Chapter 42: Kai
Inside the cave.
Aside from Bubu Wang and Hidan, who were exchanging glances, the cave was dead silent.
After their initial eye contact, these two goofballs had started playing rock-paper-scissors, with the loser having to slap themselves.
Judging by Hidan’s furious glare, he had probably already slapped himself several times.
Bubu Wang wore a smug expression—how the hell it managed to form scissors with its dog paw was anyone’s guess. Maybe Hidan couldn’t figure it out either, which was why he had thrown paper twice in a row.
Kisame’s mouth twitched violently. Deidara, on the other hand, was drawn in by the antics of the man and the dog, seemingly wanting to join in. Standing around was just too boring.
Pain had already kicked Hidan three times, but Hidan pretended not to notice, having a blast with Bubu Wang. Konan looked utterly helpless.
Kakuzu glanced at Hidan, then turned away, as if feeling embarrassed to be teamed up with someone being toyed with by a dog. The meaning in his green eyes, if expressed in trendy terms, was clearly: ‘Hidan, you’re a disgrace. Quit the group.’
“Hey, you must be cheating.”
Hidan finally couldn’t help speaking up after taking several slaps. Bubu Wang gave him a look of canine contempt.
“Shut up.”
Pain spoke, and Hidan reluctantly fell silent.
Su Xiao felt that the Akatsuki’s vibe seemed a bit off, all because Bubu Wang had joined.
With this clownish pair, the cave wasn’t too boring, and Pain didn’t say anything more.
Two days and two nights passed like this. On the third day, everyone in the cave was sore all over. Su Xiao had already sat down on that giant finger—after all, he was just here for the ride; the ring on his hand was what mattered.
Tossing a burger to Deidara, Su Xiao took out a skewer of grilled meat to eat.
“I’ll grab some food too.”
Kisame spoke, the characters beneath his feet dimming slightly.
“Wait.”
Zetsu suddenly spoke. Over the past three days, Zetsu had rarely said anything.
“What is it?”
Pain opened his eyes and subconsciously glanced at Bubu Wang, who was already asleep, drooling. Its 45 points of charm attribute weren’t just for show—if not for its remarkable charm, even with Su Xiao’s connection, it would have been kicked out of the cave.
“Enemies have pursued us into the River Country.”
The “River Country” Zetsu mentioned was the same as the “Kawa Country,” just a different name. River Country was the name used three hundred years ago.
“How many?”
Pain wasn’t surprised. While sealing the One-Tail in the River Country, he had already prepared to face pursuit from Sunagakure.
The River Country lay between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind, with the Land of Rain above and the vast ocean below.
Sealing the One-Tail couldn’t be done in the Land of Rain—that was their base. The Land of Fire was impossible—that was Konoha’s territory. The Land of Wind was even more out of the question—too arrogant. So, the River Country was the only choice.
“One, two…”
Zetsu closed his eyes to sense for a moment, then spoke:
“There are four in total. If the intel is correct, it’s a jonin squad. The leader is a jonin named Might Guy, a Konoha ninja.”
“Who is he?”
Pain clearly hadn’t heard of this person. Since the enemy was from Konoha, Pain naturally looked at Itachi.
“A Konoha jonin, specializes in taijutsu, extremely strong. It’s best not to underestimate him.”
“Ah~ that rare beast.”
Kisame spoke; he had fought Guy before.
No one said anything more, waiting for Pain’s order.
“Use that technique. It’s still in the experimental stage, but the results are decent.”
Pain meant they wouldn’t use their real bodies; instead, they’d engage the enemy with a special method.
“I’ll go.”
Hidan spoke, full of pent-up frustration.
“Let me go. I have some personal grudges with that guy.”
Kisame also spoke.
“That technique consumes a lot of chakra. Kisame is more suitable. Even so, it will use up 30% of his chakra.”
Pain sent Kisame to face the enemy, and the cave fell silent.
