Chapter 205: Distant Killing Intent! The Double Torment of Art and Money!
Chapter 205: Distant Killing Intent! The Double Torment of Art and Money!
The night was silent, with oppressive clouds looming overhead.
Birds flapped their wings and took flight, accompanied by scattered shadows darting in all directions, carrying intelligence to various places.
Upon closer inspection, one could see that these shadows were specialized shinobi wearing low-brimmed hats marked with numbers and equipped with binoculars.
"Courier ninja?"
At the entrance of the underground black market in Yuya City, in the loft above a ninja tool shop, Uchiha Seijiro, who was reviewing the intelligence collected over this period, suddenly frowned and glanced downstairs.
"Someone left the underground exchange? Who is causing such a big commotion?"
Courier ninja are a neutral group of shinobi who serve various daimyos, nobles, ninja villages, and underground forces. Among their clients are the underground exchange offices. When a significant bounty is issued, these ninja are hired by the exchanges to spread the information across the shinobi world, enabling bounty hunters from all nations to take on the task.
At this thought, Seijiro could no longer sit still. He immediately went downstairs to summon his subordinates to investigate what was happening.
Soon, the information, which the exchange had no intention of hiding, was gathered and handed to Uchiha Seijiro. Upon seeing the details, his expression changed drastically.
"Uchiha Ci's information has been made entirely public!"
"All his techniques, corresponding countermeasures, and even his next movements."
"And on top of that, this massive bounty!"
"This is bad!"
"We need to notify the clan immediately and stop Ci from leaving the village!"
---
The Next Morning
Through courier ninja, summoned beasts, and carrier pigeons, a massive 60-million-ryō bounty quickly appeared at the top of the bounty lists in underground exchanges across the shinobi world.
Except for Konoha, where the transmission was deliberately delayed, the news spread overnight. Countless bounty hunters learned a name:
Uchiha Ci!
A 12-year-old Konoha jōnin with extraordinary regenerative abilities, exceptional fire-style jutsu, taijutsu, and shuriken skills. Using the codename "Asura," he had participated in the Rain Country battle and collaborated with the Yellow Flash to kill Sunagakure's high-ranking elder Ebizō.
Bounty: 60 million ryō!
However, the focus was not the bounty amount but the freely disclosed intelligence. A 12-year-old jōnin, a prodigious talent not yet fully matured, potentially hosting a one-of-a-kind artificial tailed beast within his body—this drew widespread attention.
After all, elite jōnin like Asuma were only worth around 30 million ryō. Yet this was just a 12-year-old boy, albeit a jōnin, valued at 60 million ryō. And this figure didn't even account for the value of the Sharingan from the Uchiha clan or the tailed beast within him!
This revelation sent shockwaves through the shinobi world.
Hostile ninja villages couldn't allow such a genius to grow, greedy bounty hunters were enticed by the massive disparity between the bounty and the target's age, and schemers and opportunists saw the unique information as a potential gold mine.
---
Land of Wind
Under the sweeping sands that covered the sky, a red-haired, sharp-featured youth draped in a high-collared black robe emerged from an underground exchange.
This individual was none other than Sasori of the Red Sand—the catalyst of the Third Shinobi World War, who assassinated the Third Kazekage, turned him into a human puppet, and possessed the ultimate puppet technique: Secret Red Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets.
His hands still stained with warm blood, Sasori walked out of the exchange with a purposeful stride. Having defected from Sunagakure, he occasionally resorted to dirty work to fund the high costs of puppet maintenance in pursuit of his eternal art.
At this moment, Sasori held a thick book, carefully reading its overly detailed intelligence on Uchiha Ci.
"Regeneration, surviving lethal injuries—such abilities... and these descriptions of his brilliant and dazzling fire-style techniques!"
After finishing the contents, his eyes lit up, and a smile curved on his lips.
"True art must be enduring, beautiful, and eternal."
"Only eternal beauty can be called art. If I turn him into a human puppet, with his regenerative abilities, as long as I remove his organs, strip his skin, clean his blood, and apply preservation techniques, along with my enhancements…"
"Ha! This might become my most perfect masterpiece yet!"
"Uchiha Ci, huh... Haha."
---
Land of Grass
On a critical retreat route for Iwagakure forces withdrawing from the Kirigakure battlefield, an ambush meticulously planned for some time had concluded. Ignoring the severed limbs scattered across the ground, Kakuzu stood in a steaming pool of blood, extracting a still-beating heart from the chest of an Iwagakure expert skilled in earth-style jutsu.
Moments later, countless tendrils of his Earth Grudge Fear technique emerged from his hand, coiling around the heart to consume, convert, and assimilate it.
"Phew…"
Kakuzu exhaled with satisfaction.
Finding a suitable heart was no easy task. Ever since he lost his earth-style heart during his encounter with that penniless brat in the Land of Hot Water, Kakuzu had been traversing several countries to locate a replacement capable of executing the strongest form of Earth Style: Earth Spear. He finally found the right candidate in Iwagakure.
"Hmph, such a bother—it's delayed my money-making!"
Adjusting his collar and discarding the corpse, Kakuzu shook his head and coldly snorted. Once rejuvenated, he began considering what bounty mission he could take next.
At that moment—
"Caw!"
A sharp bird cry pierced the air, and a scroll fell from the sky.
Kakuzu raised an eyebrow and caught the scroll. Upon opening it, his expression shifted into astonishment. Written on it was detailed intelligence on Uchiha Ci—the same boy he had once pushed to the brink of death.
"This brat didn't die?"
"New jutsu, an immortal body? And this… isn't this describing my Earth Grudge Fear secret technique?"
"How did he learn this from me!?"
"And the bounty mentions 60 million ryō?"
Kakuzu was baffled, staring at the scroll in thought. He vividly recalled Uchiha Ci's use of a forbidden technique that ensured certain death. The fiery blade of overwhelming power should have incinerated the user entirely.
To avoid unnecessary risks, Kakuzu had chosen not to engage further. However, this oversight allowed the boy to escape with his life and apparently steal his secret technique?
"Tch…"
Frowning, Kakuzu glanced at the scroll's hefty bounty and the special invitation from the exchange. His eyes narrowed as he mentally calculated the worth.
Soon, his frown eased, and his gaze regained its indifferent detachment toward worldly affairs.
"Hmph. Just another errand."
"In Hell, judgment is dictated by money—a principle I fully endorse!"
With that, Kakuzu turned and headed toward the Land of Hot Water.
In his eerie green eyes, an unrecognized but blazing killing intent emerged.
---
Thus, unbeknownst to Uchiha Ci, a storm of art and greed silently traced his steps.