Chapter 24: Chapter 24: The Grass and Roots Conspiracy

_________ POV Narration_________

Ken didn't waste much time in tying the man he had just knocked out.

It had been easy, surprisingly so. Ken had admittedly expected to have quite a bit of trouble taking on a supposed Kage Killer.

'For such a highly valued target, he sure was a letdown... Though his speed took me by surprise, it wasn't that great compared to my own.'

Akira's speed was greater than anything Ken had actually seen before. But it was still nothing too shocking or impressive, especially since Akria didn't seem to have anything to back up that speed.

'How the hell did this guy kill a Kage? I would understand it if he had impressive stealth and assassination skills, but he doesn't seem to be all that special in that regard...'

Ken had already judged Akira's skills from what had been displayed earlier.

A skilled shinobi and a trained assassin would've been a lot harder to take by surprise, even if Ken could sneak up on them, they would be alert at all times, making sneak attacks a bit tougher.

Akira was not that alert, even though he had set up a camp right outside Kusagakure's territory. To Ken, that just made the situation sound a lot worse.

'Perhaps interrogating him before handing him over to the Grass Village would be a better move...' Ken then dragged Akira's unconscious body and tied him to a tree.

'Now, while I wait for him to wake up... Might as well see what other belongings he has on him.'

Ken searched Akira and managed to find a few scrolls. Ones he couldn't quite read.

With a sigh, Ken made a few quick hand signs, bit his finger, and pressed his palm on the ground.

"Summoning Jutsu..." His bored voice came out as a small puff of smoke appeared near his hand.

The smoke cleared quickly, revealing a small turtle, lazily looking up at Ken.

"What?" The turtle asked in a small, somewhat low-pitched tone.

Despite its size, its wrinkly skin showed that the small turtle was quite old. At least older than Donatello(Akira), who Ken had summoned before.

"... I need you to read some stuff for me." Ken said as he crossed his arms and tilted his head at the tiny creature in front of him.

"... You know we don't like reading things for you..." The small turtle said as it slowly blinked a few times.

"Yes yes, you and your kind have the habit of not being particularly useful..." Ken said as he waved his hand around, and the old small turtle only looked at him without any expression.

"Just because not all of us are particularly literate doesn't mean you can make fun of us..." The small turtle said as it hit Ken's shoe with its head.

Though its actions expressed some anger or frustration, its tone and expression both remained completely blank.

"The fact that most of you aren't literate isn't an issue... The fact that asking for your assistance requires a large supply of fish is annoying.

We have to spend quite a good chunk of cash on your annoyingly expensive services. Why can't you guys settle for fruits and berries like regular turtles?"

"Heh... We all have our tastes, Ken. I doubt you have any fish on you, but I'll assist you for now, since you are truly the only sage our species has ever been contracted to."

"I thought that was the exact reason why you don't want to do stuff for free... Like regular contracts would..." Ken would have rolled his eyes if he had any. He didn't specifically know what a Sage was, but it wasn't like the turtles were willing to answer.

The turtles were the only animals that he could talk to, and almost all of the ones he had summoned had called him a sage.

Upon asking them what that actually meant, most seemed to avoid answering, or outright change the subject.

It all happened because of his first summon. When he had somehow managed to summon the oldest one among them. He had told him something rather interesting.

'Though you are one with nature, you seem to ignore its will and disregard its rules... You are not a Turtle Sage, nor are you a Toad Sage... What type of sage you are, I can't even discern.

Even you don't seem aware of what you are... All the signs indicate that you are a monster far greater than I had anticipated...'

It was at that point that Ken's contract with the turtles had somewhat strained. With the elder one not wanting to associate with Ken at all.

Thankfully, Ken was able to sway them somehow. They reached the agreement that the turtles would only help him under the pretence that they were being paid.

Donatello(Akira) was the one tasked with delivering bounties, and Tosho handled the payment when he got the bounties.

To Ken, it was an annoying system and a waste of resources for something that should have otherwise been free.

But it was undeniable that their contract was what made his Bounty Gathering Journey a possibility, and therefore the building of his organisation. So Ken was somewhat forced to keep them on his payroll.

