In a small house in the Land of Waves, two men sat at a kitchen table. The two looked absolutely nothing alike on the surface. The only thing they shared was their clothing: black cloaks adorned with red clouds.
The first of them — a young man with ash-gray hair swept back — was unhurriedly eating an apple. He was well-built, with quite attractive features. One arm held a three-bladed red scythe tucked against his side.
"Goddamn Leader!" the man exclaimed, tossing the apple core out the window. "What the hell are we doing sitting here, huh? Kakuzu, I'm asking you!"
"Shut up…" Kakuzu rasped.
The second man's head was covered by a pale gray hood, and a dark mask concealed the lower half of his face. His eyes seemed to belong to another world entirely: green irises without pupils and red sclera — they looked more like the eyes of some demon crawled up from the underworld.
"What did you just say?"
"Hidan…" Kakuzu began explaining with reluctance. "I'll remind the room: our organization has a contract for elimination—"
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Hidan cut him off. "What do you take me for, a complete idiot? What I'm asking is why the hell it's Itachi and Kisame going on this one. And what the hell are you and I doing in this dump? I can't bring myself to call this godforsaken place a country."
Kakuzu simply pulled a flyer from inside his cloak and laid it on the table, sliding it toward the gray-haired man. On the flyer was a photo of a bald young man with a rather blank expression. Below the photo was a list of key information about the target they had been contracted to eliminate.
"And they needed four of us for this bald idiot…" Hidan raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? I could've sacrificed him to Jashin-sama on my own!"
"The photo is admittedly unflattering," Kakuzu shook his head, glancing sideways at the target's face. "However, according to the information provided by the client, this bald man has an SS ranking — roughly equivalent to Kage level. It says here his physical strength is comparable to the Slug Princess, and his speed matches the Third Raikage. If that's all actually true, we're dealing with a serious opponent…"
"Hahaha," the Jashin priest gave a laugh. "Don't make me laugh. All I need is a taste of his blood for the ritual — and that moron's dead."
"Don't be overconfident. Of the four of us, you're the weakest…"
"But the most unkillable and the best-looking," Hidan shot back. "Because I'm blessed by my God. Unlike you lot — heretics…"
"I believe Itachi and Kisame will complete the mission, and our assistance won't be required," Kakuzu continued. "They went out for a combat reconnaissance, but the two of them should be more than sufficient to eliminate both the architect with his escort team and our primary target."
"Then why the hell are we sitting here rotting? If they're such hotshots, let them handle the job themselves! And you and I can pop over to my homeland, the Land of Hot Water… kill a hundred or two in Jashin's glory…"
Kakuzu thought for a moment. Three days ago, the Akatsuki had received an interesting contract for the elimination of one shinobi. The client had provided detailed information about the target: a photo, height, weight, general profile, and approximate combat statistics. The combat power described was difficult to believe at face value, because if you took the provided information seriously, this bald young man was practically a reincarnation of Hashirama — with a smaller technique arsenal, perhaps, but strength that could earn him a Kage title today.
Kakuzu regularly kept tabs on updates to the Bingo Book and combed through private notices for the capture or killing of various missing-nin. He ignored small fry, but he never let serious, actually viable contracts slip by — notifying the organization's Leader whenever possible about new opportunities to earn funds by operating as hired contractors. As the Akatsuki's treasurer, Kakuzu had near-complete access to the organization's resources. His financial pragmatism was only an asset to the Leader. He frequently carried out elimination contracts on serious targets himself, not trusting others with the work. In his eyes, all these victims were nothing more than walking bags of money — letting money walk away would be the height of idiocy.
There had been no prior mention of this Saitama anywhere. As though he had appeared in the world only a couple of weeks ago. But that was impossible. A shinobi with that level of strength was typically a well-known figure. And that he was powerful — there was no question about that, because no idiot would spend that kind of enormous sum on a nobody. The deposit alone — a third of the total — had already been received by the Akatsuki, which spoke to how seriously the client intended this, and to the no less serious danger level of their target.
And the presumed abilities of Saitama listed in the profile were impressive. Superhuman strength — on par with the world's greatest Taijutsu masters. Superhuman speed — apparently achieved through some special genome granting an elemental affinity for speed. Superhuman durability — apparently this shinobi maintained a chakra-reinforced body shield at all times. Absolute immunity to poisons. In terms of ninjutsu, he had only demonstrated Wind Release techniques, commanding at minimum one: Wind Release: Pressure Damage. Furthermore, the target was permanently alert and possessed superhuman reflexes — not a single one of the previous ten covert assassination attempts had produced any effect. Not a scratch on him.
