"Actually, it's just me. This person is here for other business."
After Bai Mo finished speaking, he looked at Kakuzu beside him: "Kakuzu, according to intelligence, the current Village Head of Takigakure is decent. Do you want to negotiate with him?"
"Hmm."
Kakuzu nodded in a muffled voice, then remembered something and complained, "Deidara has been annoying me to death these days; I can't even earn money properly."
Deidara went to Iwagakure and obtained the scrolls of his predecessors, hoping to draw inspiration from them to optimize his Explosive Release.
Optimization had to be done step by step.
First, the Explosive Release derived from Earth Release had to be immune to Lightning Release.
Then, he also had to figure out how to inflict damage on the Ōtsutsuki Clan, who could absorb ninjutsu.
And the only person in the Akatsuki who could use Lightning Release was Kakuzu, who possessed all five elements.
So, while managing the economy of Amegakure every day, Kakuzu also had to spare time to be Deidara's sparring partner.
And as Deidara's ideas grew, the frequency of their sessions also increased.
Kakuzu eventually got so annoyed that he gave Deidara an idea—add exploding tags to the Explosive Release.
Exploding tags dealt fire-attribute damage, so if they were added, Lightning Release wouldn't be able to counter it.
He could even start without adding exploding tags, making the opponent think Lightning Release countered Explosive Release, then suddenly add them to catch them off guard.
—Originally, Kakuzu didn't want to give Deidara this idea, after all, exploding tags were expensive. How much money would Deidara waste in a day playing with his explosion art?
But being pestered by Deidara like this, he couldn't properly develop the economy of Amegakure.
So Kakuzu remembered what Bai Mo had told him at their first Akatsuki meeting: look at the long-term, don't get hung up on immediate profits.
First, get Deidara off his back, free up his hands to make big money, and the cost of exploding tags would be nothing.
But what was the result?
Deidara insisted that such a low-level ninja tool as exploding tags was unworthy of being mixed into his art; it was plagiarism, something an artist could not tolerate.
Kakuzu's mind exploded.
Just then, Bai Mo invited him to the current battleground between Iwagakure and Kumogakure, his hometown Takigakure, and Kakuzu agreed without a second thought.
—Leave Deidara here to fend for himself; let him figure it out.
Presumably, by the time he returned, Deidara would no longer bother him.
Deidara couldn't possibly just sit around doing nothing while he was away, could he?
That wouldn't fit his personality.
"Deidara is thinking about improving his strength, what about you, Kakuzu? I heard Takigakure has a Hero's Water; drinking it reduces lifespan but greatly increases chakra. Why don't you try it?
Your lifespan depends on your hearts anyway, so reducing lifespan shouldn't matter, right?"
Bai Mo's words made Kakuzu pause.
"Could it be that Takigakure's ancestors founded the village by relying on both of these things?"
Kakuzu fell into thought.
But he quickly dismissed it.
The Earth Grudge Fear and Hero's Water did complement each other, but this had nothing to do with the establishment of the ninja village.
Those incompetent higher-ups who sent him to assassinate the First Hokage had no right to wield these two powers.
"Where did this kid come from? Call out Ōnoki, the one in charge!"
Fourth Raikage A, clad in his Lightning Release Chakra Mode, appeared on the front line and roared at Kurotsuchi.
"I am the Tsuchikage, and the leader of the Land of Earth!
Invader Raikage, if you have something to say, speak to me! If not, then let's continue the war!"
Kurotsuchi showed no signs of backing down in the face of Raikage A's words.
"Kakuzu, watch the waterfall."
Bai Mo's voice interrupted Kakuzu's thoughts.
"Waterfall?"
Kakuzu looked up at the large waterfall at the entrance of Takigakure.
—Takigakure was also located in the buffer zone between great nations, but it had not suffered from the ravages of war because Takigakure was located behind a large waterfall.
When great nations battled, they would only fight to the death outside the waterfall, just as they were doing now.
Kakuzu stared at the waterfall and suddenly noticed a subtle movement.
Was someone coming out of the waterfall?
Facing the war between two great ninja villages, shouldn't Takigakure be closing its gates tightly and sending people to guard the only entrance?
How dare they come out?
Or rather... Kakuzu suddenly struck out, an Earth Grudge Fear tentacle-fist shot out, and the ninja who had just emerged from the waterfall was pierced through the body by that punch.
Kakuzu retracted his fist, bringing the ninja with him.
