I Punch the Tailed Beast Ball

Chapter 470: Cleansing the Traitors

"Shouldn’t have been discovered yet, right?" Kurosuki Raiga panted slightly, glanced nervously behind him, and relaxed when he saw nothing in pursuit.

Because of a shift in Nagato’s strategy, Raiga had sensed the rising danger within the Akatsuki. So, he decided to defect.

And yes, he called it defection, not resignation, because Raiga still had some self-awareness.

The Akatsuki wasn’t some regular ninja organization. If the Five Great Nations ever learned their real plans, they’d label them as the top-priority threat, marked for immediate elimination, higher than any underground organization in the shinobi world.

Even the underground black market, which dared to put bounties on top ninja from the Five Great Villages, didn’t rank as high.

Those underground bounty networks were terrifying. If someone had enough money, they’d post a bounty on the Hokage’s own child without blinking.

But if the black market and bounty syndicates could exist so openly, was it because they were too strong for even the Five Great Nations to wipe out?

Raiga, who once held high office in one of those nations, knew better.

The Five Great Nations were the undisputed overlords of the ninja world. If they really wanted to, they could definitely destroy the black market, but it wasn’t worth it.

The black market wasn’t inherently hostile. They didn’t place bounties themselves, it was just a platform. Anyone with enough money could use it like a blade.

That neutrality made it useful, which is why it was tolerated. Sometimes the Five Nations themselves used it.

Plus, the black market was powerful, deeply embedded, and had excellent concealment capabilities.

Trying to purge it would take immense effort for relatively little gain, so they let it be.

But if anyone dared open a black market on one of the Five Nations’ own territories, they’d get crushed immediately.

So, even if they lived like rats in the dark, the fact they were even compared to the Great Nations said something.

Raiga was sure, if the Akatsuki’s true plan got leaked, someone would immediately come to wipe them out.

The black market was just about making shady money, maybe killing famous targets.

But Akatsuki wanted to shake the very foundations of the Five Great Nations.

That was unforgivable.

So of course Raiga ran. He didn’t even invite his fellow "Hometown Comrade" Jūzō Biwa, he just disappeared overnight.

He never believed Nagato could really pull off their plan. It was a joke.

You think just by uniting a few small villages you can take down the Five Great Nations?

And then they go on about world peace?

Please. If the goal were world domination, he’d actually find that more realistic.

Look at the things they did, did that seem like a peaceful organization?

Raiga had truly had enough. In his mind, every member of Akatsuki was insane, except him.

The leader? A punk-looking weirdo with nails in his face spouting peace while sowing chaos.

The official members? Even worse.

There was the puppet freak trying to turn himself into a literal doll, a money-obsessed bounty hunter who’d sell his own mother, some dual-faced freak obsessed with endless battles...

Raiga sighed. The more he thought about it, the more he realized, Akatsuki was a nest of psychos, and he might be the only sane man left.

Even Jūzō turned out to be a cheerful lunatic. Raiga had thought the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were weird, but now they seemed normal compared to these nutcases.

"Power must be held in your own hands. Being under others is too dangerous. Only by becoming the leader can you live in peace."

Raiga’s eyes glinted.

After surviving the Blood Mist of Kirigakure and now the Akatsuki, he had learned the hard truth.

Depending on others only brought danger.

Only when you’re the boss can you control your own fate.

If he had been the Mizukage, there wouldn’t have been a blood mist era. Kirigakure wouldn’t have bled so much, and he wouldn’t have had to flee.

If he were the Akatsuki’s leader, they’d still be a chill mercenary group, not some world-ending threat that’d soon be hunted by the Five Nations.

So Raiga resolved to find a small country, use his power to dominate, and build his own force, to live quietly and securely ever after.

He even left behind all the power he’d built over the years, no subordinates, no gear. Just himself.

He was heading for Takigakure, in the Land of Waterfalls, a small country bordering the Land of Earth, filled with steep terrain and waterfalls. Isolated, undeveloped, and the perfect hiding place.

It even had its own ninja village, and not a weak one. It was the only minor village with a Tailed Beast.

It was also where Kakuzu used to hail from.

Not that Raiga cared about Kakuzu’s background, on the contrary, he disliked it. Kakuzu being from there actually made Raiga more skeptical.

But when he analyzed it carefully, Raiga realized this place was perfect.

Akatsuki had no reason to come here. Their early plans focused on countries without ninja villages.

