Chapter 75: I like your partner...

Senshi chuckled. "Me? I just want to set up a mercenary corps and do a good job handling tasks for Amegakure. When I think of how many people still need my help, it pains me to the point of not being able to breathe. Yet I'm only one person and can't handle it all by myself."

"That's why I need manpower. Since I can't find enough people out in the ninja world, I'll just train some myself."

Senshi didn't bother hiding his plan to build a mercenary corps. Indeed, it wasn't something he could keep under wraps, especially since Nagato had so many channels of information—even within the territory of Konoha. And if his corps was going to take on missions, they'd need to build their name openly, which Nagato would inevitably find out about.

Besides, establishing a mercenary corps wouldn't conflict with Akatsuki's interests, so Nagato had no reason to object.

All the same, Nagato found himself at a loss for words.

It was hard to imagine a ninja founding a mercenary corps and then, in order to recruit people, going so far as to shelter refugees and open a school. Didn't that seem like a case of putting the cart before the horse?

Logically, if someone wants to create a mercenary group to handle black-market missions, their goal is usually just to earn bounties and rewards. Who'd truly pour resources into charity work, like Senshi claimed—helping people purely out of goodwill?

That's ridiculous.

Nagato knew a few people in this world might act out of pure benevolence—like Jiraiya-sensei or…Yahiko. But Senshi was definitely not one of those. Not when the black market included plenty of missions that required killing people.

From that perspective, Senshi's approach was completely beyond Nagato's expectations. Sheltering refugees and building a shinobi academy would cost astronomical amounts of money. Could he really ever recoup that cost simply by organizing a mercenary corps to do missions? Nagato was skeptical. Not everyone could be like Senshi—a soulless, mission-grinding machine. Perhaps only Senshi was that unique, a total outlier in the shinobi world. Turning a profit on it all seemed unlikely.

Could it really be that he just wanted to "complete black-market missions," like he claimed?

That was…

Wait.

Nagato shot a suspicious look at Senshi. A thought came to him: if it were anyone else saying such a thing, Nagato would have smacked them across the mouth for spouting nonsense, or suspected they were trying to dupe him. Under normal circumstances, no one would believe this explanation.

But if the one saying it was Senshi…then as outlandish as it sounded, it somehow felt plausible. Which was strange.

Recalling everything that had happened since he met Senshi—and Senshi's personality—Nagato realized: It actually might be true. Senshi's obsession with missions was downright bizarre, and not just in Nagato's opinion—everyone who dealt with him thought so. Ever since joining the Akatsuki, Senshi insisted on mission fees, yes, but the results always justified the cost. You really couldn't find a better deal anywhere in the ninja world.

And another point: more than money, Senshi seemed to care about the fact of being hired—like a "mercenary relationship" itself was what he valued. Nagato remembered hearing from Kakuzu that when they first tried recruiting Senshi, he refused unless it was a formal, ongoing job arrangement. Similarly in the black market, Senshi only joined because Kakuzu "hired" him. And now, Senshi was willing to blow a fortune to harbor refugees and build a school…all in order to train more ninjas to do missions?

Could it be that Senshi simply loved mission-grinding?

The more Nagato thought about it, the more it made sense. If Senshi's "problem" was that he couldn't be satisfied just doing it alone, eventually he'd want more people doing missions. That indeed matched his plan to form a mercenary corps. Nagato gave Senshi a strange look, but soon felt relieved.

So he just likes mission-grinding. That might seem bizarre to an outsider, but in the Akatsuki, where almost everyone was abnormal in some way, Senshi was practically normal by comparison—certainly more harmless than Kakuzu, who liked murdering teammates for bounties, Sasori who turned people into puppets, or Itachi who'd slaughtered his entire clan.

Yes, Senshi was just a different kind of eccentric. Nagato could accept that.

So, from Nagato's perspective as Akatsuki's leader, he couldn't find any real grounds to oppose Senshi's plan. He nodded.

