Watching Hidan drag the Mi-Go's corpse away through another exit in the engine room, Rachel did not immediately give chase.
She knew that unless she dealt with the grim man in the black mask in front of her, she wouldn't be able to proceed.
"What's your name?" Rachel asked.
"Kakuzu."
"Hmph, what an unpleasant name."
At Rachel's taunt, Kakuzu furrowed his brow slightly and said, "Is taunting all you've got? Hurry up and attack."
The knight smiled faintly, clasped her hands together in front of her chest, then spread them apart. A bright purple arc of lightning appeared between her hands.
Seeing the arc of lightning materialize out of nowhere, Kakuzu was momentarily stunned.
Huh? Is this ninjutsu? No hand seals?
Before he could make sense of what he was seeing, Rachel had already launched the two arcs of lightning at him.
"Lightning Strike!"
Kakuzu's defensive techniques relied on Earth Release, which was especially weak against lightning. So, instead of trying to block the attack, he leapt onto a nearby power unit.
The two lightning arcs missed, crashing into the ground.
However, Rachel wasn't discouraged. She looked up at Kakuzu, now perched on higher ground, and taunted, "Do you think being up there makes you untouchable?"
"How naive!"
The arcs of lightning in Rachel's hands fired again, viciously attacking Kakuzu.
Wherever the lightning arcs struck, metal plates were instantly ripped apart. If those strikes landed on a person, the damage would be catastrophic.
Kakuzu's physical prowess, however, allowed him to dodge Rachel's attacks with relative ease.
As he avoided the strikes, he calmly analyzed the situation, trying to understand this ability.
At first, he had assumed that this world didn't have ninjutsu. But now it seemed that, while this world lacked traditional ninjutsu, it did possess abilities similar to it.
Take this woman, for instance—she could emit lightning arcs without forming hand seals, even manipulating them like whips.
"So, it seems your world's people have some special abilities as well," Kakuzu remarked during a pause in Rachel's assault.
His words startled Rachel, reminding her of what the scythe-wielding man had said earlier.
He had said, "We'll leave you in this world." And now this man in front of her said, "your world's people."
The implication seemed clear—they were not from this world.
"Where exactly are you from?"
To uncover the truth, Rachel suddenly stopped her attack, retracting the lightning arcs, and asked Kakuzu.
"Me? I'm from another world."
Kakuzu's tone suddenly sharpened as he raised his hand and launched a tentacle punch directly at her chest.
However, Rachel wasn't caught off guard by the conversation. She quickly raised her hands, forming a hemispherical electric barrier in front of her.
Kakuzu's tentacle punch struck the barrier, and the Iron Skin imbued in the tentacle was instantly neutralized by the lightning, turning it into an ordinary punch.
"Ugh!"
The powerful electric current traveled through the connecting threads into his body, causing him pain.
Squinting one eye, he hastily severed the threads to disconnect his fist from the barrier, ending the electrical discharge.
Seeing Kakuzu's slightly disheveled state, Rachel taunted again, "Is that all you've got?"
Adjusting himself, Kakuzu looked up at Rachel.
"You've managed to annoy me."
As his words fell, his newly mended red-and-black cloak ripped apart again. Massive black threads burst from his back, forcing out four masks that formed into four black shapes behind him.
He hadn't planned to use his Earth Grudge Fear mode against this woman. But her lightning abilities perfectly countered his Earth attribute, leaving him with no choice.
When Rachel saw the four black forms emerging from Kakuzu's back, she realized he was finally taking the fight seriously.
"In that case..."
Rachel's body began to transform. Her previously slender figure swelled rapidly, and within seconds, she had turned into a hulking ape with a blue face.
"Prepare to die!"
Rachel took heavy steps forward, her thick, hammer-like arms ready to strike Kakuzu the moment she got close.
"Wind Style: Pressure Damage!"
Kakuzu quickly formed hand seals and unleashed a fully powered attack. A massive wind sphere shot out of the black form representing the wind attribute.
Rachel quickly halted her advance, bracing herself with both hands to summon a blue electric barrier in front of her.
"Useless! Your attacks can't break through my electric barrier!"
But before she could finish speaking, she saw with her own eyes a small hole forming in her blue shield.
The hole spread rapidly, like a dam bursting, and the massive wind sphere surged through the opening.
"Ahhh!"
In an instant, the massive wind sphere broke completely through the electric barrier and struck Rachel's body.
