Suien endured the pain and hurriedly shouted upward, "My lords! Are you not planning to take action yet?"
Tsunade raised her brows slightly at those words.
The "two lords" he mentioned should be the same two people Aoba had said were hiding in the shadows.
She turned to look back, only to find that Aoba's figure had already vanished.
Most likely, he'd gone to find those two.
Shibuki, however, immediately became alert upon hearing Suien's words. He had wondered why Suien dared return with these Amegakure shinobi, it turned out he still had backup.
But after a few seconds, no one responded.
"Wha… what's going on?"
A look of fear slowly crept across Suien's face, 'Could it be those two saw the Hokage of Konoha and didn't dare come out?'
"Come out already!"
"Does your Akatsuki organization not keep its word?"
Suien cursed angrily, "Bastards!"
BOOM!
BOOM!
The words had barely left his mouth when two loud explosions echoed above the giant tree.
Immediately after, two black figures fell straight from the sky and smashed into the water, sending up enormous splashes.
"My lords?"
Suien's expression changed at once.
Shibuki and Fu's faces grew serious as well, though Tsunade and Kurotsuchi remained calm as ever.
Aoba reappeared before Tsunade and the others.
"So handsome!", Fu blurted it out without thinking. Having lived in Takigakure for over ten years, it was indeed her first time seeing a good-looking man.
Aoba nearly stumbled when he heard that.
Judging from her tone, though, she probably just thought he looked good, it wasn't anything like infatuation.
Tsunade frowned slightly, glanced at Fu, and then asked, "How's the situation?"
"They're indeed two members of Akatsuki. But it's no big problem, leave it to me," Aoba's tone was casual.
"Then I'll leave it to you."
Seeing that he didn't look like he was bluffing, Tsunade simply led Fu and the others a bit farther away.
She just wanted to play the role of a laid-back Hokage.
The waves stirred up by Kakuzu and Sasori's fall had gradually subsided by now, leaving only faint ripples behind.
The two figures came into view, looking rather disheveled.
Hiruko's tail was covered in cracks, the punch from Aoba earlier had almost snapped it in half.
Under his damaged mask, Kakuzu's face was dark with fury, his pair of green eyes locked fiercely on Aoba.
"Aoba, you've succeeded in angering me! Even for the deputy leader's sake, I won't let you go!", Hiruko's beady eyes also stayed fixed coldly on Aoba.
They hadn't intended to fight at first. After all, with not only Aoba and Tsunade present but also the Seven-Tails' jinchuriki nearby, the advantage wasn't theirs.
But this brat Aoba had no sense of honor. After just a few words of talk, he'd suddenly punched them without warning.
"Eh? Isn't that the legendary Kakuzu-senpai? He looks exactly like the wanted poster from decades ago," Fu, who had been watching from afar, exclaimed when she saw him.
"He's the rogue-nin Kakuzu. As for his appearance, that's likely due to his Earth Grudge Fear technique," Shibuki said after studying him for a moment, his expression growing solemn, "He's a legendary shinobi who survived even after fighting the First Hokage."
"He fought Grandpa and survived?"
Tsunade was surprised. How had she never heard of that before?
By all logic, the village should've had records about such a person, her grandfather had never mentioned it either.
"He did fight him," Fu said loudly, "But I heard Kakuzu-senpai only threw a shuriken from very far away trying to assassinate the First Hokage, failed, ran back home, then killed the village elders and defected."
Her voice was so loud that even the distant Kakuzu heard it, and his face darkened further.
"Ahem! Well, that version doesn't exactly match reality. I'll tell you when you're older," Shibuki said awkwardly. As clan head, he of course knew the truth.
It wasn't exactly a proud story.
After all, sending Kakuzu to assassinate the First Hokage, then punishing him when he failed, it had been a ridiculous decision.
"Really? So Kakuzu-senpai didn't just throw a shuriken from eight hundred meters away?", Fu asked eagerly.
"Brat! I really did fight the First Hokage!", Kakuzu couldn't stand it anymore and roared at her.
Fu immediately hid behind Tsunade, clearly knowing who among them gave her the most sense of safety.
That only infuriated Kakuzu even more.
He'd already accepted that Takigakure had once sent him on an absurd mission to assassinate the First Hokage. But after he returned half-dead and severely injured, they'd imprisoned and tortured him, and now they were slandering him too?
He was livid.
He had truly fought the First Hokage. Sure, it was only against a wood clone, but it had been a battle for his life.
"I didn't expect you really did fight the First Hokage," Aoba said, surprised, "I thought you'd only thrown a shuriken from eight hundred meters away. I was even thinking of comparing throwing techniques with you."
Kakuzu's expression grew even darker, but he restrained himself. Fighting now would not be advantageous for them.
The Takigakure leader was here as well, and he knew the weaknesses of Earth Grudge Fear.
"Since you already know my past," Kakuzu said stiffly, "why don't we end it here?"
Aoba just smiled, "Since you've fought the First Hokage, I'm curious, which jutsu of his did you lose to? Maybe I happen to know it too."
Kakuzu: "..."
'Is this guy bullying the honest ones on purpose?'
"So," Sasori said, his chakra already gathering quietly, "must you insist on fighting us both?"
Aoba replied calmly, "Some things are best discussed after you've realized the gap between us."
Kakuzu and Sasori exchanged a glance, and without another word, decided to strike first.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Streams of black thread poured from the cracks in Kakuzu's arms, writhing like black tentacles.
"Ninjutsu: Earth Grudge Fear-Tentacle Fist!"
Countless black threads shot toward Aoba, filling the air and cutting off every possible escape.
"Hiruko-Needle Eight Barrage!"
Sasori controlled Hiruko to open its jaws, firing an ultra-dense rain of poisoned needles and spikes at Aoba, so fast they were almost impossible to dodge.
Once hit, the poison Sasori personally crafted would paralyze and kill almost instantly.
Both techniques required no hand signs, and since they struck first, no matter how powerful Aoba was, at this range he wouldn't have time to form seals.
Dodging such dense attacks was no easy feat.
But Aoba didn't even try to dodge, nor did he use Wood Release.
Under Kakuzu's shocked gaze, Aoba simply raised his hand slightly and awakened a memory of terror that had once ruled Kakuzu's mind.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Kakuzu: "?"
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