"All right, if that's what you have in mind, then you handle it yourself. The organization won't interfere, and Amegakure and the Akatsuki will cooperate with you if you need them—except for funding."

…

Early the next morning…

Senshi yawned as he returned to his room, having spent the entire night making arrangements with Konan. Despite his strong constitution, he was still worn out. Handling missions day after day was mindless enough, but planning the large-scale project of housing refugees and establishing a ninja academy had taxed him mentally. Even Konan was exhausted.

As for Nagato, he was acting like a complete hands-off boss—beyond agreeing that Amegakure and Akatsuki would cooperate, he hadn't lifted a finger to help. So it fell on Senshi and Konan to work out every little detail, including how to spend the huge sum Senshi had put forward for housing refugees and building the school.

Though Senshi had loads of money stocked up, he still had to spend it wisely. Even if he didn't need to double his investment like he usually did in "two-sided deals," he couldn't afford to just squander everything. They had to figure out how to bring in refugees, where to build the academy, and how to manage relations between the newcomers and Amegakure's existing residents—no small task. Luckily, he and Konan had hammered out a plan.

Collapsing onto his bed, Senshi smacked his lips and started pondering the future. He still needed to keep doing missions. As for the mercenary corps, well, the academy was still under construction, so that could wait. Most of the requests within Akatsuki had already been taken care of. For anything outside…

Bang!

Suddenly, his front door was kicked open with brutal force. Senshi's eyes narrowed in annoyance as he turned toward the intruder. This is the Akatsuki base—who would have the gall to pick a fight here?

But then he recognized who it was: Kakuzu?!

He retracted the crackling lightning chakra that had gathered in his palm, lifted a brow, and asked, "Something you need?"

Kakuzu eyed Senshi lying in bed and frowned. "You're still sleeping? Get up—we've got missions to grind!"

"???"

Senshi almost laughed out loud. Kakuzu, in the short time since they'd last met, suddenly had this much energy? He's even taking the initiative to drag me out on missions?

One reason Senshi hadn't rushed Kakuzu sooner was that Senshi thought, after returning, he'd let Kakuzu rest for a while—like charity—since Kakuzu had already been "farming" missions almost non-stop and needed downtime occasionally. Senshi never expected Kakuzu would come pounding on his door first, demanding they go back to the black market.

"All right, buddy," Senshi thought with a sly grin. "You asked for it."

He was more than ready to revert to "task-harvesting demon" mode if Kakuzu was volunteering. Plus, this time it was Kakuzu who'd insisted on it—he wouldn't be able to refuse later, no matter how taxing it got.

Just as Senshi was about to voice his agreement, he caught sight of someone else, a familiar figure, stepping in behind Kakuzu.

Hidan.

"Oh ho… So that's Hidan, huh?" Senshi quickly pieced together the situation. This must be Kakuzu's new partner. Indeed, the "Undying Duo."

He recalled Hidan's peculiar ability: immortality.

Sure, by raw power Hidan might not hold a candle to some top fighters. For instance, If he fought Shisui or Itachi, a single Genjutsu might incapacitate him. Even Kakuzu—knowing Hidan's trick—could likely find a way to bury him alive, the way Shikamaru did. But still, true immortality was extremely rare. Unlike Kakuzu, whose Earth Grudge Fear gave him multiple extra hearts (but still left him exhausted sometimes), Hidan had genuine immortality—he could get blown to bits and eventually piece himself together. Overwork or "death" wouldn't stop him permanently.

That meant no breaks, no rest days, no risk of fatal injury. Senshi's mind raced.

"Wait, that's incredible. He can't die? Even if he does collapse from exhaustion, give it a bit of time, and he'll be back at full strength!"

All those times Kakuzu or other teammates needed to rest had dragged down Senshi's mission efficiency. But with Hidan, who never truly died, there'd be none of that. In Senshi's eyes, Hidan was the perfect mission partner, a prime candidate for 24/7 labor—the ultimate "work mule."

