The vast ruins were in utter disarray. Kakuzu, the formidable S-rank rogue ninja, lay there like a dead fish.
If Danzo saw this, his prized bounty hunter reduced to a whimpering dog in front of Kai, he wouldn't be able to accept it.
"Don't worry, you'll realize this decision was right," Kai said, patting Kakuzu's shoulder.
"Now, you've lost four hearts. I have a pretty good target for you. If you can get it, your strength will definitely increase by a level."
If he hadn't witnessed Kai's powerful abilities with his own eyes, Kakuzu might not have believed these words.
But after enduring the torture of two Rasengans, Kakuzu was now desperate to become stronger.
He wanted to stand up in front of Kai.
"What kind of power are you talking about?" Kakuzu grabbed Kai's arm.
Feeling the strength in his hand, Kai couldn't help but laugh.
In this world, the most frightening thing was someone without ambition.
If you wanted to make someone stronger, you had to amplify their ambition.
For example, Obito Uchiha, from a nobody, transformed into the mastermind behind everything.
This was the best example.
"You should have heard about the Third Shinobi World War, right? It was triggered by the disappearance of the Third Kazekage of Sunagakure," Kai said, looking at Kakuzu.
He often operated in the shadows, so things that others might not know, he, as a bounty hunter, would have more information about.
In Kakuzu's world, there was nothing money couldn't solve.
"I know. It was a huge scandal. But I don't know who did it," Kakuzu shook his head.
"The Third Kazekage was worth ten million ryo on the black market. Are you sure it wasn't your Konoha who did it?"
"No," Kai shook his head. "I want you to find someone. Once you find him, try to take the Third Kazekage's heart from him."
"With the Iron Sand, your strength will reach a new level."
Kakuzu's Jutsu could gain chakra attribute transformations by stealing the hearts of others.
Iron Sand, like the Cloud's Dark Lightning, was a special, mutated attribute, different from a kekkei genkai.
Others might not be able to obtain this power, but Kakuzu was an exception.
There was just one thing Kai couldn't understand. Why, in the original story, did a jutsu that could have become so powerful get wasted?
Was this the legendary plot kill?
Feeling Kai's gaze changing, Kakuzu smiled helplessly and sat up with difficulty.
"Boss."
"I know you must think, with such a powerful secret technique like Jiongu, why would I still go after special people to possess their hearts?"
"It's not that I don't want to, but I can't do it alone."
Kai actually knew about Kakuzu's helplessness.
His fame came from being sent by Takigakure to assassinate the First Hokage.
After throwing a shuriken from a distance, he was scared off by the First Hokage's eyes and ran away with his tail between his legs.
Takigakure, fearing that the truth would come out, directly framed Kakuzu for a crime he didn't commit when he returned.
Kakuzu, enraged, directly stole the secret technique, Jiongu.
Takigakure's overall strength was already weak. In the later stages of the original story, one Jōnin could beat an entire village.
Facing a monster like Kakuzu, they were completely defenseless.
"You know where the Third Kazekage is?" Kakuzu couldn't contain his excitement.
Gekko Hayate and Uzuki Yūgao were stunned for a moment and were about to step forward.
Kai's Mangekyō Sharingan suddenly spun, instantly hypnotizing the two.
Kai didn't distrust Yūgao, but he didn't want to involve her and get her monitored by Danzo and Root.
If they were to be interrogated, that would be even worse.
Seeing Kai hypnotize Yūgao and Gekko Hayate with just a glance, they were shocked and finally realized something was wrong.
"Boss, your Sharingan is the same as Uchiha Madara's, right?"
There were only two people in the ninja world who could hypnotize someone with just a glance.
First, the First Hokage.
Second, Uchiha Madara.
Kakuzu, who had survived the First Shinobi World War, was no stranger to Uchiha Madara.
"Something like that," Kai didn't hide it.
If he wanted someone to be completely loyal to him, and he couldn't even intimidate them, how could they serve him?
"Let's get back to the main point," Kai brought the topic back. "You have a lot of connections in the black market. Go find a guy named Sasori of the Red Sand."
"If you find him, make him give you the Third Kazekage's heart. He makes human puppets. He needs a lot of materials and needs to keep the person alive to modify them."
The biggest feature of human puppets was that they could possess the original owner's ninjutsu.
Although they also needed a puppet core, for Kai, it was great that Kakuzu could get the Iron Sand.
However, if he could recruit Sasori, that would be even better.
And maybe he could find Orochimaru and have them reproduce and cultivate, which would be the best of both worlds.
"You mean that kid?" Kakuzu's expression froze.
Kai raised an eyebrow. "You know him?"
"Of course, I know him," Kakuzu nodded.
"That kid loves making puppets. Sometimes, he'll buy some half-dead bodies from me. He'll also put up bounty missions, asking me to capture some live people. I never thought he would be crazy enough to target the Third Kazekage."
"That's his village leader."
Kai was instantly speechless.
He didn't expect the people he wanted to recruit to be one who reeked of money and one who had strange fetishes.
It seemed that Akatsuki was full of weirdos.
But if you weren't on the same wavelength, how could you walk the same path?
"Since you know where he is, you go first. There are a few Root ninjas who have just arrived. You should be able to handle them, right?" Kai glanced at the forest in the distance.
The three Root ninjas who had just arrived and were hiding in the forest to monitor the situation were shocked.
Without thinking twice, they immediately tried to retreat.
Their mission was to monitor the battle between Kakuzu and Kai and then report back to Danzo.
But they never expected that what they thought would be a long battle was already over.
They heard the explosion and rushed over, but the battle was already over.
"Boss, don't worry. They won't escape my grasp. I'll go find that guy first. I need to get some more hearts," Kakuzu grinned ferociously.
Black veins instantly shot out from the forest.
They spread out like a huge net, covering the three Root ninjas.
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