The lead-gray clouds blanketed the sky, golden streaks of lightning chasing dark shadows, slicing the heavens like delicate threads.
Twelve… eleven… Kakuzu silently counted in his mind, his black tentacles releasing chakra to sense the surroundings.
After dodging and observing for so long, he'd fully grasped the enemy's abilities.
Her beyond-S-rank ninjutsu had two forms:
The air bullet mode had high firing density and long range but relied on a single attribute. He'd already countered it with Fire Release, so it wasn't a threat for now.
The laser mode, though, was devastatingly powerful and nearly impossible to resist. Its trajectory was lightning-fast, too quick to react to, but it had a low firing rate. Each beam could last up to 15.6 seconds before it needed to recharge for 1.4 seconds, followed by a 0.3-second spin-up to fire again.
After several near-death encounters, he'd adapted to the high-speed lasers, even finding the perfect way to counter them.
Sure, the lasers were fast—if they locked onto you, they'd pierce straight through before you could blink. But their telltale signs were obvious.
The moment those pupil-like nozzles twitched and opened, he could predict the timing and direction of the attack. By boosting his reflexes with Lightning Release, he could dodge preemptively.
As long as he avoided that initial, near-impossible-to-react-to shot, the slower cutting attacks that followed were no threat at all.
He'd memorized this attack pattern. The second the cannon's muzzle twitched or turned, every possible trajectory was already calculated in his mind.
Now, all he needed was to break through her defense, and the enemy was as good as dead.
Looking down at the arrogant girl below, smugly relying on her invincible barrier to control her water cannons, Kakuzu's lone intact mouth curled into a cold smirk.
He'd seen plenty of her type before—usually bloodline clan ninjas from the Five Great Villages.
Barely grown, they leaned hard into their inherited bloodlines, secret techniques, or special abilities, looking down on ninjas from smaller villages. In battle, they just swung their chakra around mindlessly, like gorillas wielding burning sticks.
Ignorant, arrogant, brimming with inexplicable confidence.
They only learned their lesson when their "invincible" ninjutsu got outplayed by a ninja with nothing but a kunai, the Three Basic Techniques, and a wealth of experience.
Ninja battles were never just about raw power. Like making money, it took brains and brawn—neither could be missing!
Nine… seven… two…
His lips curled upward, certain of victory. As he counted down to two, the chakra in three of his hearts surged.
Hikari's Byakugan needed no introduction—her sensory prowess was unmatched. The instant Kakuzu's chakra flared, she caught his movements.
With a gentle wave of her pale, lotus-like arm—
Buzz!
The rapidly spinning water spears shifted slightly. Their pupil-like nozzles turned with eerie precision, like human eyes. Six laser beams crisscrossed through the air, sweeping the void.
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In the sky.
The two attribute masks, weaving frantically, froze for a split second before darting back toward Kakuzu's Lightning Release body.
The pursuing lasers seized the opening, slicing vertically toward the grotesque masks.
That was the Earth Grudge Fear's most vulnerable spot—its hearts!
But the Earth Grudge Fear didn't pull off any fancy flying tricks. As if suddenly losing all intelligence, it flew straight toward Kakuzu.
The low hum of Hikari's water spears faltered, their internal chakra depleting exactly as Kakuzu had predicted.
The straight beams lost their power, bending and distorting under gravity, scattering into droplets before the reassembling Earth Grudge Fear.
Recharge time: 1.7 seconds!
The black tentacles of the Earth Grudge Fear danced with excitement. The Wind and Fire attribute masks emerged from Kakuzu's shoulders, their mouths snapping open.
Looking at the beautiful girl who'd stood arrogantly in place since the fight began, never moving a single step, Kakuzu's black-threaded lips parted, his voice low and brimming with killing intent:
"Combination Ninjutsu: Strange Mask Exploding Flame!"
Boom!
The Wind and Fire masks unleashed a terrifying surge of chakra, a refined technique honed over decades: Pressure Damage and Head Carving.
A compressed vacuum wave erupted, but unlike the sea of flames it produced at sea, this time the fire curled into a massive bomb, hurtling toward Hikari's barrier!
Strange Mask Exploding Flame and Flame Wind Chaos Wave were both Wind-Fire combination techniques, but their forms were completely different.
