__________ POV Narration__________

Ken didn't leave the cloud village after completing his deal with the Raikage, choosing to stay there and wait for a report from both Saburo and Akira regarding their findings.

He made sure to send a message through their summons to Tosoh, informing him of his stay at the Raikage's residence and asking him to send over the reports of the other two blades as fast as possible.

The Raikage seemed to be ok with waiting a bit for Ken's information gathering to conclude before attacking the Cult's Main Base of operations.

While waiting, Ken was allowed to live inside one of the free rooms inside the Kage's mansion. The elders and some of the shinobi in the village were vehemently against his presence, but A didn't seem to care.

Many were also obviously against the Raikage's choice to hire the Red Dot for such a large cost, or in general. But A was able to convince them that it was better for their village in the end.

They were dealing with an exceedingly dangerous organization, one which A was confident would be able to cause plenty of casualties among his shinobi.

So, instead of throwing men and women at the cult until it fell, he would personally take care of it alongside Ken, a person powerful enough to watch his back if need be.

After all, the Blind Assassin's power was not something being debated. It was already believed that he was capable enough to wipe out a hidden village by himself.

So the council of the Cloud village only really wanted to complain about the price... And the fact that they couldn't quite trust an outsider with such a job.

The Raikage was still confident in his choice, and he later signed the written contract, officially confirming the payment, and even giving Ken half of it before the operation.

To him, the Red Dot could be trusted. He had a rather good track record when it came to tasks, he almost never showed any aggression towards people that weren't his targets.

The situation with the Grass Village was a bit more complex, but at that point, it was already known by the more important people of the world that the Grass Village was the one to act first against the Bounty Hunter.

Ken spent a few days uneventfully in that place, mainly just meditating. It was only when he decided to practice his swordsmanship in the courtyard that something unusual occurred...

The Blind Swordsman was simply sitting under a tree in a meditative position, with a regular katana by his side.

From time to time, he would tap the tree heavily with his elbow, causing leaves to fall off the tree. He would then unsheath his blade and slice all of the leaves in half before even one of them touched the ground.

His blade was nothing more than a blur, as he remained in the same seated position throughout the exercise.

It wasn't something overly difficult for him now. It was something he had been doing ever since childhood, so now it was just something he did for fun.

Hearing the leaves falling around him, the wind trying to carry them away, the exercise helped him calm his mind as well.

At least he would've been calm, if not for a random stranger pestering him...

"What are you doing here, Bakayarō~!?"

A strange man that appeared to be at least in his twenties from his size and voice kept trying to talk to him while making gang signs of some sort that Ken couldn't quite understand.

The man seemed to be overly muscular, carrying with him quite a few blades and wearing clothes quite similar to those of the Raikage. He also had short hair, swept backwards, and a goatee.

"Please leave me alone..." The Blind Swordsman said as he sheathed his katana and hoped for the best.

"Uhuh! You came through my door, uninvited and unsure~

But now you're chillin' in my space, makin' yourself at home~"

Ken could feel exasperation rise inside his soul as the person in front of him continued to rap in a melodic tune.

"Feelin' comfortable? Like you've known me all your life?~

But let me remind you, this is my house, I call the shots tonight~

So now, ya better tell me, what you doing here?!"

The rapper continued throwing gang signs as he crouched down in front of Ken. Before stopping, muttering something about some good bars and taking out a notebook to write them down.

The Blind Swordsman wasn't even sure what to do at that point. Despite sounding a bit forceful, the Rapper was mostly confused going by what Ken could feel.

At least there was absolutely no hostility coming off of him... Which was a very good thing as the man's mere presence sent shivers down Ken's spine.

'No... It's not from him directly... Rather, it's something inside of him that makes me uneasy... Such a great amalgamation of Chakra, it's beyond anything I've ever felt...'

"My name is Ken. Others know me as the 'Red Dot'. I was contracted by the Raikage for a mission, currently resting here while waiting for some more information from my subordinates."

Ken decided to just give the man a rundown of the situation, wanting to avoid any conflict with him almost instinctively.

'I'm in no way prepared to fight whatever beast is inside this man...'

"Oh! My name is B, Killer B~

You may call me Lord Jinchūriki! Konoyarō~"

B quickly introduced himself as he clapped and did a few more gang signs.

"I think A mentioned something about you!~

Said you were staying over, what do you plan to do?~"

The man continued speaking in that same tone, with the same intonation, rapping his words out like lyrics constantly.

Ken smiled a bit under his mask as he slowly stood up.

'Of all things, I wasn't expecting to hear rap music in this world...'

"I was just training, wasting some time. It's nice to meet you, B..." The Blind Swordsman extended his hand towards Killer B, smiling as he did so.

