"What is this?"
Naruto looked at the three figures lying at Orochimaru's feet, their foreheads adorned with Konoha headbands, and raised an eyebrow in surprise.
Orochimaru chuckled and said, "I found these three while cleaning up Kusagakure."
"They're probably scouts sent by Konoha. The one with the sticker on his face is from the Inuzuka Clan, the one wearing sunglasses is from the Aburame Clan, and the last one is from the Hyuga Clan."
"It seems Konoha noticed our movements and sent out a reconnaissance team. However, these three are just decoys. While they were distracting us, the real scouting team managed to escape."
Naruto frowned at Orochimaru's explanation and said, "Oh? They managed to escape from you?"
Orochimaru shook his head, his sinister gaze shifting to Kakuzu. "My snakes only detected their location. I was on defense. He was the one who made the move."
Kakuzu's expression did not change much, and he said, "The other three were too far away. By the time I got there, they had already escaped. But given the distance and the fact that I was masked, they couldn't have identified me."
"Hmm."
Naruto simply nodded. Whether or not the two of them were exposed didn't matter much to him. He didn't expect them to handle high-level battles anyway. Special talents were best used in special situations.
"Let me introduce you. This is Mui. He'll be your colleague from now on," Naruto said, pointing to Mui, who was standing awkwardly in the background. Then he gestured to the two nervous youngsters and added, "And these two are family members."
"H-Hello."
Mui stammered, greeting the others nervously. The pressure from the two powerful Ninja in front of him was overwhelming. If he remembered correctly, the cold and sinister-looking Ninja was none other than the legendary 'Snake Sannin,' Orochimaru.
And the guy with the green eyes definitely wasn't ordinary either. After all, how could anyone casually chat with an S-Rank Missing-nin from Konoha be simple.
More importantly, he noticed Karin and Kaho, who had long been used as blood bags by Kusagakure.
Although he hadn't interfered with the village's affairs for a long time, he was still a member of Kusagakure. He needed to gauge their attitude toward him first.
"A colleague? But he seems a bit weak, doesn't he?" Kakuzu squinted, scrutinizing Mui, who was doing his best to maintain a stoic expression but was clearly sweating under the pressure.
Kakuzu wasn't wrong. In Kusagakure, even a Chunin could be considered high-tier combat power. Mui, the warden of Hozuki Castle, was only a slightly stronger Jonin at best.
His ability to control so many prisoners in Hozuki Castle relied on the Heavenly Prison Technique, a Jutsu that restricted others from gathering Chakra.
In the original work, even Naruto, who could hold his own against Pain, couldn't break free from this Jutsu. That alone showed how terrifying this Jutsu was.
"Special talents are always different. Get to know each other for now. I'll set things up." Naruto said.
The Flying Thunder God Technique could transport people, but it wasn't suitable for moving large groups over vast distances. If the technique failed, he wasn't sure what would happen, so it was safer to set up a Flying Thunder Formation Technique.
"Special talent? What's so special about you?"
Kakuzu's green eyes seemed to glow with a strange light.
He remembered that the special talent recruitment contract Naruto had offered him came with incredibly generous terms, which is a monthly salary of ten million ryo, along with various social benefits.
'If this weakling was also a special talent, wouldn't he soon become a nouveau riche?' Kakuzu quite enjoyed mingling with wealthy people.
"Uh, I was the warden of Hozuki Castle. I'm not sure what's special about me," Mui replied humbly. After witnessing Naruto's overwhelmingly violent combat prowess and meeting Orochimaru, one of the legendary Sannin, he genuinely couldn't figure out what Naruto saw in him.
"Warden of Hozuki Castle? You?"
Kakuzu's tone was filled with skepticism as he frowned at Mui.
"Is there a problem?" Mui's brow furrowed as well, 'I hadn't misspoken. Was there any doubt that I was the warden of Hozuki Castle?'
Kakuzu stroked his chin thoughtfully, while Orochimaru simply watched quietly from the side. Things without research value rarely held his interest, though he occasionally glanced at the white-haired girl standing behind Mui.
'Who would have thought that such a small village like Kuagakure would not only harbor two survivors of the Uzumaki Clan but also a Kekkei Genkai clan?'
"I remember now!" Kakuzu suddenly widened his eyes, staring intently at Mui without saying a word.
This left Mui feeling uneasy. Being stared at by those green eyes gave him an inexplicable sense of dread.
Mui swallowed hard and asked, "D-Did you remember something?"
Kakuzu narrowed his eyes and said through gritted teeth, "You're the son of that bastard Museki, aren't you?"
"F-Father?" Mui was taken aback. He hadn't expected to hear his father's name from this man. After all, his father had died during the Second Ninja World War.
"Do you... know my father?" Mui asked uncertainly, 'If this man really knew Father, how old would he be?'
"Humph! That bastard Museki caused me a lot of trouble back in the day!"
Kakuzu's words were filled with resentment, and his gaze toward Mui grew even more hostile.
"This..." Mui was a little confused.
"But... my father has been dead for decades." Mui said, feeling that Kakuzu was just looking for an excuse to pick on him.
"My name is Kakuzu. When I was imprisoned in Hozuki Castle, your father was the warden."
"..."
Mui fell silent, his poker face betraying no emotion. After a long pause, he finally uttered three words.
"Are you sure?"
It wasn't that he didn't want to believe it, but if Kakuzu had really been imprisoned by his father, he would have to be in his sixties or seventies by now. But he didn't look old at all.
"Hmph, it doesn't matter if you believe me or not. The debt your father owes will be repaid by you, his son!"
"This..." Mu wasn't sure if Kakuzu was telling the truth, but the man was undoubtedly stronger than him. He couldn't afford to offend him, so he tentatively asked, "Then, Kakuzu-sama, how should I repay this debt?"
A smirk crept across Kakuzu's face beneath his mask, and his green eyes seemed to glow even brighter.
"Hmph! Your father imprisoned me for three years, so for the next ten years, half of your annual salary will be mine!"