Chapter 85: The Teacher Has Grown Taller
Even though the incident in Kumogakure was spread everywhere, it gradually cooled down when no follow up attack came.
Still, the unknown attackers earned a name.
Heavenly Punishment.
The strike had fallen from the sky, so the nickname caught on quickly. Kenichi had no idea he had been labeled something that dramatic. Right now, he and Sasori were back at Akatsuki's headquarters.
Kenichi had originally planned to leave immediately, but since he failed to recruit Juzo Biwa, he needed to give Nagato an explanation, so he came along.
What he did not expect was to run into his teacher the moment he arrived.
"It's you." Orochimaru's smile was the same as always. "How did your mission go?"
It had only been a few days, and at first glance Orochimaru looked unchanged. But Kenichi noticed something odd.
His teacher seemed taller.
Before, Orochimaru had been a bit shorter than him. Now, he was almost at the same height.
Kenichi could not help feeling curious. Was this body still growing naturally, or was his teacher using some method to alter the appearance?
"Teacher," Kenichi said with an easy smile, as if nothing was unusual. "Juzo Biwa was not very strong. Sasori killed him."
Orochimaru did not look interested in the mission at all. He simply nodded, still smiling.
"Fine. Go report quickly," he said. "I'll wait for you at the barbecue restaurant."
Beside Kenichi, Sasori could not help sneaking another look at the legendary Sannin who was feared across the entire ninja world, then looking back at Kenichi.
He remembered Kenichi once saying Orochimaru was not actually a man, but a woman.
No, more precisely, Kenichi had called him a girl.
Sasori had latched onto that detail at the time. There was a big difference between woman and girl.
Orochimaru was clearly not young, so why did Kenichi insist on calling him a girl? It made Sasori curious, but right now Orochimaru did not look like a woman at all.
So was this another disguise too?
"Yes, Teacher." Kenichi did not notice what Sasori was thinking. If he had, he would have simply said one thing.
That was the power of ninjutsu.
To be honest, even without chakra, Orochimaru could have become a scientist in Kenichi's previous life, or an outstanding master of disguise.
Back then, the four great evil arts of Asia would probably have been renamed the Four Heavenly Kings of Asia, since everyone knew there were somehow five people in the Four Heavenly Kings.
Orochimaru noticed Sasori's gaze, but he had no interest in him. Puppetry was not boring, yet it was not what Orochimaru cared about right now.
Kenichi followed Sasori inside. As they reached the entrance, Kakuzu pushed the door open and stepped out, his expression unusually interested.
Kenichi glanced at him again.
If they were ranking the richest people in Akatsuki, Kenichi believed Konan and Kakuzu were near the top, followed by Sasori and Itachi.
Konan did not even need explaining. Her paper techniques were absurdly versatile, and Kenichi strongly suspected she could mass produce explosive tags. If that was true, the fortune behind it would be terrifying.
As for Kakuzu, a man who worshiped money as if it were a god would obviously have deep savings. If Kenichi could get his hands on all of it, his research lab would never have to worry again.
Sasori's wealth came from his connections, especially what he gained through the Third Kazekage.
And Itachi might have taken part of the Uchiha clan's accumulated wealth when he left Konoha.
After all, the Uchiha were one of Konoha's two great dojutsu clans. They were powerful, and they were rich. After the clan was wiped out, the wealth left behind had to be considerable. If Itachi took even a portion, he could live comfortably for the rest of his life.
In the dim room ahead, Pain stood silently, Nagato's will moving him. Only the Rinnegan stared at Kenichi.
"Jade," Pain said. "How did your mission go?"
"We failed." Kenichi shrugged, completely indifferent. "I do not think Juzo Biwa's strength is suitable for joining us."
Nagato was not surprised by that answer. He already knew Juzo would never be a good fit. What he cared about more was money.
Akatsuki's growth and expansion depended on funds, and right now the organization was not exactly drowning in them.
"So what happened after that?" Pain asked, a hint of dissatisfaction in his tone. "Did you ask whether Konoha was issuing any war missions?"
Kenichi scratched his head. "I did ask, but how am I supposed to get money from Konoha?"
Without proof, what was he going to do, walk up and demand payment?
Nagato's interest sharpened immediately. From Kenichi's tone, he had clearly done something, yet he was acting like he had nothing to show for it.
"What did you do?" Pain asked.
"Oh." Kenichi answered casually, as if he were talking about the weather. "I blew up the Hidden Cloud Village earlier. I do not know how many ninja died, but it had to be quite a few, right?"
Nagato nodded on instinct.
"Ah, so it was you who blew it up. Well then…"
He stopped.
He looked up.
A rare expression of shock appeared on Pain's face.
Kenichi almost wanted to take a picture and study how Nagato managed to make Pain look like that. But considering Nagato might get angry and hit him, Kenichi decided it was wiser to keep that curiosity to himself.
"You blew it up?" Nagato's real body, sick and frail, sat up in shock. He slammed a hand down, and the table flew away, shoved aside by a violent repulsive force.
"Yeah." Kenichi nodded, completely matter of fact. "Gyoku helped too. But I do not know how to get the money. The Fourth Raikage was furious, so I did not dare go down."
Nagato slowly sat back down again.
Good heavens.
He had not expected Kenichi to drop something like that so casually, as if it were a minor footnote.
The attack on Kumogakure had dominated the news lately, but the war with Konoha had only grown more intense. Rumors even said the A and B duo planned to enter the battlefield personally.
During this period, both Konoha and Kumogakure kept issuing bounties to various forces. Kakuzu and Orochimaru were even assigned war missions to bring in money.
Akatsuki did not have many members yet. If they wanted funds, people had to go out and earn them.
Nagato truly had not expected Kenichi to create such a massive scandal, and to do it without even realizing how big it was.
"If you can prove you did it," Nagato said, pinching the bridge of his nose, "then you can claim a very generous reward."
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