The Jinchuriki answered in kind, smiling widely as he shook the Red Dot's hand rhythmically.

He was about to open his mouth to start rapping again, but a flash of lightning appeared by their side and punched him into the ground with a loud roar.

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"B!! You absolute moron! Lord Raikage told you not to bother our guest!" The man that spoke this time around had a much rougher voice, sounding a tad older.

Ken's smile trembled a bit as he had sensed the man's approach, but he also felt something rather obvious...

'This guy is even faster than I am...'

Ken felt as if he could've still reacted to that attack, but it was clear that the man was much faster than him.

The technique he was using was also strange. but the Blind Swordsman didn't have much time to study it before the man turned it off.

"Sorry about that, Red Dot. My sworn brother here has a slight problem with personal space and common sense. My name is A."

A also shook hands with Ken, his smile feeling a bit more political or forced than that of his brother.

'... A? Wasn't the Raikage also named A?' Ken sweated a bit as he felt a bit awkward at their naming sense.

His hairstyle was much the same as his brother, and his clothes were also similar, just the collar from his inner sleeveless shirt was a bit higher, going all the way up to his cheeks and covering the sides of his neck completely.

"Pleasure to meet you, I am assuming you are the Raikage's son?" Ken asked as he tilted his head slightly.

"You are assuming right... Father already informed me of your presence, we were away on a mission until now, hence our absence..." A spoke in a polite tone, clearly not wanting to disrespect Ken in any way, despite the fact that he didn't seem outright ok with his presence in the village.

"That is quite fine, I am glad to finally meet the Raikage's son and pupil, I have heard quite a bit about you... Your strength seems to live up to your reputation, that's for sure..." Ken turned his head towards Killer B, who was still twitching on the ground beside them.

"Hah! That's high praise coming from you!... I'll be honest now since I'm sure you can see through this quite easily..." A's gaze instantly turned a bit colder as he dropped all pretences and looked at Ken's mask directly.

"I am not sure why father decided to take you on this mission, it actually feels like wasted money... I and my brother will be coming as well, of course. Which is why I don't see how someone like you would be helpful." A's gaze seemed almost judgemental at that point.

Ken suppressed an exasperated sigh, as he realised that A in front of him was likely a more shrewd version of the Raikage.

"I understand that the three of you together should be strong enough to handle anything... But we are dealing with powers we barely understand here.

Your father was wise to hire additional help, as other shinobi besides us could have just as easily slowed the 3 of you down. At the very least I'll be able to keep up with you all..."

Thankfully, Ken himself was nothing to scoff at when it came to convincing others...

His words seemed to make A thoughtful, as it was undeniable that they barely had any understanding of Jujutsu(cursed techniques) and the techniques the Cult of Jashin would be using.

"I still find it difficult to justify your asking price... So I'll have to test you myself!" A then cracked his knuckles and gave Ken a cocky smile.

The Blind Swordsman simply sighed. "Is there any way we can avoid this? Wasting energy like this before a mission isn't exactly professional..."

"Don't try to weasel your way out of this! Your tongue sure is trained, but I'll personally have to make sure whether or not you can keep up with us..." A didn't seem to budge though, cracking his neck and walking a bit further away on the training grounds.

Ken also slowly followed behind A.

Killer B to the side had finally regained consciousness, only to see that his Sworn Brother was off to spar with Ken.

He was visibly confused, before just scratching the back of his head and deciding to observe the fight silently.

"I won't be going easy on you, Red Dot!" A said as lighting nature chakra covered his body like a cloak, his entire body buzzed with energy, his hair rising upwards as Ken took out his long blade and braced himself.

"You better not..." The Blind Assassin only got to say that before A already appeared in front of him.

Ken only managed to bend his body away slightly, causing A's fist to miss by a few inches, but cracking his mask nonetheless.

'Such speed and power! He didn't even need to touch me to cause damage...'

Ken immediately rolled away, swinging his blade forwards as A followed after him swiftly.

The Blind Swordsman could clearly trace A's movements, he immediately imbued his long blade with lighting nature chakra and sliced the air in front of him and causing the shinobi to stop in his tracks.

Ken then quickly took off his mask, not wanting it to be damaged further, and threw it on the ground.

Ken could immediately feel A faltering at the sight of his face, and the Blind Swordsman took that opportunity in stride.

His blade whizzed forward, taking the shinobi by surprise.

But A was still faster, he was able to take a step backwards and dodge the blade with a sneer on his face.

That sneer didn't last long though, as he was immediately hit by a flying slash that came out from the edge of Ken's blade.

