When the system notification popped up, Senshi was left dumbfounded.
[Why is the “Super Draw” this time only granted after finishing the task?? Is it because this mission has a clearly defined objective?]
“What a letdown…”
Shaking his head, he sighed. Still, capturing a Tailed Beast this time would be quite profitable—
one job, two paychecks.
With that in mind, Senshi lifted the drowsy, sleeping Karin onto his back, a maneuver he had down to a sce by now. Then he headed, just as deftly, to Kakuzu’s door—and kicked it in.
Bang!
With that single kick, his “harbinger-of-doom” voice reached Kakuzu’s ears. Kakuzu, having g the time and feeling fatigued, had just beeling down to sleep. Who would have guessed that the minute he y down, this “task fanatic” Senshi would smash in his door?
For an instant, Kakuzu’s heart nearly skipped a beat.
“Hey, Kaku!”
“No sleeping, no sleeping! We’ve got another mission!”
Kakuzu: “…”
After letting out a weary sigh, Kakuzu set his face grimly and said:
“It’s rest time right now! Didn’t we just finish a job?”
Senshi replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world:
“Sure we did. And that means we ot a new missiht? This new one’s got a very hefty fee! Kaku, how could you waste valuable job time on something as pointless as sleep?”
Kakuzu shook his head:
“No matter what you say, I’m resting this time! If I ’t rest properly, I’m not going on any job.”
Senshi sighed theatrically:
“Ah…well, it ’t be helped.”
Having said that, he slung Karin on his bad hefted Kakuzu onto his shoulder, then headed straight for the room where Uchiha Itachi and Kisame were staying.
Knock, knock, knock!
After some banging, Itachi opehe door, his face perfectly calm.
“What is it?”
Senshi answered offhandedly:
“Hey, Itachi-san. For our mission, I need Kisame’s help. I already cleared it with Pain.”
At that, Itachi stepped aside, revealing Kisame seated unceremoniously on a sofa. Hearing Senshi and Itachi’s versation, Kisame let out a little chuckle.
“Heh! Looks like there’s another exhirating battle awaiting me. Who khere’d be a job you found challenging enough to need me?”
Meanwhile, Kakuzu had extricated himself from under Senshi’s arm. Upon seeing Kisame’s eager expression, he couldn’t help feeling a pang of sympathy.
Back when he first started w alongside Senshi, he was just as excited.
Wasting no more time, Kisame grabbed Samehada, his massive bde, aogether with Senshi’s group.
…
On the road from the Ame to the Kiri, a mert caravan was traveling along. I carriage, fures could be seen: two middle-aged men, one easygoing handsome youth, and a curious young girl.
Of course, these four were Senshi’s group. They were with the caravan because Senshi had, in passing, taken a guard mission for the journey.
“Heh, so that’s how you travel? Even on the way to a job, you’ll pick up a little escort assig—
You’ve got a knack, Senshi, no wonder you rake in the money!”
Leaning against the carriage, Kisame gave a thumbs-up, clig his tongue in amazement. After all, whenever he and Itachi performed missions, they mostly relied on their own two feet. Meanwhile, not a moment of Senshi’s time ever went to waste.
In this four-person squad, the “newbie” gaped in curiosity, while the “veteran” simply sprawled out for some quick shut-eye, not missing a ce to rest. Because, well, w with Senshi was no joke. He was a “task maniao, more like a “living mission mae.” If there was a job to be done, he’d do it, endlessly. After all, he had near-limitless chakra and had no issue making Wood es do the work if needed.
“Kakuzu, do you always tackle missions like this with that brat?”
Kisame, exuding energy, chatted breezily with Kakuzu. Kakuzu initially ignored him, turning over and giving him the cold shoulder. But in the end, he offered a friendly warning:
“Take advantage of any dowo rest.”
With that, he fell silent. Partnering with Senshi meant running on a 24/7 schedule: at literally any moment of the day, there might be a new mission requiring both of them to deploy. Over the course of a week, that happened practically every day, at any hour—m, noon, ht. It forced Kakuzu to form the habit of napping whenever possible. Otherwise, even someone like Orochimaru—famously distant from death—would get utterly worn down if forced to keep up daily.
Swish—
Just then, one of Senshi’s Wood es appeared in the carriage, reeking slightly of blood. Senshi gave a nod and said casually:
“That escort job is done. Now we just sit tight until we arrive at our destination.”
Sure enough, he was correct. For the remainder of the trip, nothing of note happened, and before long the mert voy delivered the four safely to the Kirigakure.
…
After the death of the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, the “Blood Kirigakure” was gradually reopening itself to the world uhe leadership of Genji (Elder). Otherwise, simply entering the Kirigakure would have been quite a hassle.