"You zoned out, didn't you?" the Jashin priest interrupted Kakuzu's thoughts. "I'm asking, what the hell are we doing here in this hole?"
The treasurer rubbed the crossed-out headband of the Hidden Waterfall.
"We are here as backup, because the Leader is being cautious," he began reluctantly. "Which is understandable. It's not every day that our client is willing to pay forty-five million ryō to have some unknown shinobi eliminated."
"All you ever think about is money, you mercenary piece of work," Hidan said with contempt.
"Money rules the world," Kakuzu countered. "Your deranged mind is simply incapable of grasping this basic truth."
"I'm the deranged one?" Hidan asked. "For the love of — I'm the most level-headed one in our whole crew!"
Kakuzu looked his partner over skeptically.
"The hell you staring at?" the Jashin priest shouted. "Not my fault I'm surrounded by godless heathens on all sides. Nobody can understand the Path of Jashin! But I don't care! I alone am enough to bring pain, destruction, and the will of my god to the world!"
Kakuzu let the deranged young man's last outburst flow past him.
"We cannot risk that kind of money. If we fail, our reputation could suffer. Moreover, this Gato is also useful to us. His funds would come in very handy…"
Offering the Akatsuki's services to the local mafioso magnate had been Kakuzu's idea. Because there was no such thing as too much money. Gato himself had only commissioned them to kill old man Tazuna. He had, however, refused the Akatsuki's offer of protection services. Probably because the mafioso was a terrible miser, and their organization — despite offering reduced rates for killings — had named a rather substantial sum for the protection of both Gato and his business. The shipping magnate had said he would think about it, but his eyes made it abundantly clear how much it pained him to part with his money.
Of course, the income from eliminating some architect was nothing compared to the income from their primary target — but there was also an elite jonin with that Tazuna. And there was a bounty of twenty-five million on the latter's head.
"I don't get any of this," Hidan shook his head. "If the organization needs money that badly, wouldn't it be simpler to just off the little magnate and take his cash?"
The treasurer fell into thought. His deranged partner's words contained a grain of truth — the money sitting in Gato's pockets ran into the hundreds of millions, possibly even billions.
"Hm…" he drawled. "If word gets out that we kill our own clients, it could damage our reputation badly…"
"Who cares?!" the Jashin priest cut him off. "Like we're some shining beacon of virtue and righteousness! Besides, that little toad would make an excellent sacrifice for Jashin-sama."
Kakuzu scratched his chin thoughtfully, then said:
"I'll ask the Leader. Surprisingly, your idea is not entirely without merit."
"Well, I'll be damned!" Hidan said in exaggerated surprise. "Someone's finally listening to my opinion."
The young man produced another apple. Taking an enormous bite, he began chewing noisily, grating on Kakuzu's nerves.
"Don't irritate me," Kakuzu growled. "Is it really so hard to eat like a normal person?"
"Mind your own business," the Jashin priest replied with a full mouth. "I eat how I eat."
"By the way," Hidan continued, returning to the pressing topic. "If Kisame doesn't knock this bald guy around… I'll take that bandaged shark-stick he carries and—"
"You wouldn't have the strength," Kakuzu snorted. "More likely Kisame would shove Samehada right back at you for that mouth of yours."
"Yeah, no thanks," Hidan shuddered, apparently picturing the scenario. "Besides, I was speaking figuratively…"
Hidan didn't get to clarify what exactly he meant, because a crow flew in through the open window. Landing on the table, the bird looked around, then from its beak came a cawing:
"Help! Reinforcements!"
The crow then vanished in a dark cloud of smoke.
"What the hell was that?" Hidan asked, shifting his gaze from the table where the bird had just dispersed to his partner.
"We move out," Kakuzu said. Without further words he rose sharply and leaped out the window. Hidan grabbed his scythe and, cursing furiously, hurried after him.
This message had come from Itachi. And if he had called for them through a crow instead of his ring, things were bad.
Shortly before.
"That old man is ours. Step aside — or you all die…"
A wave of killing intent flooded the surrounding forest, making the very gut tremble. The genin tensed. Zabuza's bloodlust was oppressive. The powerful pressure emanating from this jonin, along with visions of illusory death, might have incapacitated some rookie just freshly out of the Academy — but Team Three was nowhere near being wet-behind-the-ears rookies. So every one of them dropped into combat stances, ready to repel the attack of enemy shinobi.
Tazuna's legs buckled, and he nearly lost consciousness. His body was wracked by violent trembling, and the only reason he didn't wet himself was most likely because he had recently visited some nearby bushes.