And thanks to the rough terrain, Raiga could easily become a mountain tyrant, ruling like a warlord.

Takigakure? He wasn’t afraid of them. He’d been an elite of one of the Five Nations. These guys? Nothing.

He couldn’t beat a Kage or the lunatic Akatsuki leader, but some minor village? No problem.

Just as Raiga was planning his peaceful future, a kunai suddenly whistled through the air, aiming straight at his head.

He barely dodged it, getting a cut on his face in the process, and immediately drew his twin, oddly-shaped swords.

"Who’s there?"

Raiga barked, scanning the trees nervously.

A low laugh echoed from the woods.

A man in a black cloak with red clouds stepped out, face masked, head wrapped, only his eyes visible.

Raiga’s heart dropped. His face twisted in alarm.

It was Kakuzu, his teammate in Akatsuki, and a rogue ninja from Takigakure.

Damn it. How did he follow me? I even planted fake bounty intel to lure him away. There’s no way he ignored that...

Raiga had planned this.

He had dug up rumors about high-bounty targets, sent underlings to spread fake intel near the border of the Land of Fields and the Land of Hot Water.

Sure enough, Kakuzu took the bait, wanting Raiga to join the hunt.

Raiga had declined with a "got something else to do" excuse. Since it wasn’t an official Akatsuki mission, that wasn’t suspicious.

His chosen "destination" was in the opposite direction of Kakuzu’s.

He had always thought Kakuzu was dangerous. Step one of defecting was getting Kakuzu off his back.

Then he’d vanish into the mountains of Takigakure. Who could find him? In a few years, Akatsuki might even be gone.

But Kakuzu... had seen right through him.

"Too naive," Kakuzu said coldly, his eyes sharp like a hawk ready to strike. Raiga’s gut twisted.

"In my long ninja life, I’ve seen too many betrayals. Nothing gets past my eyes."

Technically, Kakuzu had only been betrayed once, when his village sent him to die fighting Hashirama, then jailed him for failing.

Since then, he’d trusted no one. Except money.

He’d already seen through Raiga’s petty tricks.

If the bounty rumor had been real, Kakuzu might have taken the money first, then killed Raiga later.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m just handling personal business here,"

Raiga said calmly, controlling his breath.

He still had his Akatsuki ring. He hadn’t destroyed any bases. He hadn’t leaked intel. As long as he said nothing, he could claim he wasn’t defecting, just "out for a stroll."

"Heh."

Kakuzu sneered.

"Whether or not you’re a traitor doesn’t matter. What matters is that I think you are. So I’ll kill you and reclaim your ring."

Raiga gritted his teeth. Kakuzu clearly intended to kill him for the bounty.

Raiga drew a deep breath. Lightning chakra crackled around him.

"I’m one of the former Seven Ninja Swordsmen. You really wanna do this?"

Kakuzu didn’t respond. His sneer said it all.

He had fought Hashirama Senju and survived. Raiga? Just a bug.

"Hiding Mist Jutsu!"

Raiga shouted mid-sentence and suddenly cloaked the area in thick fog.

"Water Clone Jutsu!"

Two clones split off. All three sprinted in different directions.

That was Raiga’s real plan, run.

He knew he couldn’t beat Kakuzu. The man mastered all five nature types, had no real weaknesses.

He never expected mercy, he just wanted a chance to escape.

But Kakuzu was stronger than Raiga thought.

"Wind Style, Pressure Damage!"

A violent gust tore through the mist, dispersing it instantly and blasting a hole in the ground.

"Lightning Style, False Darkness!"

A massive lightning spear struck one of Raiga’s clones, obliterating it.

Kakuzu didn’t stop. Black tendrils erupted from his back as two masked monsters split off.

Wind Style, Lightning Style, Fire Style, high-level jutsu fired like machine guns from each of the masked entities.

The second clone was destroyed in moments. Even Raiga’s main body was injured.

The gap between them was overwhelming.

"Combined Jutsu, Scorching Flame Tornado!"

Kakuzu combined wind and fire, creating a swirling inferno that engulfed Raiga.

As Kakuzu moved in to collect the body, he stopped in surprise.

Raiga was still alive, surrounded by lightning armor, teeth gritted, wounded but standing.

"Huff... Huff..."

Raiga gasped, but didn’t pause. He launched himself at Kakuzu with reckless speed.

His twin swords surged with crackling blue lightning, moving so fast they were just twin blue streaks in the air.

It was all or nothing.

No more running.

Just fight.