Chapter 9: Facing a True Expert, the Jiao Du People Were Completely Overwhelmed
After the recent encounters with Uzu Tsukiya, Kakuzu had already realized that this guy was quite eccentric.
Now, seeing Tsukiya’s reaction, Kakuzu remained unusually calm.
Within the Akatsuki, occasional bouts of madness were no big deal, as long as they didn’t interfere with mission completion.
“Follow me,” Kakuzu’s voice soon reached Tsukiya’s ears.
Tsukiya didn’t refuse. He took Karin along and left with Kakuzu.
Soon after, Kakuzu brought Tsukiya to an empty room within the tower.
“From now on, this room in the base will be yours—both of yours,” he said.
Then he added, “As for your clothes, I’ll bring them to you later.”
Tsukiya interrupted, “Not just my clothes, but hers as well.”
He patted Karin’s shoulder as he spoke.
Kakuzu twitched his face but chose not to argue over such trivial matters with Tsukiya and turned to leave.
Before long, Kakuzu indeed returned with two sets of black Heavenly Fire Cloud robes.
Handing one to Tsukiya, he casually said, “You get half a day off today. Starting tomorrow, you’ll officially carry out missions.”
Tsukiya nodded slightly, “No problem. We’ll start the missions officially tomorrow!”
After Kakuzu left, Karin curiously asked, “Are we going to stay here for a while?”
Tsukiya walked over to a neatly arranged sofa and sat down casually.
Shaking his head, he said, “We’ll rarely come back here. Most of the time, we’ll be carrying out missions in various places.”
“Of course, you can stay here for as long as you want.”
Hearing this, Karin snorted indignantly.
“Hmph! There’s no way I’m staying here!”
“I want to act alongside you!”
“I told you, I’ll be very useful.”
Normally, she would stay here or somewhere safer in the Hidden Rain Village.
But in Karin’s mind, being with Tsukiya felt safer.
“Ha ha ha…” Tsukiya couldn’t help but get up and walk over to the red-haired beauty, tousling her hair.
Karin pouted, looking utterly resigned.
When dinner time came, the Akatsuki’s logistics personnel delivered the meals directly to the two.
After dinner, Karin washed up and returned to her room to sleep.
Tsukiya went to the rooftop of the tower to test the Thunderclap Fruit.
A marvelous thunderous power swept through his entire body instantly.
Blue bolts of lightning crackled wildly around him.
Many members of the Akatsuki soon emerged from shadows scattered throughout.
They were all shocked by Tsukiya’s current state.
Except for Kakuzu, the others didn’t know Tsukiya’s true combat strength.
Now, they were stunned by the purity of Tsukiya’s lightning chakra and the overwhelming power of his lightning release abilities.
“Rumble—”
“Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!”
Tsukiya continued experimenting with the phenomenon of the Thunderclap Fruit for quite some time before gradually calming down.
His lightning chakra, pure to the extreme, along with his supremely powerful lightning release skills and innate talent, left a profound impression on all the Akatsuki members.
After testing the ninja world’s improved version of the Thunderclap Fruit, Tsukiya was in the best mood imaginable.
He didn’t linger on the cold rooftop but quickly returned to his room with Karin.
After washing up, he began to rest.
An invisible electromagnetic field rapidly expanded outward from him in all directions.
About one-eighth of the Hidden Rain Village was covered by his electromagnetic field.
Using his “Mind Net” ability, he could monitor any subtle movements within this range.
The night passed without incident.
Early the next morning, Tsukiya and Karin rose early to wash up.
Dressed in their black Heavenly Fire Cloud robes, Tsukiya took Karin to meet Kakuzu.
The three quickly left the Hidden Rain Village tower and headed to the black market.
Both Kakuzu and Tsukiya were regulars in the black market, well-known and respected, making it easy to pick up missions.
However, when Kakuzu was about to accept a bounty mission, Tsukiya stopped him.
“I only take mercenary jobs.”
Kakuzu was speechless. “Where are you going to find so many mercenary jobs?”
“You don’t even have to get involved. Just wait nearby while I finish the mission.”
Most mission targets were low-level threats for Kakuzu, so he didn’t need Tsukiya’s help.
Tsukiya shook his head, “No, I only accept mercenary tasks.”
“Wait!” Suddenly, Tsukiya thought of something.
Kakuzu looked back, puzzled by Tsukiya’s sudden outburst.
“If you hire me as a helper to assist with a bounty mission, will that trigger the system’s rewards?”
Thinking this, Tsukiya grew excited.
If this worked, then missions would make no difference to him.
Tsukiya said directly to Kakuzu, “Kakuzu, you could hire me to help complete bounty missions. I only ask for half the reward.”
Kakuzu’s eyes widened as he muttered, “Give half the bounty to hire Tsukiya?”
Well, that might not be a bad idea!
Given Tsukiya’s current strength, if they teamed up, as long as it wasn’t an assassination of a Kage or similar, most missions should be doable.
Kakuzu reached into his pocket, pulled out a stack of mission orders, and flipped through them.
He found one.
“This is a bounty mission to hunt down Hidden Rain Village’s rogue ninjas. There are ten of them, scattered outside the village. It’s been a hassle, so no one has done it.”
“The bounty is not low, 20,000 ryo each!”
“Tsukiya, I’ll hire you for 100,000 ryo to help me complete this rogue ninja hunting mission.”
