A single dim candle flickered on the table in the small, stuffy room.
Its flame was faint, a thin wisp of black smoke rising straight up with the heat—until it was disturbed by a slight cough.
Kakuzu opened his eyes and glanced at the source of the sound—a small boy coughing weakly in the corner.
Oda Hideyoshi.
He was the target this time, the boy Kakuzu and Hidan were tasked with guarding.
The mission was straightforward: ensure Oda Hideyoshi stayed in their custody and didn't fall into anyone else's hands.
It wasn't meant to be a long assignment. Once the Suigen Festival ended, they would hand Oda Hideyoshi over to Saito Ayano, and the mission would be complete.
Honestly, it was the kind of low-effort job that could have been given to Genin—or even to servants. Yet the Land of Water and the Land of Fire had gone out of their way to hire Akatsuki members.
Hidan might be a fool, but Kakuzu was not.
There was something suspicious going on. The fact that Logan was invited to the Water Garden Festival set off alarms in Kakuzu's mind. This wasn't just about a child. This was a setup aimed squarely at Logan.
The people funding the mission hadn't even tried to be subtle. They were upfront: this was about dealing with Logan. Oda Hideyoshi was just a piece in the bigger plan. If Kakuzu completed the task, he could ask for anything he wanted.
"Just casually ask?"
"Yes, just mention it… we have money."
Kakuzu narrowed his eyes, savoring the boldness in their words.
It was almost… intoxicating.
Suddenly, the formation carved into the table let out a soft bang.
A puff of smoke rose from the seal. Kakuzu waved his hand to disperse it and picked up the scroll that materialized.
He opened it, read the contents, and sneered.
"Hidan, get up. We've got work."
"Work?"
Hidan, half-asleep, sat up and yawned loudly. "I thought we were just babysitting this little brat?"
Kakuzu tossed the scroll at him.
"The Daimyo of the Land of Water isn't dead. Their plan to frame someone failed. Now we've got to clean up the mess."
"New orders: keep the kid safe and—additional mission one—kill the Daimyo of the Land of Water, Oda Ieyasu."
Hidan flipped the scroll and grinned. "Heh? There's an additional mission two…"
"Kill Logan."
Kakuzu glared at Hidan.
Anyone who had ever worked in a team would immediately understand the meaning in his eyes.
If possible, Kakuzu wanted to cut off Hidan's head, toss it into the river, douse it in bleach, and scrub it with a pestle—just to see if it made him a little smarter.
He shook his head and dropped the idea of explaining.
"Forget the second task. We're here to kill the daimyo and make sure the kid isn't taken. That's our job. The rest? Not our business."
Hidan shrugged. "Whatever."
His desire to kill Logan was personal. Logan had killed the white-haired leader, and Hidan had been itching to return the favor.
Still, even Hidan understood that expressing admiration—or hatred—had to be timed right.
"By the way," Hidan said, rubbing his chin. "That vine Logan uses… the one that tracks people no matter how far they run. How do we deal with that?"
"That thing."
Kakuzu turned to the brown-haired man in the corner, who sat cross-legged with his eyes closed.
"We've got help from Konoha."
"Isn't that right, Mr. Yamanaka?"
Yamanaka Feng opened his eyes. Cold and piercing.
"Let's get something clear," he said flatly. "We're not friends. I'm only helping because…"
"…we're going to make Konoha great again."
---
Meanwhile, Terumi Mei leaned over and stared into the fire. "How's it going?"
Logan was attempting to locate Oda Hideyoshi through his tracking ability. Unfortunately, Hideyoshi was hidden in a corner with poor visibility and no windows. The room was dark, limiting Logan's ability to pin down the exact location.
All they knew for sure was that Akatsuki was involved—but they didn't know who or where.
"Forget it," Logan said, standing. "We'll find out when I get there."
He turned to Mei. "You stay and protect the daimyo. Try not to let him die."
Zabuza scratched his head. "What does 'try' mean?"
"It means: if you can hide him, hide him. If not, fight. If you still can't win, abandon him and run."
