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Chapter 54: The Target Is This Weak?
After finishing his words, Itachi no longer paid any attention to Shisui and immediately rushed toward the Konoha Police Force headquarters, searching for his father, Fugaku Uchiha.
He could clearly sense that Konoha's conspiracy against the Uchiha clan had already been set into motion — and Shisui was one of the participants.
Watching Itachi's departing figure, Shisui remained silent.
He understood that after tonight, even his last and dearest friend, Itachi, would be lost to him.
With a soft pop, Shisui's figure burst into a cloud of white smoke — it had only been a shadow clone.
Meanwhile, at a remote valley on the border of the Land of Rain, four figures dressed in black cloaks adorned with red clouds lay hidden in the darkness, waiting for their target to appear.
"Oi, oi, where the hell is he? Wasn't the target supposed to show up today? Look, it's already dark!" Hidan grumbled impatiently.
"Don't tell me something went wrong... maybe the target spotted the trap and bailed early?" Kakuzu frowned, visibly concerned.
This was a 150-million-ryō job — he wasn't about to let any unexpected variables ruin it.
Just then, concealed within Hiruko, Sasori seemed to sense something and spoke in a low voice,
"Quiet. Someone's approaching. It might be the target."
"But... only one person is coming. Wasn't the informant supposed to bring the target here together?"
About five minutes later, a man wearing a black samurai kimono slowly made his way into the valley.
The newcomer was none other than Yusuke.
Since he was already inside the Land of Rain, it was inconvenient to wear Konoha's standard ninja attire, so Yusuke had changed into a dark samurai-style outfit.
Although Yusuke had uncovered that Root was plotting against him — and possibly against the Uchiha clan — he hadn't anticipated that Konoha's upper echelons would actually plan to wipe out the entire Uchiha clan this early.
After all, in the original timeline, the Uchiha Massacre was still at least two or three years away.
And Itachi, who in the original story carried out the massacre, had already firmly aligned himself with the Uchiha.
Yusuke had used genjutsu to control Inada Shin, who was a Root operative.
From Inada, he had learned that his assignment was simply to lure Yusuke to a predetermined valley — the rest of the plan was unknown even to him.
Clearly, Inada was just another disposable pawn of Root.
Since Yusuke was already at the border of the Land of Fire and couldn't make it back to the village quickly, he decided to play along and see exactly what kind of trap was waiting for him.
Standing in the deserted valley, Yusuke looked around and muttered to himself,
"This is the meeting point for the intel handoff? There's no one here."
At that moment, a young man suddenly dashed out from the shadows.
However, this man was not truly human — he was a puppet controlled by Sasori.
Of course, Sasori's craftsmanship was so exquisite that from the outside, there was no way to tell that this seemingly lively young man was nothing more than a puppet.
The human puppet posed as a ninja responsible for exchanging intel with Yusuke. After confirming Yusuke's identity, it pulled a scroll from within its robes and handed it to him.
"This scroll contains the latest intelligence," the puppet said.
Yusuke nodded and casually accepted the scroll.
"But didn't you say two people were coming to investigate? Why are you the only one here?" the puppet asked, referring to their supposed informant, Inada Shin.
While unfolding the scroll, Yusuke answered offhandedly,
"Oh, you mean my assistant? His job was only to escort me here."
The moment the scroll was fully unfurled, the text on it abruptly shifted into the pattern of a sealing array.
From the array, countless senbon needles gleaming with a sinister black light shot outward — clearly coated with deadly poison.
Yusuke, however, didn't panic. While dodging, he swiftly flung the scroll aside.
But just then, the puppet's body split open from the middle, and four mechanical arms attached to spring-loaded chains launched out, gripping Yusuke's limbs tightly.
"What?!"
Yusuke's expression changed dramatically.
Having just leapt sideways to evade the poisoned needles, he was midair and unable to dodge again.
The mechanical arms retracted sharply, yanking Yusuke into the puppet's body.
With a sharp click, the puppet's body sealed shut, trapping Yusuke tightly inside.
Hidden in the darkness, Sasori's lips curled into a smug smile.
He was certain: the one caught inside wasn't a clone.
Now that the target had fallen into this trap, death was inevitable.
"Hmph, Orochimaru sure sang endless praises about this Uchiha Yusuke — but it turns out he's nothing special at all," Sasori sneered inwardly, taking the opportunity to look down on Orochimaru as well.
Merging his hands into a seal, Sasori muttered,
"Ninjutsu — Iron Coffin Death!"
A sickening series of thud thud thud sounds echoed as countless hidden spikes impaled the puppet's interior.
Blood began to seep through the seams of the puppet, staining the surrounding ground a dark crimson.
Within this puppet, Sasori had hidden an array of lethal spikes.
Once a target was captured, he could activate the mechanism and impale the victim from every vital angle, killing them instantly.
The Akatsuki members lurking nearby exchanged glances.
Seeing the blood leaking out, they knew: this wasn't a clone.
The real body had been captured and killed.
The target was worth 150 million ryō — they had mentally prepared themselves for a hard battle.
But now... they didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Their "high-value" target had been eliminated so easily — by just one of Sasori's puppets.
"Oi oi, seriously? That's it? Wasn't he supposed to be 'the Uchiha clan's number one prodigy'?
Is Konoha's Uchiha clan really this weak?"
Hidan couldn't help but jump out first, knocking on the puppet's head with his knuckles in disbelief.
The other three Akatsuki members also revealed themselves and gathered around.
Kakuzu turned to Sasori and asked,
"You didn't completely destroy the body with that technique, did you?
If the client can't recognize the corpse, they might refuse to pay."
Sasori replied coolly,
"Relax. I originally planned to make him into a puppet, so I only activated a few spikes at vital points.
But considering how weak he turned out to be, he's not even worthy of becoming part of my collection."
Hearing this, Kakuzu nodded with satisfaction.
"Good. Let's pull the body out. Once we confirm the identity, the mission's complete."
With a sharp click, the puppet's body split open once again.
A corpse riddled with bloody holes dropped heavily to the ground.
The punctures were located in fatal spots — the heart, throat, kidneys, and the joints of all four limbs.
No ordinary human could survive such lethal injuries.
Kakuzu flipped the body over, turning it face up.
The face was identical to Yusuke's: wide-eyed, frozen in a final expression of shock and disbelief.
Kakuzu muttered,
"Yeah, that's definitely the target. No mistake."
"Unbelievable.
We just made 150 million — and it was this easy!"
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