Chapter 189: Rescuing Kisame Hoshigaki, Information On The Blood Dragon Eye
Time arrived in the deep autumn of Konoha’s fifty-seventh year.
The sea area east of the Land of Fire was shrouded in a thick, gray-white fog that seemed able to absorb sounds.
Kado Group’s massive fleet broke through the waves, slowly heading toward the Land of Water.
The air was damp, cold, and sticky, carrying a unique scent mixed with sea salt and rust.
Inside the spacious and luxurious president’s office on the flagship “Black Gold,” warm yellow lights and expensive rosewood furniture tried to dispel the chill of the sea.
Kado wrapped in a thick mink coat, frowned tightly as he stared at Kakuzu opposite him.
Kakuzu was still in a black robe, sitting unconcernedly on the expensive genuine leather sofa, his rough fingers covered in stitches flexibly thumbing through a thick stack of brand-new banknotes.
The rustling sound of paper friction was exceptionally clear in the quiet room.
This was the generous commission he received after helping Kado “resolve” a competitor who had been endlessly entangling him over shipping route issues.
“Hey, Kakuzu!” Kado finally couldn’t hold back and spoke, although he had been teaming up with Kakuzu for two or three years, there was still a trace of barely perceptible tension: “For this mission, that lord only instructed us to go to the Land of Water to pick up a Kirigakure rogue ninja and bring him back to the organization. Don’t get itchy hands again and kill him to claim the bounty at the bounty exchange.”
He knew too well this partner’s pathological obsession with money and the hearts of strong practitioners.
Kakuzu’s fingers thumbing the banknotes paused for a moment, he lifted his head, those ink-green pupils flickering with cold and greedy light under the dim lighting, like a fierce beast lurking in the deep sea.
“Hmph.” He let out a disdainful cold snort, his voice low and hoarse: “Since he was personally selected by that lord to join the organization as a new member, he can’t possibly be some bug that can be casually crushed. I’m just preparing… to test his mettle.”
He resumed counting the money, but his movements carried a sense of scrutinizing prey: “If he can’t even withstand my test and dies easily, then he’s not worthy of stepping through the organization’s door. Such trash probably wouldn’t fetch much at the bounty exchange anyway.”
He seemed to be stating an obvious truth.
Kado sighed helplessly, knowing that saying more would be pointless.
Over the years teaming up with Kakuzu, Kado had figured out this companion’s personality; if he himself had a bounty, Kakuzu’s gaze toward him would probably change.
Kado walked to the huge porthole, gazing at the surging thick fog outside the window, his vision compressed to the limit, calculating how much further the journey was.
Kakuzu’s gaze followed him toward the chaotic gray-white outside the window, silent for a moment, then he suddenly spoke, abruptly changing the topic: “I heard… there’s a small island in this eastern sea area that’s never been marked on any map?”
His voice carried a hint of probing interest: “Transformed by those bounty exchange guys into a den of luxury for the rich to squander money? Incredibly opulent, with a gladiatorial arena centered on ninjas fighting to the death? Kado, you great merchant with your wide network of information, you’ve surely heard of it?”
Kado’s short stature stiffened slightly, he turned around, meeting Kakuzu’s eyes flickering with dangerous interest.
He tugged at the corner of his mouth, revealing a merchant-like cautious smile: “That place… in our circle at this level, it’s really no secret. Among the ninja guards I used to keep, a few were cheap picks from that gladiatorial arena’s ‘losers’ bracket,’ decent strength, just a bit too much malice.”
He paused, pushed his small sunglasses with a finger, his tone taking on a serious warning: “However, I advise you not to get any ideas about it. The people coming and going there are real tycoons with hands and eyes everywhere, very complicated backgrounds. And… it’s one of the bounty exchange’s core territories, strict rules, guards’ power is no joke. Causing trouble there wouldn’t be worth the cost.”
Kado guessed Kakuzu was probably eyeing the ninjas fighting there, after all, those who fought there all carried some bounties.
So he warned him, that place was bounty exchange territory.
Kakuzu finished listening without immediate response, he just silently continued counting the banknotes in his hand, producing a monotonous rustling sound.
A few days later, the fleet arrived at a relatively prosperous port in the Land of Water.
Upon docking, Kado and Kakuzu quietly disembarked, following instructions to head to a remote cliff located on a rugged coastline away from the bustle.
The sea wind was biting, whipping up salty mist, battering the steep black rock walls, producing wailing sounds.
The appointed location was at the cliff’s summit, with an open view overlooking the surging waves crashing below.
However, when Kado and Kakuzu arrived, what awaited them was not one person, but two figures.
A flash of astonishment crossed Kado’s face, his small eyes under the small sunglasses narrowing vigilantly.
One of the two opposite was wearing Kirigakure jonin’s dark uniform, carrying a ninja sword on his back, a shark-like face cold and stern, the Kirigakure headband tied on his forehead pierced by a deep scratch.
