Chapter 91: (°ー°〃)???

When Senshi was riding high on a wave of triumph, Sasori was off to one side, questioning his very existence.

During this period—ever since he joined the Akatsuki—Sasori was going through his most agonizing stretch of time yet.

First, for reasons unknown, the leader sent him and Orochimaru on a mission to capture the tailed beast in Kumogakure.

But shortly after the two arrived, Orochimaru just up and quit, handing the mission over to Uzumaki Senshi. Orochimaru even claimed that the moment he handed it to Senshi, the mission was as good as done.

However!

Sasori waited and waited in Kumogakure until he was nearly worn out, but still there was no sign of Senshi making a move.

He could not help wondering whether Senshi was even in Kumogakure at all, looking for a chance to capture the tailed beast.

Just when Sasori was on the verge of going mad from waiting, Senshi finally appeared!

But from start to finish, everything that happened next went completely beyond Sasori's expectations—far beyond anything he ever anticipated!

Hiding on a high peak just outside Kumogakure, Sasori noticed Senshi right away, the moment he reached the village gates.

However, everything that followed left Sasori, a puppet master, with question marks swirling in his head.

He watched with his own eyes as Senshi used a space-time ninjutsu to casually pull Orochimaru—who had already returned to Amegakure—right back here.

That alone was impressive, but what happened next was even stranger. Orochimaru, as Sasori remembered him, had never possessed such terrifying power. Yet even though he saw it with his own eyes, he still found it hard to believe.

Orochimaru, all by himself, was going at it in a passionate head-to-head battle with the A-B Brothers.

To be precise, Orochimaru was singlehandedly holding his ground against the entire Kumogakure of the Land of Lightning—one of the Five Great Nations!

As the battle intensified, Kumogakure kept sending in more top-tier fighters, but Orochimaru—eager to test his new abilities—had no intention of leaving. With his current power so formidable, he found it difficult to locate suitable opponents for a proper test. The many Kumogakure shinobi now besieging him were perfect targets.

On the battlefield, Orochimaru alone faced the A-B Brothers and a throng of Kumogakure ninja, gleefully trying out all kinds of wild techniques as if he were having the time of his life.

But his actions dealt an enormous blow to Sasori's psyche.

Gazing at the battle from afar, Sasori couldn't help lamenting in his heart:

"What on earth happened back in Amegakure while I was away? How did Orochimaru gain such a super-Kage level of power in so little time?"

Sasori truly could not fathom how he'd fallen so far behind.

Even more terrifyingly, Orochimaru—who now possessed such incredible strength—had been dragged here at Senshi's whim, as if he were completely at Senshi's mercy.

If Orochimaru was already that fearsome, then how much more terrifying must Uzumaki Senshi be?

Not only that, they had apparently all gone off in secret to train without him. Orochimaru was now well beyond Kage level, while Sasori's own strength had stayed the same.

From this, Sasori clearly realized the dangers of "going AFK" in the ninja world.

He had always hated waiting; now he despised the very idea of wasting time!

…

The Mountain Graveyard.

This was once Uchiha Madara's old hideout.

Aside from its concealed location, it had two other notable features. First, the underground space here was vast enough to contain the enormous Gedo Statue of the Outer Path. Second, scattered around the Mountain Graveyard were many gigantic skeletal remains of unknown creatures.

When Uchiha Madara was alive, the site was rather rough and undeveloped.

After Uchiha Obito inherited this "family property," he did some refurbishing. At the very least, the area housing the Gedo Statue of the Outer Path was now much more luxurious.

Obviously, back then, Obito's life here must have been fairly comfortable.

But that was in the past. Nowadays, Obito spent his days training fiercely in this hideout.

With Senshi's existence looming over him like the Sword of Damocles, Obito felt as though it could drop at any time, forcing him to surrender his life.

This pushed him to train at a grueling intensity, constantly boosting his own power in order to handle the threat Senshi posed.

"Buzz—"

In that cavernous underground space, Obito was hard at work practicing Kamui teleportation.

Before Senshi rose to power, Obito could roam the ninja world freely with only a single Kamui eye, going anywhere he wished.

Now that was no longer possible. Against Senshi, even his double Kamui felt insufficiently safe.

Hence, aside from familiarizing himself with dual Kamui, Obito was doing all he could to shorten its activation time.

