Chapter 73: Jūzō Biwa: Why Did You Not Ask Me If I Wanted to Join?
"Wait, wait, wait. The leader sent us to recruit people." Kenichi quickly grabbed Sasori and pulled him a step back.
This was not some strange shonen story where you had to throw hands before you were allowed to speak.
Then again, Kenichi paused and honestly reconsidered, remembering the world he was living in.
In Naruto, it really was common for people to start persuading each other only after a fight. Talk first, fight later was the exception, not the rule.
So yeah. Fighting first and recruiting later did not sound impossible at all.
Unfortunately, they did not get to choose the tempo anymore.
The commotion was more than enough to alert Jūzō Biwa. A man with that level of strength would never miss it. Kenichi and Sasori stepped out together.
Jūzō squinted at them, recognition flickering in his gaze.
"Kenichi Amamiya, an A rank rogue ninja from Konoha. Sasori of the Red Sand, an S rank rogue ninja from Sunagakure." His tone was cold and guarded. "What are you doing here?"
"Jūzō Biwa," Kenichi said evenly, not bothering to dance around it. "Our leader believes you have the qualifications to join our organization. He sent us to invite you into Akatsuki."
"The Akatsuki?" Jūzō clearly had not heard the name before, but his wariness sharpened instead of easing.
"Yes," Kenichi said with a shrug, repeating what Nagato had told him without changing a word. "We plan to collect the tailed beasts from the major villages and use that power to achieve peace in the ninja world."
Sasori's posture had already shifted into combat readiness.
The goal sounded ridiculous on the surface, but the leader with the Sage's Eyes had the ability to make impossible things real. And within Akatsuki, if someone refused recruitment, leaving them alive only risked leaking information.
"Collect tailed beasts…" Jūzō narrowed his eyes, as if weighing how absurd that claim was. "That is a big mouth for an organization I have never even heard of."
Kenichi sighed inwardly.
It looked like a fight really was inevitable.
Fine. He could use it as an evaluation. If Jūzō had the strength, recruiting him would be worth it. If not, then the bounty would still help Akatsuki.
Sasori leaned closer and spoke in a low voice. "Kenichi, do you know his blade?"
Kenichi nodded. "The Executioner's Blade. I have heard it can absorb an enemy's blood and repair itself. Rumor says it can even use that blood to restore physical strength."
Even if Kenichi had not been the type to obsess over every minor character back in his old life, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist were famous enough that information about them was not hard to find.
Kirigakure could not keep a weapon like that secret forever unless they killed everyone who ever saw it.
Sasori's eyes stayed on the blade. "I want it. I will use it to modify my Unit 01."
He said it bluntly, as if he were asking to borrow a tool.
Kenichi was already used to his personality. The current Sasori was not the future Sasori. He was direct, impatient, and did not bother with social niceties. If he wanted something, he said it. If he decided to do something, he did it.
At that moment, thick fog began to pour across the ruins like a living thing.
Jūzō's silhouette vanished into it.
Jūzō was not an idiot. He had heard Sasori's words. Peaceful resolution was clearly slipping away, so he struck first.
"All right," Kenichi said calmly. "Then I will get it for you to study."
Nagato had never said Jūzō must be recruited. If he lacked the strength, then dying here would be no one's fault but his own.
Sage chakra gathered in Kenichi's mouth.
He exhaled.
A massive surge of fire roared into the fog, a wide area blast meant to burn the concealment away as much as it was meant to kill.
The heat instantly evaporated the mist into rolling steam.
In the same heartbeat, a water dragon surged forward and slammed into the flames. Steam exploded outward, spreading in every direction and smearing the battlefield into a shifting haze.
Sasori did not stand back. It was his first real mission alongside Kenichi, and he had no intention of being carried.
He released his puppets immediately.
Not many, only a little over twenty, nowhere near the scale of his future Hundred Puppet Technique, but more than enough to turn the terrain into a killing zone.
No one shouted technique names. No one wasted breath.
Kenichi watched through the shifting steam as Jūzō swung the Executioner's Blade and crashed it into Unit 01, which charged at the front like a metal beast.
The blade carved a cut across its body.
Not deep enough to cripple it, but deep enough to prove a point.
"Looks like your Unit 01 needs upgrades," Kenichi said, matter of fact.
"Yes," Sasori replied without emotion. "That is why I need better metal."
Unit 01 was still an experimental build. His true centerpiece was still the Third Kazekage puppet.
Kenichi's eyes spun, the three tomoe turning with precise focus.
He studied Jūzō's movements, tried to copy what he could, and quickly realized something annoying.
Jūzō relied heavily on ninjutsu, but not the kind Kenichi needed right now. Nothing worth stealing. Nothing that changed the shape of the battlefield in a way that would expand Kenichi's toolbox.
So Kenichi made the decision.
End this quickly.
Take the blade.
Then search the Land of Whirlpools for the Shinigami mask. That was still the real prize in his mind.
"Sasori, leave me an opening," Kenichi said.
Lightning chakra condensed in his palm. It was lightning, but not the familiar clean blue. This chakra carried an unsettling red black tint, heavy with sage power.
Sasori froze for a fraction of a second.
He had seen lightning like that once before. It had left an impression that did not fade.
Before he could even ask, Kenichi vanished.
Jūzō reacted fast.
Metal shrieked as the Executioner's Blade came up to block.
Kenichi's Sage Art Chidori slammed into the sword with a scream of electricity.
"That is a quick reaction," Kenichi muttered, genuinely impressed.
The blade held, but the cost was obvious.
A large hole had been burned through the metal, the edge around it glowing red hot and softened by the temperature.
In that instant of resistance, Sasori seized the opening.
The Third Kazekage puppet moved like a silent executioner.
Iron Sand, compressed into a triangular pyramid, drove forward and pierced into Jūzō's abdomen.
"Cough!" Jūzō spat blood, his body jerking.
Still, he was sharp enough to make the correct choice.
He let go of the Executioner's Blade and tried to retreat, abandoning the weapon to save his life.
"Do not rush," Kenichi said, smiling.
Lightning surged again. Another Chidori formed in his hand, sharper and more focused.
Together with Sasori's pressure, Kenichi stepped in and drove the strike through.
One blow.
Jūzō's chest was pierced cleanly.
His escape died where it began.
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