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Ch. 162: The Undead Duo: Bounty
🕑 Added 2024-11-11 21:44:01 +0000 UTCAt Akatsuki initiation ceremony, Hidan personally slashed a line through his forehead protector, then draped the Akatsuki cloak over his shoulders.
"I still have to continue the activities of the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign as usual. That's the condition I agreed upon with that woman."
The woman Hidan referred to was naturally Konan, and he directed this statement toward the leader of Akatsuki, Pain.
Pain didn't bother with such minor details and simply replied, "Do as you wish."
The members of Akatsuki were rogue ninjas who gathered for various personal reasons. He never intended to unite them like a close-knit family. As long as he could use them to complete his plans, that was enough.
Pain himself was the glue that held Akatsuki together. In nature, the weak submit to the strong, and this principle applied within Akatsuki as well.
He held absolute strength, and even the most rebellious members displayed complete obedience in his presence. Konan, who rarely fought and appeared gentle, was also highly respected due to being Pain's partner, essentially making her the second-in-command of Akatsuki.
Now, she had unilaterally decided to bring Hidan into the group, and Pain agreed. This only solidified the perception that Pain and Konan's relationship was closer than an ordinary partnership.
Could it be an intimate relationship? Some Akatsuki members speculated but weren't sure. However, they all understood that offending Konan was equivalent to offending Pain.
Currently, everyone in Akatsuki acknowledged Pain's power. Even Itachi, after a period of observation, concluded that this man possessed unfathomable strength.
Along with the masked man claiming to be Madara and the formidable Kojiro, who had withstood Tsukuyomi, it was clear that the world was full of hidden powers.
With an impassive expression, Pain handed a ring marked with the kanji for 'Three' to Hidan.
"From now on, your partner is Kakuzu. You two should be acquainted by now, given how you met."
Hidan was initially surprised, then immediately dissatisfied, pointing at Kakuzu. "Why am I partnered with this guy instead of the short one over there?"
Hidan was referring to Itachi. He was still fixated on sacrificing the one who worshipped Cthulhu, and partnering with Itachi was his way of trying to extract information.
"I'll arrange another partner for Itachi later. You'll be with Kakuzu."
"Follow my orders."
At the second sentence, Pain's unique purple, concentric circle eyes glared at him. Even someone as dense as Hidan could feel the faint killing intent, which was no joke. He swallowed nervously and stayed silent.
"Alright, all the two-man teams except for Itachi's are set. Go and complete your missions."
"Itachi, your partner will take a bit more time."
---
Under the clear sky, two figures dressed in black cloaks with red clouds walked along a mountain path.
"Never thought you'd end up as my partner," Kakuzu muttered.
He was one of the few in Akatsuki who had fought Pain head-on and had a direct understanding of his strength. So when Pain assigned Hidan as his partner earlier, he didn't dare protest.
But now that they were away from Pain, he naturally started to complain.
Hidan was equally disgruntled.
"I could say the same. I'm not too fond of you either."
"Don't get on my nerves, or I'll kill you."
"Try killing me, then. Maybe I'll sacrifice you to the lord first."
"I don't need your heart."
The two bickered as they headed toward the forest, but their arguments didn't delay their progress.
By noon, a cluster of gray buildings stood by the roadside, catching Hidan's attention.
"Wow, didn't expect to see buildings like these in the middle of the mountains. Pretty rare."
While Hidan marveled from the roadside, Kakuzu had already walked inside.
"Why are you going in there?"
Kakuzu ignored him, leaving Hidan no choice but to follow.
Inside the gray building, the interior resembled an unfinished structure with nothing but cement walls. Kakuzu finally explained to Hidan, "My main job in Akatsuki is to gather funds, because I'm very good at making money."
"This place is a bounty station. You can accept bounty missions here. Complete the task, and you'll earn high rewards."
"The minimum bounty here is at least 1 million ryō. Quite a lot, isn't it?"