Double Kamui was already faster than single Kamui; after a spell of dedicated practice, Obito's Kamui activation speed had become frighteningly quick. Those swirling, transparent ripples would appear in an instant, completing his teleportation.

Besides Kamui, Obito had been working on developing Susanoo as well.

He lost one of his Sharingan long ago, so he had been unable to use Susanoo for quite some time. Now that he had regained both eyes, he could at last awaken his very own "giant Gundam."

Having trained all day, Obito was already drenched in sweat, but he didn't plan on slowing down. Once he finished today's session of double Kamui practice, he intended to train a bit longer in Susanoo's defensive techniques.

Just then, Zetsu emerged from the wall, hefting a large sack loaded with items that seemed rather heavy.

Seeing how earnestly Obito was training, Zetsu teased, "Wow, this is rare. I never expected you to train so seriously."

Obito brushed off the sarcasm, replying coolly, "We don't have much time left. From what I've heard, Senshi is already off capturing his second tailed beast. Shouldn't you be keeping tabs on them in the organization? Why the heck are you wandering around carrying that big sack?"

Obito's tone made it clear how displeased he was with Zetsu's behavior lately. It wasn't the first time he had seen Zetsu hauling around a large sack. Anyone unaware might well mistake him for a junk collector!

Zetsu naturally caught the edge in Obito's voice, but couldn't have cared less. Unlike Obito—who was anxious about being targeted by Senshi—Zetsu was relaxed.

Still, since Obito might be of further use, Zetsu saw no need for open confrontation. He gave a straightforward explanation of what was in the sack.

"Don't make such a fuss. This is a collection task the organization gave me. After all, I am still part of the Akatsuki, so I can't do absolutely nothing. Besides, Senshi is just a member of the Uzumaki Clan. He couldn't possibly challenge Madara. You're overreacting."

Obito knew very well that Madara intended to have Nagato use the Rinne Rebirth to bring him back. This was no secret to Obito.

Yet Obito snorted coldly. "With Nagato's current state, it's questionable whether he'd even listen to us or use the Rinne Rebirth to resurrect Madara."

Zetsu remained calm. "Nagato's condition is deteriorating by the day. If he won't cooperate, we'll take his Rinnegan by force, and you can resurrect Madara yourself. Once Madara's back, your concerns become trivial."

Zetsu's words made Obito think it over. If he got his hands on Nagato's Rinnegan, should he really resurrect Madara—or would it be better for him to use the legendary Rinnegan's power to handle Senshi on his own?

"Don't blame me for what happens next, Nagato," Obito seethed inwardly. "You betrayed me first, after all!"

Having mulled it all over, Obito returned to his daily Susanoo training.

"Susanoo!"

With a shout, he unleashed its power!

His Susanoo was neither the same shade of blue as Uchiha Madara's nor the same green as Uchiha Shisui's, but rather a blue-green hue. The moment it came forth, a giant skeletal frame enclosed him.

Under Obito's control, the Susanoo began visibly morphing with astonishing speed. Before long, the once-bare skeleton sprouted muscles and flesh, and soon it even had legs.

Nor did it stop there. The massive blue-green figure quickly formed armor and weapons. This was clearly the fourth stage of Susanoo, just a step away from the complete-body form!

Obito clearly had serious potential. After this intense training period, he had managed to bring his Susanoo to such a level.

Zetsu observed it with satisfaction and said approvingly, "Not bad at all! You're progressing quickly. If you keep it up, you'll likely unlock your perfect Susanoo before Senshi collects all the tailed beasts. Just focus on training. I'll keep an eye on the Akatsuki for you."

Obito was satisfied with that and continued his training in the spacious chamber.

Although the fourth stage of Susanoo was very powerful, it was still nowhere near enough for dealing with Senshi. He needed to pour every bit of time and energy into practice, hoping to achieve the perfect form of Susanoo sooner rather than later.

While Obito kept training, Zetsu lugged the sack away, disappearing into the walls once more.

After leaving Obito, Zetsu did not immediately return to the Akatsuki. Instead, he used his Mayfly Technique to burrow even deeper underground, finally arriving at another huge hollow space hundreds of meters below.

There, he removed the big sack from his back, tipping its contents onto the ground.

Clank—clank—clank…

A shimmering pile of gold and silver tumbled out, gleaming brilliantly.

Closer inspection showed that this vast underground cavern was already filled with all sorts of gold and silver treasures.

Zetsu surveyed the scene, looking somewhat worried as he sighed, "Seems like it's still not enough. Time is too tight! If I'd known these worthless metals would someday become so useful, I would have started collecting them centuries ago."

Clearly, Zetsu was gathering such riches for a major purpose!

Having kept an eye on Madara for decades, Zetsu knew Madara's growth path inside out. From what he'd learned, Senshi couldn't have matched Madara at the very start. But now everything was different. Senshi was growing so fast that by all accounts, Madara would be no match for him in his current state.

And that, to Zetsu, was perfectly logical: if talent or one's kekkei genkai alone could decide everything, nobody would need to try so hard. None of that really mattered to him—his aim was the Eye of the Moon Plan, and Madara was merely a vessel to revive his mother.

Zetsu himself had no personal grudge against Senshi. Up to now, they had never even come into direct conflict. As soon as he piled enough gold and silver in front of Senshi, wouldn't Senshi gladly call him "Big Bro Zetsu"?

With his extraordinary intelligence-gathering skills, Zetsu knew more about Senshi than anyone else. So long as the payment was sufficient, Senshi was willing to do virtually anything. Hiring Senshi to accomplish goals would be far easier than spending centuries manipulating others from the shadows.

So Zetsu felt zero remorse about discarding Obito to join forces with Senshi. Obito was the only one at risk, not him.

Moreover, Zetsu found that Senshi was still improving at a lightning pace, which was great news for Zetsu's plan. The stronger Senshi got, the easier it would be to resurrect Zetsu's mother with his help. Compared to how Zetsu used to scheme behind the scenes, now he had only one real task: hoarding money.

Casting his gaze across the ever-growing piles of treasure, Zetsu felt a wave of emotion. It had been so many years; as the third son of Otsutsuki Kaguya, he'd longed for his mother's return for far too long!

…

In the Land of Lightning, near Kumogakure—

Senshi had no idea that his actions had led Sasori to think he had been left behind by the rest of the group. Going forward, if anyone dared make Sasori wait that long again, Sasori might fight them to the death.

Having turned in his mission, Senshi now opened his Mantra, searching for Yugito Nii's whereabouts. Yes, it felt a bit brutal to hunt down such a proud yet gentle kunoichi, but "money talks, mission first" was his guiding principle. Since he had already accepted the Akatsuki's assignment, he had to capture Yugito Nii and deliver her.

"Hmm? Looks like she's not in the village?"

He discovered that Yugito Nii was lucky enough to be out of Kumogakure at the moment. Fine—if she wasn't around, he had no intention of scouring the ninja world to hunt her down right now. He decided to wait.

Thinking it over, he came up with the perfect plan: the Land of Lightning, being one of the Five Great Nations like the Land of Fire, surely had a thriving black market filled with commissions. He'd take some jobs there while waiting.

But then he remembered the strict rules of the Land of Fire's black market, which annoyed him. These major nations and their black markets always had countless regulations.

He grumbled, "Ugh, it's my first time dealing with the Land of Lightning's black market. They'll probably make me do those tedious, low-rank tasks again."

Karin, overhearing, quickly raised her hand and said, "I'll stick with you and do all the quests so it won't be so boring!"

Senshi felt quite gratified—saving Karin's life had definitely been worthwhile. Patting her head, he said, "Good! Karin, fill Hidan in on the basics, too."

With that, he hoisted Hidan—his go-to mission partner—onto his shoulder and headed for the nearby black market.

As a black market legend and industry benchmark, Senshi found it very easy to locate even an unfamiliar black market. It wasn't just his extensive experience as a mercenary—once his Mantra was activated, nobody could hide from him anyway.

Yet the situation at the Land of Lightning's black market surprised both Senshi and Karin. The place was absolutely packed, bustling with people. A long queue stretched out from the black market hall, looping around it four or five times.

Never in all his black market experience had Senshi seen such a crowd, and he couldn't quite figure out why it was so busy.

Scanning the long line, he wondered aloud, "What's going on? Are there really that many missions in the Land of Lightning? Or is this black market branch so top-tier that it's always mobbed like this?"

Before he could puzzle out an answer, something completely unexpected happened. Suddenly, someone in the crowd shouted, "Holy—! It's really him! That's Senshi!! Senshi is here!!"

That one shout set off a chain reaction like a bomb going off. The crowd, formerly lined up in orderly fashion, fell into chaos. Countless employers—commissioners, clerks, managers—rushed toward Senshi and Karin with eyes gleaming.

