Chapter 15: Recruitment
Seeing the two figures ahead, Su Xiao became alert, and the Dragon-Slaying Flash appeared in his hand.
He had seen these two before, though in an anime. They were Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame.
Su Xiao felt a hint of confusion. Why were members of the Akatsuki organization here?
The so-called Akatsuki was an "illegal group" in the Naruto world. Its internal members were a mixed bag, with all kinds of people.
Among them were a war orphan (Nagato), an immortal old man (Black Zetsu), a brother-obsessed man (Uchiha Itachi), a loyal rogue ninja (Hoshigaki Kisame), a love-deprived youth (Sasori), an explosion maniac (Deidara), a cult follower (Hidan), a money-grubber (Kakuzu), and a youth whose worldview collapsed after heartbreak (Uchiha Obito).
Such a group of powerful individuals with wildly different personalities gathered together. Unity and camaraderie had nothing to do with Akatsuki; attacking comrades over a disagreement was common.
Now, two members of Akatsuki stood before Su Xiao, wearing black cloaks embroidered with red clouds.
"Do you two have business with me?"
Su Xiao spoke with a smile as he slowly stepped forward. If he had to fight them, getting close was his only chance.
"Come any closer, and I'll leave a nice cut on you."
Hoshigaki Kisame gripped the hilt of the ninja sword on his back. The blade was over a meter long, its wide body wrapped in bandages, revealing only the handle.
Su Xiao stopped in his tracks.
"Are you Bai Ye?"
Uchiha Itachi spoke, his tone unhurried.
"Probably."
Hearing Su Xiao's answer, Itachi frowned.
"Someone wants to see you."
"Who?"
"Our leader."
Su Xiao squinted. The purpose of these two was now clear: they were recruiting him into Akatsuki. After all, he had the achievements of assassinating the Fourth Mizukage and attacking the Hidden Mist Village. It was only natural for Akatsuki to seek him out.
"Speak plainly."
Itachi thought for a moment, then nodded.
"The leader wants you to join us. We'll discuss the details later."
As he spoke, Itachi gave Kisame a look. Whenever a new member joined, a fight was customary, since those who joined Akatsuki were all unruly individuals.
Kisame understood Itachi's meaning and unstrapped the ninja sword from his back.
"Don't let him get close."
"Got it."
Kisame cracked his knuckles, but Su Xiao suddenly spoke: "I can join you."
"Huh?"
Kisame, who was about to form hand seals, was taken aback.
Seeing their confusion, Su Xiao repeated himself: "I can join you."
Joining Akatsuki was actually a good choice. After all, he didn't have many options left. Compared to the Hidden Sound Village, Akatsuki was a better choice, even if it was equally dangerous.
Moreover, joining Akatsuki had one advantage: there should be very few contractors within the organization, if any at all.
"You agree?"
Kisame was ready to strike, but Su Xiao had agreed so readily.
"Earlier, I planned to join the Land of Iron, but I was rejected. Now that someone is actively recruiting me, of course I'll check it out."
Su Xiao sheathed the Dragon-Slaying Flash. Fighting Kisame was a thankless task. In his view, a battle where he couldn't kill the enemy was meaningless.
"Is that so? Then let's go."
Itachi turned to move forward, but Su Xiao suddenly spoke.
"Wait."
Itachi and Kisame looked at Su Xiao.
"What's the treatment in your organization? How much is the monthly salary?"
This question from Su Xiao clearly stumped the aloof Itachi. Fortunately, Kisame quickly responded.
"The treatment isn't bad, provided you survive."
"That's good to hear."
Su Xiao mounted Bubu Wang and followed behind Itachi and Kisame.
Whoosh, whoosh~
Itachi and Kisame accelerated, and Bubu Wang also picked up speed. The two were fast, but not fast enough to shake off Bubu Wang.
As they ran, the two ahead spoke in low voices.
"Itachi, why did the leader invite him to join? This guy's strength..."
"His strength is formidable up close. The Mist ninja scouts provided detailed intel. If he gets close, all of you might die."
"Huh? That strong?"
"Provided he can get close."
"Understood. So he's a reserve member?"
"No, a full member. There's still a spare ring."
"A full member?"
Kisame was puzzled.
"Yes. He'll be responsible for close-quarters containment of the jinchuriki. This will be a great help for the upcoming tailed beast capture plan. Right now, besides Hidan, no one in the organization dares to get close to a jinchuriki. He'll fill that gap."
Hearing Itachi's answer, Kisame understood their leader's intention.
Previously, someone in Akatsuki had filled that gap: Hoshigaki Mangetsu. But Mangetsu had fallen in battle. While others in the organization were strong, they lacked close-combat capability against jinchuriki. As for Hidan, even though he wouldn't die from close combat with a jinchuriki, he would get beaten badly.
Sasori, Deidara, Kakuzu, and the others were all strong, but none were close-combat experts.
After a jinchuriki underwent tailed beast transformation, their close-combat ability was extremely powerful. The best approach was to hold them off up close while others provided support. This maximized the chance of capturing the jinchuriki alive. Otherwise, there was a risk of accidentally killing the jinchuriki. Nagato had once nearly killed one and had to hold back, allowing the jinchuriki to escape.
...
Following behind Itachi and Kisame, Su Xiao pondered.
Akatsuki had invited him to join, but what exactly they wanted him to do was still unknown. If they wanted him to capture tailed beasts, that would be perfect. Su Xiao's goal was to absorb the chakra from the tailed beasts to enhance his Azure Steel Shadow energy.
If he searched for tailed beasts on his own, he might not even find one by the time the mission ended.
Even if he found one, whether he could defeat it was another question. So joining Akatsuki was a good choice.
If he could participate in the jinchuriki capture plan, Su Xiao might be able to absorb the chakra of two or more tailed beasts.
While this was good news, he had to be careful of a few people in Akatsuki.
The first was Black Zetsu. This guy had lived for who knows how many years. Although he was a background character for most of the story, he revealed himself as the mastermind behind the final battle.
The second was Uchiha Obito. This youth's unrequited love was killed before his eyes by his best friend, turning him extremely radical.
In Obito's view, without Rin Nohara, it didn't matter whether the world was destroyed or not. He would do anything to revive Rin, even if it meant destroying the world!
The third was Uchiha Itachi. This brother-obsessed man was a spy who had given up on life. After sending his brother a "big gift package," he died with a smile.
As for the others, while dangerous, they all had their own weaknesses.
Among the Akatsuki members, Su Xiao was most interested in the bomb maniac. His alchemy bombs and the other's clay bombs were similar in principle, and they could exchange knowledge.
Alchemy bombs were convenient to use and had great power, but they were too troublesome to make and had high costs.
The ideal alchemy bomb would be one that could be made on the spot, was cheap, and easy to carry.
But it was still too early to consider these things. Su Xiao needed to join Akatsuki as soon as possible. In 32 hours, the mission deadline would arrive, and he would have no way out. Even a Hunter had no privileges then.