He wanted to intimidate Hidan, who was still a novice, by mentioning a sum that would seem enormous to him. However, Hidan wasn't impressed and shook his head, saying, "Money is easy to get when you have religion and followers. You can have as much as you want."
"Oh?"
This statement piqued Kakuzu's interest in the topic of making money.
"Think about it. If each follower donates 10,000 ryō, it's 1 million ryō with 100 followers."
Hidan spoke lightly, but Kakuzu doused him with cold reality.
"You seem to have fewer than thirty followers."
"They'll increase in the future!" Hidan quickly retorted.
Kakuzu didn't respond and continued to search the wall for a hidden mechanism. "By that logic, the one who worships the other dark god, with tens of thousands of followers, must be incredibly wealthy."
Click.
A hidden panel on the wall moved, revealing a hidden space.
"Why did the wall move?"
Hidan, like a country bumpkin, pointed at the moving wall. Kakuzu ignored him and walked in, forcing Hidan to follow.
Behind the wall was a vast, empty space. Aside from the numerous corpse lockers lining the walls, there was only one receptionist.
"Why is it so cold in here? And what's that smell?"
"Don't you smell it?"
"Hey!"
Kakuzu still ignored Hidan's noise and went straight to the receptionist. "Give me the latest bounty list."
"Yes, Kakuzu."
Kakuzu took the bounty list and flipped through it, looking for suitable targets. Since the bounty station wasn't exclusive to him, the bounty list was constantly updated.
Before choosing a target, it was always wise to confirm whether the mission was still available and if the reward amount had changed to avoid wasted effort.
After flipping through most of the list, Kakuzu came across an unusual bounty. Most of the bounties at the station were for ninja corpses or high-ranking officials, but this one was different.
The target in the bounty image resembled a crustacean with wing-like membranes and multiple jointed limbs. Where the head should be was an ovoid covered in short, stubby tentacles.
Below the image was the bounty's description.
Bounty Target: Mi-Go.
Reward: 60 million ryō.
"60 million!"
Even Kakuzu, who handled money frequently and had grown somewhat numb to large sums, couldn't help but exclaim in surprise. This was an enormous bounty.
To put it in perspective, a bounty of 30 million was enough to secure the body of an elite jonin. So, 60 million could get at least two elite jonin. Excluding targets like the Kage of the Five Great Shinobi Villages or the daimyō of the Five Great Nations—targets that were nearly impossible to assassinate or too dangerous to attempt—there was hardly ever an individual with a bounty as high as 60 million.
Considering the bounty amount, feasibility of assassination, and risk involved, this Mi-Go seemed to be the most lucrative target in the entire bounty book.
However, from its picture, it was not a human. It appeared to be some sort of creature he had never seen before. But how would one even begin to hunt something like that?
Just then, the receptionist at the bounty office noticed that Kakuzu had paused on the page with Mi-Go and quickly approached him. "The bounty for Mi-Go was actually updated yesterday."
"The bounty is no longer 60 million."
"It's now 80 million."
"What!"
Kakuzu's eyes widened as he looked at the image in the bounty book, shocked by the value of the creature. An 80 million bounty was enough to make his heart race.
Without a doubt, this Mi-Go offered the best value for effort in the entire book. It was an ideal target, especially since killing a strange creature like this wouldn't bring revenge or trouble to Akatsuki. It was practically the perfect investment.
The only issue was that he had no information on this creature—where it could be found, or what it even was.
"Did the person offering the bounty leave any details about where this thing might be found?" he asked.
"No. The bounty poster only left this picture."
Kakuzu nodded. He now understood why the person who posted the bounty was willing to offer 80 million for it. Maybe the creature itself wasn't hard to capture; the hardest part was figuring out where to find it.
He considered himself one of the longest-living people in the ninja world, still active and sharp at over 80 years old. He had seen all sorts of strange things over the years. But even with all his experience, he had never encountered a creature like this.
That explained why no one had been able to claim the 60 million bounty so far, leading the poster to raise the reward by another 20 million.