'Shit!' A couldn't help but curse himself for his carelessness, as he felt himself being sent barreling backwards, dozens of meters away, his back breaking through a few trees.

Ken turned to his blade with a bit of frustration.

'I wasn't able to cut him...'

He had felt the flying slash connect, but he had been unable to feel if he had managed to even put a scratch on A's body.

'That was a head-on collision... So not only is he annoyingly agile... He is also extremely durable.'

Ken scowled a bit as he made a few hand signs and created two lighting clones.

'If taking him on alone is annoying, then I'll just do it like this!'

A's next attack was just as fast as before, he seemed to almost instantly appear in front of Ken, his fist already cocked back.

However, this time around he was assaulted from three directions energized blades trying to cut at his body viciously.

However, Ken could feel the blades of his clones almost bounce off the man's skin. A's punch ended up being deflected into the ground, as Ken pushed the hilt of his blade into the bridge of his nose, making his head move backwards but otherwise doing no visible damage.

'No matter how durable he is, he must have some weak spot...'

Ken's scowl deepened as he and his clones continued to keep A in place. The Shinobi would sometimes try to land a hit, only to be deflected.

The Blind Swordsman had already gotten used to his speed, showcasing his talent in the process.

By now, he was already reacting before A moved, which caused a lot of frustration in the future Raikage...

To the side, Killer B almost couldn't believe what his eyes were seeing.

His sworn brother was incredibly powerful, the only one capable of standing up to the Raikage and one day succeeding in that position... It was just surprising to see a bounty hunter keep up with him.

After all, the 'Lightning Release Chakra Mode' was an incredibly powerful technique which granted the Raikage and his pupil speeds far exceeding all other ninjas.

Anyone even able to keep up with them was simply at the top of the world. Even the other 4 Great Kage had trouble facing the Raikage by themselves thanks to that technique...

But Ken had no way of knowing that... To him, he was simply facing off against one of the most annoying opponents he had ever fought.

No way to advance forward, retreating was also not an option, as his opponent was much faster and could catch up instantly.

Instead, he was stuck in a battle of attrition against A.

But Ken's frustration simply couldn't compare to that of A...

'Why won't any of my punches just land?!'

It was as if his opponent had some sort of sickeningly accurate sixth sense. Either that or a shocking amount of fighting experience, allowing him to accurately guess A's next moves at all times.

It was jarring, seeing Ken tilt his head or twist his body perfectly and avoid his hits every time.

Then, Ken decided to try and put his all into a swing. As soon as he deflected one last hit from A, he dispelled his clones and directed all of his Chakra into his blade, causing it to glow brightly and causing lightning to arc off in all directions.

A saw that and smiled.

'Finally meeting me head-on!' He immediately recovered and prepared to use Hell Stab with his 4 fingers extended.

Ken felt the chakra gathering around A's arm and forming a spear, he simply clenched his teeth and prepared for impact.

'I'll deplete all of my Chakra in this move, to try and finish the fight in one fell swoop... If it fails, then I'll enter the Scaled Sage mode and go from there...'

Ken didn't just stop at his Chakra though, he also allowed his Nature energy to flow freely and rapidly, causing a dangerous mix within the blade.

'My strongest slash... I've never tested this against an opponent before, let's see how it holds up!'

Just as the blade and the spear were about to meet each other, both Ken and A seemed to be forced to stop abruptly, their momentum dying off in an instant.

"What the hell are you doing, A!?!" A loud voice was heard as a figure appeared in between them, stopping Ken's blade by grasping the hilt with one hand while grasping A's wrist with the other.

The Blind Swordsman immediately tried to pull back his blade when he felt the Raikage appear between him and A, causing the slash to die out and allowing the Raikage to catch it with ease.

Ken's mind stirred, as he felt a different type of lighting around the Raikage as he stopped both of their attacks masterfully.

Only A managed to recognize it at that moment...

'Black Lighting Release Chakra Mode...'

His father, the Third Raikage was well known for his master over Black Lighting... But few had ever seen the 'Black Lighting Release Chakra Mode'.

It was an advanced version that combined the Raikage's mastery over Black Lighting with the regular Chakra Mode... Which caused the end result to be the most powerful technique in the history of the Land of Lightning...

Ken immediately stopped, not wanting to face off against the Raikage as well, who somehow felt even faster than his pupil...

The Raikage let go of his hilt as soon as he felt no more resistance, allowing Ken to take a step backwards and put his blade back into the seal on his wrist.

However, A was still struggling with something... He had seen a hint of fear in his father's eyes.

'... I am still not strong enough to cause him to enter the Black Lighting Release Chakra Mode... So that must mean...'

It was only then that it clicked for him... If he had clashed with Ken just now...

'I would've died...'