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"The first time I saw those Sharingan, I thought Itachi had returned."
Kisame opened his eyes and gazed at Sasuke, who bore a slight resemblance to Itachi as he walked toward him. Kisame couldn't help but feel a bit nostalgic.
Unfortunately, Sasuke was wearing the traditional Uchiha robes, not the black cloak with red clouds.
"Did you respect Itachi?" Sasuke asked as he activated his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, his eyes fixed on Kisame soaking in the hot spring.
In Kisame's tone, Sasuke detected a hint of respect.
"Of course. It's hard not to respect someone like Itachi," Kisame said with a flash of reminiscence in his eyes, nodding as he recalled his former partner.
With that, Kisame collected himself and rose from the hot spring. "Mind if I put on some clothes?" he asked.
Sasuke briefly averted his gaze and gave a nod, turning his back on Kisame.
Kisame stepped out of the hot spring and quickly donned his Akatsuki robe. He didn't bother trying to sneak attack Sasuke, instead saying,
"Well then, let's get to the point."
"Even though it's a bit redundant, I still want to ask. Itachi's brother, Sasuke, why are you here?"
Sasuke turned back around, his expression calm as he said, "Submit or die."
"As expected."
Kisame sighed.
"Though I don't know what set it off, it seems that your senior, Gensou, has now turned against the Akatsuki. Quite a surprise. I had a pleasant conversation with him not too long ago."
Kisame hoisted Samehada onto his shoulder, letting the dripping water soak his clothes. He looked at Sasuke's face, which reminded him of Itachi, and with a slight twitch of his shark-like features, he added,
"It feels like there's some twisted sense of humor in sending you all the way here to fight me."
"Enough unnecessary talk," Sasuke said coldly, his tone indifferent.
He locked eyes with Kisame and asked again, "Submit or die?"
Kisame calmly shook his head. "As your senpai, I won't show weakness in front of a junior."
Sasuke nodded in understanding.
"In that case…"
Clang!
Sasuke unsheathed his sword, and the battle instantly began.
...
"Kakuzu, looks like we have some unexpected guests."
"I can see that."
"Hey, you two! How about joining the Church of Jashin? We've got all sorts of benefits!"
"They won't."
Amid the perpetual rocky rain and poor air quality of the Iwadan Mountains, Kakuzu and Hidan looked ahead at the pair of young figures blocking their path. Their calm expressions shifted as they began to bicker.
"Why not? Why can't they join the Church of Jashin?" Hidan protested.
"Because they don't believe."
"I'll make them believe!"
"You can't."
"Why not?"
"Because they're my targets."
Kakuzu pushed Hidan's angry face aside, opening his ninja pouch and pulling out a thick stack of bounty posters. He lifted his head, carefully observing the two figures, and then quickly retrieved two fresh sheets. After comparing them, he confirmed,
"Uchiha Jin, bounty: 60 million ryō."
"Uchiha Izumi, bounty: 62 million ryō."
"Together, that's 122 million ryō. This is a big score. No way am I passing this up."
Hidan scoffed, unimpressed. "Who cares about money? Kakuzu, you're an atheist. Stop measuring people's worth with lowly things like cash. Personal faith is priceless! Something you could never earn in a lifetime!"
"You can keep your faith to yourself. These two are mine," Kakuzu said, his face expressionless.
Hidan protested, "Come on! We finally meet two high-quality recruits. What's the harm in letting me preach to them? I've let you have your way before."
Kakuzu remained unmoved. "Then be generous again."
"You money-grubbing, faithless bastard! My patience has limits!"
"Limits can be stretched."
"Kakuzu, don't you fear I'll turn on you?"
"I don't. Your bounty has been sitting on the exchange board for quite some time."
"..."
With unexpected guests right in front of them, Kakuzu and Hidan started bickering, and it seemed like they were about to fight each other.
On the other side, Izumi watched the spectacle unfold, her confusion evident as she asked,
"Are we sure we've got the right people? These two seem a little… unhinged."
"They may be unhinged, but they're the ones we're after," Jin replied, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "But now I'm curious about something."
"What?" Izumi turned to him.
Jin's face turned serious. "Why is your bounty 2 million ryō higher than mine?"
They were both Uchiha, roughly the same age, and both had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan.
There was no way the people issuing bounties would know the results of any internal duels they might have had.
So why was his bounty lower than hers by 2 million?
Jin couldn't figure it out.
Izumi, on the other hand, was left speechless. She couldn't believe that was what was on his mind.
Feeling exasperated, she sighed, "If you think your bounty is too low, you can go to the exchange office and add 2 million to it yourself."
"That's a great idea!" Jin's eyes lit up. "I can add 3 million and surpass your bounty!"
Izumi responded dryly, "Do you even have the money for that?"
"I don't." Jin's enthusiasm deflated as he admitted, "I gave all my money to my wife."
As Jin and Izumi continued their conversation, Kakuzu and Hidan's argument reached a climax.
"This time, our act didn't work. They didn't fall for it; they're just over there chatting as if they don't care about all our effort!" Hidan turned angrily toward the two Uchiha.
It was true that Kakuzu and Hidan often bickered, but many times, they would deliberately stage their arguments in front of enemies, pretending to quarrel to mislead their opponents. They took great pleasure in watching their enemies' hopes rise, only to crush them by revealing it was all a ruse.
Normally, it worked brilliantly.
But this time, their antics had completely failed.
"No point wasting time. Let's just get this over with," Kakuzu said coldly.
With years of experience under his belt, he could tell that these two Uchiha were not to be trifled with. There was no need to waste words.
But before he attacked, Kakuzu added a warning, "Be careful. Both of them have the Mangekyo Sharingan."
"Just like Itachi's eyes, huh? Got it," Hidan said, lifting his scythe and charging alongside Kakuzu toward the Uchiha duo.
"They sure didn't waste time starting the fight," Jin said with a smirk.
"Well, let's get this over with then," Izumi said.
Jin nodded.
In the next instant, both of them closed and reopened their eyes.
Two pairs of Mangekyo Sharingan flared to life.
(End of Chapter)
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