Her ape form was sent spinning violently through the air, crashing into the metal walls of the engine room.
By the time Kakuzu approached her, Rachel's ape transformation had already dissolved. Her knight armor was shattered, revealing the layers beneath.
"A foolish woman who doesn't even know that wind counters lightning."
Kakuzu looked at the now-unconscious Rachel. After a moment of thought, he tore off the top half of his red-cloud-patterned black cloak and draped it over Rachel's body. Then he hoisted her over his shoulder and headed toward the fortress's upper level.
"What's taking so long?"
At the top of the fortress, the Byakhee was already waiting. However, Kakuzu hadn't taken off immediately as planned and had been delayed.
"This woman was harder to deal with than expected. It took some time."
Hidan glanced at the unconscious female knight slung over Kakuzu's shoulder and shouted, "Why'd you bring her? We're heading back!"
"This woman possesses a unique ability. If we bring her back, she might fetch a good price."
Just as Kakuzu and Hidan were preparing to leave, more people arrived in pursuit, led by Hyde.
"Rachel!"
The two female knights with him immediately cried out upon seeing their captured companion. But Rachel was completely unconscious, unable to respond to their calls.
Kakuzu tossed Rachel's body onto the Byakhee's back and then jumped aboard himself.
"Let's go."
"Got it!"
With that, the Byakhee, carrying the Mi-Go's corpse on one side and Hidan, Kakuzu, and the unconscious Rachel on its back, leapt off the fortress balcony and flew into the distance.
Seeing this, Camilla—one of Hyde's knights—immediately prepared to give chase. Like Rachel, she also had transformation abilities, allowing her to turn into a bat and pursue them in the air.
But just as she took two steps, Hyde's voice stopped her.
"Don't chase them."
Hyde, who had been silent until now, suddenly gave the order to stand down, leaving Camilla confused.
"Hyde-sama!"
But Hyde didn't respond to her protests. Instead, he gave a direct command. "I need some time alone. All of you, leave me."
Camilla, Felicia, Richard, and the other knights looked at Hyde in silence. His eyes seemed blank and dazed, as if he were lost in some profound shock.
Once the others had left, Hyde, still standing motionless, murmured to himself, "So the ninjas they spoke of really do exist."
---
"What? Only 10 million?"
In the exchange office, Kakuzu grabbed the receptionist by the collar.
"Do you have any idea where we had to go to get this thing? And now you're telling me it's only worth 10 million? Are you messing with me?"
"B-but the bounty specifically asked for the Mi-Go's corpse, not a bucket of its corpse solution."
Beside the receptionist, a metal bucket sat, half-filled with a transparent, oily liquid.
And the whole story began just a few hours earlier.
A few hours ago, Hidan and Kakuzu were returning to the shinobi world aboard a Byakhee, carrying a corpse and a captive female knight from another realm.
Suddenly, Kakuzu noticed that the Mi-Go, clutched in the Byakhee's talons, was dissolving—like an ice cream melting in the summer heat.
The unexpected development startled him, who thought the corpse's decomposition was due to improper preservation.
Thus began his frantic efforts to save the Mi-Go's body for the 80-million-ryō bounty.
But in the end, its corpse completely liquefied, leaving only the half-bucket of corpse solution behind.
"Forget it. Getting 10 million for the solution is better than nothing."
On the other hand, Hidan, utterly uninterested in the bounty money, simply yawned. As a devout follower of the King in Yellow, his mission to kill the Mi-Go had already been fulfilled.
Kakuzu glanced at the indifferent Hidan and then at the receptionist in front of him.
"Looks like I'll just have to chalk this one up to bad luck. Get me that 10 million, now."
"Right away!"
Soon, the receptionist brought over a cash-filled box. Kakuzu immediately opened it and began counting the money.
This annoyed Hidan, who grumbled, "Seriously? You're going to count it bill by bill?"
"Of course. This is my hard-earned pay. Not a single note can be missing."
"Tch, I'll wait outside."
Hidan slung his scythe over his shoulder and walked out, leaving only him and the receptionist behind.
As Kakuzu clumsily counted the cash, the receptionist's eyes quietly drifted to a woman lying on the ground nearby.
The woman wore purple armor, partially covered by a torn Akatsuki uniform. From the faint rise and fall of her chest, she seemed to still be alive.
"May I ask, who is that?"
