The Grass Village.
Haruya had no idea where the mother and daughter were hidden, nor what either of them looked like. There was no chance he'd find them by wandering around like a normal person.
But as moving, living "blood packs," they would show up wherever an injured shinobi needed them.
Which meant the solution was beautifully simple:
Block the door.
Haruya, Kakuzu, and Sasori stood dead-center on the single road leading into Kusagakure with the kind of arrogance only three extremely dangerous men could radiate.
Before long, a squad of Grass ninja appeared.
"Hey!" the leading chūnin snapped, chin lifted high. "This is the Grass Village! Are you blind? Get out of our way!"
Haruya didn't respond. Kakuzu didn't look at him.Sasori simply raised his left arm, metal plates shifting to reveal the barrel of a hidden cannon.
"???"
The four Grass shinobi stared.Had the world changed while they weren't looking?
A heartbeat later, the cannon spat out a cylinder that burst mid-air into a spray of shimmering senbon.A freezing rain of needles slashed across their faces.
All four screamed and collapsed, blood streaming from every patch of exposed skin.
"Scram," Haruya said, playing the tyrant with an easy smirk. "Don't ruin our mood."
The four ninjas scrambled away, rolling and crawling toward the village in terror.
"Next step: we follow." Haruya nodded after them.
Kakuzu and Sasori exchanged identical looks of annoyance, but the client was the one paying—so they followed.
The Grass team staggered back into the village and immediately sprinted toward a wooden cabin without hesitation.
"Quick—let me take a bite!" the chūnin gasped.
He'd realized it too late: Sasori's needles were poisoned. Half his body had already gone numb.
He lunged toward a pale, beautiful woman inside—then froze mid-step.
Because Haruya, Kakuzu, and Sasori were already standing behind her.
This time Sasori didn't bother holding back.A glittering tail shot forward, piercing straight through the chūnin's chest in a single fluid strike.
Blood splashed.The other three tried to run, but they didn't get far before they were each struck down as well.
The pale woman's face drained of color. She backed into the corner, trembling violently—but she didn't run.
Her newborn daughter slept on the bed nearby. She couldn't abandon her.
And judging from the power Sasori had displayed, there was no escaping anyway.
She could only pray they wouldn't kill her.
Haruya turned—and his eyes brightened for a moment.
She really was beautiful.
You could see it in the soft, delicate features her daughter had inherited.But beauty wasn't what struck him hardest.After living with Tsunade for so long, he was more or less immune to pretty faces.
No—what hit him was her aura.
Fragile. Pitiful.Soft in a way that made people instinctively want to protect her.
Add her pale complexion and tear-rimmed eyes, and her whole presence screamed please don't hurt me.
And with a life like hers? No wonder.
"Where's your husband?" Haruya asked, glancing at the infant.
"D-Dead," the woman whispered.
There was no grief in her trembling voice—only fear of the monsters standing before her.
It made sense. Who finds true love in the Grass Village?
"Take your daughter and come with me," Haruya said simply.
He didn't ask for her name. If she said "Uzumaki" in front of Kakuzu and Sasori, suspicion would flare instantly.
The woman froze, overwhelmed.
"What? You like the Grass Village that much?"Haruya arched a brow. "Or do you actually want your daughter to grow up suffering worse than you?"
Her heart lurched.
Her current life was already unbearable. Her daughter's future here would be darker still.
Following these three terrifying strangers… might be the only path with even a sliver of hope.
"Someone's coming," Kakuzu murmured, glancing outside. "A lot of them. All shinobi."
Of course there were guards. Mother and daughter were living medical supplies—precious ones.And this was the heart of Kusagakure. Any disturbance here was noticed immediately.
"Handle it," Haruya said.
No panic.Why would there be?
This was Kakuzu and Sasori.
As long as they didn't run into someone piloting a flying mecha, the three of them could walk sideways through most of the ninja world.
Grass Village? Please.
The woman flinched at Haruya's casual tone—then her eyes flew wide.
Kakuzu kicked open the door, formed a rapid string of hand seals, and his shoulders twisted.Dozens of black tendrils burst from his body.
A masked creature rose from the writhing mass—and launched a torrent of fire.
In seconds, the entire street outside was engulfed in roaring flames.Many of the Grass shinobi the woman recognized were swallowed by the inferno.
She stared, numb with shock.Then she clutched her baby and hurried after them.
She didn't need to think long.Only fools resisted monsters.
If she hesitated, she feared they might do something truly horrific to a "poor widow and child."
Haruya strode forward, Kakuzu and Sasori flanking him.Any Grass ninja within three steps died in under three seconds.
The woman held her daughter tightly, shaking uncontrollably, praying for survival.
Four people—plus an infant—walked straight out of Kusagakure.
No one chased.There was no one left to chase.
Kakuzu and Sasori had slaughtered the resistance so thoroughly that after several waves, the Grass shinobi finally understood:
These three could not be stopped.
"Got a sturdier puppet?" Haruya asked, glancing at the infant. "I'll pay extra. Two hundred thousand ryō."
Sasori's puppet eyes flickered.Another puppet dropped from his scroll—a reptile-shaped construct built for transport.A makeshift mount.
Sasori didn't care about money as obsessively as Kakuzu, but being in Akatsuki meant earning your keep.Besides, puppet maintenance was expensive.Like an anime figure collection—or a high-end Gunpla habit—it ate cash endlessly.
Free money? Why say no?
The woman stared in disbelief.
Two hundred thousand ryō was a fortune.Especially for someone from impoverished Grass.
And Haruya tossed it like pocket change.
"Climb on," Haruya said, hopping onto the crawling puppet and waving her over.
She didn't hesitate this time.
Panels rose around them, forming a wind-shielding shell.
Haruya's eyes lit up.
Now this was a two-hundred-thousand-ryō service.
"Your name?" he asked.
"Uzumaki Ena," she answered softly.Then, trembling, "My lord… what do you intend to do with us?"
"Relax," Haruya said with a dismissive wave. "I'm not going to treat you the way Grass Village did."
"You'll understand in two days."
Ena didn't dare press further.She could only wait for whatever fate he had in store—praying it wasn't another nightmare.
At least it couldn't be worse than Grass.
A short while later, baby Xiang—tiny, red-haired, and loud—began to wail.
"S-Sir, please don't be angry," Ena whispered quickly. "She was just born… she's hungry."
Her cheeks warmed.She turned her back to Haruya.
The crying stopped soon after.A faint, sweet fragrance filled the cramped space.