on you so that you don't try anything funny. Even if you are his pet, he knows that he has to keep you on a tight leash. My power is that great, after all."
Roshi t'ched but didn't reply. He wasn't going to get into an argument with the bijuu here. It would be pointless. But he really wished that he knew of a way to shut the beast up. Ever since he had learned how to tap into the beast's power, the two have been able to communicate with one another. Of course, that rarely happened other than when they were on missions. Roshi really didn't like this sudden change.
Onoki waved the jinchuriki off, dismissing him. "Then get going. The details will be sent to you later tonight. You are to leave tomorrow morning."
Simply nodding again, Roshi cursed inside his head again before walking out of the office. He really wished he could melt the man down. But unfortunately, Roshi knew just how powerful Onoki was. The Tsuchikage would tolerate annihilate him before he could even call upon the Yonbi's chakra. It was the reality of things. It was why he would never openly confront him. Some might see that as cowardly, but Roshi didn't care. It was his life. He only wanted to enjoy it. The opinion of others wasn't something that interested him, especially since people thought of him as a freak. So really, it was pointless to dwell on such people. They were simply ignorant of the reality of things.
But what Roshi didn't realize was that he was the exact same way as the very people he despised. After all, he didn't understand the beast that he had caged within himself. And just like the people that despised him, he too despised the beast.
In the end, he was also human. And that meant that he wasn't perfect.
Kakuzu t'ched in irritation as he kicked the corpse in front of him. "A bunch of weaklings."
Fuka giggled from her spot on one of the chairs in the house that she and Kakuzu had just finished raiding. "It does seem that we have the luck of running into these guys a lot. But then again, they've been spreading their members a lot around the nations. They're becoming quite popular in the underground world."
The house that they had just raided belonged to the same cult that they had run into a few months back in the Land of Fire. It seemed as if they were trying to expand their operations into the Land of Earth as well. The villagers of this small town had asked them to get rid of the members that were staged here for some sort of secret operation. It had surprised them both. Iwa was nearby, after all. It was only logical for the townspeople to ask the shinobi of Iwa for help. But for some reason or another, it seemed as if they didn't have much trust for Iwa. Kakuzu hadn't really cared, so they hadn't bothered to ask why. The former Taki shinobi only cared about whether they had enough money to pay for their services. And surprisingly enough, they had. It was why they had taken a small detour from their primary objective.
"I swear, the next member I meet, I'm going to make sure that his death is as painful as possible," Kakuzu stated through an annoyed tone.
Fuka rolled her eyes. The only reason Kakuzu was this annoyed was because they had kept screaming about redemption and other things that didn't make any sense to either of them. Not like it mattered anymore, though. They were already dead.
"We did waste a few hours on this, though," Fuka commented as she looked out towards the sky. The sun was already descending. "I guess we'll have to camp out here tonight. But hey, at least we have a free house to use!"
Kakuzu looked over at the redhead with a sigh. Leave it to Fuka to not care about sleeping in the same place where she had just committed murder. Then again, he didn't care either. But at least he didn't sound all chirpy about it. That was just a bit too crazy, even for his tastes. Sort of.
"It does seem like you two have made some progress here."
Both Fuka and Kakuzu sprung into their respected defensive stances when a vortex suddenly appeared in the middle of room.
"You two should relax. He's the guy that wants to hire you two."
The duo looked up at the ceiling to see White Zetsu sprouting out with his usual grin. Unlike the previous times, though, he was also connected to Black Zetsu. So they really didn't know what to make of it.
"Relax. We're not your enemies here."
The two turned their attention back to the spinning vortex in front of them only to find it gone. In its place were now two individuals, both wearing cloaks that covered their features while one even wore a mask that completely hid his face from view.
"I'm guessing you're Tobi then," Kakuzu said, bringing the obvious observation to the table.
Said Uchiha nodded. "Yes. I'm the one that wants to bring you under my employ, Kakuzu. Permanently." He then looked at Fuka. "I honestly hadn't heard of you. But there's a place in my organization for you too if you wish to join."
Fuka rolled her eyes as she relaxed. "Geez, thanks. That's exactly what every woman wants to hear."
But Tobi ignored her sarcasm in favor to turning his attention back to Kakuzu. "I'm already aware of your terms. And I accept them."
