Chapter 20: Insight
With a brief lapse in consciousness, Su Xiao’s vision cleared to find himself inside a sealed cave.
The cave was not large, with a single hanging oil lamp at its center, keeping the space from being too dim.
Su Xiao’s body appeared somewhat translucent, like a projection cast by a projector, flickering slightly with the swaying flame.
He was alone in the cave. Before long, two more projections appeared.
“Hey, why are we gathering again? Didn’t we just meet three days ago?”
A somewhat dissatisfied voice rang out.
“Shut up. Keep talking, and I’ll kill you.”
“Ha? If you’ve got the guts, then kill me.”
“Tch.”
There was no need to guess who the speakers were—the immortal duo, Hidan and Kakuzu, had arrived.
“Who’s this guy?”
Hidan’s projection looked toward Su Xiao.
“A new member.”
Another projection appeared, this time the Deva Path of Pain, the public leader of the Akatsuki.
“A newbie? It’s been a while since we had one.”
Kakuzu glanced at Su Xiao and then fell silent.
“Hey, you over there, newbie.”
Hidan studied Su Xiao with interest.
“Something?”
“Of course. Interested in joining the Jashin cult? The Jashin cult…”
Hidan began rambling about the Jashin cult, clearly eager to recruit Su Xiao. He did this every time a new member joined, but he always failed.
“Not interested.”
Su Xiao’s tone was cold, fitting the Akatsuki’s style.
“What? Are you disrespecting the Jashin cult? Where are you? Tell me, and I’ll come kill you.”
Hidan’s personality was relatively “lively” within the Akatsuki, marked by his boisterousness, verbosity, and arrogance.
“Idiot.”
Su Xiao stopped looking at Hidan. The guy was a real clown, completely out of sync with the Akatsuki’s serious atmosphere.
“What!! You’re pissing me off! Where are you? I’ve already heard Lord Jashin’s will—I have to kill you!!”
Hidan shouted in anger. He wasn’t actually going to come after Su Xiao; it was just his nature.
“You’re yelling as soon as you arrive, you zombie duo.”
Kisame’s voice came through as he and Itachi appeared.
“Who are you calling the zombie duo?”
Kakuzu, caught in the crossfire, objected, his green eyes brimming with killing intent.
“As united as ever, hm.”
A slightly amused voice followed as Deidara and Sasori arrived.
“Dead fish, who were you calling the zombie duo just now?”
“Hm? Dead fish?”
Kisame and Kakuzu had been at odds for a long time, both itching for a fight.
This “harmonious” scene was likely unique to the Akatsuki—members meeting each other and threatening to kill within three sentences.
Konan, standing beside Pain, found it a headache. This was the daily routine of the Akatsuki.
“Dead fish, I heard your last mission failed?”
“It wasn’t a failure. Just reeling in a big fish with a long line.”
“Oh? I heard the target already ran to the Land of Lightning. Isn’t the line a bit too long?”
Kisame stared with his dead fish eyes, locking gazes with Kakuzu’s green eyes. Su Xiao could almost see sparks flying in the air. Too bad Bubu Wang wasn’t here; he’d definitely be munching on popcorn.
“Enough arguing.”
Pain spoke, and both Kakuzu and Kisame stopped. The Akatsuki’s leader wasn’t chosen by election—strength ruled.
“What’s this about? Are we starting that plan? The One-Tail is…”
Deidara began, but Pain raised a hand to cut him off.
“No. This time, it’s just about a new member.”
Everyone present looked at Su Xiao.
“Bai Ye. New member.”
Su Xiao spoke, only giving his name.
“That’s all?”
“Yes. Kakuzu, focus on gathering funds. Expenses have been high lately.”
Pain turned to Kakuzu.
“No problem.”
“Good. Itachi, keep an eye on Orochimaru’s movements. He knows our plan. Eliminating him would be best.”
“Mm.”
Itachi replied and fell silent.
“Sasori, stay. Everyone else, leave.”
Su Xiao dispelled the Astral Projection Technique. Light flickered before his eyes as his consciousness returned to his body.
