"Arrest me?" Kakuzu let out a cold laugh. "Brat, do you know where the last person who said he would arrest me is now?"
"Where?"
"In hell."
He was Kakuzu, a legend of the underground bounty exchange. There was no way he would allow himself to be arrested by a twelve-year-old brat.
"Oh." Shin-chan nodded. "You just said the last person who tried to arrest you is in hell, which means you killed him. Now you have another crime added to the list—resisting arrest and murder. According to the security regulations..."
"Stop mentioning those security regulations you made up."
"I'm currently the head of security for the Daimyo's residence. Whatever I say is a regulation becomes a regulation. That's the authority of the head of security."
Kakuzu took a deep breath.
Calm down. He had to remain calm.
This brat was attempting to disturb his mind with nonsense. Kakuzu had seen this tactic many times before.
"You said your name was Nohara Shinnosuke, correct?"
"That's right."
"Very well, Nohara Shinnosuke." A mask rose from Kakuzu's back. "I'll remember your name."
"Nohara Shinnosuke. My dream is to become Hokage, and the food I hate most is green peppers..."
While Shin-chan was speaking, Kakuzu's mask released a burst of flames.
This was one of the brat's weaknesses. At that moment, his attention was divided.
And a distracted Flying Thunder God user was no different from an ordinary ninja.
Fire Style: Intelligent Hard Work.
Flames surged toward Shin-chan like a tidal wave.
Although the attack was not as overwhelmingly powerful as Kakuzu's composite ninjutsu, it was faster and far more concealed.
As expected, by the time Shin-chan raised his head, the flames were already in front of him.
He leaped backward and narrowly avoided the main body of the fire, but one corner of his clothes was still scorched.
"Ah!" Shin-chan lowered his head and stared at the burned corner. "Misae just bought me these clothes."
"Misae?"
"My mom."
Kakuzu froze. "What does your mother buying you clothes have to do with me?"
"Misae has to spend money to buy clothes. Burning my clothes is the same as burning Misae's money. Burning Misae's money is the same as burning my allowance. Do you know how many chocolate sticks I could buy with my allowance?"
The corner of Kakuzu's mouth twitched.
Still, this was fine.
The longer the brat stood there talking nonsense, the more time Kakuzu had to prepare his next move.
"I have no interest in your allowance."
As Kakuzu spoke, he placed one hand behind his back and secretly formed a hand seal.
"Then are you going to compensate me?" Shin-chan asked.
"No."
"Then I have no choice but to arrest you."
Shin-chan pulled a kunai from his ninja tool pouch and threw it toward Kakuzu.
Kakuzu stepped aside.
Although his taijutsu was inferior to that of jōnin who specialised in close combat, avoiding an ordinary kunai throw was effortless.
However, the moment he dodged the kunai, Shin-chan suddenly appeared behind him.
The Flying Thunder God Technique.
Kakuzu had no time to turn around. His tendrils instinctively shot from his back and stabbed behind him.
But Shin-chan was faster.
He grabbed Kakuzu by the collar with one hand while chakra gathered in the other.
"Caught you!"
Shin-chan struck Kakuzu's back with his palm.
However, the moment his hand made contact, Kakuzu's body released a muffled sound.
Poof!
His body transformed into white smoke.
"You're pretty quick with the Shadow Clone Technique, mister."
Shin-chan embedded a kunai in the ground nearby, swept his gaze across the surrounding forest, and began sensing the chakra around him.
To the left?
Nothing.
To the right?
Nothing.
Below...
He abruptly lowered his head.
The ground beneath his feet cracked open, and black tendrils emerged from the soil and wrapped around his ankles.
"I'm the one who caught you."
Kakuzu's voice came from underground.
The tendrils jerked violently, pulling Shin-chan off balance and sending him falling toward the ground.
At the same time, Kakuzu burst from the soil on the other side. Three masks opened their mouths simultaneously as flames, violent winds, and lightning gathered within them.
"You fell for it, brat."
While talking with Shin-chan, Kakuzu had already prepared an Earth Style trap beneath his feet.
The shadow clone had merely created the illusion that he was escaping. The real killing move had been hidden underground.
Shin-chan's figure vanished again.
Kakuzu instinctively sensed that something was wrong.
He had long known that the Flying Thunder God Technique did not require hand seals. But actually facing it was another matter. That completely unpredictable spatial jump still sent a chill down his spine.
His tendrils quickly burrowed deeper into the earth as he prepared to sense Shin-chan's location again.
Then he heard a voice behind him.
"Security Regulation Number Three."
The tip of a kunai pressed against Kakuzu's back.
Shin-chan continued, "Anyone who resists an officer carrying out official duties will be fined ten additional chocolate sticks."
Feeling the kunai against his back, Kakuzu smiled.
"Brat, how do you think I've survived for so long?"
"How?"
"Because I never fight somewhere without an escape route."
Kakuzu's body suddenly melted like mud and slipped away from the kunai.
An earth clone.
Shin-chan lowered his head and looked at the ground. "He ran away?"
He sensed beneath the earth and discovered that Kakuzu had created several clones underground, each fleeing in a different direction.
"That mister is really good at escaping." Shin-chan scratched his head. "No wonder he survived for seventy-seven years."
He returned the kunai to his ninja tool pouch.
The scorched section of his clothing was still there. He tugged at the blackened fabric and sighed.
"Misae is definitely going to scold me."
He then pulled out his small notebook and wrote down a few lines:
Kakuzu. Male. Seventy-seven years old. Black tendrils. Likes using composite ninjutsu. Extremely skilled at escaping.
Was acting suspiciously near the Daimyo's residence and claimed he intended to rob the treasury.
Repelled, but not captured.
Finally, he added one more sentence:
The next time I meet him, I must place a Flying Thunder God formula on his body first.
The wind swept through the forest, lifting the fallen leaves and carrying them away in spirals.
Shin-chan looked up at the sky.
"Oh no. It's already this late. Ai must be getting worried."
He stretched, turned around, and headed back toward the Daimyo's residence.
Inside the residence's kitchen, the cook responsible for preparing sweets was busy working.
When she saw Shin-chan climb through the window, the cooking utensil in her hand nearly fell to the floor.
"Lord Nohara, why are you using the window again?"
"The main entrance is too far away." Shin-chan jumped down from the windowsill. "Do you have a needle and thread?"
"A needle and thread?" The cook froze. "What do you need them for?"
"To repair my clothes."
Shin-chan pointed at the scorched corner of his outfit.
The cook lowered her head and examined the blackened mark, then looked at Shin-chan's face, which clearly said, This was only a tiny accident.
"Lord Nohara, that burned section can no longer be sewn back together. It can only be cut off."
"Cutting it off is fine too, as long as no one can tell it was burned."
"Take off the garment. I'll cut away the scorched section and finish the edge for you."
The burn was not large. Once the damaged section was removed and the edge resewn, no one would notice unless they looked very closely.