Kakuzu accepted the first commission but not the second.
Upon noticing the three members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, Kakuzu turned and ran.
This didn't mean Kakuzu was afraid of Jinin Akebino and the other two. Rather, in Kakuzu's view, fighting three of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen for Baki's sake was clearly an unprofitable business.
Thus, Baki was left alone.
The three of them stood in three different directions, firmly surrounding Baki.
Young Baki tightly gripped a short sword.
Jinin Akebino looked at Baki, a look of hatred in his eyes.
"Look what we have here? A young Sand Village ninja all alone."
"Baki, right? I've heard of you, Rasa's personal disciple."
"I didn't expect to run into you here, and alone at that. It seems my luck is pretty good. That teacher of yours is treacherous and has harmed my Mist Village many times. I wanted to settle the score with him."
"But he's lucky and manages to dodge it every time."
"Since I've run into you this time, then you will pay the debt for him."
At this moment, Baki understood that no matter what, he had no chance of survival.
Whether begging for mercy or surrendering, only death awaited him.
Once he realized this, Baki actually stopped being afraid.
Facing Jinin Akebino, he only let out a cold laugh.
"Jinin Akebino, you can't beat my teacher, so you can only come to bully me, his disciple?"
"Is this what the dignified Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist are like?"
"One isn't enough, so three come?"
"Are the ninja of the Mist Village all this incompetent?"
"No wonder you are losing."
"You want to kill me, right? Come on, I, Baki, am right here. But remember this, if you kill me, my teacher will definitely avenge me. None of you will escape."
"The Mist Village will definitely lose."
"And you will definitely die."
Jinin Akebino's face darkened.
"You brat have some backbone. I just wonder if you can still be this tough when my Helmet Splitter shatters your bones."
"I will crush every single bone in your body, one by one."
Kushimaru Kuriarare interjected.
"Then leave this brat's internal organs to me. Let me stitch them into a flower."
Raiga Kurosuki didn't speak, just grinning broadly.
Jinin Akebino took out the Helmet Splitter.
A blade in one hand, a hammer in the other, he walked toward Baki step by step.
Baki gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, staring fixedly at Jinin Akebino.
Suddenly, Jinin Akebino accelerated.
The Helmet Splitter in his hand was raised high.
Baki held his sword horizontally in front to block.
Jinin Akebino let out a cold laugh.
"Just this? How could it possibly block my Helmet Splitter?"
The next moment, the Helmet Splitter fell.
Clang!
The sound of metal clashing erupted violently.
Baki's sword was seen breaking directly.
The Helmet Splitter in Jinin Akebino's hand continued downward.
Suddenly.
Bang!
On the ground, a mass of gold dust exploded violently, splitting into two streams. One stream surged toward Jinin Akebino, while the other carried Baki's body, retreating rapidly.
A figure landed.
A hand rested on Baki's shoulder.
"Baki, go to the side."
Hearing this familiar voice, Baki revealed an expression of immense surprise and joy.
"Teacher!"
"I'm sorry, I've caused you trouble again."
Rasa waved his hand.
"I don't blame you. These people from the Mist Village are just like this. If it wasn't you, it would be someone else."
When Rasa saw Jinin Akebino and the other two surrounding Baki, he couldn't help but think of a scene from the original storyline.
The dignified Seven Ninja Swordsmen, with all seven present, surrounded Might Guy and two other young Konoha ninja.
Either the matchmaking mechanism on the battlefield between Konoha and the Mist was truly defying the heavens.
Or Might Guy and the others were simply extremely unlucky.
There was another possibility: the Seven Ninja Swordsmen did this deliberately.
Bullying the weak with the strong, bullying the few with the many...
Toying with Might Guy and the other two like mice.
Doing such things with their status as the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, they didn't feel it was degrading at all; instead, they seemed to enjoy it.
Just like now, facing Baki.
Jinin Akebino's strength alone was far above the current Baki.
But he insisted on bringing along Kushimaru Kuriarare and Raiga Kurosuki.
And they didn't kill Baki immediately but toyed with him.
The goal wasn't to kill, but to vent.
However, in a sense, Rasa had to thank these three Seven Ninja Swordsmen for this decision. Otherwise, Baki would have been dead by now and couldn't have lasted until his arrival.
Rasa still valued Baki quite a bit.
The Sand Village of the past lacked talent.
The Sand Village of the present lacked talent.
The Sand Village of the future would still lack talent just the same.
And Baki was already a very decent one in the future Sand Village.
He didn't have the bearing of a Kazekage, but being a Kazekage's assistant was still feasible.
A mass of gold dust wrapped around Baki, rising rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye. Soon, he reached a high altitude.
The Yatagarasu approached and grabbed Baki with a claw.
However, it didn't use too much force, so it just hurt a little.
"So this is Teacher's summoning beast."
Then, Baki looked down again.
"Teacher, he will win, right?"
Baki had been outside the Sand Village for this period, but he knew about the big news in the ninja world.
The Kaguya clan of the Mist Village rebelled, and the Third Mizukage was heavily injured.
The Beni-yama clan of the Sand Village rebelled, hundreds of ninja ambushed Rasa, but were killed by Rasa instead.
"I didn't expect the Beni-yama clan to commit such a treasonous act and even sell out village intelligence. The reason the village fell into such a disadvantage against the Mist Village before must be largely due to the Beni-yama clan's efforts."
"Truly disgusting to the extreme."
"Fortunately, Teacher hid his strength."
"Really strong."
"I wonder if one day I can reach Teacher's level."
The moment Rasa appeared, the expressions of Jinin Akebino, Kushimaru Kuriarare, and Raiga Kurosuki instantly became ugly, staring warily at Rasa.
"Fourth Kazekage, Rasa!"
Jinin Akebino's expression was serious.
"You came really fast. Relying on that giant summoning beast of yours? Running so far for a disciple, alone. It seems you really treat this disciple well."
"Aren't you afraid that you can come, but you won't be able to leave?"
"Or do you think that because you could kill the Beni-yama clan, you don't fear us, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen?"
"We are different from those people."
"That ninjutsu of yours, and the Yatagarasu, won't have such a good effect on us."
Jinin Akebino was very apprehensive, but after analyzing Rasa's abilities, the tension in his heart decreased a lot. He even felt that for them, this was very likely an opportunity.
An opportunity to kill Rasa.
Three against one. No, actually four against one.
"The advantage is mine!"