The eyes peered upon us. Within this cold room, devoid of any sense of warmth and hospitality, Dai and I walked into where the master of this bounty station stood by, looking at us with a stoic expression.
'The interactions in the underworld are made short and simple. One of the most important rules here is... to never question the identity of each other.'
I thought to myself while shifting my lone eye around, gazing around at the other ninjas who kept themselves away from one another, fully tensed.
'And at the same time, the situation in which I get looked down upon, must be avoided at all costs,' I skillfully threw out a couple of scrolls from my sleeve, throwing them at the bounty master.
Poof Poof Poof! And in an instant, all of them let out puffs of smoke, before revealing numerous decapitated heads that rolled on the table in front of the bounty master.
Dai's left hand momentarily trembled upon seeing this, but I ignored it. Continuing my walk to the bounty master, who had his eyes shaking in a disbelief, I leaned at the man and spoke grimly, "Some without the bounties may have been mixed in. You can sort that out for me... right?"
"...Give me a sec,"
And with the bounty master's nod, the atmosphere took a turn. Standing straight back up, I could feel the increased cautiousness from all the ninjas here. In one corner, I could see that one man partially unsheathed his ninjato, with the small amount of light in this room reflecting against the blade.
As the bounty master kept his attention occupied on the gruesome heads, I shifted my eye to my right hand, which was holding onto a thin metal string. Its purpose?
'To notify me when Kakuzu enters this room,'
although there lied a chance that he may choose another entrance that I currently am not aware of.
'And now,'
The successful arrival to the bounty station that I was looking for so long, barely did anything to guarantee my survival, but only increased the number of options that I can choose from.
'Transformation technique won't work when surrounded by all these eyes—not that it will have an effect against a capable ninja. Us having entered late is the indication that we are most likely to be the ones whom Kakuzu is chasing for.'
"...Heh,"
I couldn't help but chuckle, knowing that the best option here was to...
'Render this room into a chaotic fit.'
Having noticed my killing intent, the other ninjas around us fully drew their weapons, ready to engage at any time.
The bounty master, having noticed the sudden rise in the intensity of the atmosphere, quickly retreated to the backdoor, which I noted.
Dai stood, petrified, for I didn't tell him what I was going to do after our arrival. The only thing I repeatedly stated to him over and over, was not to reveal my identity to anyone he comes across, no matter what situation we may be placed within.
"...I have no idea why you would want to fight here right now," One of the ninjas said darkly, "when there lies a potential gold mine outside. We can compete then, instead of now."
"And who said that I'm interested in that?" I said with a feigned craziness, "If I need money, your heads are all I need... or are you so worthless that not even a single ryo is placed on you?"
Swoosh!
Then, I quickly leaped backward to dodge a shuriken that was thrown from one man, before forming series of hand seals.
"...! You mad—" The ninja who noticed what technique I was about to use now, shouted in panic, but it was too late.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire!"
Within this tight space, a huge volume of fire sprouted out from my mouth. The ninjas swiftly dodged them, but the walls behind them caught on fire. This probably lightened up this building, the mayor's house, from the outside.
The ninjas, who were now emitting the killing intents of their own, all rushed at me simultaneously. At the same time,
The string on my right hand vibrated, and I knew, that it was time.
'Dai just saw my supposed "Inhumane" nature. Judging by his characteristics that I've accessed within the small amount of time, he is a righteous man, beliving in the virtues of a human being. After sighting my action, his mind must be thinking as such, "I won't save you from what you've gotten yourself through, but I will keep the promise I made with you."'
Dodging a kunai, which had a poison drenched on its tip, within one ninja's grip, I flipped out a kunai from my sleeve and stabbed it through that man's skull. Subsequently, I took my mask off quickly and slammed it at another ninja in proximity, blocking that individual's vision momentarily. I slammed my foot on that ninja's face, causing the mask to crack instantly; the one piece of mask was now embedded in that man's face.
At the same time, the burning wall collapsed all of a sudden, and the sudden intrusion of smoke covered the view of the room;
'Fire Release: Ash Clone,'
I quickly replaced myself with the clone, and,
PUK—
the clone was stabbed in the heart by another ninja with the ninjato—the one who had part of my broken mask embedded in his face. My clone fell with a thud.
"You..." Dai, who stood with a mask intact on his face, growled at my fallen clone, "what was the point of coming here in the first place even?!"
Where am I now, you ask?
'My fire not only burned the wall, but also the wooden floor. Below the floor lies a solid ground.'
By using "Hiding Like a Mole technique" while the room is still covered by the smoke, I currently had myself successfully hidden.
And now, about 10 seconds passed since Kakuzu's arrival. My guess is this: he was granted with the sight of smoke upon entry, and was thinking that I had my ambush set up. Knowing that he was a money-hungry man, there was no way he would risk something like burning or drenching the precious ryos that are stacked here; he probably was contemplating how he should approach this.
'Based on the fact that he is able to use all five affinities with those strange creatures of his, his best course of action is the Earth technique.'
Crash down the entire building and let the fire die. The money can be dug after—
"Earth Release: Rampart of Flowing Soil!"
—and I was right, it seems.
BOOOOM!
The ground above me was filled with the noise of the earth crashing down onto the burning building. I heard the cries of those bounty hunters, who came here to seek a chance, only to lose their lives meaninglessly.
'Kakuzu spent a huge sum of chakra just now. Dai, who still is able to open the Eight Gates, would've dodged Kakuzu's attack just fine. And not all bounty hunters would've been dead, either.'
While still in the underground, I crossed my arms in deep thought,
'The weaks ally together to defeat the strong. Kakuzu is well-known worldwide. The next thing that will happen is,'
__________
"For now, why don't we form a truce?" Dai, whose face was still behind a mask, said to three bounty hunters. Among them, one was the ninja who 'killed' Akashi's clone with his ninjato, and had Akashi's broken mask embedded in his skin. He purposely didn't pull the fragment out, knowing that heavy bleeding right now will serve as adversity on his end.
"Tch... I'm killing you after that man," One bounty hunter with sharp teeth growled while gripping onto his huge Fuma shuriken.
"Alliance... sure," Another one with a white mask that only revealed his eyes, said emotionelessly.
The ninja wielding the ninjato, clicked his tongue, but nonetheless nodded as well, "...Fine—"
"Oh, quit acting already," Kakuzu, who was standing in front of them, snarled while walking at the four of them, "Akashi, do you think I'll fall for you again? Skin mask, sword of different length, supposedly different injuries than the ones I've given you—nice try, but it's not going to work."
Kakuzu was already tricked twice by Akashi. He came to learn that Akashi's strongest suit wasn't his kenjutsu, ninjutsu, taijutsu, or whatever fighting-related quality there may be, but his ability to deceive others.
The ninjato-wielding ninja, who was confused by Kakuzu calling Akashi, simply raised his guard, thinking that Kakuzu is trying to deceive him into something.
Dai, on the other hand, was confused about why Kakuzu would think that way.
No one, absolutely no one, was aware that Akashi was still alive, deep down in the ground right below them.
"And now," The black tendrils exploded out of Kakuzu's body at a frightening pace, putting the three bounty hunters in a horror, "let the final round begin."