Kakuzu was a bit surprised at this. "Really now? Something makes me think that you're agreeing so easily to this because there's something else in it for you. Or am I wrong?"
Tobi shrugged. "You're not wrong. But you're not completely right either. I would have agreed regardless. But in this case, there is something that we do get out of this, which would also be fulfilling your first mission as an Akatsuki member."
Now, Kakuzu was really curious. He hadn't fully bought what White Zetsu had told him about being able to continue his job as a bounty hunter. But if this guy in front of him who was apparently the boss was telling him the same thing, it could be worth getting into.
"And what exactly would that be?" Fuka asked. They had yet to be informed of what this Akatsuki's goal was.
"For now, it's to gather all the bijuu," Tobi answered without hesitation. "The end goal is something greater than you could possibly imagine. But don't worry about that. If we succeed, you will have everything you have ever imagined and more."
Fuka looked doubtful at this while Kakuzu didn't particularly care.
"So if you're going to be benefiting from this," Kakuzu began, "then I'm guessing my target is a jinchuriki."
"That's correct," Black Zetsu answered. "It's the Yonbi jinchuriki. It seems that you two picked an interesting target. But it helps us in the end."
Kakuzu grunted. "I don't really care. I only want his bounty. The bijuu aren't exactly something that catch my interest." Unless he could sell them. But he knew that that was almost impossible for him since he knew next to nothing about seals.
"You can have his body after we're done with the extraction," Tobi replied. "But for now, we need to lie in wait."
Fuka looked at him curiously. "Wait for what?"
"It seems that the jinchuriki is already on his way here for a mission," White Zetsu answered with a chuckle. The Tsuchikage had made it too easy for him. His clones had been able to sneak into that village with relative ease. Then again, none of the nations knew of his powers. It was why Madara had wanted to keep his existence a secret for as long as possible. But with the coming of those two brats, that didn't really matter anymore.
"He was supposed to take care of these cult members," Tobi added even further, looking down at the corpses of the ones that Kakuzu and Fuka had killed. "But now that you have taken care of that, we just have to wait for his arrival tomorrow."
Fuka closed her eyes at that. So they really were going to do this. She really didn't know what to make of this now. On one hand, it sounded like she would have stability for the first time in a long while. On the other hand, she was going to turn to an even bigger criminal. And why would that bother her? The answer was simple: Sasuke.
'Well, it's not like I ever gave him an answer,' she thought to herself. But somewhere deep inside her, she knew that she had already chosen a side.
'I'll just see where this takes me,' she finally concluded as she reopened her eyes. She was going to join this group. At the end of the day, she still didn't see much hope for the future Sasuke had told her about. Even so, Fuka knew that some part of her was still wishing that it would someday come true.
Nodding his head in satisfaction, Tobi extended his hands forward towards them. "Then welcome to the Akatsuki."
Kazuki didn't comment as he watched the proceedings. Things were going well all right. They had two new members and were going to catch their first jinchuriki. It was a certainly a step in the right direction as far as he was concerned. But now, it came down to the hard part: the jinchuriki. It would be his first time seeing one in action. Even so, he wouldn't be the dead weight here. He would make sure of that.
But for now, they would get some rest. Tomorrow, the hunt began. The Akatsuki would be making its debut.
Roshi felt at peace as he walked through the streets of the village where he was supposed to take care of the cult members that were situated here. He didn't feel any need to go in covert since, from what the reports said, the cult members were being ostracized from the rest of the town. So he just had to waltz in there and take them out before he could go disappear for a few days. It was why he had left a day earlier than what was required. It was his own little vacation.
"You really do sound like a whiny brat, you know."
Roshi finally t'ched. He had enough. 'Just why do you keep talking to me? You're never this talkative.'
Son Goku grunted. "It's about damn time you responded, human. I've been trying to talk to you for a while now."
'And why is that? You already know that I'm not interested in having a conversation with you. It's the first thing I told you when we first met. Neither of us want this. So let's just not waste our time with idle chats.'
Son Goku laughed. "Hahaha! You really are like that leader of yours. Always stubborn. You resist anything that doesn't fit your line of thinking. You two would make the best of friends, you know."
