"Ping ping pang pang..."
The sound of kunai clashing rang out, and within the dense mist two or three sparks flashed faintly. It seemed the ninja attacking this banquet were not just one of the songstresses.
Five Jōnin were still hiding in the dark, and one of them, a Super Jōnin, had also made a move. The surroundings were swept clean directly by him, the guardian ninja unable to block him at all.
"Fire Release: Grand Fireball Technique!"
A huge fireball rolled toward them from the front. Kairen flashed away while holding Miroku, dodging the scorching flames.
...
Kairen burst out of the daimyō's palace hall. Outside, sunlight shone brilliantly.
Miroku's light-violet pupils looked at the heroic young man carrying her. She hadn't expected that the butterfly she had just held in her hands was a transformed ninja.
"Who are you?!" Miroku asked.
Kairen thought for a moment, then replied, "Your white horse prince!"
"My white horse prince?!" Miroku thought for a moment, then suddenly said, "Can you help me solve my troubles?!"
"The troubles of lonely nights?! No problem, I'll definitely help you with those."
Miroku shook her head.
"Not loneliness. My country is suffering a great drought, and many disaster victims are waiting for me to save their lives."
Kairen placed Miroku on a step, snapped his fingers, and two clones appeared to guard her.
Kairen turned around and left a sentence for Miroku:
"A natural disaster? Small issue. If I fix it for you, you'll have to enter the bridal chamber with me, okay!"
Miroku said nothing, quietly watching Kairen run back into the battlefield.
This man, like that prince just now, also lusted after her body—yet she did not dislike Kairen.
Because he was handsome, had just protected her, and—most importantly—was handsome.
Inside the palace, dense mist filled the hall, but crackling lightning and flames continued nonstop.
The small nation's daimyō also had two or three ninja beside him, guarding closely at his side.
With his Byakugan, Kairen saw three ninja wearing fire-patterned waistcloths—they were fighting the attacking rogue ninja.
"The Twelve Guardian Ninja?!"
Kairen thought inwardly. These were the twelve Jōnin who protected the daimyō, all Jōnin-level fighters.
Among the rogue ninja attacking the banquet, one ninja drew Kairen's attention—the Super Jōnin who had launched the earlier attack.
His chakra was extremely massive—ten times denser than the surrounding Jōnin—and had already reached Kage-level.
Most importantly, he had five chakra sources. From the anime, there was only one person with such a special constitution—the money-loving Kakuzu.
No doubt he had his eyes on the Fire Daimyō's head, coming to take it in exchange for money.
The Twelve Guardian Ninja were no match for Kakuzu. In an instant, the black tendrils of Earth Grudge Fear whipped around, piercing straight through the heart of one Guardian, killing an elite Jōnin immediately.
His black threads continued lashing in all directions, wiping out the entire Twelve Guardian Ninja in moments. Kakuzu continued his slaughter.
Seeing him about to strike toward the side of the Land of Snow, about to pierce a cute little loli—
A loud shout rang out: "Fire Release: Dragon Flame Technique!"
A straight jet of flame shot over, burning away all of Kakuzu's black threads in an instant.
"A skilled one!" Kakuzu murmured. With one move, his rich experience had already judged his opponent a master.
Kakuzu didn't waste words. He immediately used a Fire Release ninjutsu: "Fire Release!"
It was Kakuzu's most powerful Fire Release ninjutsu, vomited from his mouth as a massive wave-like blast of fire. Upon landing, it would expand instantly, turning everything before it into ash.
Kakuzu was unexpectedly cautious—he used his big move straight away.
Because he still had to protect the daimyō inside the palace hall, Kairen couldn't run alone. He clapped his hands together:
"Wood Release: Advent of a World of Trees!"
"Kala-la-la..."
The concrete floor was instantly blown apart by surging wood.
One trunk after another burst forth like giant serpents, binding all the daimyō and those beside them within the dense mist, pulling them up toward the eaves.
The giant trees continued rising, pushing open the palace roof as sunlight poured in.
"Wood Release!!"
Kakuzu's green pupils shrank sharply.
As a ninja who once shot a hand-held spear at the First Hokage from eight hundred km away and still lived to the present, Kakuzu naturally knew what Wood Release meant.
He instantly saw clearly a handsome black-haired young man in a gray short shirt.
The man wore a Konoha forehead protector, glancing at him slightly sideways, as if he didn't place Kakuzu in his eyes at all.
"You're a Konoha ninja—a descendant of Senju Hashirama?"
Kairen smiled. "What difference does it make whether I am or not?"
If he answered yes, Kakuzu would definitely pretend, bragging about fighting the First Hokage and escaping alive.
Above them, the Fire Daimyō, who had a wooden vine wrapped around his foot, shouted down at Kairen,
"Are you the Konoha ninja sent to protect me? Why did you come only now? Hurry and put me down!"
Kairen looked upward, his gaze turning cold. "Are you teaching me how to do things?!"
The Fire Daimyō's entitled tone angered Kairen. In his eyes, ninja were tools—when they were supposed to work, they worked.
The Fire Daimyō continued with complete self-righteousness:
"You Konoha ninja speak so impertinently. Forget it, I won't stoop to your level. Hurry and get rid of that fellow."
In the ninja world, daimyō were strange existences: weak, powerless, yet the superiors of ninja.
In the anime, daimyō could scold the Hokage, and it was considered normal.
The Allied Shinobi Forces had to waste a Mizukage just to protect these useless people.
But Kairen was not a normal ninja—he dared to threaten the Third Hokage. How could a mere ordinary person have the courage to command him?
Kairen shifted his gaze toward Kakuzu and asked, "How much is his bounty?"
Kakuzu was puzzled but still answered honestly, "Ten billion ryō!"
Ten billion ryō—converted to RMB, about six hundred million. For the head of a great-nation leader, that was actually low.
Kairen said to Kakuzu, "I'll sell him to you. How about we split fifty-fifty?"
Kakuzu: ⊙ω⊙
It was his first time seeing a ninja sell his own country's leader and then negotiate the bounty with the enemy.
"No, only ninety-ten. I take nine, you take one—no, still not acceptable. I take everything!"
Above, the Fire Daimyō heard this. Furious, he pointed at Kairen.
"Konoha ninja, what did you say?! Are you colluding with the enemy and preparing to betray the nation?!"
Kairen's face turned cold. In all his life, anyone who dared speak harshly to him had grass growing on their graves. The Fire Daimyō was seeking death.
"Noisy!"
Kairen raised his hand, preparing to control the wood to fling the Fire Daimyō away—whether he died or not would depend on his luck.
But then a small slug suddenly appeared on Kairen's shoulder and, with a "pop," expanded to the size of a kitten.
"Kairen-sama, you must not be rude to the daimyō!"
Kairen turned his head slightly toward the slug perched on his shoulder.
"Where did you come from?"
The slug said, "It was Tsunade-sama who had me hide on your body. She told me to keep an eye on you and stop you from acting disrespectfully toward the daimyō."
Tsunade understood Kairen's explosive temper and feared the daimyō would provoke him, so she had the slug hide on him to prevent any treasonous catastrophe.