Logan said seriously, "To me, your life is more important than his."
Oda Ieyasu coughed awkwardly and turned his head away, pretending not to hear.
The safest strategy would've been for everyone to move together. But only Logan could fly. If they traveled as a group, Logan's speed would suffer.
Almost ten minutes had passed since the explosion at the daimyo's residence. The longer they waited, the more things could go wrong.
The Mizuen Shrine's parade had already begun and was heading for the daimyo's residence. The parade had been planned for a year and had no updated orders, so it continued as scheduled.
Once the crowd reached the residence, the newly appointed representative of the consortium would announce the daimyo's death—and frame Logan for the murder.
Shills hidden among the people would stir public outrage, labeling Logan as dangerous.
Logan knew he had to end this before that happened.
"Hermit Purple."
Purple vines coiled around Logan's arms. He crouched slightly, the rubble around him lifting into the air.
With a sudden bang and a burst of wind, Logan shot upward, soaring into the sky in pursuit of the location indicated by his vines.
From above, he could see the glowing city of Kyoto in full festival mode—lanterns, fireworks, color everywhere—as he flew overhead like a comet.
The vines led him toward a region. He landed and began checking the area building by building.
Then he frowned.
The target was on the move.
They must have anticipated he would come and had taken Hideyoshi to a new location.
Logan reactivated his reading and writing technique.
Sure enough, he spotted a figure in a gray robe, walking among a crowd. The figure wore a white tengu mask. His arms bulged—he was carrying something.
Logan's gaze locked onto the figure. The man suddenly looked up.
Time stopped.
Logan landed and grabbed the "child" from the man's arms.
Immediately, something felt wrong.
Too light.
This wasn't a five-year-old child.
He pulled back the cloth—revealing a scarecrow shaped like a child, with a blank talisman stuck to its forehead.
A decoy?
What technique had they used to fool Hermit Purple?
Logan focused again. Ripples of energy passed through the scarecrow—and a faint cry echoed back.
"Help… Help…"
Logan's pupils narrowed.
"Oda Hideyoshi's soul… It's inside this scarecrow. And…"
He felt a sticky warmth.
Blood.
He peeled back more layers and found a heart wrapped in threads of blackened flesh. A tiny heart. Too small to belong to an adult.
Hideyoshi's soul and heart were sealed inside the scarecrow.
Kakuzu hadn't known exactly what Logan's Hermit Purple could do. But he'd guessed it could be tracking by bloodline, soul, or something like the Fourth Hokage's Flying Thunder God mark.
Oda Hideyoshi had no obvious seals or curses. That left blood and soul as the most likely links—and Kakuzu and Yamanaka were masters at manipulating those.
Logan tore through the flesh-threads and used ripple energy to preserve the heart and protect the soul.
Then he turned to the masked figure.
"Star Platinum."
A muscular, glowing stand appeared behind him.
"Blast him."
Star Platinum took a deep breath.
"ORA!!!"
A fist exploded forward, smashing through the tengu mask.
There was no face behind it. Only tangled threads of flesh.
"Kakuzu," Logan muttered.
He remembered from Konan's memories—Kakuzu, the "combat accountant," personally brought into Akatsuki by Pain.
Star Platinum threw another punch and destroyed the Earth Grudge Fear heart.
Time resumed.
The ground was painted with a splash of blood. The nearby crowd gasped.
Logan took to the sky again, scarecrow in hand. He activated reading and writing—this time using the scarecrow's flesh as the "cause."
Hermit Purple pointed in a direction.
Back toward the daimyo's residence.
It was a trap—a decoy to lure Logan away while they went after Oda Ieyasu.
Logan's lips curled into a smile.
"Cute trick."
He rolled up his sleeves and reached into the spatial crack.
He drew the Destruction Sword, golden flames swirling around its blade like a solar flare.
The wind howled as Logan vanished from sight.
Above the night sky, a golden streak sliced through the clouds, setting the heavens ablaze.
It looked like a golden eye opening wide in the sky, watching over the battlefield to come.
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