"I think you've misunderstood something, Kakuzu."
Menma's voice came from behind the fox mask, his eyes hidden behind it looking directly at Kakuzu.
"Whether you're interested in my ideology or not, you will join [JIN]."
Kakuzu's entire body tensed. He stared at the figure before him. He never would have thought that just by going out to earn some extra cash, he would attract the attention of an existence of this level.
As a bounty hunter who had roamed the black market for years, Kakuzu knew all too well the terror of the man before him. On the black market's bounty list, the Kage and daimyo of the five great nations had always been the highest-value targets—until a few years ago, when one name surpassed all others with an overwhelming sum.
The leader of the [JIN] organization, Menma.
This man's track record was terrifying: annihilated the Hidden Cloud envoy, critically injured the Raikage, single-handedly attacked Konoha... each act was enough to shake the entire ninja world. And he was still at large.
Kakuzu still remembered his shock when he had seen that sky-high bounty. He had immediately set off for the area around Konoha, hoping to find this priceless prey.
However, when he stood on the outskirts of Konoha and saw the giant crater that was almost the size of the village itself, all his greed had vanished in an instant.
Even Kakuzu, who had lived for nearly a hundred years, had to admit one fact: hunting Menma for a bounty was a death wish. He had thought that after Hashirama Senju's death, a monster of that level would never appear in the ninja world again.
"Should I be honored?"
Kakuzu's voice was tinged with a deliberate mockery. "With your power, [JIN] would be fine with or without me."
As he spoke, he glanced around, secretly planning a possible escape route. Although money was his beloved, Kakuzu was not a fool. No prey, no matter how valuable, was worth his life.
Menma suddenly spoke. "Kakuzu, you've lived too long... in your long life, are you satisfied with just chasing money?"
The words made Kakuzu's movements freeze almost imperceptibly.
"I know the inside story of what happened back then," Menma's voice continued. "Those parasites gave you a suicide mission, yet you really went and challenged the God of Shinobi."
The green light in Kakuzu's black sclera flickered violently. The shame he thought had been buried by time was now being laid bare.
Fragments of those sealed memories suddenly surfaced—the faces of the Hidden Waterfall elders, the coldness of the prison, and the twisted pleasure he had felt when he took his first heart...
"The funny thing is, they were afraid of Hashirama Senju's retaliation, so they used you as a scapegoat," Menma walked forward slowly. "It was the village that betrayed you, yet in the end, they branded you a 'traitor'."
"You... how could you know this?"
There was a waver in Kakuzu's voice. For nearly a hundred years, he had thought that part of his past had been buried with those who knew about it.
Could it be that Menma of [JIN]... is also a monster who has lived since that era?
The thought startled Kakuzu. He had originally planned to use the fact that he had "once fought the First Hokage" to intimidate his opponent, but now it seemed that anyone who knew a little about the situation back then would know that he had only survived because Hashirama Senju had shown him mercy.
Menma seemed to see through his thoughts, and a soft chuckle came from under his mask. "No need to guess. I know more than you think... for example, how many hearts are beating in your body right now?"
The words were like a thunderclap in Kakuzu's mind. The secret of Earth Grudge Fear was his greatest trump card for survival.
"Come."
Menma slowly held out his hand to Kakuzu. "My targets are precisely those ambitious people who sit high above, give orders, and push all the danger onto the ninja."
The gentle breeze blew his long robe, and the Nine Masked Beasts stirred restlessly behind him. "My organization does not pursue a hollow peace... I will build a world where 'the strong have no need for betrayal, and the weak have no need to beg'."
Kakuzu's fists clenched, the black stitches on his skin writhing restlessly. These words... decades ago, in the dark prison of the Hidden Waterfall Village, were the salvation he had longed to hear.
"And you, Kakuzu—" Menma's hand was still held out. "—can be its 'foundation'."
"You, who are as old as the heavens and the earth, stop your wandering..." the voice from under the fox mask suddenly softened. "It's time to 'put down roots'."
Kakuzu clenched his fists tightly, his nails digging deep into his palms. Decades of lonely wandering had long since turned that passionate elite of the Hidden Waterfall into the cold and ruthless bounty hunter he was today. His life's creed had long been reduced to an obsession with money...
"It seems... you're determined to have me?"
Menma nodded calmly. "Mhm, that's right."
"I see... then I have one condition," Kakuzu's voice suddenly became dangerous, the black stitches twisting violently. "I know you're strong, but..."
His body suddenly erupted with an astonishing amount of chakra, and the ground around him cracked under the force. "It's a little too simple to think you can win my loyalty with just big words!"
"Fight me. Let me see what kind of existence the bounty target that has the five great nations terrified really is."
Menma was silent for a moment, then the chakra around him began to fluctuate violently. "I see."
The Nine Masked Beasts let out a deafening roar in unison. "Then let's have a fight."
"Now... let me sever your past with my own hands."
-------
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