Karin was leaning over the railing of our private VIP booth at the coliseum, watching the two fighters closely.
Neither of the fighters was new, nor were they anything overly impressive, but one of them hadn't been in the ring in over three months after his last loss.
That was indeed a long time away from the fighting.
More so for someone under new ownership, they mostly wanted to prove themselves right away.
So, for one to not fight for that long? It could mean he was injured, but their owner would rarely care about such things. No, it was far more likely that they had been doing some kind of secret training.
Learning a new trick.
Most fighters had only a few signature moves and ninjutsu under their belts.
That wasn't really limited to people fighting there; most shinobi didn't have access to that many ninjutsu. For a chūnin, they might only know a few beyond the academy basics.
Karin had long since learned that within the limited set of rules used here, even a small trick could mean the difference between victory and defeat, so now that this guy was back, she was eager to figure out what trick he had learned.
From the signs of minor burns around his fingers and lips, I would say it was likely a Fire Release ninjutsu, likely something simple like a C-rank one.
But even that could indeed be a game changer when one was limited in where they could dodge, after all, moving out of bounds meant defeat.
And while the Fireball Jutsu rarely managed to land a killing blow on its own, it did require someone to dodge out of the way, and that was where it was best.
Even the Uchiha used it mostly to set up their follow-up moves. Fast to use, low chakra requirements, and still deadly enough to require a response.
Though I was doubting if we would get a chance to see that move, or at least if Karin would ever get a chance to face off against this man again.
After all, a few rather large chakra signatures entered the range of my Byakugan all at once.
Four very strong signatures indeed, though I did recognize a few of them. Even if Kakuzu had changed a few hearts out since the last time I saw him.
I pulled a small cord, and a moment later, a maid entered.
"You called, Lady Kaguya-hime?" she asked politely.
"Four guests in matching outfits are arriving soon. Please escort them to meet with me," I instructed her.
"Of course, milady," she said, before bowing and leaving the room.
"Are we having guests?" Karin asked as she looked away from the match, as interesting as it might be for her, the fact that I had guests was clearly more interesting, because I rarely, if ever, had guests. Everyone had always arranged meetings beforehand.
None had just come without an appointment.
"Yes," I replied calmly. "And you should behave yourself, these guests are dangerous, so don't cause trouble, and stay near me." I didn't intend to send her away, after all, even now, the safest place was still near me.
Karin wasn't scared, far from it, the fact that it was dangerous only made it more interesting for her. She liked the idea of getting to meet dangerous shinobi.
So despite her continuing to watch the fighting happening on the stage, it was clear that her full attention wasn't on it; instead, she was using her sensing abilities to track and scout out my guests.
The moment she finally did sense them, her reaction was impossible to miss, she froze, going completely still and stiff. Her eyes widening slightly as she felt the weight of their chakra.
These were clearly on a level she had never felt before, and it was telling her that these weren't your common run-of-the-mill jōnin.
A few minutes later, the maid returned, leading four cloaked figures.
The Akatsuki.
I hadn't expected them to come so soon, or in such a large group.
But that clearly just meant they knew I wasn't someone they could easily push around, and I knew how they operated.
Their recruitment method was crude, and that was being generous.
It all came down to one thing.
Force.
You didn't have a choice when it came to them.
Karin had moved to my side as they got close, scared by the frightening depth of their chakra. When she saw Kakuzu, she hugged me tightly, clearly remembering that years ago I had once fought him.
She recognized that he was an enemy.
"It isn't often I get guests, nor that old... friends, come to pay a visit," I said, stretching the word friends out.
"You say that, but clearly you were expecting us," the sole woman of the four said. Her long, pale blue hair was styled with a paper flower in it, a beautiful but strange ornament. Her eyes were a cool, intelligent amber, assessing everything. This was Konan.
"Well, what can I say? When someone like Kakuzu and Itachi Uchiha comes around my path, I can only assume that they are coming to pay me a visit. What else would draw four like you my way?" I kept the fact that I knew they belonged to the same group.
It was better not to make Konan cautious of me.
Still, while I acted casual, I was on high alert. Those four? They were a deadly threat even to me. If I were careless, they could not just hurt me, but kill me.
After all, Itachi had Amaterasu, something that was more than a little troublesome, and in his close range?
Yeah, I took this seriously.
"You aren't wrong, the only thing worth anything all the way out here is you and your two wards," Kakuzu's gruff voice spoke up, as if he was a collector appraising merchandise.
"Be silent, Kakuzu," Konan said, not even turning to look at him, her tone firm and absolute, "We are not here to fight."
But as she spoke those words, I could feel the faintest tension in her chakra. She was prepared for a fight, ready to unleash a storm of paper and death at a moment's notice. She was a predator, playing at being a diplomat.
"Then why are you here? I doubt this is a social visit, or a threat, because I do not appreciate threats," I asked, my tone just as firm and absolute as hers. I wasn't going to play their games.
"We are here with a proposal," Konan said.
