Naruto: The Nine-Tails' Legacy

Now that he'd been discovered, Naruto stopped trying to hide and simply walked over to sit beside Kakashi.

"Why aren't you with Hinata? Why were you sneaking around listening in?"

"Curiosity."

Naruto scratched his cheek.

"When I was walking Hinata back, she mentioned seeing the two of you talking and... ah, no, that's not it."

He immediately straightened up.

"I came because I was worried about you, Kakashi-sensei. Keeping watch alone must be hard."

"...And you expect me to believe that?"

Naruto coughed awkwardly.

"Kakashi-sensei... Mei-san isn't really going to leave, is she?"

"Your Mei-san has ambitions."

Kakashi poked at the fire.

"She thinks something is wrong with her village. Wanting to fix it as a shinobi of that village is perfectly normal."

"We're really not going to help her?"

"Help her how?"

Kakashi glanced at him.

"From what position?"

"It sounds serious, but at its core, one of her elders was killed by the Mizukage."

"That's a personal grievance."

He stared into the flames.

"Kirigakure and Konoha are allies."

"As long as that alliance exists, the Mizukage stands in the same position to us that the Hokage does."

"What she wants to do is Kirigakure's internal affair."

"The moment we involve ourselves, it becomes Konoha betraying Kirigakure."

"And if that goes badly..."

Kakashi's voice grew quieter.

"The alliance could collapse."

"Another war wouldn't be impossible."

Naruto remained silent.

Looking at him, Kakashi's thoughts drifted elsewhere.

"You don't have much experience with war."

"The problem with war is that it destroys the things you treasure."

Ash drifted from the campfire into the wind.

Time passed quickly.

Contrary to Kakashi's expectations, Mei did not leave the following day.

Instead, she acted as though nothing had happened and continued traveling with the group.

The only difference was that every so often she would appear beside Kakashi and ask whether he had changed his mind.

That became especially troublesome after Kakashi began teaching Sasuke.

Because Mei always watched from nearby.

"Um... this is still technically ninja training..."

"Ah, I understand."

Mei smiled brightly.

"Secret techniques aren't meant to be shared."

"Don't worry. I'll make sure Naruto and Hinata don't wander over and see anything they shouldn't."

Looking at her completely unapologetic smile, Kakashi immediately gave up.

"...Whatever makes you happy."

Sasuke didn't care.

The technique belonged to Kakashi.

If the teacher wasn't bothered, there was no reason for the student to complain.

And so the group continued their journey.

They traveled.

Stopped in villages.

Gathered information.

Moved on.

Days passed peacefully.

Then weeks.

Long enough that they were already preparing to leave the Land of Water.

That was when something finally happened.

"Pakkun! Delivery's here!"

Naruto's Flying Thunder God Technique was gradually becoming a food delivery service.

The moment he arrived, however, he noticed something different.

The weary-faced ninja hound looked unusually serious.

"The targets finally appeared this morning."

Not far from the Bounty Exchange, deep within the forest—

"Someone was impersonating us?"

The silver-haired man clicked his tongue.

"What a waste of time."

"For the first time in my life, I visited a Bounty Exchange and walked out empty-handed."

He adjusted the massive three-bladed scythe resting on his shoulder.

"I say, Kakuzu."

"Next time, don't drag me into places that smell like that."

The masked man walking beside him didn't even look back.

"You're a newcomer who hasn't even earned a ring from the Leader yet."

"Watch your mouth."

"Or I'll kill you."

The silver-haired shinobi grinned.

"Hah. I'd love to see you try."

"You think you can?"

Kakuzu stopped walking.

Slowly, he turned around.

Killing intent seeped from beneath his mask.

"Want to test that theory?"

The hint was enough.

Hidan instantly understood.

Grinning wildly, he grabbed the chain attached to his scythe and hurled it backward.

Clang!

A flying kunai collided with the blade midair, knocking it away.

"Tch."

Hidan caught the returning weapon.

"Not bad."

"Even Pakkun's tracking was discovered?"

"Don't make it sound like I'm incompetent."

Pakkun's voice came from nearby.

"The target is experienced."

"Your students just aren't very good at stalking people yet."

"As for the rest, you're on your own."

"I've been working overtime for weeks."

"I'm going back to sleep."

Several figures landed among the trees.

Kakashi stepped forward.

Across from him stood two Akatsuki members completely absent from Konoha's intelligence reports.

One had slicked-back silver hair and purple eyes.

The other wore a mask similar to Kakashi's own and radiated danger.

Interesting.

But which one noticed us?

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head.

"I was hoping to follow you all the way back to your hideout."

"Looks like I was being too optimistic."

"We were being followed?!"

Hidan shouted.

Not him.

Kakashi immediately reached a conclusion.

"Be quiet, Hidan."

Kakuzu's eyes slowly swept across the group.

Then he sounded almost pleased.

"Interesting."

"Fifty million."

"Forty million."

"And another five million as a bonus."

"Hidan."

A grin appeared beneath his mask.

"We weren't followed."

"Money came looking for us."

Hidan's eyes lit up.

"Now that you mention it..."

He spun his scythe once.

"That doesn't sound bad at all."

"And we're already close to the Bounty Exchange."

"No need to carry three corpses very far."

He flashed a fanatical smile.

"This is a blessing from Lord Jashin!"

"Kakashi-sensei."

"Kakashi-sensei."

In the middle of the tense standoff, Naruto quietly tugged at Kakashi's sleeve.

"What does the whole fifty-million and forty-million thing mean?"

"He's talking about our bounties."

Kakashi never took his eyes off Kakuzu.

"Mei's worth fifty million ryō."

"I'm worth forty million."

"Oh."

Naruto nodded.

"Then who's worth five million?"

He looked toward Sasuke and Hinata.

Neither seemed remotely interested.

Especially Sasuke.

His eyes were locked onto the enemy.

Filled with battle intent.

"Using bounty values instead of names."

Mei frowned.

"What a disgusting habit, Akatsuki."

Earlier, Kakashi had already informed her about the fifty-million-ryō bounty.

As for who had placed it...

She had her suspicions.

And she didn't like them.

"Hm?"

Kakuzu stepped forward.

"Names don't matter."

"Value does."

Before he could say anything else, Hidan charged.

His scythe whirled through the air.

"Come on!"

"Let's offer all of you to Lord Jashin!"

Kakuzu covered his face.

"This idiot..."

His earlier probing hadn't been random.

The bounty values were a coded warning.

Higher rewards usually meant more dangerous opponents.

Unfortunately, his new partner understood subtlety about as well as a brick.

We've only been partnered a short time.

I'm already certain we're going to hate each other.

Still...

There was one advantage.

Kakuzu never had to worry about Hidan dying.

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