A tall man strode into the underground black market.
He wore the signature black cloak marked with red clouds and a forehead protector from Takigakure with a horizontal slash across it. His face was covered with a black cloth mask.
His eyes were an eerie shade of green, glowing like twin ghostly flames unsettling enough to send chills down anyone's spine.
"It's the S-Rank missing-nin, Kakuzu!"
Within the black market, more than a dozen bounty hunters and mercenaries looked up. They were a rough crow rogue ninjas and missing-nin, all radiating a fierce and rebellious aura.
These ninjas roamed freely between nations without allegiance, living lives stained with blood and danger. They were quick to draw their weapons over any slight, feared by many.
But as the tall man entered, they all visibly recoiled giving him a wide berth, as if avoiding a venomous snake.
Kakuzu was a notorious S-Rank missing-nin from Takigakure, reputed to be extremely powerful, possibly on par with a Kage-level shinobi.
He frequently accepted high-paying bounties from the black market, boasting a remarkable success rate of 90%.
Even his 10% "failure" rate wasn't because he failed assassinations it was simply that he never encountered the target.
"Welcome, Lord Kakuzu!" greeted a small man with two thin mustaches, the only one bold enough to approach.
This was Mishima Kichi, the operator of this black market outpost.
To others, Kakuzu was a terrifying "monster." But to Mishima, he was a walking fortune.
With Kakuzu's incredible track record, every completed contract meant hefty commissions for the black market. Seeing such a reliable S-Rank missing-nin arrive was cause for excitement.
"Any high-paying bounties lately?" Kakuzu asked.
He had recently killed off his noisy team, tired of the constant chatter. Now, enjoying the silence, he decided to check if any new lucrative contracts had come in.
"Sure, sure! There's a bounty that just hit thirty million," Mishima said with a wide smile.
"Thirty million," Kakuzu's eyes gleamed with interest.
"What's the target?"
"It's for Uchiha Fugaku, head of the Uchiha clan in Konoha," Mishima said, respectfully handing over a bounty notice.
Kakuzu took it, quickly glancing at the portrait before his gaze landed on the reward amount indeed, thirty million.
Such a high bounty was rare, definitely worth considering.
"Any recent info on him?"
"The target left Konoha recently. Last sighting was yesterday evening near Fannoya Town in the Land of Fire," Mishima answered.
"Fannoya Town," Kakuzu muttered, tucking the bounty notice away as he turned and strode out of the black market.
Watching his departing figure, Mishima's eyes shone with anticipation hoping Kakuzu would succeed in killing Uchiha Fugaku and claim the bounty.
One day later, Uchiha Fugaku arrived at the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rain.
Ahead, dark clouds stretched endlessly.
The sky looked like it was covered by a black curtain, no sunlight breaking through just a gloomy haze.
The Land of Rain was a country perpetually shrouded in clouds and frequent rainfall.
Situated between the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth, it had often been a battleground during past ninja wars, contested by Iwagakure and Konohagakure.
Fugaku moved forward, ready to cross into the Land of Rain.
Suddenly, his eyes narrowed as his gaze locked onto a figure ahead.
The man was masked with black cloth, his piercing, eerie green eyes cutting through the gloom.
Tall and muscular, clad in the red cloud cloak.
"S-Rank missing-nin Kakuzu."
With memories from a past life, Uchiha Fugaku instantly recognized Kakuzu.
The cloak confirmed Kakuzu's current allegiance to the Akatsuki organization.
What surprised him was how soon he had encountered this Akatsuki member.
He had expected to meet Kakuzu years later, when the Akatsuki began collecting tailed beasts.
"You actually recognize me," Kakuzu said with mild interest after hearing his name.
"There are few S-Rank missing-nin in the ninja world how could I not?" Fugaku replied calmly.
"You're not afraid of me?" Kakuzu asked, genuinely surprised.
Kakuzu was infamous as an S-Rank missing-nin, used to people either fleeing in terror or trembling upon hearing his name.
Even elite jōnin ran from him without hesitation.
Since becoming S-Rank, few had stood their ground without fear.
"Why should I be?" Fugaku's voice remained steady.
"Interesting," Kakuzu muttered.
The calmness wasn't a bluff there was confidence behind it.
Kakuzu had faced many confident opponents before; aside from one person, they all ended up in the black market, their lives traded for bounties.
Kakuzu pulled out the bounty notice he had studied several times, comparing Fugaku's face to the photo, then asked:
"So you are Uchiha Fugaku?"
"Seems like you're after my bounty," Fugaku said knowingly.
He understood why Kakuzu had found him — but how?
He had been careful to conceal his movements, so his location shouldn't have been exposed.
"So you didn't mistake me," Kakuzu said, his gaze turning predatory.
A terrifying aura burst from him like a boulder rolling down a mountain, forceful and overwhelming.
A few hundred meters away, on a tree branch, a masked man with orange hair surveyed the scene.
He was a Root operative codenamed "Wind," named Yamanaka Kaze, a member of the Yamanaka clan.
Like the Aburame clan, the Yamanaka had close ties with Danzo Shimura, which is why Kaze was part of Root.
"How did Uchiha Fugaku end up face to face with S-Rank missing-nin Kakuzu?" Kaze wondered.
He knew Kakuzu's reputation well.
What puzzled him was how Kakuzu could know Fugaku's whereabouts when Fugaku had been careful to hide them.
"Could it be...?" a thought crossed his mind.
He regularly reported Fugaku's movements to Root Kakuzu's knowledge likely came from leaks outside the organization.
Danzo wants Kakuzu to kill Uchiha Fugaku!
Though surprised by the conclusion, Kaze remained detached.
Root members only execute orders they don't let emotions interfere.