However, this also proved that the bounty poster was confident in the creature's existence and desperately wanted it. Though he wanted the enormous payout, the lack of leads on where to start looking made it seem inefficient to pursue.
After some thought, he decided to continue browsing the bounty book, searching for a more feasible target.
"What are you wasting so much time for?" Hidan, who had been waiting impatiently, walked over and snatched the bounty book from Kakuzu's hands.
"You!"
Kakuzu was about to shout, but Hidan cut him off with an even louder voice.
"How did this thing end up in here? Damn Mi-Go!"
Holding the bounty book, his tone revealed a hint of hatred toward Mi-Go. More importantly, it seemed like he knew what a Mi-Go was.
This piqued Kakuzu's interest. He immediately let go of the idea of punishing Hidan for taking the book and asked, "Do you recognize the creature in the bounty book?"
"Of course," Hidan nodded. "This is one of the creatures the lord absolutely despises. If we ever come across them, we are obligated to eradicate them."
"One of them?" Kakuzu asked.
"Yeah, the lord's most hated creatures are the Cthulhi and the Deep Ones. They serve Cthulhu. The Mi-Go is also a species he despises."
"Anything that he hates, I hate too. And anything I hate, I'll—"
"Stop!"
Kakuzu cut off his ramblings. The only thing he cared about right now was the 80 million bounty for the Mi-Go, not who Hidan's liked or hated.
"Does your lord know where the Mi-Go can be found?" Kakuzu asked impatiently.
"I need to know where to find this Mi-Go. This is an 80 million bounty we're talking about!"
"I don't know where the Mi-Go is either. I'll have to ask the lord first," Hidan said.
With that, Hidan pulled out a yellow medallion from his collar and whispered to it softly, as though communing with something on the other end.
Kakuzu squinted suspiciously at him, his gaze focusing on the medallion. When Hidan had first wanted to join Akatsuki, he also insisted on consulting his lord by talking to his necklace.
Is a god answering him? No way. This guy must be delusional.
Despite completely dismissing Hidan's communication with his lord, Kakuzu decided to wait, given the promise of 80 million.
Finally, Hidan put away the yellow medallion.
"So?" Kakuzu asked eagerly.
"…" Hidan remained silent.
"Well? Hurry up and tell me!" Kakuzu pressed.
"I know where the Mi-Go is!" Hidan exclaimed with a sudden burst of enthusiasm.
Kakuzu was skeptical. "Are you messing with me?"
"Believe what you want, but I'm going to huntthe Mi-Go now. It's the mission he entrusted to me."
With that, he grabbed his bloody three-bladed scythe and walked out.
Seeing this, Kakuzu—who never let money slip away—hurried to follow. As they left, he made sure to call back, "Tell the bounty poster to prepare that 80 million!"
Once outside, the dynamic between the two had completely shifted. Now, Hidan was leading the way, and Kakuzu followed behind.
For once, Hidan was in control of the duo's actions. Kakuzu, drawn by the lure of 80 million, fell silent and humbly trailed behind.
They walked from day until nightfall, eventually reaching a mountain.
At the barren peak, Hidan knelt on a massive boulder like a devout follower, gripping the yellow medallion in his hands and muttering strange words under his breath.
In the open, starry sky, the odd incantations drifted into the air as the only sound.
"Iä! Iä! Hastur!"
"Y'gtha'k, vulgtm, vugtlagin, vulgtm!"
"Iä! Iä! Hastur!"
Watching from behind, Kakuzu felt he was being tricked. He had followed Hidan all day only for the cultist to climb up here and perform this bizarre ritual.
The more Kakuzu thought about it, the angrier he got. His fists, which had lowered to his sides, gradually turned black as he activated his Iron Skin technique to harden them.
But just as his killing intent began to rise, Hidan suddenly stopped chanting, stood up, and said, "It's finally here."
"The servant of the King in Yellow."
"The Byakhee."
