"Feels like we've said goodbye quite a few times, Kakuzu." Lexon, wearing the "Akatsuki" uniform, joked with Kakuzu, who was under the shade of a tree.
'That's because you slacked off and dumped everything on me.'
Kakuzu glanced at him, grumbling inwardly.
"Let's go," Kakuzu's deep voice emerged from under his mask.
"At least tell me the info and approximate location of the Three-Tails first," Lexon said.
"I'll tell you on the way." After saying this, Kakuzu took the lead and started walking.
Lexon easily kept up with his pace.
"So, the info and location?" Lexon asked as they sped along.
"Someone saw a huge creature appear in a lake near Kirigakure. The Fourth Mizukage was the Three-Tails' Jinchuriki, but he's been missing. It's possible he's already dead, and the Tailed Beast was left there..."
"Is that so..."
With two Kage-level experts traveling, it took about half a day to reach the large lake mentioned in the reports.
"This should be the lake," Kakuzu said, standing on the lake's surface, looking at the still, murky water.
"This is it." Lexon, also standing on the water, looked down, his eyes seeming to pierce the water and see the bottom of the lake.
He not only smelled the scent of enormous chakra, but he had also seen the massive chakra flow with his Sharingan.
Vaguely, Lexon's blood-red eyes seemed to meet a certain special existence.
In his mind, an image of a monster suddenly appeared: a giant, turtle-like creature covered in spikes, with three tails.
"Isobu, the Three-Tails..."
Lexon murmured.
"It's at the bottom of the lake," he confirmed.
"How do you know?" Kakuzu looked at him, surprised and a little confused.
"I saw it." Lexon pointed to his blood-red eyes, which had transformed into the Sharingan.
'Can the Sharingan do that...?'
Kakuzu wasn't sure.
"Then what should we do?" Kakuzu asked Lexon. "I don't have a way to harm the Three-Tails from up here."
'This lake is so huge. Even if he expended all his chakra to release ninjutsu, he wouldn't be able to do much. After all, his main trait is "immortality," not wide-area destruction.'
"Just lure it out," Lexon said casually.
"How? Go to the bottom and fire off a jutsu?" Kakuzu asked.
"The lake is the Three-Tails' home turf. We definitely won't be faster than it," Lexon replied. "However..."
Then, he smiled again, drawing out his words, his gaze falling on Kakuzu.
"However what?" Kakuzu pulled his gaze from the water and looked at Lexon.
The moment their eyes met, Kakuzu sensed that Lexon's gaze was not friendly.
"What are you planning?" Kakuzu asked, wary.
"Fishing."
'?'
'What does that mean?'
Kakuzu was confused.
"You'll be the bait," Lexon continued.
'F*ck you.'
Kakuzu wanted to curse.
"I refuse!" he immediately replied loudly.
"You're immortal anyway, what's there to be afraid of?" Lexon said leisurely. "Just tie a line to you, you go down and provoke it, and when the Three-Tails chases you, send me a message on the communicator. I'll pull you up quickly. Simple."
'If it's so simple, why don't you do it!'
Kakuzu's face darkened. "I think we should find a different way."
"Don't think about it. This is the easiest way," Lexon decided for Kakuzu.
"But..."
"Don't worry, the line is tough, and the communicator is waterproof. No problem." Lexon gave him an encouraging thumbs-up.
'Is that the problem?'
Kakuzu's head was full of dark lines.
"Then how about we use an Earth Grudge monster as bait," he tried to negotiate, offering one of the puppets.
"Can a puppet share its vision and senses with you underwater? Probably not... It has to be you, so you can adapt to the situation," Lexon replied.
In the end, Kakuzu could only accept this luring plan, albeit very reluctantly and unhappily.
[Demonize]
'Blood Demon Art: Thread Pull.'
[End Demonization]
The dense, ominous aura flashed and was gone. When Kakuzu came to, he found a crimson thread tied to his body.
'This is a thread specially hardened with blood.'
'What was that just now?' KakZzu thought to himself.
'It seems he still had a lot he didn't show in our previous fight...'
Looking at Lexon's figure, Kakuzu felt he needed to be even more cautious. Otherwise, he might end up like his previous partners, casually offed by his teammate.
"Please protect my puppets as much as possible. If I accidentally die down there, please also trouble yourself to fish up my body," Kakuzu said, tied with the thread, his words full of grim resolve.
"Relax... you won't die," Lexon reassured him.
'He didn't understand. How could a ruthless, formidable man who could land a kunai on Hashirama from 800 li away, now act like a little lamb...'
He didn't consider at all whether his own actions had had a profound effect on Kakuzu.
"Preparations complete. Go!" Lexon, holding a fishing rod constructed from the threads, with the line attached to Kakuzu, swung the rod. Kakuzu's body immediately sank into the lake.
Then, Lexon, supporting his body with chakra, sat down on the water's surface, holding the rod. He even waved at the Earth Grudge mask-monster Kakuzu had created. "Come on, sit."
Hearing Lexon, the mask-monster obediently walked over and sat properly on the water beside Lexon.
"RUMBLE!"
Before long, a huge, muffled sound came from the bottom of the lake, and the lake's surface began to ripple.
A little while later, Lexon suddenly felt a violent chakra fluctuation.
And the way the chakra was gathering was a jutsu Lexon was familiar with.
'Tailed Beast Bomb.'
"BOOM!!!"
The lake shook violently, clearly the result of a Tailed Beast Bomb exploding at the bottom.
The vibrations traveled to the surface, which immediately erupted in massive waves.
Without Lexon's order, Kakuzu's Earth Grudge mask-monster took action.
It leaped quickly, using Wind Style to slice apart all the crashing waves.
Then, the communicator in Lexon's pocket rang.
It displayed a message from Kakuzu.
[Pull me up]
'That was fast...'
Lexon yanked the fishing rod hard.
Instantly, a figure shot up from the bottom of the lake at extreme speed.
It burst through the water's surface, sending up a shower of spray.
It was Kakuzu.
At this moment, he was soaking wet, his hair plastered down, his clothes in disarray. He was even missing an arm, looking rather pathetic.
"ROAR..."
An incomparably massive shadow followed close behind, bursting from the water, creating a violent splash that made it "rain" over the entire lake.
This massive figure was covered in a hard shell and spikes, turtle-shaped, with three tails lashing behind it. One of its eyes was closed, the other wide open, glaring at Kakuzu.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]