A few days later, the Land of Birds.

The four shinobi wearing the traditional turtle neck cloak of Akatsuki were walking through the dense forest. ​​

Glancing at Hiruko next to him, Sasori who was hiding in his Hiruko puppet armor complained, "I really don't understand why Pain agreed to your absurd request and assigned all the members of the organization to kidnap so many shinobi with different Kekkei Genkai!"

Hiruko was not bothered by Sasori's question and spoke, "Even the leader with the eyes of Rikudo Sennin must realize that my plan is very useful, therefore, he took my request seriously and agreed to help me with the power of the organization!"

Inferiority has always been hidden in Hiruko's heart, he has always wanted to prove himself and show that he too is no inferior to any legendary shinobi, but his mediocre talent has always gotten in his way which has caused him to be ignored time and time again.

When he was in Konoha, Hiruko did all he could to prove himself that he was not inferior to the Sannin, but the difference between the Sannin and him was too wide and that difference kept becoming bigger and bigger as time passed.

Unwilling to accept this reality, and anger at himself for not being good enough, Hiruko broke through all moral shackles and delved himself into the study of the human body, and carried out many crazy and cruel human experiments.

The Chimera Technique is the culmination of his hard work and the fact that the leader of Akatsuki chose to support his Kekkei Genkai Stealing Plan, deeply moved Hiruko's heart, and made him very happy.

Hiruko's greatest desire is not strength, but recognition, and the fact that Pain, who has Rinnegan, the eye of Rikudo Sennin supports his plan, which in itself is akin to recognition, and this also made him feel a sense of belonging with the Akatsuki.

Sasori snorted disdainfully after hearing Hiruko's words.

Hiruko did not care about Sasori's tsundere attitude and spoke with a grin, "Sasori, I have to tell you that your choice of giving up your physical body is wrong!"

Sasori stopped and stared at Hiruko with a murderous look, his eyes carrying the killing intent that he would kill Hiruko any moment and make him into a puppet, "Ignorant guy, do you think you have the qualification to challenge my art?"

In the previous battle against Sandaime Hokage, Sasori lost an arm, which motivated him to finally give up the useless human body and completely turn his body into a puppet.

Hiruko chose to ignore the term 'qualification' and said, "You don't need to get so angry over a small suggestion, facts will prove everything to you!"

Sasori said coldly, "When you have completed your so-called plan, I will teach you in person about my puppetry!"

Unlike Sasori and Hiruko who were having a constant conflict, Shinno and Kakuzu who were at the front were mostly silent with occasional few words.

At this time, Shinno smiled and spoke, "The task this time will really be troublesome for Kakuzu-san, I just hope that it will not delay Kakuzu-san's personal matters for too long."

Everyone in the Akatsuki knows Kakuzu's love of money and they all understand this full well that as long as there is some free time between the assigned tasks, Kakuzu will most definitely go to the Black-Market to take bounty tasks and earn more money, therefore, Kakuzu is generally a very busy person.

Kakuzu said with a gloomy expression, "Not only the Land of Fire, but even the other countries are persecuting and suppressing the Black-Market circle, as such no decent tasks are available in the Black-Market!"

Shinno spoke with a frowning expression, "Amatsukami's actions have caused much more damage for people like us haven't they?"

With his experience, Shinno is also quite clear with the pattern of the Shinobi world.

As far as he understands, the Akatsuki Organization that he is part of; is an extremely powerful secret organization in the world, and no matter which shinobi village, Akatsuki is fully capable of destroying them and subverting the pattern of the shinobi world.

And the fact that Amatsukami which popped out of nowhere also seems to have a similar level of strength as Akatsuki, and has already started to pose such a great threat to the five great villages, really makes Shinno feel very surprised.

After a moment of consideration, Shinno asked, "Shinichi is also from the Uchiha Clan, shouldn't he be aware of the real identity of Homusubi?"

Kakuzu shook his head, "The last time I met him, I asked Shinichi if he is aware of who Homusubi could be, all he said was 'I don't have even the slightest of the clue of who Homusubi is, and how he popped out of thin air!' And based on his expression, I can judge that he wasn't lying about it."