Roshi gritted his teeth. 'Just get to the point already before I cut you off.'
"This is why you humans are so damn annoying," Son Goku said with a gruff tone. "You always want to believe that you're in control. But whatever. I'm not going to discuss your issues right now. Let's just say that there's something of interest going out there in the shinobi world right now. Something that has even reached me."
Roshi didn't understand. 'What? What are you talking about?'
Son Goku sighed. "I don't know. But for the past few days, I have felt someone trying to contact me….."
Now, Roshi was surprised. 'What? That's not possible. I'm the only one who can talk or hear you. No one else.'
Son Goku t'ched. "You would think so. But you humans don't exactly understand us bijuu. That's not something I'm going to share with you, though. You don't care, after all. But what I am going to tell you that whoever it is, he has my chakra."
Roshi paused at this, not exactly believing what the Yonbi was telling him. It just wasn't possible. There was no way someone else had the chakra of the Yonbi with them. He was the only jinchuriki. So then…..how could this be?
'And? Have you responded to any of these…..calls?'
Son Goku scoffed. "Of course not. That's why I'm telling you 'someone' instead of giving you an actual name."
Roshi t'ched. He hated the bijuu for being such a smart ass sometimes.
"Besides," Son Goku continued, "I haven't talked to the others for thousands of years now….."
But Roshi didn't pay any attention to that. There was just no way what he had just heard could be possibly true. No other jinchuriki for the Yonbi existed. He was the only one. It was that simple.
Son Goku could almost see the denial on Roshi's face, making the bijuu scoff before retreating further into the man's mind. He was wondering why he had even bothered to share that information with him. Roshi was too stubborn to listen. But whatever. It didn't concern him anyway. They weren't friends. Even so, Son Goku knew that he wanted to get to the bottom of this. But to do that, he would have to accept the calling, something that he hadn't done ever since him and all his siblings had split up. He didn't have any other choice, though. It was the only way.
'I'll do it later,' he finally decided.
Like Roshi, he was stubborn. He just couldn't admit it to himself.
'This is weird,' Roshi finally decided as he stopped in front of the house that the cult members were supposedly using. But he hadn't seen a single person in the small town for a while now. And looking around again, Roshi still couldn't see anyone. That certainly did make warning bells go off in his head. But what could be happening? Maybe when they had noticed his headband, they had turned away because they knew that he was here to take care of the cult members? That could be a possibility. But still…..things didn't feel right.
'I wasn't even supposed to arrive here until tomorrow,' he thought to himself, thinking that he could come back tomorrow. But that would make no sense. Was he going to back down from a mission simply because things didn't feel right? There was nothing to conclusively make him believe that something was amiss here. He would just take care of things and be off on his way.
With that in mind, Roshi finally started to make his way into the house.
"Well, well. For a moment there, I thought that you weren't going to take the bait."
Roshi was immediately on his toes when he saw a lone man standing in the middle of the house. There was no one else around. He couldn't sense anyone else inside the house either. It could only mean one thing.
"So, this village has betrayed Iwa."
Kakuzu chuckled in amusement. "Nah. Not even close. They don't even know what's happening right now. We simply had them leave the moment they spotted you coming. Although their dislike towards your village certainly did help. I guess your village is as rotten as mine is. I shouldn't be surprised, though. All I've seen in this world are the same things of the ones I've seen in the past. There's really no difference between the two. But I guess there's no use in preaching to you about things like that. Not like it concerns you anymore."
Roshi looked at him in slight confusion. "What are you going on about?"
"Just an old man rambling," Kakuzu said with a sigh. "Now, don't make this difficult for me. Just turn yourself in, Yonbi. Then I can cash some money off of you. That's the best deal you can get in this world. Trust me."
'So, he's after me,' Roshi realized as he narrowed his eyes. No, this guy was here for the Yonbi. But that only made him have more questions than answers. It wasn't like he was going to be able to get them, though.
"I'm not going to be so easy to take down, you know," Roshi stated as his whole body was engulfed in lava. "With the Yonbi's power at my disposal, you can't beat me!"
Kakuzu sighed as he shrugged off his cloak, leaving his upper body bare. "People always want to make things difficult. But oh well. We have this whole village as our playground. So you can go nuts, kid."