He also didn't have any other summons he could rely on, so he managed with what he had.

The small turtle that Ken didn't bother to learn the name of read out a few things from that scroll, albeit slowly and in a bored tone.

And thanks to it, Ken gained a bit of perspective.

'The Grass Style Secret Technique Manual...' The Blind Swordsman could somewhat guess that the scroll belonged to the Kusagakure.

'Did he steal it? Is this related to why the Hidden Village wants him alive?' Ken could only speculate on that point, but it seemed to make sense.

Ken undid the summoning as he pondered on a few things. He proceeded to sit down on the grass and waited for his target to wake up.

'Any question that I have, this man can answer.'

Ken waited for around 20 minutes in that stance, sitting on the ground with his legs crossed.

The tall grass around him made it hard for him to be spotted from a distance, but he stood directly in front of the target, somewhat giving away his position, though he doubted anyone would manage to sense him regardless.

It was normal for Ken to think about ways that enemies would be able to approach him. Even though he usually allowed others to come near him.

After all, having his target tied to a tree right in front of him certainly made him a bit less welcoming to visitors. After all, it wasn't specified whether or not the Kage Killer had any allies or accomplices.

And Ken surmised that he did after judging his strength, but all of his questions were to be answered soon, as he felt Akira's breath pattern change, his heartbeat returned to a more active state.

Ken smiled as he patiently waited for his prisoner to open his eyes.

He waited like that for another two minutes, before scowling a bit. 'Does he think he can pretend to be asleep around me?'

"How exactly do you plan to check your surroundings without opening your eyes? You don't seem much like a sensory type to me..." Ken said as he slowly stood up.

The Blind Swordsman then tapped his wrist, a regular Katana appearing in his hand with a puff of smoke.

Within the time it took for a fly to flap its wings 5 times, the blade was embedded into the tree right beside Akira's head slightly grazing his cheek with immaculate precision.

It made the captive flinch and tilt his head slightly in the other direction.

After that, the jig was obviously up, the Kage Killer opened his eyes, sweat filling his forehead as he stared at the masked man in front of him.

'... It just had to be him...' Akira grit his teeth at that thought.

Out of everyone trying to collect his bounty, it just had to be the elusive Red Dot. One that had already reached legendary status in the eyes of many.

His reputation, as well as his nickname, both managed to bring a question to Akira's mind though...

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'But why hasn't he killed me yet?!'

Ken's long and unruly hair flowed in the wind as he tilted his head slightly.

"I can somewhat guess what you're confused about... No one has really lived this long after facing me..."'With the exception of the 7 Swordsmen, I guess, but their clock is ticking.'

"What do you want from me?" Akira said as he struggled a bit against the ropes that bound him.

"I am... Confused? Do you even know why you are being hunted?" Ken asked, his head still tilted as he grabbed his katana and placed it back into the seal on his wrist, the blade disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"Obviously because of my bounty! Why else would someone like you seek me out?" Akira had somewhat accepted the fact that he was going to die.

He wasn't about to try and beg for his life, he didn't want his last moments to look pathetic.

Ken could somewhat respect that. It was certainly more respectful than the grown men he had seen cry and beg to be spared with snot dribbling all over the place.

"Bounty is one thing... But your crime is what granted you that bounty."

"Crime? Obviously, because I stole that stupid fucking scroll! I was carrying it on me, so you should have it already..." Akira said with a scowl.

"I see..." 'He's either playing dumb and trying to stall for something, or he hasn't actually killed the KusaKage...'

Ken pondered on that for a second before he decided to judge Akira's reaction by giving him a bit more information. "You stand accused of having killed the leader of Kusagakure."

"... What the hell are you talking about?" Akira's voice sounded absolutely shocked, but Ken could feel something else.

With his keen senses, Ken managed to notice the heightened heartbeat and the hair rising on the back of his neck. Akira was mostly feeling scared, hiding his fear behind a facade of bravery.

"T-This doesn't make any sense! I swear I didn't kill him! I only sneaked in and stole that scroll. An anonymous buyer was going to pay a premium for it..." 

Akira's voice was shaking, his tone betraying his brave facade from earlier as the reality of the situation was starting to sink in.