【New Mercenary Mission Discovered!】
【Employer: Kakuzu】
【Mission Objective: Assist Kakuzu in hunting down Hidden Rain Village’s rogue ninjas.】
【Mission Reward: 100,000 ryo】
【Mission Rank: B】
【Mission Bonus: 100 Mercenary Points】
When the system alerted him, Tsukiya was stunned.
“Damn, did I just exploit a bug?”
Overjoyed, Tsukiya realized he could now efficiently farm mercenary missions!
In the days that followed, Tsukiya accompanied Kakuzu, accepting missions left and right.
No one was turned away.
Together, Tsukiya and Kakuzu dominated the Hidden Rain Village’s small territory.
Their mission execution efficiency was astonishingly high.
Under Tsukiya’s Mind Net, targets had nowhere to hide.
Tasks that once took Kakuzu three to five days were now completed effortlessly.
As night fell, the three lodged at an inn.
Exhausted, Kakuzu handed Tsukiya 30,000 ryo as payment.
Normally, Kakuzu wouldn’t take such low-paying missions.
But their efficiency was so high that missions were running out in the black market.
【Mercenary Mission Successfully Completed!】
【Reward: 30 Mercenary Points】
Upon hearing the completion alert, Tsukiya was ecstatic.
He had completed many missions recently, earning abundant rewards.
It propelled him rapidly on the path to becoming the Ten-Tails’ human form!
The next day, at dawn, Kakuzu had barely lain down when his door was hammered loudly.
Tsukiya’s voice rang out simultaneously.
“Kakuzu! Boss Kakuzu! Master Kakuzu! Open up!”
“Stop sleeping! It’s time for missions!”
Kakuzu groaned, feeling a splitting headache.
He thought to himself: Is this guy even human?
After working non-stop all day yesterday, he was back knocking before dawn to start missions again!
“Knock, knock, knock—”
The sharp knocking continued.
Kakuzu, exhausted in bed, sighed deeply, staring toward the door.
Dark circles had formed under his pale green eyes.
“This... monster!”
“For half a month straight!”
“He’s been running nonstop, grinding missions!”
“Does this guy ever need rest?”
“For money, does he not even value his life?”
“Why does he have so much energy?”
Before meeting Tsukiya, Kakuzu considered himself a mission fanatic.
After meeting him, he had to admit his own passion was nowhere near enough.
That title now belonged to Tsukiya.
Like a demon, Tsukiya worked all day yesterday and was back at the door before dawn.
Was he never tired? Why did he keep such relentless energy?
With a sigh, Kakuzu turned over and chose to ignore the knocking.
Though he had multiple hearts to rotate weariness, his spirit could not take shifts.
No matter what, today he had to rest properly.
While Kakuzu pondered these thoughts, Tsukiya outside the door examined his status panel.
【Name: Uzu Tsukiya】
【Gender: Male】
【Age: 18】
【Mercenary Points: 225】
【Chakra Nature: Fire (B), Wind (C), Lightning (SSS), Water (B), Earth (B), Yang (B), Yin (B)】
【Total Chakra: SSS+ (Your chakra quantity surpasses most Tailed Beasts, comparable to a perpetual motion machine.)】
【Physical Strength: SSS (Body strength far exceeds metal; ordinary ninjutsu cannot harm you.)】
【Talent】
【Heavenly Thunder: Greatly increases affinity with Lightning Release; raises chances of obtaining lightning-type rewards during draws.】
【Thunderclap Fruit (Ninja World Improved Version)】
【Description: SSS rank; the Thunderclap Fruit is a treasure originating from the One Piece world, now adapted to the ninja world with side effects removed!】
【Development Level: A】
【Unlocked Abilities】
【Mind Net: Can sense any subtle movement within a certain range around you.】
【Lightning Finger: Releases lightning through fingers to attack targets.】
【Teleportation: Transform into electric current to move within electric fields or through conductive materials.】
【Inazuma: Arms turn to lightning, condensing massive thunder pillars to attack surrounding targets or precisely strike within Mind Net range.】
【Electro-Light: Become thunder, releasing light and heat to nullify all physical attacks.】
【Discharge: Releases lightning in 360 degrees with no blind spots, attacking indiscriminately.】
【Divine Punishment: Condenses a lightning pillar to continuously strike enemies.】
【Electrotherapy: Uses electric current to heal the heart, restarting a stopped heartbeat.】
【Lightning Metallurgy: Uses lightning to melt and reshape metal; can also forge weapons.】
【Thunderquake: Creates supersonic shockwaves from thunderclaps to repel incoming attacks.】
【30 Million Volts · Thunder Beast: Condenses lightning into a thunder wolf to attack, focusing on lethality.】
【30 Million Volts · Thunder Bird: Condenses lightning into a thunder bird to attack, emphasizing attack speed.】
【Bloodline Limit: None】
【Ninjutsu】
【Substitution Technique: Proficiency S】
【Lightning Release · Lightning Ball: Proficiency S】
【Lightning Release · Lightning Clone: Proficiency A】
【Lightning Release · Ground Movement: Proficiency S】
【Lightning Release · Heavy Flow Storm: Proficiency SS】
【Lightning Release · Lightning Plow Heat Blade: Proficiency S】
【Lightning Release · Lightning Burial: Proficiency A】
【Chidori: Proficiency A】
...