"A Kumogakure ninja?"
Kakuzu kicked the dead ninja, revealing a forehead protector.
It wasn't from Takigakure, but from Kumogakure, one of the warring parties!
Along with him, he also brought a large bag tightly clutched in his hand.
Kakuzu opened the bag, which contained a blue-green haired girl whose chakra was sealed by a sealing ninjutsu, and whose mouth was gagged.
The girl, originally filled with panic and fear, saw Kakuzu and her eyes immediately lit up, her gagged mouth making "woo woo" sounds.
Kakuzu's series of actions were extremely conspicuous during the temporary ceasefire and the two Kage's verbal confrontation.
Upon seeing the Kumogakure ninja killed by Kakuzu and the target person in the bag, the Raikage's expression immediately changed drastically.
As the fastest person in the Ninja World at the time, the Raikage instantly appeared before Kakuzu, attempting to snatch the girl away.
Facing such speed, Kakuzu naturally couldn't react in time.
However... the Raikage's arm, clad in his Lightning Release Chakra Mode, was firmly grasped by another, unable to move an inch.
"You?!"
The Raikage looked up at Bai Mo. He hadn't expected that in the Ninja World after Minato Namikaze's death, someone could still keep up with his full speed?
"Raikage, why does your Kumogakure always covet other villages' Jinchūriki? Aren't you afraid others will abduct your Jinchūriki?"
Bai Mo's tone carried a faint hint of sarcasm.
He had originally wondered why Kumogakure declared war on Iwagakure, if there was some deeper meaning.
He hadn't expected it to be such a simple "borrowing a path to conquer a state."
Before, when he went to Konoha, he tried to abduct the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, but instead, it led to a moonlit embrace. Now, he's here trying to abduct the Seven-Tails Jinchūriki.
When he used to read doujinshi, he often felt sorry for the Raikage.
The Raikage was clearly a rough man who wasn't interested in women, so why was he stereotyped as a doujinshi protagonist just because of his dark skin, blond hair, and muscular build?
Now that he thought about it, the Raikage wasn't unwilling to be a cuckold; it was just that what he wanted to cuckold wasn't women, but Jinchūriki, and the Bloodline Limits of other ninja villages.
Fū, the Seven-Tails Jinchūriki, blinked her eyes, and using the lightning from the Raikage's arm, she clearly saw Bai Mo's appearance and demeanor, and her cheeks flushed.
"Kid, you're unfamiliar. You're not from Iwagakure?"
The Raikage spoke.
"He's a mercenary I hired."
Kurotsuchi answered the Raikage's question from behind.
"Mercenary? Heh, don't tell me..."
"You'll get the money, but not live to spend it—right? Can't you try some new lines?"
"..."
"Raikage, do you know your father's Hell Stab: One Finger Nukite?"
"Hmph, you've heard of my father's prestige too?"
"Yes or no."
"No, but to deal with you, I don't need One Finger Nukite, Two Finger Nukite..."
"What about College Nukite?"
"?"
"What about Vocational Nukite?"
"..."
"Don't tell me you didn't even go to elementary school?"
"With such a low level of education, no wonder you only think about coming to Takigakure to steal a Jinchūriki and haven't realized this is a great opportunity for Kumogakure's development."
Bai Mo's grip on the Raikage's hand loosened, and the Raikage took the opportunity to retract his arm.
"What do you mean?"
The Raikage frowned and asked.
"When I first heard the Tsuchikage say Kumogakure declared war, I thought the Raikage wanted to intentionally lose once—to let others know that Iwagakure, which was devastated and lost many talents by the Third Raikage, could, after just over a month of reform, invigorate all its ninja, unite the entire nation, and receive a continuous supply of resources... Kumogakure's defeat wouldn't be due to strength, but due to logistics, morale, and its system.
Then, you could seize this opportunity to emulate the Tsuchikage's approach and implement new systems.
Not to abolish the Land of Lightning's Daimyō, but at least to play 'constitutional monarchy,' transferring most of the power, especially control over resources, from the Daimyō's hands to the Ninja Village and the Kage's hands."
Bai Mo's words made the Raikage listen intently.
This was indeed what the Raikage wanted to achieve, but he hadn't thought of this layer before, and now, at this moment, it was being spoken by the other party!
"Thank you for the reminder, but we still have to take the Seven-Tails Jinchūriki back!"
The Raikage regained his composure, thanked Bai Mo, and attacked again!
....
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