Roshi scowled as he charged at Kakuzu at a fast speed. But he wasn't fast enough to evade Kakuzu's line of sight. That being said, Kakuzu caught Roshi's lava covered fist with his ease, his hand darkening.
"So," Kakuzu began in a bored tone, "you get your lava style from the beast within you. Not exactly something I'm too surprised of. But if you want to beat me, you're going to have to pull something better than that I'm afraid."
Roshi scowled as he jumped back, bringing his hands together. "Don't underestimate me, bastard!"
"Yoton: Shakugaryugan no jutsu!"
Kakuzu raised an eyebrow at the molten boulders headed his way, his hand returning to normal. "Not so bad, but….."
"Suiton: Suijinheki!"
Roshi frowned when he saw a wall of water forming around his attacker. 'So he's a water user then.' That certainly did complicate things for him. But it didn't make it impossible. He would just have to stick with taijutsu and his earth techniques.
"Is that all you got?" Kakuzu asked after their respective techniques had finished clashing.
Roshi gritted his teeth as he charged at Kakuzu again, going in for taijutsu first.
Kakuzu grunted in annoyance as he evaded all the kicks and punches thrown at him. He knew not to get hit. Otherwise, it would be a bitch for him, especially with the lava still surrounding his target.
Roshi started to become more frustrated as the seconds went by without him scoring a single decisive hit. This guy was way better than he thought.
The jinchuriki lost his focus for a moment, though, a moment in which Kakuzu used to sneak in a counterattack.
Roshi didn't know what happened as one of Kakuzu's arms suddenly extended, his hand gunning straight for his throat. He screamed out as he was flung to the other side of the room by Kakuzu with relative ease.
Kakuzu held his hand afterwards, flexing it as he looked over to where he had thrown the jinchuriki. 'That lava armor of his is troublesome. I better keep my distance from now on.'
"Doton: Ganchuso!"
Kakuzu t'ched as he felt several pillars pierce him from underneath his feet, having sprung up in a second. Two of them went through his legs while one went through one of his arms. He had been able to avoid any major damage thankfully.
"That should keep you still while I finish you off," Roshi said as he walked towards Kakuzu.
Kakuzu shook his head. "It looks like you weren't able to learn anything from my last attack."
Roshi didn't understand what he meant until two figures suddenly sprouted from the man's back. They were formed out of some kind of stitches with the only distinct feature being a mask in each one.
"Futon: Daitoppa!"
"Suiton: Mizurappa!"
Roshi's eyes widened when he saw the wind technique amplify the water jutsu, making the water into an even stronger waterfall. The force was strong enough to send him flying back and out of the house through one of the walls.
Kakuzu grunted as he freed himself from the pillars with brute force. It hurt. And while his body was already restitching itself back, the pain still remained. It was annoying all right. It was the one thing that he could never get rid of.
"I suggest you finish this already."
Kakuzu didn't need to turn around to know that it was Fuka who appeared behind him.
"If he taps further into his bijuu powers, you will have a tougher fight in your hand," she added.
"Did you kill the anbu that were following him?" Kakuzu asked, ignoring her earlier statement.
Fuka sighed. "Yes. They were relatively easy to kill. Another reason why we should hurry up. We don't know when the Tsuchikage will catch wind of this."
Kakuzu didn't answer as he began walk after where Roshi had been sent flying, his two creatures following behind him.
Fuka merely watched him go with a grin. 'Always with the tough guy act.'
Roshi grunted in pain as he stood back up from the ground, his lava armor around him disappearing a moment later.
"It seems like you've run into a tough opponent that you can't handle this time," Son Goku said within his mind with a taunting tone.
'Shut it. I don't need your smart ass comments right now,' Roshi said in return with irritation. 'Just lend me more power already. Otherwise, this guy is going to get his hands on you. What then?'
Son Goku h'mphed. "So what? I'll simply be trading one prison for another. Either way, it doesn't exactly matter to me. So if you are looking for help, you're not going to get it from me."
Roshi scowled. He couldn't believe this! The damn beast was saying no to him!
"It seems like you've run out of gas, boy."
Roshi turned to look at Kakuzu who walked through the hole that he had forcibly made with his body. "I'm not out yet!"
