"I think you've misunderstood something, Kakuzu."
Menma's voice came through the fox mask, his eyes, hidden behind the mask, staring directly at Kakuzu.
"Whether you're interested in my ideals or not, you must join [Ember]."
Kakuzu's entire body tensed. He stared intently at the figure before him, never imagining that simply going out to earn some extra money would lead him to provoke such a powerful being.
As a bounty hunter who had roamed the black market for many years, Kakuzu was all too aware of how terrifying this man was. On the black market's bounty list, the Kage and Daimyo of the Five Great Nations had always been the highest-valued targets—until a few years ago, when a name surpassed all bounties with an overwhelming sum.
The leader of the [Ember] organization, Menma.
This man's achievements were horrifying: annihilating the Kumogakure delegation, critically wounding the Raikage to the brink of death, and single-handedly attacking Konoha... Each feat was enough to shake the entire Ninja World. And he remained at large to this day.
Kakuzu still remembered his shock when he saw that astronomical bounty. He immediately set off for the vicinity of Konoha, hoping to find this priceless prey.
However, when he stood on the outskirts of Konoha and saw the giant crater, almost as large as the village itself, all his greed vanished instantly.
Even Kakuzu, who had lived for nearly a hundred years, had to admit one fact: trying to hunt Menma for a bounty was simply a death wish. He had originally thought that after Senju Hashirama died, the Ninja World would never again see a monster of that caliber.
"Should I say I'm honored?"
Kakuzu's voice carried a deliberate hint of sarcasm, "With your power, it doesn't matter whether [Ember] has me or not, does it?"
As he spoke, he scanned his surroundings with his peripheral vision, secretly planning possible escape routes. Although money was his greatest love, Kakuzu was not foolish; no matter how valuable the prey, it wasn't worth exchanging his life for.
Menma suddenly spoke, "Kakuzu, you've lived too long... In your long life, has merely chasing money satisfied you?"
This sentence caused Kakuzu's movements to subtly stiffen.
"I know the inside story from back then." Menma's voice continued, "Those parasites gave you a suicide mission, and you actually went to challenge the God of Shinobi."
The green glow in Kakuzu's black sclera flickered intensely. The humiliations he thought had long been buried by time were now laid bare.
Those sealed memories suddenly surged forth—the faces of the Takigakure higher-ups, the cold dampness of the prison, and that twisted pleasure when he took his first heart...
"The laughable thing is, they feared Senju Hashirama's retaliation, so they used you as a disposable pawn." Menma slowly stepped forward, "The village betrayed you, yet they ultimately branded you a 'traitor'."
"How... how do you know all this?"
Kakuzu's voice wavered. For nearly a century, he had believed that past had been buried with the people who knew about it.
Could Menma of [Ember]... also be a monster who had lived from that era until now?
This thought secretly alarmed Kakuzu. He had originally intended to use the excuse of "having fought the First Hokage" to intimidate the other party, but now it seemed that anyone who understood the situation back then would realize that he only survived because Senju Hashirama had shown him mercy.
Menma seemed to see through his thoughts, a light chuckle coming from beneath the mask. "No need to guess, I know more than you imagine... For example, how many hearts are still beating inside you right now?"
This sentence struck Kakuzu like a bolt of lightning. The secret of Earth Grudge Fear was his greatest trump card for survival.
"Come."
Menma slowly extended his hand towards Kakuzu, "My goal is precisely those ambitious individuals who sit high and mighty, giving orders, yet pushing all the danger onto the shinobi."
The breeze stirred his long robe, and the Nine-Faced Beast behind him stirred restlessly, "My organization does not pursue an illusory peace... I want to build a world where 'the strong need not betray, and the weak need not beg'."
Kakuzu's fists clenched, and black stitches wriggled restlessly on the surface of his skin. These words... decades ago, in the dark prison of Takigakure, were precisely the salvation he had most longed to hear.
"Kakuzu, and you—" Menma's hand remained suspended in the air, "can become its 'cornerstone'."
"One who is as old as heaven and earth, stop your wandering…" The voice beneath the fox mask suddenly softened, "It's time to 'take root'."
Kakuzu clenched his fists tightly, his fingernails digging deep into his palms. Decades of lonely wandering had long transformed that hot-blooded elite shinobi of Takigakure into the ruthless bounty hunter he was today. His life's motto had long since been reduced to an obsession with money...
"It seems... you intend to force my hand?"
Menma calmly nodded. "Yes, that's right."
"I see... Then I have one condition." Kakuzu's voice suddenly turned dangerous, and the black stitches began to twist violently, "I know you're strong, but..."
His body suddenly erupted with astonishing Chakra, and the surrounding ground cracked under this power. "It's too simple to gain my allegiance with just big words!"
"Fight me, let me see what kind of being the bounty target that the Five Great Nations fear truly is."
Menma was silent for a moment, then his surrounding Chakra began to fluctuate violently, "So that's it."
The Nine-Faced Beast simultaneously let out a deafening roar, "Then let's fight."
"Now... let me personally cut off your past."