Freelancer in the Ninja World

Senshi, unconcerned, walked over and sat right in the middle of Orochimaru's sealing formula. Apparently, Orochimaru had developed this technique to aid his research.

Once Senshi settled in, he could feel a special energy wave scanning his chakra. After making these preliminary observations, the look on Orochimaru's face was priceless.

He had great confidence in his own research-supporting technique, so he believed the measurements were accurate beyond doubt—and what he saw left him thoroughly astounded:

"What on earth… How does he have such a massive and pure chakra reserve? How can he have Tailed Beast–level affinity with the Lightning nature? His physical constitution might rival—even surpass—the legendary Third Raikage's. This body is beyond amazing—it's a flawless vessel!"

Orochimaru stared at Senshi, who was sitting calmly in the center of his experimental seal. He could barely resist seizing that body for himself right then. But the terrifying amount of chakra inside Senshi, his incredible constitution, and his mastery of Lightning Release all kept Orochimaru grounded. Without meticulous preparation, there was no way he could handle Uzumaki Senshi head-on.

Bzzz—

After a while, the glowing lines of Orochimaru's research seal faded. Orochimaru spoke:

"That's enough for now. I'm finished with today's tests."

In truth, Orochimaru was also thinking about whether to hire Senshi to capture the Rinnegan from Nagato or the Sharingan from Uchiha Itachi. With Senshi's enormous power, they might even have a shot at taking Nagato's Rinnegan. But Orochimaru decided against it, for now. He planned to study Senshi over the long term and eventually steal his body as the perfect vessel. Only then would it be easy to claim the Sharingan or the Rinnegan himself.

Senshi, of course, had no idea Orochimaru was thinking that far ahead. After cooperating on the research, he and Karin left Orochimaru's hideout. Once they were away, Karin looked up at Senshi:

"That guy means you no good. You need to be careful."

Hearing that, Senshi reached out and ruffled Karin's hair. Ignoring her annoyed glare, he messed it up thoroughly.

"Hahahaha… You've got it backward. He's the one who should be careful."

At this point, Orochimaru no longer posed any threat to him. Senshi was stronger day by day—certainly more so than someone like Orochimaru could handle. And as a mission fanatic, he knew tomorrow's Senshi would be stronger than today's. If Orochimaru couldn't deal with him now, he'd be even more out of luck later. Eventually, Orochimaru would end up providing his talents in various fields for Senshi's benefit.

Right now, Senshi hadn't decided exactly what he wanted or how he'd use Orochimaru's assistance. Perhaps forming the strongest mercenary force in the shinobi world to fight the Ōtsutsuki clan? That idea sounded good, but for now, his main plan was still to grind missions nonstop and get even stronger. When he reached the level of a "human Ten-Tails," or even beyond, maybe then he could literally look down on the Ōtsutsuki and ask them how big a psychological blow he was dealing.

In the end, Orochimaru's sudden arrival had at least let Kakuzu rest for half a day. If Kakuzu knew what was in store for him over the following weeks, he'd be deeply grateful to Orochimaru. The Akatsuki had been around a long time, and Kakuzu had seen many new recruits join, fired up at first, only to slack off eventually. He assumed Senshi might be similar.

But he was wrong. From the day they formed their two-man squad, every day had been relentlessly busy for Kakuzu. He started to suspect that for Senshi, 24 hours in a day somehow lasted 48. Physically, Kakuzu's body could rotate through multiple hearts, so he didn't get exhausted in that sense—but mentally, he was drained.

Senshi was like a soulless mission machine, either on a mission or traveling to the next one. Like right now, the two of them were en route to yet another job. Under the starry night sky, Kakuzu could only stare wordlessly, having lost count if this was their 48th or 49th job of the day. He used to ignore lower-paying tasks, but this "lunatic" Senshi accepted every commission job under the sun. The two of them had made quite a name for themselves at the Rain's black market.

Ninjas and local powers in Amegakure and the surrounding minor villages had all heard about these two mission grinders. So long as it was a commission request, they rarely turned it down, and their completion rate was incredibly high. More impressively, despite such speed, they maintained a 100% success record. Kakuzu knew the information but felt no joy. He watched Senshi flipping through another stack of mission briefs while traveling, and only felt a splitting headache.

Maybe I should take a mission to assassinate the Fire Daimyō, then end up in prison for a while, just to get some rest…

Senshi continued studying the mission details as he walked, now carrying Karin on his back. The girl was still young and couldn't keep up with the insane round-the-clock schedule as easily as Kakuzu could with his multiple hearts. Earlier, she dozed off while walking, so he let her rest on his back.

…

Half an hour later, they finished that day's 50th commission and arrived at a hot springs inn. Kakuzu was worn out. Before heading to his room, he told Senshi:

"We're taking tomorrow off—no missions. Then we can carry on."

Senshi flatly refused.

"No way. We can't betray Leader Nagato's trust or fail the organization's expectations!"

Kakuzu simply ignored him and went to his room. Honestly, it had nothing to do with Akatsuki's trust. Senshi just cared about money more than life itself, preferring to drop dead on the job if it meant squeezing in more commissions. Where some ninjas dream of becoming Hokage, of protecting their village, Senshi's "ninja way" boiled down to two words: Make Money.

Unaware of his partner's frustration, Senshi returned to his own room with Karin. He set her on the bed so she could get a proper night's rest. As for himself, he pulled out the day's commission earnings and system rewards to start rolling. Now that word of their deeds had spread, the number of tasks coming in had skyrocketed. Over these days, he'd racked up a huge sum of Commission Points—over ten thousand.

Seeing the system panel show:

[Commission Points: 10,102]

He couldn't stop smiling. But after a while, his face started twitching from smiling too hard. It was truly a massive haul.

"Time to draw!"

[10,000 Commission Points deducted! Remaining: 102 points]

[Drawing…]

[Congratulations, you have received:]

• Shuriken ×3

• Kunai ×3

• Ninjutsu: Lightning Release – Chidori, Level +1

• +1 bar of Chakra

• World Affinity Level +1

…

[Congratulations, Host. Ninja World Affinity has reached C-rank; you have unlocked the Wood Release kekkei genkai!]

[Unlocked Wood Release, current level: D]

[New Jutsu Learned: Wood Release – Cutting Technique]

[New Jutsu Learned: Wood Release – Wood Clone Technique]

[New Jutsu Learned: Wood Release – Wood Transformation Technique]

Huh? What's going on? Gaining one point of World Affinity unlocked Wood Release for me? So now I can do that "wooden villa jutsu" I wanted?

…

The next day at dawn:

Boom—

A loud crash, and Senshi burst through Kakuzu's door. Kakuzu steadfastly refused to rise—he needed his rest! But Senshi's next move stunned him: he simply grabbed Kakuzu and hauled him off to the Rain black market to pick up another job.

It truly was necessary for Kakuzu to come along; he'd been a fixture of Amegakure's black market for ages. With his formidable reputation and a near-flawless success rate, many clients knew him by name. Rumor said he had once assassinated the "God of Shinobi," the First Hokage. That legend made him a top pick in the black market. Although Senshi's own name had been rising quickly, it still couldn't compare to Kakuzu's. After all, Kakuzu was an "old G" from back in the day.

So thanks to Kakuzu's golden reputation plus Senshi's skyrocketing fame and their willingness to take almost any commission, they had a thick wad of mission briefs at nearly all times—a dream come true for countless clients who once never had a chance of hiring Kakuzu.

Now, with the unstoppable duo's insane pace, those same employers couldn't believe their luck.

~~~

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