Kurosaki Ichigo in Konoha

"So are you sure now that my head or body is worthless?" Kurosaki Ichigo asked helplessly.

Kakuzu once again reviewed the major bounty lists in his mind, and then said with certainty: "You can say that for the time being."

"For the time being" Kurosaki Ichigo frowned, "What do you mean by temporarily?"

Kakuzu didn't look at Ichigo Kurosaki and ignored his questioning but walked over directly. Seeing Kakuzu's movements, the muscles in Ichigo Kurosaki's body that had just relaxed tightened again.However, Kakuzu did not attack Kurosaki Ichigo and Nariko this time. He gently passed by the two of them and came to the body of the unfortunate bandit leader Hirai who had died on the ground.

Kurosaki Ichigo turned his head and saw Kakuzu rummaging for something on Hirai's body as if no one else was around, and couldn't help but ask: "Since nothing happens, I have to leave."

"No, no, no, don't leave yet," Kakuzu said without looking back as he continued to bend over and fidget in Hirai's arms, "I happen to have a business here that I want to discuss with you."

"Business" Kurosaki Ichigo was a little surprised, but in view of Kakuzu's bad behavior in attacking him before, he said with a mocking tone, "I didn't expect you to be a businessman, but I really didn't realize that I was talking to a guy who specializes in assassination." The hired ninja on the mission has no business to discuss, and I have no interest in taking care of your business. I have to leave."

"Wait a minute." Kakuzu finally found what he wanted. He casually put a key he found from Hirai's arms into his own, then stood up and said, "Look at how poor you are. Looks like, I'm afraid I'm worried about money matters recently. It just so happens that I have a task that needs a good helper. How about we talk about a business?"

"I have no interest in assassinating unarmed innocent people." Kurosaki Ichigo rejected Kakuzu's proposal without thinking, even though he was currently worrying about raising the fare for the voyage to the Land of Tea.

Kakuzu didn't care about Kurosaki Ichigo's rejection: "Me too, because people like that never have much luck. This time my target is the ninja Sakada Heihachiro of Sunagakure Village who went to Shirone Castle to perform a mission, but that guy's mission is to go to Shirone Castle. Shirane City is escorting supplies, so I am not going alone, so I need to hire someone to help me distract other people's attention. And based on your knowledge, you also know the identity of this guy. Killing him will not cause any big trouble. of."

"Sakata Heihachiro" Kurosaki Ichigo rolled his eyes and silently recalled the information about this name in his heart.

The Sakata clan is one of the small families in the Kingdom of Wind. Its family secret art of swordsmanship is not even inferior to the shuriken technique that the Uchiha clan has always been proud of. And Sakata Heihachiro, the leader of this generation of the Sakata clan, even He has perfected his family's secret skills and is known as the Shadow Blade in the Kingdom of Wind.There were rumors in the ninja world that his strength was not inferior to that of the original Kazekage Fiend. However, although Heihachiro Sakata was quite strong, it was a pity that his political acumen did not match his strength.

That was when Sunagakure Village was just established. Niwa Kennori, the daimyo of the Land of Wind, wanted to control this important military group, while Sakata Heihachiro was proud of not losing to the Kazekage Ryuto, so the two hit it off. With the support of others, Sakata Heihachiro gathered a group of small families who wanted to challenge Kazekage's authority.

The result is self-evident. With the help of his two close friends, Shamon and Shado, Lieto first focused on the inside and quickly suppressed the voices that opposed him in Sunagakure Village. Then he turned around to deal with Niwa Kenken, forcing him to He had no choice but to abdicate and hand over the daimyo's position to his son Niwa Kenru.

In the eyes of the outside world, all this is of course the first generation Kazekage Yingmei Shenwu, but as the person involved, Heihachiro Sakata was in bad luck. Although Lieto did not do anything to him in order to maintain the stability of Sunagakure Village, the powerful people in the village naturally He no longer has any fate with Sakata Heihachiro, and because the many small families who followed him and opposed the fierce struggle were used by the Kazekage to win over and kill a group of people, so now he is basically alone, and even the Sakata clan is not alone. Cutting ties with him.

"Sakata Heihachiro is very strong. If there are subordinates around, Kakuzu will really be unable to handle it alone. A task like material escort is also in line with his status." Kurosaki Ichigo mentally summed up the tasks mentioned by Kakuzu. True or false, "Furthermore, Heihachiro Sakata doesn't have many henchmen or confidants. In addition, the First Kazekage and the others are probably eager for Heihachiro Sakata to die. Once the mission is successful, the impact will not be big..."

Seeing Kurosaki Ichigo thinking carefully, Kakuzu thought to himself: "This big business must not slip away. It seems that I have to add some chips."

"But do I really want to cooperate with a guy like this killer?" Kurosaki Ichigo looked at Kakuzu, and he was caught in the battle between heaven and man. On the one hand, his inner conscience reminded him that the other party is a villain who kills without blinking an eye. , and on the other hand, it reminds him that he needs a sum of money to set off to the Kingdom of Iron to find a way to return to his own world.

"I can give you a satisfactory price, tell me your price." Kakuzu finally made up his mind. Although his flashing eyes clearly showed his anger that he was about to bleed, he still wanted to do it for his own plan. He decided not to be stingy with money, no, not to be stingy with money for the time being, because he knew that once his plan was successful, the rewards he would receive would definitely be far greater than what he was paying now.