Kakuzu raised an eyebrow when he saw the jinchuriki clasping both of his hands together, creating an entire wave of molten lava.
"It looks like you're going to go down fighting then," Kakuzu muttered to himself as one of the creatures appeared in front of him. The creature created a water wave that matched Roshi's lava one, if not bigger. The two waves clashed with one another, trying to overpower the other. Unfortunately, Kakuzu wasn't one to bet this fight on brute strength alone.
But Roshi was only concentrated on winning the clash that he didn't sense the second creature appearing behind him. It had used the steam that had formed from the lava clashing with the water. Roshi's eyes widened when he felt something pierce his chest. His lava wave disappeared a moment later. Looking down, Roshi saw stitches sticking out of his chest and closing in around his heart.
Kakuzu closed his eyes. "It looks like this fight is over."
But Roshi couldn't answer him as he was lifted up into the air by the creature before it dropped him to the ground. The jinchuriki had already lost unconsciousness.
"You cut that close," Fuka said as she walked through the same hole that Kakuzu had, a hand on her hips. "He could be dead, you know."
"Don't worry about that," Kakuzu said in return. "I avoided hitting anything too important. For now, I'll keep his heartbeat in check so that he doesn't wake up until we reach our rendezvous point. Speaking of which….."
"Good job."
Both Fuka and Kakuzu looked down at the ground to see both Black and White Zetsu sprouting out from the ground.
"You already know where to go," White Zetsu said. "Take the jinchuriki there. We will begin the extraction as soon as you get there."
Kakuzu didn't respond. If he got his money, he was content.
"So, I guess this means we're a part of the Akatsuki now," Fuka said with a grin after Zetsu had left. "Feeling excited?"
Kakuzu didn't respond as he picked up Roshi's unconscious body. His two masked creatures had already retreated back to him.
"It doesn't matter really," Kakuzu said at last as the two began to make their way out of the deserted town, carrying Roshi's unconscious body behind him. "If we get paid, I'm happy."
Fuka rolled her eyes. "That obsession with money is going to cost you one day, my friend. Trust me."
Kakuzu merely grunted as a comfortable silence fell upon them. They had a long road ahead of them.
"What's the meaning of this!?"
The anbu standing in front of Onoki hesitated for a moment. "We're not sure, Tsuchikage-sama. The team that we sent with the jinchuriki were already killed when we got there. The whole town was also deserted. We were able to confirm the bodies of the cult members that were meant to be killed. There were also signs of a battle. But we found no trace of the jinchuriki. He has disappeared, Tsuchikage-sama."
Onoki growled at this, not liking how this situation had ended up. He had never expected for Roshi to do anything like this. But the anbu had reported that the team hadn't died through "normal" means. It was almost like the life had literally been sucked out of them. Whatever that meant. Onoki only knew that Roshi being the one responsible for their deaths was highly unlikely. But so then, who had done it? And why? And where was Roshi now? It already had been more than a week. It was highly unlikely that Roshi was still near the area.
Onoki screamed out in frustration as he slammed his fist down on his desk.
'Whoever did this…I'll make sure they suffer.'
And that was a promise.
Hidan looked at the temple before him in slight irritation. He had been told to come here by some pasty looking bastard about a week ago after he had killed his old village leader. He was somewhere near the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth. But his location wasn't something that concerned him right now. He only wanted to make sure that this organization was the real deal.
Walking into the temple, he was met by six individuals already standing there. One of them was the pasty colored asshole that he had met. But he was now attached to some other dark colored person that he didn't recognize. He didn't focus too much on that, though. They were all wearing black robes with red clouds on them.
One of them stepped forward. He was wearing a mustard colored mask with a black spiral that covered his whole face. The only feature visible was his right eye.
"It's a pleasure to finally have you with us, Hidan."
Hidan raised an eyebrow as he leaned against his scythe lazily. "Yeah, yeah. So? You want me to join you guys or what?"
"That's correct."
"I only have one question."
"What is it?"
Hidan smirked. "Will I be able to kill as much as I want?"
There was a pause. "Of course. In the end, we are going to have to kill many people to achieve our goal."
Hidan's smirk grew wider. He didn't really care about their goal. If he could kill, then he was content.
"Then count me in."
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone