"Is that the Takigakure that got the tailed beast?" Gekko Hayate was also shocked.
His face turned pale, and he couldn't help but say, "Kai, you're not telling me he's the rogue ninja who massacred the high-ranking officials, are you?"
"Yes!" Kai nodded with a smile. "I didn't expect to run into you so soon, Kakuzu!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Uzuki Yūgao and Gekko Hayate turned pale.
This was an S-rank rogue ninja who had almost destroyed a village.
His strength was comparable to a Kage.
No matter how hard the Five Great Shinobi Villages tried, they could never capture an S-rank rogue ninja.
But now, one had appeared before them. Was this a nightmare or what?
"Kai, should we run?" Gekko Hayate panicked.
"We're only a few miles from Konoha. As long as we gather all our strength, we should be able to reach the Barrier Gate quickly."
"By then, the people stationed there will support us."
Facing Kakuzu's identity, Gekko Hayate's fighting spirit instantly vanished.
"Hayate, shut up," Uzuki Yūgao coldly rebuked. Looking at Kai, who still had a smile on his face, she said solemnly, "Don't belittle Kai's strength. You're just giving him an excuse to lose."
"Look at Kai's expression. He's not afraid at all. Maybe he can handle this S-rank rogue ninja."
"But why would this S-rank rogue ninja target us?"
Unlike Gekko Hayate, as a young girl, Uzuki Yūgao was more thoughtful.
Since Kai had called the man in front of them a bounty hunter reeking of money, the wandering ninja clan had also mentioned bounties.
Did this mean they were being hunted?
"Kai, are we being targeted?" Uzuki Yūgao asked urgently.
Kai smiled and patted her shoulder. "It seems you're not stupid."
"We're being hunted, and the person who hired the hitman is really generous. To get Kakuzu to act, it would cost at least twenty or thirty million ryo."
What?
Uzuki Yūgao and Gekko Hayate's faces changed dramatically.
As ninjas, they earned about one hundred ryo a month.
Two or three thousand ryo a year was already pretty good.
Now, according to Kai's guess, the bounty was twenty or thirty million ryo.
The person who issued the assassination order was definitely not an ordinary person.
"Kai, are you saying that someone in Konoha wants to kill us?" Uzuki Yūgao couldn't help but ask tentatively.
Over the past few days, nothing had happened between Uzuki Yūgao and Kai.
However, facing Kai's pampering, no matter what their relationship was, Uzuki Yūgao couldn't help but care about him.
"They want to kill me. You're just collateral damage," Kai said with a faint smile. "If you're scared, you can leave. He won't chase you. Your lives aren't worth much."
Seeing Kai still joking at this time, Uzuki Yūgao glared at him and said stubbornly, "Kai, I'm not leaving. I believe you can defeat him. Don't you agree, Hayate?"
Gekko Hayate had just started to feel a retreat, and before he could react, he heard these words.
Facing Uzuki Yūgao's gaze, he nodded with a bitter face.
"Kid, are you finished?" Kakuzu absorbed the chakra of those wandering ninjas and suddenly raised his head.
The black veins behind him not only didn't retract, but they writhed like tentacles, appearing horrifying.
"Kakuzu, you're still reeking of money. How about we make a bet? If you win, you can take my head. If I win, you become my subordinate," Kai said with a smile.
"This bet is a great deal. If you win, you can kill me. But if I win, you don't have to die, and you can become my subordinate. Don't you think it's an honor?"
His low voice made Uzuki Yūgao and Gekko Hayate dumbfounded.
Was he trying to recruit an S-rank rogue ninja?
If this got out, it would be shocking.
"Kid, you're quite the talker. I haven't met a kid as interesting as you in a long time," Kakuzu untied his cloak, revealing his body, which looked like it was stitched together. The black veins were exposed, looking disgusting.
Especially the straw-like veins that protruded from his mouth, like a viper's tongue, added a strange sense of oppression.
Looking at Kai, whose expression remained unchanged, Kakuzu grinned ferociously. "I didn't expect you, a little kid, to remain so calm when you see me like this."
"I accept your bet. I'm looking forward to you becoming my bounty. And I hope you can last four or five moves under my hand. Otherwise, I'll be bored."
Kai's rise to prominence had only been a matter of seven or eight days.
Even people in Konoha didn't know much about him, let alone a wandering ninja like Kakuzu.
Moreover, in Kakuzu's eyes, a mere Konoha Chunin couldn't possibly make much of a difference.
"Don't worry. I'll make you suffer and enjoy it!" Kai suddenly laughed.
Kakuzu's expression darkened. Seeing Kai, who was completely indifferent to his pressure, he finally lost his last bit of patience and coldly shouted.
"Kid, I hope you can still laugh later."
"Lightning Release: Dark Lightning!"
A Lightning Release mask flew out from Kakuzu's back, opening its mouth.
A wave of lightning crackled, like a raging tide, slashing towards Kai.
"You two, stand back. The fight is about to end," Kai said with a faint smile.
Uzuki Yūgao and Gekko Hayate's expressions changed dramatically. Without thinking twice, they retreated quickly.
They had seen Kai's abilities with their own eyes.
Now, he dared to say such things. It was definitely not an empty boast.
However, thinking that this was an S-rank rogue ninja, they were confident in Kai's strength, but whether he could finish the fight so quickly was another matter.
In the blink of an eye, the Dark Lightning attack covered the short distance of dozens of meters.
By the time Uzuki Yūgao and Gekko Hayate regained their footing, the attack had already slammed into Kai.
Boom!
The lightning exploded, like a thunderbolt splitting the sky.
Everything inside the post station was instantly shredded by the violent lightning, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Damn kid, you dare underestimate me. Today, I'll make your death quicker!" Kakuzu snorted.
The Fire Release mask on his back instantly appeared.
"Fire Release: Head-Burning!"
A blazing inferno erupted from his mouth.
After absorbing the chakra of the dozen or so wandering ninjas, the range of the inferno had clearly reached twenty or thirty meters.
It engulfed the entire post station.
However, before Kakuzu could react, the rising inferno suddenly began to spin like a vortex.
The next moment, the flames were blown away.
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