Kakuzu followed the receptionist's gaze and impatiently replied, "A woman from another world. She uses some kind of ability different from ninjutsu."
The receptionist fell silent for a few seconds before speaking again, "Did you bring her back to sell her for a good price?"
Kakuzu's fingers stopped mid-count, and he looked up at the receptionist. "How did you know?"
"I've heard plenty about your business acumen from others at the exchange office."
"If you are planning to sell her, why not just sell her to me?"
"Sell her to you?"
"Not to me personally—to our exchange office."
"Our office deals in high-value corpses requested by clients and also actively purchases valuable bodies. Naturally, if the target is alive, that's acceptable too."
Kakuzu was silent for a moment, then said, "I've taken on plenty of bounties from this office, but this is the first I've heard of such a service."
"If that's the case, let's talk price. How much can you offer?"
"10 million."
"50 million!"
"20 million."
"50 million!"
"25 million."
"50 million!"
"It seems you're not really willing to sell her."
Faced with Kakuzu's insincere counteroffers, the receptionist's formerly innocent expression twisted into a sly, almost sinister smile that even made Kakuzu feel slightly uneasy.
"Alright, 30 million then."
"Deal!"
"I'll get the money for you."
After a while, the receptionist brought out another money box.
Once Kakuzu had carefully counted every note, he left with the two boxes of cash. The secret door of the exchange office closed once more.
In the exchange office, the receptionist slowly approached the female knight who was lying on the floor, and reached out to touch her.
At that moment, Rachel's tightly closed eyes suddenly snapped open. She thrust the dagger in her hand straight toward the receptionist's neck.
In truth, she had regained consciousness much earlier. However, after fighting Kakuzu before, she knew she wasn't a match for him—let alone when paired with the scythe-wielding man.
So, she endured, biding her time for an opportunity to escape.
From overhearing the conversation between Hidan and the receptionist earlier, it was clear Kakuzu held a higher status, easily intimidating the receptionist.
Rachel deduced that the receptionist was likely just an ordinary person—someone she could handle.
But when she finally made her move, she realized how wrong she was.
Just as her dagger was about to pierce the receptionist's neck, her wrist was firmly caught. Worse yet, a brown snake slithered out from the receptionist's sleeve.
The snake's body dangled in midair, hissing inches from her face.
With his other hand, the receptionist peeled off the human-skin mask covering his face.
Underneath was a ghastly pale, emaciated visage with severely drooping inner eye corners. A dangerous yet mesmerizing aura emanated from his slightly upturned lips.
A long, thin tongue slithered in and out between his lips without hindering his speech.
"You've been awake for a while, haven't you? Let's get acquainted then."
"My name is Orochimaru."
"And you? Are you from another world?"
Looking at the serpent-like man before her, Rachel's heart sank.
She had just escaped the tiger's jaws, only to fall into the wolf's lair.
---
In a secret hideout, Orochimaru entered, carrying a woman over his shoulder and holding a metal bucket in his hand.
"Orochimaru-sama."
Kabuto hurriedly stepped forward to take the woman off Orochimaru's shoulder.
"This woman was captured by Kakuzu from another world. She has the ability to use something called the Greil Stone to perform unique feats."
"Keep her alive for now. She might become my first vessel that doesn't require Living Corpse Reincarnation."
"Understood."
Kabuto secured Rachel in a cell within the hideout and quickly returned to the laboratory, where he found Orochimaru preparing a scroll.
The scroll was covered in complex signs that Kabuto recognized as belonging to the Edo Tensei technique.
Edo Tensei, a forbidden jutsu created by the Second Hokage, had been banned by the First Hokage before its completion.
Through years of research and refinement, Orochimaru had brought this technique close to perfection. He had even managed to successfully summon the Third Kazekage through Edo Tensei previously.
Although the resurrected Kazekage had resisted Orochimaru's control using his willpower, it was still the most successful Edo Tensei experiment to date.
Kabuto knew that Edo Tensei was Orochimaru's greatest masterpiece, something he would never allow anyone else to witness in action. Understanding this, he tactfully turned to leave.
"Kabuto."
Orochimaru's slightly raspy voice echoed through the empty space, stopping him in his tracks.
"Aren't you curious about this jutsu? If you are, I'll allow you to stay and watch."
"As for the target of this summoning—naturally, it's this."
With that, Orochimaru raised the metal bucket in his hand, revealing that it contained the Mi-Go corpse solution.