In no time, they were surrounded. Banknotes and checks were thrust toward Senshi's face, and if manners weren't a concern, many would have hurled literal treasure chests at him.

Once they had formed a ring around Senshi and Karin, the crowd began clamoring:

"Senshi! Over here, I have a job that needs you!"

"Senshi, look at me! My commission fee is high, and I really need someone reliable!"

"No, ignore him and look at me instead! I'll pay even more!"

"Damn it! Fine, I'll pay double! No, triple!"

"Forget triple—I'll pay ten times as much!"

Their excited shouts left Senshi thoroughly bewildered: (O_O)??? When did clients get this worked up and start throwing money around like it was nothing?

Karin was equally stunned, furrowing her brow in confusion. "Are we caught in a genjutsu? But I have the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, so I'd have noticed. Then…what is going on?"

As it turned out, there was a perfectly good explanation. Word of what had transpired at the gates of Kumogakure had spread, and fast. Senshi had gone so far as to summon a massive technique and engage Killer Bee—fully transformed into the Eight-Tails. Even though it hadn't lasted long, the spectacle had made a tremendous impact.

The A-B Brothers were the Land of Lightning's premier fighting force, and even their combined strength had failed to stop Senshi. The story was now circulating through all the black markets in the Land of Lightning, gaining more and more traction each day.

If even the A-B duo at full power was no match for him, then how unbelievably strong must Senshi be? This caused his name to skyrocket in fame, so that now, as soon as he set foot here, everyone was dying to hire him.

With so much enthusiasm and trust shown toward him, Senshi certainly wasn't going to disappoint. He raised his hands slightly, indicating for the throng to calm down.

"Everyone, don't panic! Just get back in line and hand your commission forms to me or my assistant, Karin, one by one. Rest assured, I won't miss a single one!"

Karin, playing the part of a capable assistant, quickly added, "Only a child would choose just one job. Senshi's going to take them all! Not one task left behind!"

Those words renewed the crowd's excitement. It was practically guaranteed success: if Senshi took your commission, it was as good as done. A perfect track record was a perfect track record!

Just when Senshi was about to happily accept a mountain of missions and Karin was wondering what exactly all these tasks entailed, a new development arose.

A young man in black market receptionist attire stepped out, a record book in hand. This slightly arrogant youth was named Azei.

He gave a disdainful look at the crowd and snapped, "What's all this racket? If you're not going to queue properly, then get lost. There are plenty of people who do know how to line up!"

His rude tone inflamed everyone's tempers:

"Azei, save your arrogance—Senshi is here!"

"Watch how you speak in front of Senshi-san, Azei!"

"Right, if you show some respect to Senshi-san, maybe you'll actually get somewhere in life!"

Azei, though, only grew more annoyed. With a glance at Senshi, he checked his roster and said in an impatient tone, "So, you're that Uzumaki Senshi who's been bouncing around the black markets in the Land of Rain and the Land of Grass? Well, this is your first time in the Land of Lightning's black market, so you don't have the proper record of local missions. As far as we're concerned, you haven't proven your reliability or your skill level. All you commission-givers can forget handing any high-level tasks to him! Go back and line up if you want to post jobs!"

The crowd fell momentarily silent in shock.

(°ー°〃)??

Karin blinked in confusion.

(°ー°〃)??

Even Senshi was at a loss.

(°ー°〃)??

Azei had basically declared that—because Senshi had no prior record here—there was no proof of his competence or trustworthiness.

Hearing that, the surrounding crowd instantly erupted in protests before Senshi could say a word:

"What are you talking about? Senshi's more than qualified to take any mission we have!"

"He defeated the A-B Brothers! He has the best track record there is!"

"Exactly! If Senshi's reliability is in doubt, who else would even qualify?!"

Yet Azei remained unimpressed. Shinobi from the Land of Lightning were notorious for a certain brashness much like the Fourth Raikage. Azei was no exception. He simply insisted:

"You might not care about the rules elsewhere, but here in the Land of Lightning's black market, if he doesn't have a sufficient record, he's not authorized for high-level commissions. Anyone who doesn't like it can leave!"

Tempers flared, and it looked as if a brawl could break out at any moment. Senshi promptly spoke up:

"Everyone, calm down! If it's such a hassle to go through the black market's formalities, you can just hand your commissions directly to me. I'm perfectly fine with that!"

~~~

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