Kaguya remained calm and composed, seemingly unbothered by the attacking tendrils. She lightly raised her arm, and a burst of repulsive force scattered the tendrils. Kakuzu was struck as if by a heavy blow, his chest denting inward as he was flung like a cannonball toward a distant hill.
"Boom!"
Kakuzu crashed into the hill with a deafening sound, sending dust flying into the sky. As the dust settled, Kakuzu's figure was revealed, kneeling on the ground and spitting out blood. The hill behind him had a large crater with cracks radiating outwards, and the rocks slowly crumbled.
"I don't want to kill you," Kaguya said coldly as she walked over, looking down at Kakuzu from above. "But don't provoke me." With that, she turned and walked back towards the base.
Kakuzu stood up from the ground, seemingly not too badly hurt. But only he knew that one of the masks on his back had been destroyed. With just a casual wave of her hand, she had severely injured him. The seemingly harmless, delicate girl possessed such formidable strength.
And that moment of pressure felt like a mountain pressing down on him, suffocating, reminiscent of his battle with Hashirama Senju.
No wonder the 100 million-ryō bounty seemed simple, yet no one had claimed it until now.
Kaguya was also surprised by this outcome. She realized that ever since Black Zetsu had transferred chakra into her, her strength had significantly increased, especially her chakra capacity. She suspected that this was related to Black Zetsu being a creation of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, meaning Black Zetsu was essentially part of her.
And as a manifestation of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, she naturally benefited greatly.
"He dared to be rude to you," Black Zetsu emerged from the ground, his voice cold. "Shall I kill him, Mother?"
"No need," Kaguya lightly waved her hand. "He's just a minor character, no need to draw unnecessary attention."
"Understood," Black Zetsu said respectfully and slowly sank back into the ground.
Kaguya returned to her room, sitting on the bed, her fingers lightly caressing the ring. She felt its smooth, cold surface while contemplating her next move.
Joining Akatsuki was only the first step; influencing Akatsuki's actions was the key.
Akatsuki's initial goal was to gather a large amount of money in preparation for future plans. The second phase was to establish a mercenary organization independent of any country, to instigate small wars, monopolize war commissions in small nations with low prices, expand the scale of wars, and then dismantle the ninja system of the major countries, destroying their economies and monopolizing all wars. The third phase was to conquer the world and create a new peaceful world.
But after thinking it over, she didn't have a better plan. She could only delay their progress, slow down their actions, and strengthen her own power. Once she had the strength, these problems would naturally be solved.
Speaking of increasing her strength, she thought of a technique—Sage Mode. Sage Mode was very powerful, not only mastered by Jiraiya, the Fourth Hokage, and Naruto, but also learned by Otsutsuki Hamura from the Great Toad Sage to defeat Kaguya Ōtsutsuki.
However, if she wanted to learn Sage Mode, she had to go to Mount Myoboku. Being under Nagato's surveillance, if she left Akatsuki right after joining, it would likely arouse suspicion. It was better to find a way to go there later.
Kaguya stopped thinking about it, sitting cross-legged on the bed with her fists pressed together and thumbs clasped. What she needed most now was chakra. Her ninjutsu was already strong enough, and the best way to improve her strength now was to increase her chakra.
A night passed.
In the morning, Kaguya woke up from her sleep. The base was built inside a cave, with only sparse firelight illuminating the interior while the rest remained dark. However, to her Tenseigan, it was as bright as day.
In such an environment, Kaguya felt somewhat uncomfortable, finding it cold and damp inside.
Kaguya got up and walked out, heading to the main hall where she found the other members of Akatsuki already gathered.
"Itachi and Kisame, head to Kusagakure," Nagato was assigning missions.
Itachi and Kisame nodded in acknowledgment.
"What about my partner?" Kakuzu asked.
"We still need to wait," Nagato said calmly.
Nagato turned to Kaguya and said, "Your mission with Sasori is next."
"Understood," Kaguya replied softly as she slowly walked over.
"Your mission is to hunt down the traitor of our organization, Orochimaru," Nagato said gravely.
"Finally, some action," Sasori chuckled darkly.
"Orochimaru was recently in Konoha. Beyond that, we don't know much," Konan added, turning to Kaguya. "You must have seen him before."
"That's all we need to know," Sasori said, heading towards the exit. "Let's go."
Kaguya remained silent, following Sasori out of the base. They stepped into the vast desert, heading towards Konoha.
After traveling for six days, Kaguya and Sasori arrived at the border of Konoha. The once desolate landscape had transformed into a lush, green scenery, filled with dense grass and verdant trees, with the occasional chirping of birds.
Freed from the oppressive feeling of the barren desert, Kaguya's mood improved considerably.
"I've already ordered Kabuto to relay information to me using certain methods," Sasori said in a low voice as they arrived at a stone statue within the forest. "If he's in Konoha, then he's here."
Sasori pressed his two fingers into the eyes of the statue.
With a dull sound, the statue slowly moved back, revealing a recess beneath it.
Sasori retrieved a brown scroll from the recess and unrolled it.
"Interesting, it seems Orochimaru is seeking Tsunade, one of the Sannin, to heal his right arm," Sasori turned to Kaguya. "The injury you left him with, right?"
"Yes," Kaguya nodded lightly. "Since we know his location, let's go. Don't you hate waiting?"
With that, Kaguya started walking towards a nearby town she had seen with her Tenseigan.
"Indeed," Sasori said in his low voice.
Kaguya was dressed in the Akatsuki's signature black cloak with red clouds and a hat. Sasori wore the same outfit but was much more conspicuous due to his short stature and hunched posture, looking like a hunchbacked dwarf.
As they walked through the bustling streets, people frequently glanced curiously at the strange duo.
Passing by a dango shop, Kaguya stopped and said, "I'm going to eat dango. Do as you please."
The food at the Akatsuki base was notoriously bad, merely meant to provide sustenance and hardly palatable, which was unbearable for a food lover like Kaguya. Now that she was outside, she naturally wanted to treat herself.
"Such arrogance from a brat. I hate waiting for others," Sasori grumbled, but he followed Kaguya into the shop.
"Hello, what would you like to order?" the waiter asked, bowing.
"Three skewers of dango, red bean filling, and a cup of green bean soup," Kaguya said, pointing at the items on the menu with familiarity.
"Alright," the waiter smiled.
At that moment, a familiar voice came from outside.