"I am not interested in proposals," I replied curtly, turning my attention to the fight on the stage. "And your interruption has cost me my enjoyment of the fight. So unless you have something important to say, I suggest you leave."
I could feel the frustration emanating from Kakuzu, the cold curiosity from Itachi, and the barely restrained bloodlust from the last one, a man with a large cleaver on his back and a strange tattoo on his face. He looked at me like I was a piece of meat.
Konan didn't take my tone to heart, if anything, having me be this defensive was just right. I was, after all, a rogue shinobi, as were they, and when two such people crossed paths, it often ended with the death of one side.
Everyone needed money, after all.
"We belong to the Akatsuki, it is a group of S-rank rogue shinobi, and we are seeking new members, we have heard tales about your strength, and we have come to offer you a place among us." She laid her cards on the table, not because she wanted to, but because she knew that anything else would just be a waste of time.
I took a sip of my tea. "And what does this... Akatsuki... do? Collect bounties? I have no need for that, money is of little use to me." I could feel the tension in the room increase. They had expected me to be more... impressed. But I was not.
"Our goal is to bring peace to this world," Konan said, her tone fervent, almost religious.
I almost laughed at that. "Peace? You bring peace? By bringing together a group of the most dangerous people in the world? And how is a bunch of criminals supposed to bring peace to anything?" I turned to them, a slight smile on my face. "Are you planning to kill everyone who disagrees with you?"
"You mock us," Konan said, her voice cold.
"No, I am merely stating the obvious," I replied. "Peace is a noble goal, but so far none have managed to achieve it yet, not even the great Hashirama Senju, who defined this new era, could bring peace beyond his own lifetime." I reminded her of the folly of her goal. "And to think, you can do it? That is arrogance."
Konan didn't look put off by my words, she had likely heard such things many times before. She wasn't some freckled girl who could stumble at the slightest touch. "We have a plan. A plan that will force the world to understand the pain of war, and in doing so, we will bring about an era of peace. The likes of which the world has never seen before."
Her words were filled with conviction, and I could see that she truly believed them. Nagato's influence was strong.
Or maybe she was just desperate to believe that what they did had meaning? It was impossible to know for sure without reading her thoughts, and even my Byakugan couldn't do that.
Still, their idea wasn't bad; it was the same idea Madara had before Zetsu got to him: to use force.
It worked under me, under my son, and under Hashirama Senju.
When someone was too strong to challenge, people were too afraid of the consequences to start a war.
They wanted to inflict the pain of losing onto everyone, such that they would be too afraid to start another war, too afraid of feeling that pain again.
A crude way of going about it, one with plenty of issues, but it was a whole lot better than believing people would just understand one another and all decide to stop fighting.
Conflict was human nature, and one didn't change human nature; at best, they could suppress it.
"Still, what does that have to do with me? I am a noble, and a powerful kunoichi, something both Kakuzu and Itachi there can testify to, so I already have peace, don't I?" I pointed out. "My life is peaceful. I have no war to fight. So why should I join your little group? What do you offer me that I do not already have?"
That was the issue. Why would I join them? I didn't share their goals. I wasn't desperate for money. I didn't need their protection. I had my own resources, my own power. So what could they possibly offer me?
If I suddenly just decided to agree with them, that would be suspicious, so I had to make them work for it.
Konan had clearly expected that, as she didn't miss a beat, "And what of others? I know you aren't as heartless as other nobles, you took in her and her mother." She pointed at Karin, hiding against my body. "What about the children of the Uchiha clan, whom you saved? Surely, you can see that in a world of peace, such tragedies won't happen." She said, playing at my heartstrings.
She was good, I had to give her that.
But it was not good enough.
"You say you would avoid such things, yet have the one who slaughtered his own family right next to you? How ironic." I fired back, and I saw Itachi's hand tighten into a fist. Konan didn't look impressed though.
"Some things are necessary for the greater good," she said calmly.
"Are they?" I asked, my tone a challenge. "Or is that just an excuse you tell yourselves so you can sleep at night?" I could feel Karin's small body tremble against mine, her chakra swirling with confusion and fear. She understood the words, even if she didn't grasp the full weight of the history behind them.
Kakuzu snorted. "This is a waste of time. She's just like the rest. All talk, no bite." He took a step forward, the stitched-together masks on his back writhing, a low growl emanating from them. "Perhaps a... demonstration of our conviction would persuade her."
"Stand down, Kakuzu," Konan's voice was like ice. "We were instructed not to use force unless absolutely necessary."
I caught onto that, "So if I don't agree, you will use force?" I asked, and she didn't deny it. "So it isn't a proposal, it's an ultimatum."
"Peace doesn't always come willingly; sometimes it must be forced," Konan said, not arguing against being willing to use force. She had no problem with it; she just wanted me to understand that they were serious.
It was a classic Akatsuki recruitment method, the: join us or die.
I made a big show of leaning back, as if considering their words, and the threat behind them. "It's not impossible, but I do have some conditions."
(End of chapter)
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