Gai said firmly:
"That's impossible. We have a mission, and we must finish it as quickly as possible. Team Three — execute the plan!"
After the sensei's words, breathing became easier, and the enemy jonin's killing intent seemed to ease.
"Yes sir!" the genin answered in unison.
Lee moved alongside his instructor. The other genin covered the client. Ten-Ten opened a scroll and produced strange pouches from it; arm drawn back, the girl waited for the sensei's signal. Neji activated his Byakugan, scanning the Mist shinobi. Only Tazuna had no idea what to do or where to put himself. His house was still some distance away, and there was no guarantee his home village wouldn't have an assassin's ambush waiting. So the architect stood frozen like a pillar of salt.
"Lee, we're in a hurry! So don't hold back…" Gai began. "In the name of the Power of Youth!" Gai shouted, then leaped toward Zabuza: "Dynamic Entry!"
The flying kick was blocked by the Mist jonin's cleaver, but Zabuza was sent flying a dozen meters. Flipping in midair, he pushed off from the tree into which Gai had launched him. A battle at unbelievable speeds erupted. The men moved away from their junior-ranked allies so as not to accidentally catch any of them in the crossfire.
The Mist chunin spread out around the perimeter, encircling the Konoha team.
One of the Mist shinobi charged at Lee, threatening to run the boy straight through — but the genin was far nimbler. Dodging the lunge, he knocked the tantō from the enemy's hands, then suddenly appeared behind him and drove his foot into the man's neck. The sound of cracking vertebrae followed, and the chunin crumpled to the ground like a broken puppet.
The remaining Mist shinobi exchanged glances and decided to coordinate their attack. This time they went for the architect. About a dozen kunai flew toward Tazuna, but Neji appeared in front of the old man.
"Rotation!" The chakra vortex deflected the incoming projectiles. "Ten-Ten, now!"
The girl nodded, and from behind Neji two pouches flew outward. Upon hitting the ground they exploded, releasing a gray smoke that instantly grew to cover the surroundings in a radius of about ten meters from the epicenter. The enemy chunin leaped backward, creating water clones within the smoke screen, then tried to scatter in different directions.
Ten-Ten, however, had no intention of letting up. She immediately began pelting the area with smoke bombs, stripping the opponents of their spatial orientation. The smoke caused her own teammate not the slightest inconvenience. The young Hyuuga had no plans to deactivate his Byakugan anytime soon.
Neji rushed at the nearest Mist shinobi:
"Gentle Fist!"
The strike ruptured the chunin's lung; blood began pumping from his mouth in spurts. The clone had no idea what was happening to the original, since the smoke screen was only spreading further.
Naive fools. My Byakugan tells apart water clones from originals, Neji thought.
Before the Mist shinobi's body hit the ground, Hyuuga had already lunged toward the next enemy.
Rock Lee, meanwhile, decided to return to Ten-Ten and the architect. Neji moved through the smoke screen like a fish in water and needed no help there.
"Three more at nine o'clock!" Hyuuga shouted, striking the next opponent's tenketsu with the Thirty-Two Palms of Heaven.
The girl quickly got her bearings and began pelting the direction the genin had indicated with smoke bombs, followed by throwing weapons.
Then, from some distance away from the genin, their instructor's roar rang out:
"You are a worthy opponent. Therefore I will not hold back. Gate of Opening — open…"
Gai's forehead veins swelled, and he shot toward the jonin like lightning. Ducking under a cleaving sword strike, he drove his elbow into the man's solar plexus — but the man turned out to be a water clone.
Zabuza appeared behind Gai, threatening to take the Green Beast's head. A blink — and instead of Maito, a wooden log was cut to pieces. The Taijutsu master himself appeared before his opponent a couple of moments later, the bindings on his arms unwound.
"Time to finish this!" he snarled. "Leaf Whirlwind!"
A barrage of kicks rained down on the enemy jonin. Despite excellent sword technique, Zabuza simply couldn't defend fast enough. One of the lateral kicks knocked the cleaver from his grip, and the low kick that followed swept the man off his feet.
"Leaf Hurricane!"
A kick from Maito launched the opponent into the air, then he jumped and struck again. In midair the bandages wound around the victim. Cocooning the Mist shinobi, Gai spun the jonin like a top, then drove him hard into the ground.
"Primary Lotus!" Gai announced the technique's name, looking down at the shinobi lying there — still breathing, but rattling. "You're quite durable to still be alive. And relatively unharmed at that," Maito raised a thick eyebrow.