This was undoubtedly their target, Kisame Hoshigaki.
But the other person standing beside Kisame was completely unexpected.
It was a tall man in a loose brown coat, with striking white hair, a vivid red band tied on his forehead, and a pair of uniquely shaped diamond-shaped sunglasses on his face, covering the upper half, his demeanor mysterious and calm.
He bore no ninja village markings.
Kakuzu’s reaction was more direct.
He had already approached this “pickup” mission with scrutiny and testing intent, and now seeing an extra person, the cold, oppressive aura around him instantly solidified further, like a tangible cold current spreading out.
Without any nonsense, his massive frame leaned slightly forward, ink-green pupils like a venomous snake locking onto prey, staring dead at Kisame and the mysterious person beside him, his low voice carrying undisguised doubt and oppression: “Kisame Hoshigaki? That lord instructed picking up one Kirigakure rogue ninja. As for this extra one, are we packing him up to take along, or… handling him on the spot?”
His rough fingers curled slightly, as if ready to attack at any moment.
Kado suppressed his inner doubts, stepped forward, habitually piling on a merchant-like smile, but his eyes sharp as a hawk.
He nodded slightly toward Kisame: “I’m Kado, representing the organization here to pick you up. Mr. Kisame, who is this?”
His gaze turned to the white-haired sunglasses man, his tone carrying inquiry, also implying a hint of warning, “The organization doesn’t seem to have allowed you to bring others along, does it? This might bring unnecessary… trouble.”
Facing Kakuzu’s undisguised killing intent and Kado’s implicitly threatening question, Kisame Hoshigaki’s shark face showed no emotional fluctuation, as if long accustomed to various scrutiny.
“I’m Kisame Hoshigaki.” Kisame paused slightly, the sharp light in those small eyes undiminished, carrying a ferociousness after exhaustion: “As you know, I attacked the Fourth Mizukage, failed, and could only live on Kirigakure’s wanted list.”
He said it lightly, but the hidden thrilling intensity was enough to shake one’s mind.
That was assassinating a village Kage!
Kisame Hoshigaki turned to glance at the white-haired man beside him, the sharpness in his voice seeming to soften slightly: “This is my friend; when he took me in, there was a little accident.”
He shifted his body slightly, gesturing to the white-haired man beside him.
“His wife and daughter got caught up in some family feud, I need two days to handle those people. Hope you can give us a little leeway. Once it’s done, I’ll report immediately.”
Kisame’s tone carried a request, but he was also prepared for refusal.
Hearing Kisame’s condition, Kakuzu let out another low hum from his nostrils.
At that moment, the previously silent white-haired man stepped forward.
This step precisely placed him at the center where Kado and Kakuzu’s gazes intersected, also slightly blocking in front of Kisame Hoshigaki.
His loose deep brown canvas coat billowed and fell in the sea wind, flapping loudly.
He raised his hand, slowly removing the diamond-shaped sunglasses blocking his view.
The instant the sunglasses slid off, Kado and Kakuzu’s pupils contracted sharply!
That was a pair of… eyes indescribable in words!
Unlike Byakugan or Sharingan, a deep red soaked in the thickest blood spread across the entire eyeball!
Within that blood-colored envelope, the black pupil also changed, not tomoe or circles, but an ominous “I”-shaped mark glowing in the pupil, like two entrances cracked open in the abyss.
Merely being swept by those eyes, Kado felt a cold chill instantly surge from his spine to his head, as if all his blood was being drawn and stirred by that blood color!
On Kakuzu’s face covered in stitches, for the first time, an extremely grave expression appeared, even with a trace of dread; the Earth Grudge Fear tendrils inside him seemed to sense the threat, stirring restlessly under his robes.
Decades of experience wandering the edge of life and death, dealing with countless bizarre bloodline limit users, and instinctual crisis sense blared madly!
“This is… Blood Dragon Eye?! You’re from the Blood Pond Clan!” As Kakuzu, who had lived from the Warring States Period to now, wandering the ninja world for over fifty years, knew many ninja clans, naturally including the one from the Land of Lightning once as renowned as the Uchiha.
How did your Land of Lightning ninja clan end up in the Land of Water?
“Your Excellency has sharp eyes.” The white-haired man gazed calmly at Kado and Kakuzu with those heart-shaking Blood Dragon Eyes, his voice not loud, yet clearly piercing the howling sea wind: “I’m Miyashiro En, as you see, I’m a clan member of the Blood Pond Clan. As long as your organization can help me rescue my wife and daughter.”
He paused, the pupils in his Blood Dragon Eyes trembling slowly: “I can also join your organization.”
Atop the cliff, the sea wind wailed.
Kado and Kakuzu’s pickup mission instantly became complex and full of variables.
But compared to Kakuzu’s caution and crisis sense, non-ninja Kado, after the initial shock, also removed his sunglasses, sizing up the other’s eyes.
A new bloodline limit family, that lord would surely love to collect this one!
