"So, this kidnapping was also a misunderstanding?"
In the Hokage's office, Minato Namikaze looked at Lin Yu with disdain. He was so incompetent that he didn't even know what his own organization members were up to!
Lin Yu scratched his head and said, "It's not entirely a misunderstanding. Kidnapping that Shima Tai Fu was probably real, but Naruto and the others were just unlucky."
"Then you're saying the Akatsuki organization really just wanted money?" Minato Namikaze didn't believe that a powerful organization like the Akatsuki would travel thousands of miles to Konoha just to kidnap a child. Unless they were desperately poor!
Lin Yu shrugged, indicating he didn't know. By the time he arrived at the battlefield, the fight was already over.
Kakashi, standing nearby, said, "It's possible. I clashed with Hoshigaki Kisame two years ago, and two years later, his clothes and pants are still the same."
Kakashi was referring to the clothes under his black robe. The Akatsuki's uniforms were all eligible for a free renewal once a year, after all, it was their facade.
Minato Namikaze said, "Are they a poverty-stricken organization? Do they need us in Konoha to start a poverty alleviation project?"
Kakashi felt a bit awkward. "Perhaps... not necessary."
The Hokage really knew how to joke!
"How are Naruto and the others?"
Kakashi replied, "They've all been sent to the Konoha Hospital. They're not seriously injured, except for Shima Tai Fu, who has some trauma in his lower body and is a bit dispirited, and also..."
Minato Namikaze said, "Continue."
"Uchiha Sasuke might have awakened his Sharingan."
Having two close friends and a subordinate from the Uchiha clan, Kakashi was very familiar with the Sharingan.
"Awakened at the age of five? The Uchiha truly have an endless stream of geniuses."
Minato Namikaze's face showed only surprise, no other emotion. He didn't have much dislike for the Uchiha clan, nor any particular fondness.
It was just that recently, two Uchiha geniuses had joined the Anbu, which made him a bit more wary of the Uchiha.
Why would they come to his Anbu instead of staying in the Konoha Police Force? This move had caught Minato Namikaze's attention.
The Uchiha clan, after years of recuperation, seemed to be making moves again.
Lin Yu yawned from the side. He had been summoned here early in the morning, and he thought it was something important.
"If there's nothing else, I'll go back and catch up on sleep."
"Wait!"
Minato Namikaze looked at the leader of his organization with frustration. If Lin Yu continued to be so lazy, his bones might rust.
"There's an urgent mission here. Due to a shortage of personnel in the village, we have to trouble you, Senior Lin Yu, to take care of it."
Minato Namikaze pulled out a draft from his drawer, then put it into a file bag, stamped it with "Urgent," and handed it to Lin Yu.
This whole operation made both of them inwardly exclaim "Awesome."
Was it popular for the Hokage to lie through his teeth now?
"Sunagakure?"
Lin Yu frowned. "What am I supposed to do in that barren place?"
"This is a draft agreement for a joint Chunin Exam," Minato Namikaze explained.
"Although it's just a preliminary plan, it can also be used to test the attitudes of various countries."
Jointly holding the Chunin Exams, to put it plainly, was to localize warfare and minimize losses for all parties.
For countries, war was about acquiring benefits. And what was the common interest between ninja villages? Missions!
These were missions entrusted to the villages by the Daimyo or various prominent figures. The number of missions depended on their recognition of the village's strength.
And how to get the Daimyo and prominent figures to entrust missions to their village? They needed to showcase their power. A strong ninja village had a higher probability of completing missions.
"I'm not going!"
Lin Yu flatly refused. Sunagakure was a barren place, and he wouldn't do a task that was a mere errand.
"Uh..." Kakashi unconsciously tugged at his mask, signaling to Minato Namikaze that he had very low presence and hadn't heard anything.
Minato Namikaze didn't get angry and said helplessly, "Can't you just go out and see the world?"
Lin Yu couldn't be bothered with Minato Namikaze. What did he know! He, Lin Yu, was a diligent master, helping the elderly cross the street every day to improve himself.
He wasn't lazy at all!
Suddenly, Lin Yu's eyes fell on a document with a familiar seal on the desk. He pulled it out and looked at it for a moment.
"I'll take this mission!"
Minato Namikaze glanced at the mission request Lin Yu had slapped on the desk and said softly, "The Land of Demons?"
Kakashi also muttered, "Isn't that place even more remote?"
"What do you guys know!"
Lin Yu's eyes sparkled as he said, "This kind of mission is challenging!"
Of course, what Lin Yu was referring to wasn't魍魉 (Mōryō), but rather...
...
Somewhere in the Land of Fire, at a pawnshop.
In a cold, dark corpse cabinet, a pair of dark green eyes suddenly opened, and then countless black threads erupted from his body.
Boom!
With a loud explosion, the corpse cabinet was blown open, and black threads scattered wildly in the air. Kakuzu moved his limbs and slowly stood up, his dark green eyes filled with murderous intent.
Hoshigaki Kisame dared to put him in a morgue? Was he tired of living?!
"What's going on!"
Hearing the commotion, the person in charge of the pawnshop came in and was almost scared to death.
"Kakuzu, Kakuzu is resurrected!"
Fear, terror, and greed appeared in the eyes of the pawnshop's manager. His heartbeat had stopped, yet he could still be resurrected?
Was someone controlling him? Puppet jutsu?
Before the manager could figure it out, countless black threads had already bound him, piercing his skin and drawing blood, turning him into a bloodied figure in an instant.
"Tell me, who brought me here?"
The manager had no time to marvel that a dead person could speak. The intense pain and the feeling of suffocation made him confess everything.
"It, it was Hoshigaki Kisame!"
Pfft!
Blood splattered everywhere. Kakuzu retracted the black threads into his body, his pupils emanating cold killing intent.
Hoshigaki Kisame, not even heaven can save you!
Meanwhile, at another pawnshop not far away, Hoshigaki Kisame, wrapping his clothes tighter, shivered as he hurried towards the Akatsuki.
Although his methods were a bit despicable, he had to admit the harvest was enormous!
A full fifty million ryo!
And he didn't even have to hand it over to the organization!
This was enough for him to squander for many years to come!
"It's a shame this method can only be used once. I don't know who scared the pawnshop so much that any bounty exceeding ten million requires reporting to headquarters for approval before anyone will deliver it."
But this money was enough!
Hoshigaki Kisame's mood suddenly became much more pleasant. Indeed, having more money made one's mood cheerful.
Suddenly, a strong sense of unease struck him from behind. Hoshigaki Kisame looked back and was immediately scared out of his wits.
He saw a monster entangled with black threads floating in the air. Those dark green eyes were staring intently at him.
"Hoshigaki Kisame!"
"My f***!"
Hoshigaki Kisame immediately merged with Samehada and dived into the nearest stream.
"Kakuzu, at worst, I'll split the money with you."
"Split it with you?!"