Zabuza shook his head, trying to clear the stunning and push past the pain throughout his body.
"Don't move," the Konoha jonin frowned, looming over the swordsman.
Momochi grunted and tried to move his arm — only to receive a powerful blow to the stomach, after which he lost consciousness.
"I said, don't move," Gai said sternly. Then he turned and walked unhurriedly toward his students. He had neutralized the primary threat. The rest his genin could handle. If needed he would cover his charges — but nothing more.
The second trio of chunin proved more of a problem for Team Three than the first had. The enemies had taken lessons from their predecessors and were attacking from a distance. Kunai with explosive tags hit Hyuuga with uncanny precision, as though they had their own sensor. Neji had already used four Rotations, and his Byakugan was starting to falter. The genin noticed that their instructor appeared to have finished his fight, since no sounds of battle were coming from that direction any longer. But that was beside the point — if they kept relying on their sensei, they would never progress beyond genin. The chunin exam was coming before long, and this mission was an excellent test of their professional aptitude and shinobi skills.
"Two clones at ten o'clock!" Hyuuga shouted.
Lee gave an eager nod and moved in the indicated direction. But shuriken immediately flew out of the smoke at him. The genin dodged easily, jumping aside. He closed his eyes slightly, relying more on hearing than sight. The clones drew close, and Rock dispersed them with two precise strikes — the copies splashed apart in sprays of water.
Ten-Ten had stopped using smoke pouches and was throwing various metal projectiles wherever Neji directed. The girl hadn't hit a target yet, but that wasn't necessary — soon the smoke would clear and she could join the fight properly.
Whoosh.
"Ah!" Tazuna cried out. A deep scratch appeared on his cheek.
Neji cursed. He deflected the counter-volley of shuriken again with a Rotation, partially dispersing the smoke — but in the same moment, one of the enemy's clones had thrown a shuriken at Tazuna from the other side. Ten-Ten had barely managed to pull the architect out of the way, but not all the way. A scratch remained. Not critical — but still their mistake.
"In the name of the Power of Youth, I will protect my friends and the client!" Rock Lee shouted. "Third Gate! Gate of Life — open!"
The genin's skin flushed red, and his body began radiating a greenish aura. The ground beneath the boy cracked from the force he was releasing.
"RAAH!" the energy raged within Lee — he couldn't contain the roar that tore from his throat. "Guide me, Neji!"
Hyuuga, quickly recovering from his shock, began calling out directions to where the enemies were.
Less than half a minute later the chunin were finished. The energy emanating from Lee dispersed the smoke surrounding him, leaving the Mist shinobi easy prey. The first fell with a shattered skull before he could retreat. The second was taken down by Lee using the Leaf Hurricane. The third became a victim of the Primary Lotus. The genin's speed and power during the fight had multiplied manifold. Even if six chunin had attacked him simultaneously at that moment, they likely could not have stood against Lee. He was unstoppable.
Rock Lee stood before his teammates, breathing hard. He deactivated the Gates. Despite the relatively short duration of the technique, the genin was exhausted.
"Well done!" Gai declared, walking up to his charges. "Especially you, Lee — I'm proud of you!"
Lee found the strength to strike his good-guy pose:
"Sensei, it's all thanks to you. And thanks to the Power of Youth!"
Neji, scanning the area with his Byakugan, gave a sharp jerk of his head.
"The enemy jonin!"
"He's lying down, resting," Gai said carelessly with a wave of his hand.
"No, Sensei," Hyuuga said with concern, deactivating his Dojutsu. "He's gone!"
"Huh? What do you mean, gone? I just knocked him out!"
The jonin rushed to the spot where he had left Zabuza's unconscious body — but it was already empty. Clicking his tongue in displeasure, Gai returned to the team and said:
"He slipped away."
"What a pitiful sight," the man with gray-blue skin in an Akatsuki cloak said with a sneer. "And this is supposed to be one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. Not only did he lose to some animal, but his own student carried him off the battlefield. Laughable. And those chunin… what sorry excuses for fighters. Taken down by snot-nosed kids."
The image projected through the Uchiha's Genjutsu dispersed. The crow that had been soaring above the site of Team Three's recent battle remained in the sky, watching from above, several kilometers from the hired shinobi now gathered here.
"Gai is the strongest in Taijutsu," the brunette stated flatly. "Despite our warning, Zabuza was doomed from the start. Without me, you may not be able to handle Maito."
"You underestimate me, Itachi. I'm more than enough to deal with that bunch of kids and a subpar jonin."
