Fifty thousand ryo. To be honest, as a bounty for a life, it wasn't low.
After all, Diarmuid had kept Kakuzu as his Sensei for over six months, and according to their contract, that was only twenty thousand ryo; though, of course, Diarmuid had provided much more than that in extras.
It's worth noting that both Kakuzu and Diarmuid measured their ryo in gold. Currently, it was wartime, and most paper currency had begun to devalue rapidly. In terms of exchange rates, fifty thousand gold ryo could be converted into roughly seventy million ryo. The rates fluctuated by region; word was that in the Land of Rain, it could fetch nearly a hundred million ryo.
"Kakuzu, that's fifty thousand gold ryo. It's not low," Sasori said, his brow furrowing slightly.
"The risk is different. That's an Uchiha. Have you never fought an Uchiha before?" Kakuzu frowned, speaking with a hint of irritation.
If I tell you to add more money, just add it. Why all the talk?
Actually, Kakuzu hadn't always been like this. But lately, he had spent too much time hanging around someone as generous as Diarmuid. He'd been led astray; looking at a "penny-pincher" like Sasori now just felt unpleasant. No class, no vision.
"I've killed two," Sasori said calmly, his tone carryng a trace of pride. Before Kakuzu could speak, he continued: "They aren't as difficult to handle as the rumors say... If I weren't looking for more certainty this time, I would have gone alone."
It was true; Sasori had indeed killed members of the Uchiha clan. He had already converted himself into a Human Puppet. In reality, his core was the "Core of Living Flesh" in his chest; he no longer possessed a human structure.
Therefore, the Sharingan's Genjutsu was essentially useless against him. My eyes are just for show; my perception relies entirely on my core and Chakra. You think staring at me with those red eyeballs is going to do something?
Impossible!
By becoming a Human Puppet, Sasori of the Red Sand had, to a great extent, made himself immune to the bizarre attacks of Genjutsu. Of course, there was a price: his physical attributes could only be improved by swapping parts. In this life, he would never have anything to do with Taijutsu again.
Whether that was good or bad depended on personal preference. That was the beauty of this world—everyone could pursue the ultimate peak through different paths. Much like Might Guy, who would never use Genjutsu in his life, yet nearly kicked Madara to death.
However, the situation had been urgent back then. Though he killed two Uchiha, the arrival of reinforcements prevented Sasori from taking the bodies. Consequently, he never got the chance to experiment with an Uchiha Human Puppet to see if the Sharingan could be controlled through puppet mechanics. Furthermore, Sasori possessed the arrogance of an artist; he looked down on the corpses of ordinary people, even if they were Uchiha.
This time, he had set his sights on Uchiha Kagami. He had originally intended to handle it himself, but his investigation revealed that Kagami was no simple target.
As Kakuzu said, he was a big deal with an extraordinary background. A disciple of the Second Hokage, the fastest man in the shinobi world, was not someone to be treated lightly. It was common knowledge that the Second Hokage held himself and others to extreme standards. Could someone without real talent become his disciple? He was likely different from the average Uchiha, a real handful.
To ensure success, Sasori had invited Kakuzu to help. Instead, Kakuzu had brought someone even more "broken" along, someone who had seemingly "one-shotted" him in their first encounter. Though Sasori felt that if he had been fully prepared, he wouldn't have been handled so easily, he had to admit he had underestimated his opponent. Still, to take him down under those circumstances meant the man's strength was undeniably formidable.
As a proud individual, even though Sasori found Diarmuid a bit unpleasant to look at, he acknowledged him in his heart. Otherwise, the previous incident wouldn't have been dropped so easily.
It wasn't just Sasori who was interested in the Uchiha clan; in fact, most ninjas in the shinobi world felt the same. If you were in the same village, it was one thing; but if you were enemies, they'd want to skin you alive and pluck your eyes out the moment they saw you.
Diarmuid... was naturally interested as well.
He had no opinion on the history or development of the Uchiha clan, but he was definitely interested in the Sharingan. What was that saying widely circulated in the shinobi world? "Only a Sharingan can counter a Sharingan."
Although facts proved this was a bit of an exaggeration, a hype-train for the Uchiha Kekkei Genkai, one had to admit that many ninjas bought into the concept. The reason was simple: the Sharingan sat at the pinnacle of Genjutsu. The Uchiha might start with Fire Release, but Genjutsu was their bread and butter, and because of the Sharingan, they possessed incredibly high resistance to most Genjutsu.
Diarmuid felt that in terms of raw power, he feared no one. Kakuzu was arrogant and Sasori was flashy, yet neither could break his defense. The problem was that Ninjutsu had many strange, unpredictable facets—messy Kinjutsu (Forbidden Jutsu) and, even more terrifyingly, Fūinjutsu (Sealing Jutsu).