Being hunted down as a killer was a lot worse than being hunted down as a thief. It went from potentially losing his arm to simply losing his life.

Though now it somewhat made sense why someone like the Red Dot was after him.

"I have no reason to make this up. I do not find pleasure in belittling my targets. From your reaction, I can guess that you've been set up."

Ken rubbed his chin for a few seconds as he tried to think more about how to handle the situation.

For one, lying to Ken was near impossible. Unless one could perfectly control their heartbeat and body functions, lies were easy to discern for Ken.

Well, that was only the case for regular people. Ken's 'lie detector' didn't work on complete psychopaths that could lie without blinking an eye.

But something told the Blind Swordsman that Akira was far from a master manipulator.

'This matter has just become a lot more troublesome than I had anticipated... Though I can only blame myself, there were plenty of red flags with this situation.'

For a fraction of a second, the thought of simply killing Akira and collecting the bounty appeared in Ken's mind. But there was something irking him.

'Is this guy even a Shinobi? Can I be sure of any information I had at this point?'

"Are you a thief by profession?" Ken asked as he still contemplated if getting involved in the situation further could benefit him in any way.

"Yeap! I've been doing it since I was a kid. Picked up a few tricks along the way." Akira smiled with a hint of pride, somewhat forgetting his possible demise for a few seconds.

'... You're telling me this guy is self-thought? He's faster than any Jonin I've faced up until now...'

"How old are you actually?" Ken said as he stroked his chin once more. His intentions were rather plain.

'He seems quite talented... Recruiting him might actually be a worthwhile venture.'

"I'm 19 this year... Why are you asking me all this?" Akira said as he continued to try and move while held by his bindings.

"I would obviously want to know more about you. This situation is quite unusual after all. The reports I had called you a former Chunin... Were you ever affiliated with any hidden village?"

Ken decided to continue his interrogation for the time being. Though it became rather clear that basically none of the information he was given seemed to reflect reality.

Akira was a bit weirded out by the line of questioning. But he was honestly glad to answer as long as it meant he got to live a bit longer.

"I've never been a Shinobi... Well, I did steal a few techniques from shinobi, but I was never actually thought by a Hidden Village." Akira's words came out as he shook his head once more.

At that point, Ken was getting somewhat angry.

'To think they'd go as far as to trick me into hunting down a random thief and treating him like a murderer... I need to pay more attention to how I choose my targets in the future.'

Ken then sighed, and with a flick of the wrist, the rope binding Akira was immediately severed.

Akira was scared at first when seeing the Red Dot's hand move, but he relaxed a bit when he felt the rope that bound him get cut.

Unfortunately, that relaxation led to him faceplanting into the dirt in front of Ken.

"T-thanks!" Akira said as he immediately stood up, still in a kneeling position as he looked up at Ken with a dumb smile on his face.

"Thank me later, you are still in a huge mess..." Ken shook his head as he turned his head and looked around the forest.

'More and more people are gathering... They are quite far from here, but they've certainly spotted Akira already.'

"W-well, I'm confident that I'll be able to run away..." Akira said as he slowly got up, finally standing at full height, a bit taller than Ken himself.

"Doubtful... This place has already been surrounded." Ken said as he let his hands fall to the side, preparing to meet the newcomers that were still waiting to make their presence known.

"W-what?" Akira said as he immediately became alert as well, gulping as he reached for his belt, to take out a kunai, only to not feel any weapons on him at all.

Ken had obviously stripped him of sharp objects, as one would usually do to a prisoner.

The Blind Swordsman didn't see any reason to treat Akira as a prisoner though, he instead gave the thief his pouch back, allowing him to arm himself, just in case.

"How good are you at fighting?" Ken asked as he crossed his arms and continued to look around.

"W-well, I'd say I'm average enough?"

Ken could only shake his head at the 'not-so-confident' response he had gotten.

"Great. Let's see if these people are willing to talk things out. I'd rather avoid massacring them if possible..."

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Hope you liked the chapter! Have a project to do, a lot of shit to write and not much time, so I probably won't be able to post a lot this week(I'll still try to tho)

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