[The Next Day]
[Inside a Cave]
Rengoku woke up from his deep sleep, and the pain in his eyes had already disappeared.
His energy was fully restored.
He first dispelled the shadow clone outside the cave that was used for guard duty, then sorted through his memories. Nothing dangerous had happened during the night.
Then he shifted his awareness over to the clone monitoring Hidden Cloud.
'Looks like Killer Bee has come to some sort of cooperation with Sasori.'
Killer Bee didn't leave right away, but regrouped with his team.
They were packing up now, so it looked like they were preparing to retreat together.
Since things were settled with Sasori's side, Rengoku was also planning to have the clone give Hidden Cloud some pressure from time to time, just to make them feel that the money they spent was worth every cent.
Pulling his awareness back, Rengoku walked deeper into the cave.
Karin was lying on a blanket, sleeping in her clothes.
The temperature here wasn't low, so there was no need for an extra blanket.
Karin looked like she was sleeping really well. Rengoku walked over to her, but she didn't react at all.
Rengoku reached out and tugged her clothes down a little to cover her waist, then patted her hand.
"Karin…"
"Karin…"
Hearing her master's voice, Karin only mumbled, "Shishou, try one, this roasted mochi… tastes great…"
Rengoku couldn't help but smile.
How much did this girl love eating, to the point she ate even in her dreams.
Rengoku shook her a few times before Karin finally woke up in a daze.
"Ah! Shishou, I'm sorry, I fell asleep."
Karin hurriedly wiped her mouth. She'd drooled without even noticing.
"Come on, let's go back to the village."
———
[Hidden Cloud Village]
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two more Tailed Beast Balls fell from the sky.
BOOM! BOOM!
As the alarms blared again through Hidden Cloud Village, all the flying ninja beasts and summoning beasts rushed out, starting to search for Yagura and his mirror clones.
Over on the other side, at the position of the space-time chakra cannon, Yukubi was also beginning to search for Yagura's location.
Raikage had only just come out of the shelter when he saw Hidden Cloud being bombed again.
"Mizukage!"
"Have you found where they are?", Raikage saw Cee approaching and quickly asked.
Cee looked anxious, "Boss, they ran right after dropping the Tailed Beast Balls."
"Bastards!", Raikage was furious.
He had never hated Yagura this much.
It was obvious the other side was taking advantage of Hidden Cloud being unable to win an aerial battle. They just dropped Tailed Beast Balls whenever they felt like it.
It wouldn't take long before Hidden Cloud Village became a pile of ruins.
And of course, looking this pathetic was humiliating.
A village as big as Hidden Cloud, actually getting trampled and humiliated by the Mizukage like this.
But the biggest impact was on the economy. The destruction of the village was one thing, but the blow to commercial activity was devastating.
Konoha was the Fire Country's biggest hub for merchant caravans; Hidden Cloud was likewise the biggest hub in the Land of Lightning.
Everyone who came here to do business had already been scared off in the past two days.
Raikage was a total mess, "Did Killer Bee and Yugito reply yet?"
Cee said helplessly, "They should've only just received our message. Whether they send a reply or start heading back, it'll still take a few days."
Then Cee pressed his earpiece, seeming to hear some new intel.
He immediately reported, "Lord Raikage, members of the Akatsuki have arrived. They say they're here to help."
"Akatsuki?", Raikage looked puzzled.
"Aren't they with Konoha?"
Cee shook his head and glanced at the pits scattered all over Hidden Cloud, "No idea, but we can at least meet them."
Looking at his devastated village, Raikage could only nod helplessly.
———
Seeing the village bombed to pieces, Kakuzu and Deidara, who were following the Hidden Cloud ninja inside, were a bit surprised.
Even though they knew Yagura had done this, the extent of the destruction still exceeded their expectations.
Only Senku moved silently, fingering his prayer beads as he walked with the group.
After all, he was the one who did this. He didn't need to look.
The Akatsuki met Raikage on the main street.
Finding an intact office in the village right now would've been a hassle anyway.
"Why have you from Akatsuki come here?", Raikage asked directly.
Kakuzu stepped forward, since they were here to make money.
"Our Akatsuki can take care of the Mizukage's attacks."
Raikage frowned at Kakuzu, "Aren't you people from Konoha?"
Kakuzu said the lines they had agreed on, "Our Akatsuki is just a mercenary organization. Whoever pays us, we work for."
"But because our leader helped Konoha last time, everyone assumes we only serve them. How are we supposed to make money like that?"
Raikage still clearly didn't trust them, "No need. Hidden Cloud can handle this ourselves."
He was cautious. After all, the Akatsuki weren't weak.
Especially Senku.
Raikage glanced at the unimpressive-looking old monk.
Who could've guessed that no matter how strong a jinchuriki was, in front of this monk, they were nothing but toys.
Kakuzu said calmly, "Raikage, you might not know this, but your Yugito has already been severely injured by Rengoku. If our people hadn't supported them, Killer Bee wouldn't have gotten away."
"Impossible!", Raikage exploded the moment he heard it.
Yugito was a jinchuriki. Her strength was among the absolute top tier in the ninja world.
How could she be seriously injured?
A jinchuriki's strongest trait was their recovery ability.
But the opponent was Uchiha Rengoku… Raikage suddenly lost confidence. Just three years ago he had paid thirty billion for a hostage ransom.
Kakuzu went on in a mild tone, "We wouldn't lie about something that would be exposed in a few days."
"We don't know Killer Bee's exact situation yet, but Yugito being heavily injured is certain."
"Even if Killer Bee comes back, against a flying Yagura, he won't have any advantage."
This part was true.
As a jinchuriki, Yagura could fly straight into the stratosphere if he wanted.
And Rengoku's Kagura Mind's Eye could still locate Hidden Cloud's position just fine.
Drop two Tailed Beast Balls and run. Hidden Cloud couldn't do a thing about it.
Seeing Kakuzu speak with such certainty, Raikage started to waver.
Because it did make sense. Killer Bee's group would return in a few days.
If Yugito was fine, their lie would be pointless.
"Can you catch the Mizukage?", Raikage aimed the question at Kakuzu, but his eyes were on Senku.
Senku's info in the black market was clear. He specialized in dealing with jinchuriki.
Kakuzu shook his head, "We can catch him, but we won't."
"What does that mean?", Raikage asked darkly.
Kakuzu smiled greedily, "Every village is a potential client."
"We won't kill off our business. Otherwise how would we make money?"
This greedy look was exactly Kakuzu's true nature.
Before, Akatsuki made some pocket change manipulating small countries, but interfering in the great nations' wars was a totally different thing.
Being a bounty hunter made only scraps.
Being an arms dealer brought in money counted in the billions.
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