Senshi's face lit with what he believed to be a warm, friendly smile, though to Hidan it looked decidedly predatory. Feeling that unsettling gaze, Hidan instinctively shrank behind Kakuzu. Even though he had the protection of Jashin, he sensed something terrifying in Senshi's eyes—like Senshi was plotting something dangerous or disrespectful.

Kakuzu, noticing the look, asked, "Senshi, why are you staring at my partner?"

Senshi said calmly, "Your partner? He looks great—I think I'll take him. Now he's mine."

Kakuzu: "???"

Hidan: "???"

They both just stared at Senshi, dumbfounded. What's he saying? Since when can a partner just be claimed like that, as if bartering property?

In a flash, Kakuzu realized Senshi was trying to snatch Hidan away. Sure, Hidan wasn't exactly a saint, but it was weird to be so blatantly stolen. "Senshi—"

Before Kakuzu could finish, Senshi locked an arm around Hidan's neck, pulling him in.

"Look, buddy, following Kakuzu is a dead-end. Come with me, and let's talk about a better deal."

Panicking, Hidan tried to pry Senshi's arm loose, but found it as unyielding as steel. The force felt so great it nearly choked him. Helpless, he looked to Kakuzu for rescue.

"Hey! Let go of me!"

Kakuzu protested too, "Senshi, seriously—what are you doing? That's my partner!"

Senshi ignored him, pivoted with Hidan in tow, and beckoned to Kakuzu.

"Kakuzu, you're over eighty now; you're old enough to handle things solo without clinging to someone else. It's time to grow up and run missions on your own. I believe in you."

With that, Senshi strode away, dragging Hidan along.

This was no joke: Kakuzu had already joined Senshi's mercenary corps, which meant, from Senshi's perspective, Kakuzu was effectively "on payroll" and any missions Kakuzu did would net Senshi 50% of the mercenary points for free—no need to accompany him at all! Whereas Hidan's immortality was far more valuable if Senshi could rope him into daily missions. And Senshi was a big enough name now that he no longer needed Kakuzu's face to get high-paying black market tasks.

Left behind, Kakuzu gaped at the doorway. He was the one who'd come to drag Senshi out for missions, yet he ended up alone, with his partner Hidan gone.

"Am I…just extra baggage now?"

…

Elsewhere…

Obito (Tobi) had just met up with Zetsu. Scowling, Obito declared,

"Zetsu, Nagato is slipping out of control. We need to revise our plans. To ensure the success of the Eye of the Moon plan, we must seize real power in Akatsuki. We must also expel that Senshi from the organization—or bury him."

When he spoke Senshi's name, fear and anger flickered in Obito's eyes. Senshi's strength was far beyond normal. Not only that, his rate of growth had eclipsed all other ninjas. When he first joined Akatsuki, he and Kakuzu fought to a draw. Not long after, Senshi was strong enough to instantly overpower Kakuzu. Then he nearly killed Obito himself, humbling him in a humiliating defeat. That was some time ago; who knew how powerful Senshi had become since then?

It made Obito's gut churn. He still hadn't found a way to counter Senshi's bizarre jutsu that could even invade his Kamui dimension—one of the cornerstones of his fighting style. Even regaining his second Sharingan hadn't eased his anxiety.

Hence, he'd come to see Zetsu, hoping they could devise a plan to crush Senshi or at least oust him from Akatsuki. Otherwise, Obito feared that with Senshi's backing, Nagato would easily solve problems and become impossible to manipulate. Obito blamed Nagato for leaking their conversation and turning Senshi against him. He no longer trusted Nagato, and he knew that targeting Nagato would inevitably require dealing with Senshi first.

Especially now, Akatsuki had effectively "hired" Senshi as a permanent mercenary, forging quite the close bond. To force Nagato to bend, they'd have to remove Senshi from the equation.

~~~

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