He still had plenty of weaknesses, and he believed Genjutsu was his biggest flaw. If he could get his hands on a Sharingan... perhaps he could find a way to resolve it? Even if he eventually had to resort to a "transplant," as much as that disgusted him, he could accept it.
Thinking of this, Diarmuid's interest in Uchiha Kagami spiked. During the Third Shinobi World War, the Uchiha clan was quite active. There were many powerhouses: Kagami, Fugaku, and Shisui were all representative figures.
Shisui, in particular, was one of the few who could be compared to the "Yellow Flash," Namikaze Minato, during this war. Both shone brightly. "Shisui of the Body Flicker" was called the "Shinobi without Weaknesses," which showed just how strong he was.
And then there was Kotoamatsukami, a technique that made Diarmuid extremely wary. That thing was a straight-up cheat; one look and the target's thinking would be reprogrammed, with absolutely no method of resistance. Itachi even used this move to break the control of the Edo Tensei.
It was essentially a conceptual killing move. Having such an ability was a misfortune in itself—"An ordinary man is innocent, but treasure makes him guilty." Especially since Shisui's Kotoamatsukami became public knowledge. If he didn't die, who would? Any powerhouse would want such a bizarre, irresistible power to either disappear completely or be theirs to use.
In the art of hiding one's brilliance, Fugaku was actually superior; almost no one knew he possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan until the day he died.
"Kakuzu, don't be like that. This kind of thing is about the long game. Aren't you and Sasori on decent terms? He's an old client of yours; you can't be so stingy under these circumstances, or you'll burn the bridge for future business. Fifty thousand is plenty," Diarmuid advised.
Kakuzu fell silent for a moment before saying, "Fine then."
Sasori was actually a bit surprised. He knew exactly what kind of man Kakuzu was, a true miser who never budged when it came to money. Sasori had been prepared to argue it out with him.
Yet, this guy named Diarmuid had changed Kakuzu's mind with just a few words? Interesting. Did they have some kind of strange relationship?
In reality, Kakuzu was just testing the waters this time. Usually, when he said such things to Diarmuid, Diarmuid would start throwing money around without a second thought. With Diarmuid "leading the way," Kakuzu now wanted to try "adding money" to everything he did. He'd take a swing and see if any fruit fell; it didn't cost anything to ask, and if he ran into a generous sucker, wouldn't that be a profit?
Seeing that Kakuzu wasn't pestering him anymore, Sasori didn't care to bring up the money again. He spoke: "According to my intelligence, Kumogakure and Konohagakure are at war. Both sides will be testing each other within the borders. You saw it earlier..."
Yes, they had seen it. Kakuzu had already collected the bodies.
After a short pause, Sasori continued: "The intel I received says that Uchiha Kagami will be the commander of Konoha's vanguard unit, heading here to fight Kumogakure. Therefore, we will wait here for a few days. Once I confirm his movements, we'll find an opportunity to strike. The battlefield is chaotic; it doesn't matter how we do it."
True. On a chaotic battlefield, it was normal to be killed by anyone. Even if someone saw Diarmuid and the others take down Kagami, they would likely be dismissed as mercenary reinforcements or wandering rogue ninjas. No big deal.
Kakuzu looked at Sasori with a strange expression and asked, "I've wanted to ask for a long time... you wander the shinobi world alone, right?"
"Is there a problem? Weren't you alone before this?" Sasori replied indifferently, his tone unchanging.
Kakuzu wanted to say he had companions, it's just that they had all been cashed in for bounties, but he held his tongue. Instead, he pressed: "Then where did you get such confidential information? The commander of the Konoha vanguard against Kumo... that should be top-tier classified intel."
Exactly. Kakuzu was doubting if Sasori's intel was reliable. He didn't want to get screwed over without knowing why. Kagami's background was clear, and he was the boss of the vanguard; how did you get your hands on such top-secret info?
Listening to Kakuzu's question, Sasori's artificial puppet eyes moved flexibly, looking like real eyes as they flashed with disdain. "I have my ways. Rest assured, it's absolutely solid."
Diarmuid listened to this and thought back for a moment, realization dawning in his eyes.
Right. In his memory, Sasori of the Red Sand wasn't just an artist and a Master Puppeteer capable of destroying a nation with his Performance of a Hundred Puppets. He was also an exceptional Master of Intelligence.
Within the Akatsuki, it wasn't just Black and White Zetsu who handled intel; Sasori did as well. And his specialty in the field of intelligence was the Brain Wash Jutsu.
Of course, those who are good at swimming are the ones who drown; he was so confident that he eventually suffered for it, like personally handing Yakushi Kabuto over to Orochimaru.
"A Master of Intelligence, huh..." Diarmuid hadn't thought much of Sasori before, but now that he remembered this aspect of him, his eyes lit up with excitement.
My friend, you have successfully caught my attention!
Sasori noticed Diarmuid's gaze suddenly brightening, and it made his puppet skin crawl.