Soon, Kakuzu and Sasori received the first mission from Pain. They cooperated with Konan and Musashi to recruit new members.
It should have been just Musashi, Kakuzu, and Sasori, but Konan felt that the three of them might be unreliable since they had only joined Akatsuki recently, so he tagged along to supervise them.
As per Zetsu's instruction, they went to Mount Shumisen, which was located in the border between Land of Earth and the Land of Grass.
"Is that guy really worth the four of us together? This is a waste of manpower. I could've killed a two million-worth bounty Shinobi while you guys do this."
Kakuzu said in a low voice on the way up the mountain. He had no intention of hiding his dissatisfaction.
Konan glanced at Kakuzu and said, "Akatsuki has calculated everything. This is just to be safe.
"After we finish recruiting members, we'll be divided to two-man cells and carry out our respective mission."
Kakuzu had no choice but to accept Konan's statement and did not say another word.
However, he seemed to feel irritated whenever he saw Konan for some reason.
Kakuzu was a little confused, but he cast it aside. Women would only hinder him from making money.
During his life as a Shinobi, he had seen many prodigal women who wasted their husband's money.
Kakuzu couldn't help but shake his head when he thought about it. It was too terrifying. Those women actually bought meaningless luxurious accessories with the money their husband worked so hard to earn. He didn't want to become someone else's wallet.
"There are four people in the northwest direction, but there is no particularly powerful aura. I don't know if it is the guy named Hiruko that we are looking for." Musashi said after sensing several presences.
"Our intel did not mention anything about Hiruko's strength. It just mentioned that he has a good Forbidden Technique. I will go ahead and take a look."
After saying that, Konan created a pair of huge paper wings behind her and flew into the sky.
"Flying sure is convenient. Shinobi Secret Techniques are too convenient. As expected of what put an end to the era of samurai." Musashi sighed enviously as he looked at Konan flying away.
The stronger he got, the more he understood the reason why the samurai isolated themselves.
Compared to Shinobi's various abilities, the samurai's fighting style was too monotonous.
Perhaps this was also the reason why the other countries agreed to not interfere with Land of Iron as long as they didn't learn Ninjutsu.
It was as if they considered that the samurai were the remnant of the last era and no longer posed a threat, so just let them play their own games there.
"Oh, you are not Shinobi?" Sasori was a little interested and asked Musashi.
He thought that Musashi was a Shinobi who was good at swordsmanship.
Although Sasori had never seen or fought with a Shinobi like Musashi before, he had heard a lot of them. Kumogakure was a famous for having a lot of Shinobi who was good with swords.
Kirigakure, which was famous for their assassination technique, also had many Shinobi who used swords. The Seven Ninja Swordsman of the Mist were in fact famous in all countries.
Konoha's White Fang, who had killed his parents, was also good with a sword.
However, based on what Musashi said, it seemed that he was a samurai instead of a Shinobi.
Sasori indeed had never seen Musashi use Ninjutsu.
"Of course I am not a Shinobi, I am Land of Iron's samurai." Musashi replied.
This was not something that was worth hiding. It wasn't hard for others to figure it out anyway. Before he left Land of Iron, he had been quite famous, and he was a famous genius swordsman around these parts.
"Land of Iron's Samurai? Now that's rare." Kakuzu glanced at Musashi.
He had lived for so long and had rarely seen a samurai.
The only people who could still be called samurais in the ninja world were the ones from Land of Iron.
Land of Iron's samurais rarely left their country because Shinobi was everywhere.
Shinobi did not want to go to Land of Iron either because Land of Iron was cold and covered in heavy snow all year round. Moreover, compared to other countries in the ninja world, it was like a different world in terms of system and culture.
Even their leader was called General. It was as if they were still living in a thousand or two thousand years ago.
Perhaps people who liked history of the samurai era would like Land of Iron.
"Yes, it's rare. Maybe because Land of Iron feels like a place that comes out of a fairy tale."
"You're just patting yourself in the back." Kakuzu sneered.
"You are very annoying, you know?" Musashi said bluntly.
He could badmouth his hometown all he wanted, but that didn't mean others could do as well.
"I haven't tried absorbing a samurai's heart yet. Maybe this is a good time to try." Kakuzu replied without any hesitation.
Kakuzu wasn't afraid at all. If this young man still dared to speak rudely, he would show him how cruel a Shinobi could be.
Looking at Musashi and Kakuzu who started to quarrel, Sasori kindly said, "You guys have to hurry up. It will be a pain if Hiruko tries to retaliate."
Sasori wished that both Kakuzu and Musashi would kill each other, so that he could use them as puppets. If it were impossible to stop them from fighting, it might be better to let them fight.
After all, they were not familiar with each other. Expecting them to work together would be too much.
However, what Sasori wished for did not happen in the end because Konan had returned.
"What's wrong?" Konan asked indifferently when she noticed the hostility between Musashi and Kakuzu.
"He insulted Land of Iron. I want to kill him," Musashi answered honestly.
"I want to teach this little boy a lesson what it means to treat the elderly with respect?" Kakuzu was also very blunt.
"Don't cause trouble now. You guys can settle it yourself when we get back." Konan said coldly.
She knew that Kakuzu and Sasori were unreliable. If she had not come, these people might have killed each other.
Both of them listened to Konan and temporarily cast their differences aside. They followed Konan to Hiruko's base in Mount Shumisen.
"There are very few traces of human activity in this mountain apart from this place. This should be the place," Konan said.
After that, Konan waved his hand and a few piece of paper floated to the door of Hiruko's base.
Boom!
There was the sound of a huge explosion, and the light from the explosion illuminated everyone's faces.
Konan directly blew up the door of Hiruko's base.
"Let's go in," Konan said coldly. With the huge white paper wings on her body, she looked like an emotionless angel.