Flame Wind Chaos Wave used Wind Release to spread Fire Release, maximizing temperature and range to drown enemies in a sea of fire. Strange Mask Exploding Flame, however, condensed the flames with vacuum waves, using Wind Release's extreme speed to create an explosive impact.
The former was better for clearing battlefields with its wide range; the latter was perfect for breaking through fortified defenses, like a sturdy barrier.
Boom!
Timed perfectly during the water cannons' recharge window, the blazingly fast Wind-Fire attack gave Hikari no chance to counter with ninjutsu. The explosive flames slammed into the barrier.
Crack—snap!
Like an iceberg struck by a massive ship, the barrier instantly fractured with deep cracks. Raging fire waves poured through, engulfing the girl surrounded by her water spears.
Success!
Kakuzu, now just half a face, hovered in midair, his sliced black threads dangling from his waist. The two white masks on his shoulders wore eerie smiles.
Fire Release, the most aggressive ninjutsu, had countless flaws.
It lacked endurance, burned through chakra like crazy, and wasn't as fast as Wind or Lightning Release. But one thing was undeniable: it was the most destructive of all elemental techniques, bar none!
Even Lightning Release only edged it out in penetration.
Now, with Wind Release amplifying the flames, the attack's power was multiplied several times over. No living thing could survive it.
She was dead.
Dead in her own arrogance.
Kakuzu's lips couldn't help but curl upward. It was a shame he couldn't claim her heart, but the thought of the rewards to come filled him with uncontainable glee.
Crackle!
The roaring flames scorched the earth, painting the sky red.
His sensory ninjutsu was useless now—any stray chakra flows would be ignited by the flames, becoming fuel. His body descended slowly, cautiously, as countless grotesque tentacles flailed in the air, like venomous snakes hunting for prey.
He was searching for the Lightning Blade: Fang.
The heat from Strange Mask Exploding Flame was intense. If he didn't retrieve it soon, even chakra-conducting metal would melt. That was 40 million ryo down the drain!
His tentacles thrashed wildly, more frantic than the flames below.
Thud!
What was that sound?
Kakuzu, waiting for the flames to die down, felt his heart skip a beat. He thought he heard something like a drumbeat. He focused, but all he caught was the crackling of the fire.
Must've misheard—
THUD!
There it was again!
His three hearts pulsed in unison. Kakuzu's gaze snapped to the center of the firestorm, where the flames raged highest, soaring dozens of meters into the sky, obscuring everything inside.
But he was certain—that drumming sound came from there.
What the hell was it?
An inexplicable fear rose in Kakuzu's heart, a visceral emotion he hadn't felt in decades, like being thrown alone into a sea of fire, restless and searing.
Thud!
Another terrifying drumbeat made his whole body tremble, his tentacles practically knotting themselves. This time, the sound was crystal clear and eerily familiar. He instantly recognized it.
It was a heartbeat!
He nearly jumped out of his skin!
The vibrant, life-filled heartbeat that usually thrilled him now sounded utterly horrifying in his ears.
What kind of creature could produce a heartbeat that massive?
A mythical giant?
As he grappled with his fear, another drumbeat echoed, and a faintly curvaceous figure slowly emerged from the firestorm.
Snow-white bare feet tread on wind and thunder, leaving deep footprints in the crystallized ground.
Crack, crack!
Cracks as thick as a grown man's thigh spiderwebbed across the earth with each step. Malice and killing intent intertwined in the air, her vibrant chakra pulsing with a terrifying greed, like a ferocious beast breaking free from its cage, ready to devour.
"Hiss—ha!" The scorching steam from her breath dispersed, the fierce airflow pressing down the roaring flames.
This wasn't flammable Wind Release chakra—it was pure, unadulterated power!
The ground trembled with layered cracks. Clad in wind-and-thunder armor, the valkyrie stood in the plaza, her snow-white kimono long gone.
Purple-black Lightning Release armor enveloped her curvaceous form, with tearing gales twisting across it. Four slender, petal-like wind wings embedded with spinning turbines shredded even the sea of flames with their violent storm.
Her once-gentle silver hair, previously tied up, danced wildly in the wind, carving knife-like gashes into the ground.
"I hate this inelegant way of fighting!"