But within ten minutes, Zetsu’s eyes opened again.
“Another group has arrived. Still from Konoha.”
Zetsu looked at Deidara.
“Where did you catch the One-Tail? Konoha?”
“Sunagakure. How could the One-Tail end up in Konoha?”
Deidara was also speechless. They had captured the One-Tail in Sunagakure, yet all the pursuers were Konoha ninjas.
“That’s normal. Sunagakure sent many people to chase us earlier, but they suffered heavy casualties.”
It seemed Sasori had taken out quite a few Suna ninjas during the rear-guard action, or he wouldn’t have said that.
“Deidara, Bai Ye, this tailed beast capture has caused too much commotion. Especially you, Deidara—did you drop a bomb in Sunagakure before retreating?”
With enemies chasing them one after another, Pain seemed somewhat displeased.
“This jinchuriki was a bit tough, hm.”
Deidara looked annoyed.
“So I told you from the start, your abilities aren’t suited for sneak attacks. If Bai Ye hadn’t covered you while clearing the sentries, you’d have been exposed.”
Sasori also seemed dissatisfied with Deidara’s bomb-dropping stunt before leaving.
“Hah~ Speaking of which, Sasori’s puppets are quite over-the-top too.”
Deidara wasn’t a pushover. Sensing Sasori’s sarcasm, he fired back immediately.
“What did you say?”
“Hm?”
Sasori and Deidara locked eyes.
“No infighting!”
Pain barked. This was just a typical day for the Akatsuki; everyone else remained calm.
“Who’s going this time?”
Pain looked around as he spoke.
“I’ll go.”
Hidan spoke, ready to kill time and vent his frustration.
A pair of blood-red eyes turned to Hidan, who looked confused.
“This time, it’s still Konoha ninjas. I’ll go.”
Itachi spoke. Hidan snorted lightly and didn’t argue.
“Then it’s decided.”
Pain sent Itachi to intercept the second Konoha pursuit team.
“Itachi, your team sure is diligent.”
Su Xiao spoke. Both interception missions had been taken on by Itachi’s team. It was normal for Kisame to go, but if Itachi’s involvement had no ulterior motive, only a fool would believe it. Itachi’s health was deteriorating, and he wouldn’t use his eyes lightly.
“Just doing my duty. I know Konoha ninjas better.”
As he spoke, Itachi formed hand seals, and his consciousness entered a temporary body.
Su Xiao smiled and said nothing more. Itachi’s body might already be failing; he was no longer bothering to hide his intentions.
Itachi and Kisame went to face the enemy, and the cave fell silent again.
An hour later, Kisame was the first to regain consciousness.
“Defeated?”
Kisame’s defeat was only natural. Fighting with that kind of body, being able to exert 50% of his true strength was already good.
“Defeated. If it were my real body…”
Kisame seemed a bit annoyed, having lost to the same person twice, even if this time he was just buying time.
Su Xiao glanced at Kisame, his look clearly saying: if it were your real body against Guy, you might already be dead.
If Might Guy opened the Eight Gates, he would be on a completely different level from the other strong fighters of this era. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he could kick away all six Pains, though he would die afterward.
There was no doubt that Might Guy was incredibly strong. Su Xiao didn’t want to fight someone who could suddenly power up like that. Even if Guy only opened the Seventh Gate, whether Su Xiao could survive was uncertain. However, considering that Su Xiao was well-suited to counter close-combat fighters like Guy, even if Guy kicked Su Xiao to death, Guy himself wouldn’t fare well—broken arms and legs were inevitable.
Might Guy was a true powerhouse of the ninja world. Others relied on bloodlines or inherited secret techniques to become strong, but not Guy. He had no bloodline, no secret techniques, and couldn’t even use ninjutsu. Yet, from his youth, he trained relentlessly, never stopping to this day.
In the early days, Guy didn’t receive much attention, until he opened the Eight Gates and nearly kicked his way to the grand finale.