The Astral Projection Technique was practical. Each gathering location was decided by Nagato, keeping other members unaware of the meeting point, preventing intelligence leaks.
“Is it starting?”
A smile appeared on Su Xiao’s face. If he remembered correctly, the plan to capture the Jinchuriki began with the One-Tail, executed by Deidara and Sasori.
He continued traveling toward the Land of Rivers, needing to meet up with his two unknown partners as soon as possible.
Though he had a vague guess about who they were, he couldn’t be sure. Among the three teams, the one he least wanted to join was the Immortal Duo—they were the busiest, taking the most missions, and Kakuzu frequently ran off to the black market to trade corpses for money.
…
A day later, within the Land of Rivers, near a suspension bridge.
Below the bridge was a swift river. The bridge was called the Kannabi Bridge, and despite its simple appearance, a major event had occurred here.
During the Second Great Ninja War, a medium-scale battle had taken place here.
It started when Konoha’s White Fang assassinated Sasori’s parents, driving Sunagakure’s Chiyo nearly mad. She then engaged Konoha in this battle, giving the bridge its name.
Sitting on a large rock by the bridge, Su Xiao was maintaining the Dragon-Slaying Flash.
A breeze blew, lifting a few leaves.
Creak, creak.
The sound of hard wood scraping came. Su Xiao put away his maintenance tools and sheathed the Dragon-Slaying Flash. The person he was waiting for might have arrived.
A tall figure crawled forward on all fours. The newcomer was strange—a bald man in a black mask, wearing an Akatsuki robe.
“Been waiting long? Sorry, I was delayed on the way.”
A low, hoarse voice came. The arrival was Sasori, but this wasn’t his true form. The crawling muscular man was a puppet named Hiruko, with Sasori’s real body hidden inside.
That’s why Hiruko crawled on all fours—otherwise, Sasori inside would be lying on his back.
Sasori apologized because he disliked waiting or being waited on. Today, he was unusually late.
“It’s fine. So, you’re my partner? Master Sasori of the Red Sand?”
“Correct. Though the Akatsuki operates in pairs, the leader considered your special situation and your important role, so he temporarily assigned you to our team.”
Hearing Sasori’s words, Su Xiao’s heart tightened.
“Important role?”
“You’ll understand later. Come, I’ll take you to meet the other partner.”
Sasori controlled Hiruko to crawl in one direction, but Su Xiao didn’t move.
“Is this a test?”
Su Xiao looked toward a distant forest. Someone was tailing them.
“Take it however you like. I hate waiting, so hurry up.”
Sasori stopped, showing no intention of intervening.
“Mm.”
Su Xiao stood and used Shunpo to charge into the forest. The tracker inside was startled and turned to flee.
Buzz~
A sonic wave spread through the forest. Leaves flew, and blade light crisscrossed. Within five minutes, the fight ended.
Su Xiao emerged from the forest, dragging a half-dead man. Blood dripped from the man as Su Xiao walked slowly toward Sasori.
The man’s limbs were severed, his chest covered in countless sword wounds, as if he had endured unimaginable agony. His eyes had rolled back white.
Inside Hiruko, Sasori’s eyes narrowed. He had a rough estimate of Su Xiao’s close-combat capabilities.
Su Xiao tossed the tracker toward Sasori.
“Consider this a welcome gift.”
Sasori looked at the dying tracker, puzzled. He didn’t understand the “welcome gift” meaning—this was just his test for Su Xiao. But Su Xiao quickly cleared up the confusion.
“If I’m not mistaken, this is a ninja from the Otogakure. A perception type, strength roughly between chunin and jonin. He can block others’ perception, likely a weak bloodline limit, with signs of modification. Based on the current power distribution, this is one of Orochimaru’s men. He was tailing you. Do you have a grudge with him?”
Hearing Su Xiao’s analysis, Sasori inside Hiruko smiled.
“Looks like I’ve got a reliable partner. Follow me. I’ll take you to meet the other partner. That guy went nearby to collect clay.”