novelhk Page 146
Page 146
"So, Mr. Kakuzu, are you interested in joining us?"
"You still haven't revealed what happened to those ninjas." Kakuzu glanced at Shirahoshi, his tone serious.
"Answer me. What became of those ninjas?"
Upon hearing this, Shirahoshi met Kakuzu's gaze with a serious expression.
A moment later, Bai Xing chuckled and then burst into laughter.
Gradually, Shirahoshi's laughter subsided, and eventually the room became somewhat quiet.
Until Shirahoshi spoke again.
"They have two choices."
"Assassinating a high-ranking official is a capital offense."
"First, to become a force that protects the development of this country, and to die for it."
"Second, to voluntarily sacrifice one's own body and die in order to protect the development of this country."
Upon hearing this, Kakuzu understood.
"An experimental subject?"
He wasn't exactly a saint, but he needed to understand an organization and ultimately ask himself if it was worth joining.
At the very least, they shouldn't be as unethical as Takigakure, who simply assigned him a mission to kill the First Hokage.
They didn't even finish the task, yet they wanted to lock him up, execute him, and hand him over to Konoha. Doing such a despicable thing is utterly disheartening.
"more or less."
"But I will carefully write down their names and record them in history books. So many great people have dedicated their strength and sacrificed their lives for the future of the city."
"How shameless. They're clearly a bunch of bastards who'll do anything for profit, with countless lives on their hands, and you've captured them and forced them into becoming test subjects."
In the end, however, you portrayed them as a group of 'good people' willing to sacrifice themselves.
Listen, Bai Xing poured herself another glass of wine, glanced at the empty bottle, but didn't mind, and continued to enjoy it, saying:
"History is always written by the victors."
"The establishment of the resting place is not that simple."
"I just did what I was supposed to do."
"What good is this for you?" Kakuzu didn't know the power of the dragon vein, but he could sense a strange and terrifying power beneath the inner city, seemingly endless.
"No."
After Bai Xing finished speaking, he leaned back on the sofa, put his hands behind his head, and looked at the wall lamp:
"I am just someone who doesn't know what my goal is."
"Gaining power may change many things, but from that moment on, many things that were previously difficult to touch will become readily available."
Shirahoshi glanced at Kakuzu, who was deep in thought:
"So."
"Besides money, what else motivates you to live?"
"..."
The air gradually became quiet.
Everyone has many desires in their life, but in the end, once they succeed, those desires seem to lose their original passion and become boring and dull.
Just like the fancy snacks that parents didn't want to buy when we were kids, we only realized later that they were actually just ordinary things.
But this time,
The grown-up children no longer eat these snacks.
They will pursue higher ideals.
Everyone's level is different, but once you achieve the next goal, there will be an even higher goal... until death.
After a long silence, Bai Xing finally spoke:
"Perhaps only when a person reaches the moment of death will they see clearly what kind of person they are and what they want."
"But by then..."
"Thus, everything became a settled matter."
"so."
“Mr. Kakuzu, this is the third time I have invited you.”
"Want to join the White Cross? To find your own life purpose and, incidentally, build an organization for a peaceful world."
Kakuzu remained silent, but raised his hand and finally grasped Shirahoshi's hand before letting go after a moment.
Kakuzu got up but didn't say anything, and went to the door.
Before leaving and returning to his room, Kakuzu stopped and turned his back, saying, "I once had companions too."
"But I was abandoned by my companions."
"Therefore, I believe that money is the only thing in this world that can be trusted."
"Now, there's one more person in the family."
"Your organization doesn't have any very obvious goals or grand ambitions."
On the contrary, what I hate most are organizations that are driven by ambition and aim to satisfy their own desires.
"Such an organization will sacrifice and abandon all its comrades for the sake of its so-called ambitions and desires!"
"So, what is my code name?"
Shirahoshi put on the mask, sat down, and clasped her hands together: "White Cross Fourth Seat, Post-operative Doctor—Immortal."
"it is good."
After agreeing, Kakuzu paused, then turned his head and asked in confusion, "Speaking of which, are there two people ahead of me who are stronger than me?"
"No."
"???"
"Then why am I not second?"
"That doesn't matter. Strength isn't ranked that way."
"Then according to what?" Kakuzu asked, his face full of confusion.
Behind the mask, Shirahoshi's eyes grew increasingly serious as she slowly uttered the answer: "Because he's handsome."
"..."
"Besides, isn't the fourth one a perfect match for immortality? So cool!"
"..."
Seeing Kakuzu remain silent, Shirahoshi raised her right hand and gave a thumbs-up: "So cool!"
"..." After a moment of silence, Kakuzu couldn't help but remark, "Now I finally understand why your shadow clones look like that."
"They're just like two peas in a pod."
I'll come see you again tomorrow.
"Ok."
......
The next morning, Rasa and Yekura took the intelligence scrolls and set off. Karura watched them leave through the inner city gate and slowly walked back.
Soon, Shirahoshi stood not far away to greet Karura, and Kakuzu also stood to the side.
"Almighty Lord." Although Karura was very unhappy with this guy, he was, after all, temporarily under the other's command, and the other was very strong, so he had to address him respectfully.
"Ah."
"Come with me. You can come with us to meet some of your friends."
"My friend?"
"Yes. They are some friends who, like you, tried to assassinate me."
"..."x2
Kakuzu couldn't help but fall silent. This relationship was so unrelated, what kind of friends were they?
Galura thought to herself, "They're not here to assassinate you." But then, Galura suddenly remembered that he had actually been assassinated, and a slight jolt went through her.
Men's prison.
Besides the knife-wielding, earth-shattering, and wood-insect-like creatures captured last night, many others who had sneaked in to assassinate him or caused trouble in the city were also arrested here.
"All-powerful Master!" x2
"Okay. I'll look around. You guys continue, continue."
"Yes!" x2
After the guards left, Shirahoshi led Kakuzu and Karura down the prison corridor.
Soon, Bai Xing couldn't help but adjust her mask, pointed to a cell, and asked the soldier who hadn't gone far behind her:
"What's wrong with this guy? He's in jail now. He stinks and it's really affecting our inspections as leaders!"
"I'm so sorry, Lord Almighty!" Two guards rushed over in a panic, bowing deeply in apology.
"What happened?" Bai Xing asked again.
One of the guards explained in a low voice, "That guy threatened us, saying that if we didn't let him go, he would just defecate and urinate here... saying that the stench would kill us."
Kakuzu glanced at the somewhat aged old man, thinking to himself, "Shameless! He'd do something like this." Kakuzu didn't pinch his nose; it was a natural adaptation to the environment for a strong person.
But Garuda frowned and couldn't help pinching her nose.
Bai Xing shook her head:
"Tsk, tsk, tsk."