Arriving in the vilge, Senshi and his group found a hot-spring inn to stay in. Of course, Kiri’s hot-spring aodations couldn’t pare to the Land of Hot Water’s, but at least there ce to sleep, which was already good enough.
O the inn, Kisame grinned:
“Been a long time since I set foot in the Kiri.
Before the mission starts, I’m heading out aloo look around and gather a bit of intel.”
Kakuzu, oher hand, spoke without hesitation:
“I o recharge for the job; don’t bother me with anything else.”
Clearly, long-term exhaustio him starved for rest. This time, Senshi didn’t push the matter. He simply grabbed Karin and headed for the Kirigakure’s bck market.
…
Kiri’s bck market wasn’t as brazen as the Ame’s. Right now, the Ame was fully under Nagato’s trol, and Nagato simply allowed the bck market to exist. After all, it not only boosted ine for the Ame and its ninja, but also provided a el for intelligeriple be. Of course he’d allow it.
In other vilges—especially major ones—bck markets existed more secretively, if at all, hidden in the gray zones. Some vilges didn’t even have a proper bck market at all.
This made Senshi sider a small goal: being the boss of the entire shinobi world’s bck market, ensuring that everywhere, missions could be posted and accepted freely. That would mean no matter where he went, it’d be easy to pick up or turn in issions.
Using the far-reag dete of his “Mind’s Eye” (or “Mantra”) ability, Senshi spent quite some time roaming Kiri before finally log the bck market. Tucked away in a busy district, it was both hidden and right in pin sight.
When Senshi approached with Karin, the manager’s eyes lit up. A red-haired hottie, a red-haired young girl, wearing bck cloaks with red clouds— they matched perfectly.
Everyone in the bck-market circles knew Senshi by now, a man called the “task-killing mae” who practically wiped out the Ame’s bck market backlog. Usually, his work radius tered on the Amegakure, so what brought him to the Kiri?
The manager guessed this could be big. He guessed right, as Senshi casually plopped a thick staission slips onto the ter.
“These are…?”
the manager asked in fusion.
Senshi expined:
“Mission slips. I’ve pleted all these tasks.
Each slip has the detailed missio.”
At the same time, he retrieved a box from his “ste,” opening it to reveal an assortment of odd trophies.
“These are the proof-items firming each job is done—feel free to ihem.”
The maared at the thick wad of mission slips in his hand, eae about as thick as a deck of pying cards, eyes dazed. Bck markets among various shinobi vilges were somewhat interlinked, and many tasks could be finalized in a neighb vilge’s market. Carefully, he reviewed the missios and ied the proof-items. Satisfied, he nodded.
“The total fees for these jobs e to 2.2 million ryō. Would you like it in cash or a check?”
Hearing this, Senshi clicked his tongue.
“Only that much, huh? Well, guess I didn’t run into any big fish on the way. All that menial bor barely adds up to the price of o bounty mission.”
He said idly:
“Half in cash, half in a certified check.”
The manager nodded ao ha. Right then, Karin, the “human adding mae,” stepped up to t the money. Senshi patted her on the head:
“I’ll look through the market’s job slips. Could you hahe ting?”
Karin nodded firmly. Meanwhile, Senshi moved over to the board of avaible assigs and started browsing:
[Target: Genji (Elder)]
[Reward: Capture Alive – 30 million / Kill – 15 million]
[Details: Assassihe Kiri’s current de facto leader, Genji. Under his rule, the vilge has departed from the path set by the Fourth Mizukage. He will bring Kiri to ruin!]
Reading that, Senshi guessed it osted by remnants loyal to the te Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, who wanted Genji gone. He soon checked the slip:
[Target: Terumi Me
[Reward: Capture Alive – 20 million / Kill – 10 million]
[Details: A Kiri elite jōnin with great strength, a staunch loyalist to Genji, and his future successor. The vilge will be doomed uheir leadership!]
Senshi couldn’t help but grin at that o included Terumi Mei’s photo and other details. She wore a loose-fitting blue robe with an open colr, a shapely figure, and long bangs c her right eye, giving her both a aive look.
He kept flipping through, finding that all the bouargeted Kiri’s top brass. Then, he almost burst out ughing at the :
[Target: Chōjūrō]
[Reward: Capture Alive – 10 million / Kill – 5 million]
[Details: The toady of a toady! A Kiri prodigy, wielder of the double sword Hiramekarei, and a close subordinate of Terumi Mei.]
“He’s the ckey of a ckey?” Senshi mused with amusement. They really weren’t giving the future Sixth Mizukage much respect, if his bounty was only 10 million. But these definitely weren’t just fhs. He po take them all.
For these bounty missions, he’d likely put them under Kakuzu’s name. Everything could be picked up that way.
Bleam