Her clothes, even her eye cloth, had been shredded by the surging chakra. Hikari, clad in wind-and-thunder armor, stared at the trembling Kakuzu, her star-bright, ashen eyes radiating killing intent.
"Your Earth Grudge Fear better be worth it!"
Her low, feminine voice carried an overwhelming sense of pressure.
A soul-deep fear clawed at Kakuzu's fragile nerves. His trembling lips couldn't form words. He didn't understand what kind of monster had walked out of that firestorm. All he could think of was that afternoon long ago when he'd tried to assassinate the First Hokage!
Whoosh!
His tentacles exploded outward, generating lift.
Without hesitation, no longer caring about the ninja tools in the fire, Kakuzu leaped like a startled cat, fleeing in the opposite direction of Hikari. He didn't know where he was going—just away.
His three hearts pumped chakra frantically, beating wildly. The twisted black threads formed a humanoid shape, his silhouette resembling the boy he'd once been.
Having long abandoned his human body, it was as if, in that moment, he'd reclaimed his lost humanity—
By losing everything!
BOOM!
A deafening explosion rang in his ears, like a buried bomb detonating. The ground erupted, a terrifying shockwave rippling outward, pulverizing trees, buildings, and those coffins into buried rubble.
The exaggerated scene shattered Kakuzu's spirit. He frantically channeled chakra to escape, but he realized he hadn't moved an inch. Even his Earth Grudge Fear, which should've obeyed his every whim, refused to budge.
Warm sunlight poured down, casting a pillar of light. His body trembled as if plunged into an icy abyss.
Right in front of him—
The sky split open!
The endless dark clouds parted, a canyon-like gash forming between them. A massive golden sun emerged, like the eye of a god.
He glanced down, sensing something.
His body, once covered in black tentacles, had been obliterated by wind and thunder. A seemingly soft, jade-like hand was casually toying with his sole remaining heart.
Only then did he realize:
Before that earth-shattering explosion, his Wind and Fire hearts had already been crushed. The force had torn through his body—and the sky itself!
"S-so… fast… W-what ninjutsu is this?"
On the brink of death, Kakuzu trembled, wanting to turn and see the enemy who'd killed him, but his crumbling body couldn't manage it.
"Sun-Chasing Style: First Form—Sky Shatter. It's more of a taijutsu move, I guess."
"Sky Shatter… taijutsu…"
Struggling to repeat the unfamiliar technique, Kakuzu never imagined taijutsu could unleash such a terrifying attack.
How laughable.
He'd just assumed she was some genius relying on secret techniques and bloodline limits. Turns out, he simply wasn't worthy of witnessing this berserk form. She was a ninja who'd mastered taijutsu.
"You're not bad yourself. Even among all the ninjas I've faced, you're one of the toughest," Hikari said slowly, watching Kakuzu dissolve like dust.
She meant it.
Kakuzu's battle experience and skill were immense. His five elemental techniques were developed to their peak, seamlessly combined, with rare abilities like flight, crowd control, and immortality. Even facing Obito Uchiha hadn't been as troublesome as this old bastard.
"To be praised by the new God of Shinobi… what an honor…"
"Too bad I'm still no match for that guy. And… I'm just a shadow clone," Hikari said coldly, shaking her head. Her five fingers closed around the sole Lightning Release heart. Yin Release intertwined with lightning, spawning a terrifying black thunder that attacked the soul.
Zzt, zzt, zzt!
The deliberately preserved black tentacles thrashed wildly, the zero-range black thunder assaulting Kakuzu's consciousness.
Already weakened to the brink, with only one heart and a few scraps of Earth Grudge Fear left, he couldn't withstand the soul-and-mind-targeting black thunder.
In moments—
Pop!
A deflating sound came from the Earth Grudge Fear, its frenzied tentacles collapsing under the black thunder.
Buzz!
Vibrant green chakra glowed in her hand, slowly repairing the heart and meridians damaged by Lightning Release. Ruptured blood vessels reconnected, and the chakra seed and black tentacles regained vitality.
If Kakuzu knew she was also a medical ninja, he'd probably die all over again.
Thump!
The heart pulsed rapidly in her hand, black tentacles coiling around her arm like tiny snakes, black and white intertwining, holiness and evil coexisting.
She could sense Kakuzu's last shred of consciousness fading away.
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