Anya, who had fought in many battles during the Third War, had now made tremendous progress. His combat prowess had skyrocketed, both in swordsmanship and experience against enemies. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that any ninja below Kage level would be wiped out instantly upon facing him.
After a period of hard training, Yugao and Haku's attacks were finally able to give Anya some minor trouble when he wasn't using his full strength. That was already an impressive achievement.
Of course, this result also owed much to the special private lessons Anya gave them. Benefiting from the teachings of two geniuses—Tsunade and Orochimaru—his research into human body development had reached astonishing levels. Therefore, every night he used rare medicinal herbs to help them recover from exhaustion and unlock their hidden potential.
Currently, Yugao was still very young, so her progress wasn't obvious yet; she mainly focused on consolidating her foundation and improving physical strength. As for Haku, without such limitations, his abilities surged rapidly through stimulation by those rare medicinal herbs. His chakra reserves had significantly increased in a short time.
Anya estimated that currently, Haku could already qualify as an elite jonin. If paired with a powerful attacker, they could actually threaten even Kage-level opponents.
In Konoha, only Anya had the financial resources to continuously supply these two with large quantities of valuable medicinal herbs. Some among them could even save seriously injured ninjas' lives—but Anya simply boiled all of them into bathwater for the pair.
Such remarkable improvement within a short period satisfied Anya greatly. With this pace, they'd soon be capable of handling ordinary battlefield situations adequately. After all, their training time was certainly going to be limited.
Sure enough, one day later, an Anbu member arrived: "Lord Night, the Hokage requests your presence immediately."
"Alright, I'll head over right away." Anya understood clearly—the situation must involve urgent warfare matters. Once reconstruction was well underway, the village didn't need so many people left on defense duty anymore.
Arriving at the Hokage's office, he found many documents had already been cleared away. Red, having completed body recovery, was assisting here again. Upon seeing Anya enter, she gave him a slight nod in greeting before returning to her paperwork.
The Third wasted no words, handing him a file while solemnly saying, "Kumo has temporarily ceased hostilities against us. The reason is documented here."
"Is that so?" Curiosity arose strongly within Anya's heart as he quickly accepted the file. Yet upon opening it and reading its contents, a thousand stunned curses raced through his mind.
The document clearly records information about an unknown bounty hunter—an S-rank rogue ninja supposedly from a small hidden village. Previously obscure, for unknown reasons during this Third War he suddenly emerged—ruthlessly profiting off the ongoing conflicts between great nations by scavenging corpses relentlessly across battlefields. Even worse, he specifically targeted shinobi with Kekkei Genkai bloodlines, capturing them and then selling their bodies through puppets to the Kekkei Genkai clans. Konoha, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure had all been extorted for large sums of money due to his schemes. Every major Kekkei Genkai clan deeply hated him with intense rage. Eventually, Kumogakure took the initiative by proposing a ceasefire—to eliminate this rotten apple together first. Naturally delighted at being surrounded and beaten down amidst three simultaneous fronts, Konoha happily agreed.
After reading the document, Anya immediately recognized the bounty hunter's identity. Aside from her own "beloved" uncle Kakuzu, no one else would dare pull off something like this. Fortunately, the document had fallen into her hands; otherwise, if Konoha and Kumo launched a joint attack, not even five of her lives would have been enough to survive the consequences.
While secretly relieved, Anya outwardly displayed an expression of righteous indignation as she spoke, "How despicable! To actually profit from war—this rogue ninja deserves death; nothing less will appease our anger."
The Third was clearly pleased by Anya's tone. With a knowing chuckle, he said, "But don't underestimate him either. This person is cautious and acts swiftly. Our knowledge about him remains limited—for now, we only know of the puppets he sends during each transaction. We initially suspect Sand Village puppet masters are assisting him behind the scenes. The three great ninja villages have already jointly questioned Sunagakure. Your target for this mission is him. It's best if you can capture him alive, but if he resists fiercely, execute him on the spot."
"Yes," Anya readily agreed.
"Hmm, this time it's a joint mission. Both the Hyuga Clan and the Aburame Clan will be sending members to assist you in capturing him. I believe you'll locate this man very soon. After completing the task, you won't need to return to Konoha. Proceed directly to the battlefield at Iwagakure, where the battle has already intensified. They'll require your support." There was full confidence in Anya's abilities within the Third's words. Obviously, her feat of battling both the Tsuchikage and Raikage had already become known. Combined with her awakened Mangekyo Sharingan, defeating a single rogue ninja should be nothing more than a routine mission.
Anya asked further, "May I bring my team members along?"
"I've already issued orders; those two will head to the Iwa battlefield first and temporarily fall under Jiraiya's command." The Third was clearly prepared. Smiling, he continued, "I'm sure you'll finish this mission quickly and reunite with your team afterward."
Anya pondered silently as well. Without activating her Mangekyo Sharingan, she wasn't sure if she could defeat Kakuzu in a one-on-one fight. In fact, probably only the Third Hokage himself could confidently overcome him.
Yet capturing him wouldn't need to be so complicated. She just needed to stage a simple act—that would be enough.
Arriving at Konoha's main gate were the representatives—Hizashi Hyuga from the Hyuga Clan and Shibi Aburame from the Aburame Clan.
After greeting each other and completing formal introductions, the three set out on their journey.
Shibi Aburame took the initiative and led the way upfront, quickly determining their direction and moving out without hesitation. Anya and Hizashi followed closely behind, hardly exchanging any words between them.
After walking some distance, Anya couldn't help but feel surprised. Shibi seemed to already know where Kakuzu was located, advancing forward with unwavering certainty and not the slightest hint of hesitation.
"Do you already know where that rogue ninja is?" She voiced her confusion.
Seeming somewhat reluctant to speak, Shibi didn't reply immediately, making the atmosphere slightly awkward.
Hizashi beside her stepped in and explained, "During the last transaction, the Aburame Clan placed nanoscale insects onto the puppet. These insects can't be seen with the naked eye and stay connected to their host. Shibi doesn't exactly know where the rogue ninja is—he simply knows where his insects are."
"That's amazing."
Anya couldn't help but feel a deep admiration and continued to ask, "How much farther to our target?"
Shibi, who had remained silent, gave a brief reply, "Not far."
Glancing in the direction Shibi was watching, Anya intentionally fell back two steps and formed hand seals. [Spirit Transformation Technique!]
The jet-black soul body separated first and flew ahead in that direction.
Liberated from its physical form, the soul zoomed forward at full speed. Thousands of tiny soul bodies swept through the area and finally located the target inside a narrow cave—Kakuzu, resting peacefully.
Without hesitation, Anya took hold and guided the soul into his spiritual space.
"Long time no see, Uncle. How have you been?"
Startled at first, Kakuzu then asked calmly, "Why did you come all of a sudden, and like this?"
Anya sighed and said, "I had no choice. After all, you're my mission objective—hunting down an S-class rogue ninja."
Kakuzu: "..."
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