Shinno also muttered with a thoughtful expression, "Firstly, Ice Release user who could go toe-to-toe with Sandaime Hokage, then an unknown missing Uchiha with Mangekyou Sharingan who can fight against Kumogakure's A-B Combo, then there is Magnet Release user, and then there is mysterious leader, 'Yama' such strength is more than enough to completely destroy a small shinobi village within minutes if anything. Even I am unable to understand how they are appearing out of thin air."

Kakuzu grunted in anger, "Ever since I fought with Amatsukami, my source of fortune has been cut off, on our next battle, I have to make sure that I take their hearts to make up for my losses!"

After this, some small discussions continued, and soon, the four people arrived at a fork in the road. One path leading to the Land of Bears and the other towards the Land of Earth.

Looking at the two different paths before him, Hiruko said, "From here, let's split up, I and Shinno will go to the Land of Bear to deal with the shinobi with the Dark Release Kekkei Genkai, while your duo will bring the Steel Release user from the Land of Earth."

Sasori did not reply to Hiruko, just started to walk towards the Land of Earth together with Kakuzu to bring the Steel Release user as fast as possible and be done with it.

As Sasori and Kakuzu disappeared on the path, Hiruko and Shinno nodded towards each other and moved towards the Land of Bear.

…

Somewhere near the Land of Whirlpools.

Boom…

With a loud muffled noise of colliding with wood, Uchiha Shinichi was violently knocked several trees along the path and finally stopped the fall.

But before he could calm down, a high speed after image flickered through the cover of smoke and dust and disappeared instantly, and just a moment later a fast Kunai pierced through his heart.

It was at this moment that Biwa Juzo arrived with his Kubikiribocho, and waved it fiercely, slashing across the incoming path of the after image with his trusty sword.

Ding…

The sword that the after image carried with him collided with Kubikiribocho, and for a moment several ear-piercing sounds of metal collision resounded through the forest when suddenly there was a loud explosion.

After temporarily repelling the afterimage, Biwa Juzo watched his surroundings vigilantly and retreated near Shinichi who has already recovered from the injury just a few moments ago, "Are you okay?"

"**Puke** Shinichi vomited out the blood stuck in his throat, and asked Juzo with an annoyed tone, "Answer me Juzo, just why in the hell are we fighting this guy!?"

Biwa Juzo said, "Obviously because this is the leader's order, you can't complain about it."

"But wasn't he supposed to be controlled by some sort of 'Puppet Curse'? Then why in the hell is he not? His speed is too fast, I reckon that only Yondaime Raikage would be able to match such speed!" – Shinichi paused here and wiped away the blood from the corners of his mouth and continued, "Even if I can keep track of him with my Mangekyou Sharingan, what's the point if I can't even keep up with that freakish speed!?"

Juzo also thought about what Shinichi said, based on the information they were given at the time they were issued with the task; it was stated that the target would be under the control of a puppet curse, and their job was to only safely bring him to the target destination, but that's not happening here.

"Well, for now, we can't figure out the reason why the puppet curse that was supposed to work is not working, we have to deal with him regardless of any issues, remember the detail we have, he is a shinobi with Swift Release Kekkei Genkai, and the fact that he has those light red hair must mean that he has Uzumaki Blood in his body!"

Shinichi nodded but he was more confused, "But wasn't the Uzumaki Clan annihilated by the four villages even before the Second Shinobi War began?"

Juzo sighed, "It's true that Uzumaki Clan was annihilated, but some members of this clan still exist in the shinobi world."

Shinichi muttered with a sullen look, "Swift Release coupled with Uzumaki physique and large Chakra reserve, this guy is not only extremely fast but is also very apt in taijutsu to complement his Kekkei Genkai, it's going to be a pain in the ass to capture this guy alive!"

Biwa Juzo nodded and gave Shinichi a serious glance, "Right, so it's about time you start taking this seriously. If we don't catch him, it will be difficult to explain this to the leader, you can't be lazy here unlike all the time."

Shinichi who was reprimanded by Juzo grinned slightly, "So you have been noticing my laziness all the time, huh?"

Juzo sighed, "I don't understand why you don't take anything related to Akatsuki seriously, but since you have decided to join the organization, you should at least perform the mission regardless of whatever other things you have in mind, I don't care what you do in your free time, but it's about time you start taking things a bit seriously, otherwise, I won't have anything to explain to leader!"

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