Kurosaki Ichigo was obviously a little moved by Kakuzu's words, but he was struggling in his heart and still couldn't make up his mind. Kakuzu didn't do much to force him, because Kakuzu had already prepared to seize Nariko and threaten him if they couldn't reach an agreement. As Kurosaki Ichigo prepared, both of them fell silent for a moment. Nariko, who was hiding behind Kurosaki Ichigo, felt very uncomfortable with the silent atmosphere, so she couldn't help but pull Kurosaki Ichigo. sleeves.

"It's okay." Kurosaki Ichigo looked back at Nariko, then took a deep breath and laughed at himself, "I've known for a long time that there are always things that have to be thrown away to survive in this world."

"I see you agree to cooperate with me."

Kurosaki Ichigo nodded, and then said word for word: "I want 20."

"20" Kakuzu asked, as if he couldn't believe his ears.

"Yes, I want 20 taels," Kurosaki Ichigo said firmly.

Although he has been in the ANBU for several years, the only things that have filled Kurosaki Ichigo's life are training and missions. As the young leader of the Uchiha clan, he lives a comfortable life. Even if he goes out to do missions, he never needs to spend money. So naturally I don't know how low the price of 20 taels is in the assassination bounty, and it is precisely for this reason that such a price is proposed that makes Jiaodu unbelievable.

"Okay, it's settled." Kakuzu agreed quickly as if he was afraid that Kurosaki Ichigo would regret it. Even his green eyes that used to reveal cunning light couldn't help but feel a little happy. After all, it only cost 20 taels. It's a great deal to find a Jonin to help.

"And... the target this time is not that useless thing like Sakata Heihachiro." Kakuzu narrowed his eyes and started to have fun thinking about his plan.

Yes, Kurosaki Ichigo was deceived by Kakuzu. The so-called Sakata Heihachiro was just a cover made up by Kakuzu to hide his true purpose. He originally planned to use this bait to find an unlucky guy as his shield. Who would have thought that Kakuzu's fortune would be so good today, and he managed to get a jounin-level helper with only 20 taels.

Thinking of this, the excitement in Kakuzu's heart became even stronger. Kurosaki Ichigo also clearly felt Kakuzu's emotions. He instinctively felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't tell what was wrong.

"Okay, now that the deal is settled, you can come with me." Kakuzu is obviously a resolute person, and he is ready to leave with Kurosaki Ichigo when things are settled. This is his usual style of doing things.

"Wait a minute." However, Kurosaki Ichigo raised objections at this time.

Kakuzu was startled: "What's wrong?"

"I need to disguise myself. I don't want to directly put my own face in front of you to attract firepower for you. Even if Sakata Heihachiro's death has little impact, Sunagakure Village will pretend to issue a mission to capture the murderer. Once my It would be very detrimental to my plans if my appearance leaks out."

"No problem, we will pass through some towns on the way to Shirane Castle, and I will find a way to solve your disguise problem." Kakuzu agreed happily.

"Also, before I carry out the mission, I need to get two tickets for Shirane Castle to go to the Country of Tea, and let her get on the boat first before I do what I need to do." Kurosaki Ichigo pointed at the person behind him Nariko, even though Heihachiro Sakata's status is not high, his death will definitely cause turmoil in Shirone City, so Kurosaki Ichigo has already thought of an escape route and asked Nariko to get on the ship first.

"Kurosaki" Nariko's heart tightened, she reached out and grabbed Kurosaki Ichigo's hand and looked at him in confusion, "What are you talking about and why do you want me to get on the boat first?"

"Let her," Kakuzu glanced at Nariko and thought to himself, "I didn't expect that woman to be so important to Kurosaki. It seems that if I want to deal with him in the future, I have to start with her..." in his heart Although he was thinking about how to deal with Kurosaki Ichigo in the future, Kakuzu did not show it at all, but nodded in agreement.

"No" Nari didn't want to separate from Kurosaki Ichigo and held his hand tightly and said, "Why are you doing this?"

"It's not that much, why don't you be so verbose?" Kurosaki Ichigo turned around and yelled at Nariko.

Naliko's face turned white and tears almost came out of her eyes at Kurosaki Ichigo's voice, but before Naliko could react, Kurosaki Ichigo tilted his head and moved closer to Naliko, but only the two of them could hear it. Qing's voice said: "You get on the ship first and I can fully demonstrate my strength. Don't worry, even if there is any danger, I will be able to escape unscathed. At worst, if the mission fails, I will escape. The ship will not be far away at that time. I can Go directly to the ship and don’t care what the hell is going on."

Kakuzu didn't hear the whispers between Kurosaki Ichigo and Nariko, but he was experienced enough to guess the general content with his toes, but Kakuzu just smiled and didn't take it to heart, Kurosaki Ichigo's little mind is far from being able to compete with his.

"Then, it's a pleasure to work together, my partner." Kakuzu came over and said, but his voice was emotionless and warm, and it was impossible to hear any good intentions in his tone.

"Happy cooperation." Kurosaki Ichigo responded with a smile, but his thoughts wandered away and thought of his family and companions in another world.