"You're overconfident, Kisame. And you rely too heavily on your sword and your chakra advantage. You also have a bad habit — you play with your opponents. Someday it will be your undoing."
Kisame's only response to this was to bare his teeth in a grin, displaying sharp triangular fangs:
"Enough talk. Do we wait for the bald one and then cover them all at once?"
The Uchiha closed his eyes for a couple of moments. One might have thought he was deliberating — in fact he had simply shifted his attention to the two Special Jonin from Konoha who had recently stepped ashore in the Land of Waves.
Itachi shook his head:
"No. We go now."
"Wise," Kisame stroked the hilt of the bandaged sword at his shoulder. "Apart, they'll be easy prey."
"You were incredible, Lee," Neji said, surveying the battlefield.
Their instructor at this point had decided to punish himself for letting the Mist jonin escape. So Gai had put on his weights and begun doing one-legged squats with two logs on his shoulders. Ten-Ten, meanwhile, was tending to the groaning Tazuna's wound.
"Ha, Neji!" the genin grinned. "I had that technique ready especially for you. At the exam I'll give everything I have against you!" He raised a finger and winked at the Hyuuga — though this time the "good-guy pose" came out slightly strained. Opening the Gate of Life had not passed without consequence for the thick-browed boy.
Hyuuga nodded. He would never have thought Lee could master the Eight Gates. This forbidden technique was beyond most people, as it required extraordinary physical conditioning. Neji was frequently called the strongest genin — but today he understood that Lee deserved that title in his place. In the past, back in the Academy, the young man had thought Rock Lee was just an amusing boy who strived to get stronger but would never be able to exceed his limits. Neji had believed fate had destined him to be at most an ordinary genin — a laughingstock who trailed behind everyone else. After all, the inability to use Genjutsu and Ninjutsu struck a heavy blow against a shinobi's overall combat capability. But gradually the talentless boy had been going against his own nature — pushing forward in defiance of everything and achieving results that were truly extraordinary for his level.
And today Lee had proven that fate could reward the persistent and hardworking. Rock Lee was a genius. A genius of hard work. What heights he might reach in the future was unknown — but if Lee continued as he was, he would quite possibly become one of Konoha's strongest shinobi.
Perhaps this is part of his destiny? To become strong no matter what… flashed through Neji's mind. The young man rubbed the headband on his forehead that concealed the Branch Family seal of his clan.
The architect's voice pulled Hyuuga from his thoughts:
"I feel sick. My vision is doubling."
The old man shook his head, then his body tilted. Losing his balance, he fell and began gasping for breath.
"Tazuna-san!" Ten-Ten cried. Sweat was pouring from the architect's forehead, his breathing rapid and labored. Gai threw down his logs and rushed to the client.
"What's wrong with him?" Maito asked.
The girl quickly opened her bag and began searching for an antidote. Apparently the shuriken that had grazed Tazuna had been poisoned, and the effect had been delayed. Fortunately Ten-Ten had taken medical ninjutsu courses and was familiar with the primary poisons and antidotes used in shinobi field work.
Finding the right antidote bottle, she poured its contents down Tazuna's throat.
"A delayed-action poison," Ten-Ten answered her sensei. "Good thing I recognized which one from the symptoms immediately. If I'd waited a couple of minutes — he would have died."
Tazuna, meanwhile, sank into merciful unconsciousness. The old man's house was about two hours' walk away, but in his current condition it was better not to move him just yet. He wouldn't be able to walk on his own for a while, for obvious reasons.
"Sensei, we'll have to make camp," Ten-Ten said.
Gai nodded and began helping Neji set up a temporary shelter. He strictly forbade Lee from exerting himself, since the genin had recently used the Gates Technique.
Rock Lee sprawled out near his teammate. He opened his water flask — only to find it empty. After using the forbidden technique, his body ached, and on top of that he was desperately thirsty. Ten-Ten was occupied with Tazuna and had started preparing medicine for the architect. Neji and Gai-sensei were also busy gathering firewood, and Lee didn't want to pull any of them away from their work. Nor did he want to show his own weakness.
Conveniently close at hand was the architect's pack. Lee thought it would be better to take a small sip from the architect's flask than to start asking his teammates or sensei for water. Walking to the nearest water source in his current state was also quite difficult.
Quietly opening the bag, Lee found what he was looking for almost immediately. The bottle was sitting near the top. Pulling out the wooden stopper, he took a couple of sips to wet his throat. Pulling the bottle from his lips, Lee noticed the water had a somewhat strange taste — but he paid it no mind. His thirst still wasn't quenched, so the young man decided to take a couple more sips. Then a couple more… then more… and more…