The ninjas in the traditional Akatsuki Cloak were running fast towards the Land of Fire. Their movement speed was so fast that they left a trail of afterimages behind, the ordinary civilians who saw them couldn't help but be dazed for a while thinking that what they saw was probably some sort of hallucination.
While running, Uchiha Shinichi said to his partner next to him, "Do you think that the lead this time would be worth making us rush all the way!?"
The members of the Akatsuki have been searching all over the world to find any useful information about the mysterious hunter-nin named 'Yama' for a while now, Uchiha Shinichi and Biwa Juzo have already been searching through the Land of Fire with no leads whatsoever till now.
Therefore, this pointless task has been annoying the hell out of Shinichi for quite some time now.
Biwa Juzo just shook his head helplessly while stating, "Who knows…?"
In Juzo's eyes, finding that mysterious person is not necessarily a pointless thing.
After all, someone who could make the leader a bit interested must be extraordinary, and this is clearly reflected with the fact that there has been no information about him anywhere whatsoever.
Therefore, Akatsuki should have some information about this mysterious person.
After passing through a forest, Shinichi looked towards the distance and asked, "That should be the town that Pain mentioned, right?"
Juzo looked forward and nodded, "Hmm, that's the one!"
After entering the town, the two immediately went towards the direction of the Black-market branch to find the Bounty Exchange Officer and asked, "Which direction did Kakuzu go?"
Zengei didn't dare to conceal anything so after giving out the information he quickly pointed in the direction where Suijin and Kakuzu had left, "Kakuzu-Sama and Suijin-Sama have left in that direction!"
"Suijin!?" – Shinichi frowned but doesn't the information states that it should be 'Yama'?
Zengei explained with a wry smile, "It is indeed Suijin-Sama, who is fighting against Kakuzu-Sama, and according to Suijin-sama, 'Yama' is their leader!"
Zengei understands that whether it is the organization that Kakuzu is part of or the organization that Suijin is part of, both doesn't seem easy to provoke, so he only hopes to not get involved any further in the personal issues of these two organizations because his heart wouldn't be able to take it!
Listening to Zengei mention the other organization, Shinichi chuckled in intrigue, "Hooh, the other party is also a part of some organization!?"
Juzo said with a serious face, "Come on, let's go!"
After leaving the town, the two of them went in the direction pointed by the bounty exchange officer and soon found the distant sky covered in black clouds with occasional Lightning and Thunder sounds.
"Hm? That's strange, why are the clouds only in that area?" - Shinichi muttered curiously
"The clouds do seem strange, the altitude is also very low, my guess is that they are the result of unnatural phenomenon, possibly produced due to someone fighting in that area, so Kakuzu should be there!" – A shinobi with a wealth of experience who has survived even the encounter with the Gate of Death was quick to judge.
At this time, Shinichi turned his gaze to the side and said, "Someone is coming!"
Juzo was immediately alert, "Is it the enemy?"
After feeling a bit, Shinichi added, "Don't worry, the two are Orochimaru and Sasori."
Without making them wait much, Orochimaru and Sasori's figure appeared before the two.
Orochimaru glanced at Shinichi and said with a hoarse voice, "Aren't you two a bit slow?"
Ignoring Orochimaru's sentence Juzo pointed towards the rain cloud in the distance and said, "It seems that Kakuzu and this 'Suijin' guy are fighting there…"
The young figure of Sasori who was standing atop of a tree turned over and said with a chiseled grin, "The movement there is really big, the other party seems to be a good puppet material."
Shinichi was disgusted by Sasori's antics and snorted coldly, "Baka, Pain ordered us to capture the other person alive, I am afraid that you can't have your fun here!"
…
On the Battlefield.
The steam produced by the continuous collision of Water and Fire filled the entire surrounding forest in a thick cover of mist and the light drizzle from the rain clouds… giving a hazy look to the battlefield.
At this time, Suijin crouched on the ground looking around carefully.
Several of the mud spikes immediately rose from the ground, but before they could reach high enough, a severing slash of water cut through all the spikes around a three-sixty degree with Suijin at the center.
Kakuzu was surprised, the battle between the two has been going on for quite a while now and yet neither side has been able to gain the upper hand, the more he fights the other party the more he has realized that the other party has an amazing degree of Water Nature Release mastery.
From start to finish, the opposite party hasn't used any Chakra Nature other than Water Release.
This made Kakuzu conclude that Suijin as the name suggests has Water Chakra as his only Nature, but even if he lacks any other element, the degree of Water Release alone is amazing.
While Kakuzu was thinking this, Suijin was also analyzing his situation.
After this short confrontation with Kakuzu, Suijin found out that dealing with Kakuzu isn't as easy as he initially thought, this guy is way too cautious and isn't leaving any opportunity for him to destroy those masks.
With the combination of the four masked thread monsters, Kakuzu can use all five basic Chakra Release with various combinations, that adding with Kakuzu's undead ragdoll body and unpredictable Taijutsu style combined with his experience and cautious plus cunning nature makes him a fierce enemy to deal with.
The most troublesome thing is that the black thread monsters can fly in the air and their cooperation is very tacit making it more difficult for Suijin to destroy them.
Even with all that trouble, Suijin has still managed to keep the battle to equal grounds which is a big thing considering that he only uses the Water Release.
'I guess I have had my fun for now and it's about time I retreat!' – thought Suijin, as the amount of refined Ryuumyaku Chakra he has access to without the Tenseigan purifying it is reaching the limit, if he uses too much of Ryuumyaku chakra, there are chances that the petrification effect will start to appear.
What's more, his purpose was only to fight a fierce battle for faster soul and body adaptation, as for whether he could kill Kakuzu, it was totally unimportant to him for now, in fact, Suijin himself isn't very confident in killing Kakuzu at this point because he knows that the moment two or more of Kakuzu's hearts are destroyed, he would become extremely cautious and choose to retreat immediately, thus the fact that Suijin knows the effective method to break his immortality will be known to Kakuzu, which isn't something Suijin wants the other party to be aware of until Suijin is sure to kill the guy.
While Suijin was planning to retreat, the thread monster with blue lines on the mask found Suijin's trail and immediately opened its mouth to release a lightning ball.
"Hmm?" – Suijin jumped up and avoided the attack.
Earth release had obvious restraints on water, as water breaks when facing the earth, whether it is Earth Wall or Body Hardening, these ninjutsu's have a natural restraint, even though Suijin's Water Release is extremely overbearing because of high-intensity Water Nature Chakra, but the proficiency is still far from reaching Senju Tobirama's level.
But in the face of Kakuzu who can use all five chakra natures with equal proficiency, more and more faults and lack of experience in using Water release are starting to come to light as the battle continues.
After landing behind a tree, Suijin observed the four-thread monsters with the Byakugan as finding their position is an easy task for him, and turning his head downwards, he also spotted Kakuzu hiding within the Earth.
Now, this was the perfect opportunity for him to retreat while Kakuzu hid inside the Earth, however, the moment he was about to flicker away, he noticed the arrival of several chakra sources coming straight towards them with an explosive speed.
Moreover, Suijin knows who these Chakra sources belong to, at least, he recognizes the three of them.
And without making him wait for long, the four figures appeared on the four sides one after another.
And seeing those familiar faces, Suijin couldn't help but smile bitterly while thinking to himself, "Is it possible that my good luck days are finishing? How come the Akatsuki teams have come here together!?
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