The remaining shinobi hesitated at Kaze's command. Fear showed in their eyes for the first time since the battle had begun, replacing the confident aggression they'd displayed when overwhelming the Uchiha.
"What is that thing?" one whispered to his companion while gripping his kunai so tightly that his knuckles were white.
"Doesn't matter what it is," another hissed back. "We have our orders from the clan heads. We kill it now before it can do whatever it's planning."
They charged forward as a coordinated unit despite their fear.
Muzan met them without retreating, his mind clear about what he was choosing. Revealing his true nature meant abandoning any chance of returning to a normal life among humans, but Amanai was dying behind him and these people would kill the Uchiha if he didn't stop them.
The first enemy swung his katana at Muzan's neck in a horizontal slash aimed to decapitate. Muzan caught the blade with his bare hand and let the edge bite into his palm until it hit bone. His fingers closed around the steel with enough pressure to dent the metal. He ripped the sword from the shinobi's grip with a sharp twist and drove it through his chest before he could react. The blade punched through armor and sternum and emerged from his back.
"That's impossible—" Blood filled the man's mouth and cut off the rest of his words.
A second attacker came from behind while Muzan was occupied with the first. His kunai stabbed into Muzan's back and punched through muscle to scrape against his spine. The pain was sharp and immediate.
Muzan reached back with his free hand and grabbed the attacker's wrist before he could withdraw the blade. He pulled hard and the man flew over his shoulder in an arc. The shinobi crashed into the ground on his back hard enough to drive the air from his lungs. Muzan lifted his foot and stomped down on the man's head with enough force that his skull collapsed inward like an eggshell.
"He's a monster! Fall back and regroup—"
A third shinobi threw an explosive tag while retreating. The paper tag attached to Muzan's chest and the seal activated immediately.
The explosion engulfed him in flame and concussive force that tore through his clothing and charred his skin black.
When the smoke cleared, Muzan stood in the same spot. His clothes were burned away in patches and his skin was blackened and cracked like charcoal. Then the burns faded as new flesh grew beneath the charred layer and pushed it off. Within seconds, fresh pink skin had replaced the charred tissue completely.
The remaining shinobi stepped backward with their weapons held in trembling hands.
"He regenerated from that. How do we kill something that can regenerate from explosions?" one asked in a voice pitched high with panic.
"We can't fight this. We need to retreat and report—"
Muzan looked at Sasuke, then at Kaze, then at the remaining enemies who were backing away. His decision was already made and there was no going back from this point.
"I am neither fully human nor fully monster," he said quietly. The words felt strange coming out because he'd never spoken them aloud before.
His arms began to change as massive amount of chakra flowed within them.The flesh rippled and elongated like clay being reshaped by invisible hands. Red tissue erupted from his forearms and grew outward like vines sprouting from a tree. The muscle fibers were visible beneath the surface and covered in jagged crimson spines that jutted out at irregular angles. His hands twisted and the fingers fused together into blade-like protrusions that curved like scythes.
Within ten seconds, his arms had transformed completely into whips that were three meters long, covered in razor-sharp spines, and ended in curved blades sharp enough to cut through steel.
Behind him, Amanai's voice was barely audible over the crackling of nearby flames. "Muzan, what are you? What have you become?"
One shinobi stumbled backward and nearly fell. "Demon. He's some kind of demon that's been hiding among us!"
"Kill it now before it can do more!" another shouted while forming hand seals.
Muzan didn't waste words on an answer they wouldn't understand or accept. The whips moved according to his will as naturally as his original arms had.
He swung his right whip in a horizontal arc. The weapon lashed out faster than any ninjutsu technique he'd seen and moved with enough force to displace the air in a visible ripple. The nearest Sarutobi tried to dodge by diving sideways, but he was far too slow to avoid it. The whip wrapped around his torso and the spines tore through his armor like it was paper. Muzan pulled back sharply and the whip contracted while the spines ripped inward. The man's torso came apart in a spray of blood and internal organs that scattered across the ash-covered ground.
"Stay together in formation! Don't let it separate us and pick us off!" someone shouted, but panic was already breaking their cohesion.
Two more enemies came at Muzan from opposite sides in an attempt to flank. He swung both whips simultaneously and they extended mid-swing as he poured more energy into them. The whips grew from three meters to five, then to seven, then to ten meters long. His left whip carved through a burning tree trunk and the wood exploded into splinters from the force. His right whip caught both attackers mid-stride and sliced clean through their bodies at waist level. All four pieces fell separately.
A Shimura shinobi landed behind Muzan with wind chakra coating his blade in a visible shimmer. He thrust at Muzan's spine with the enhanced cutting edge aimed to sever his spinal cord.
Muzan's right whip reversed direction by bending at an angle that would be impossible for a rigid weapon. It wrapped around the shinobi's extended arm and the spines punched through muscle and scraped against bone. Muzan twisted his wrist and the whip rotated around the arm like a drill. The arm separated at the shoulder in a spray of arterial blood.
The man's scream was high-pitched and filled with agony.
Muzan flicked his wrist and the blade-tip at the end of his whip punched through the shinobi's chest and emerged from his back. The scream stopped immediately as his heart was destroyed.
Six enemies remained alive not counting Sasuke and Kaze, who were watching from a distance of twenty meters.
The survivors formed a defensive circle with their backs together and kept distance from Muzan.
"Keep back from melee range! Use only ninjutsu from here on!" one of them commanded.
Three of them formed the same hand seals simultaneously. "Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Jutsu!"
Dozens of small fireballs erupted from their mouths and converged on Muzan's position from multiple angles.
He spun in place and his whips rotated around him in a defensive pattern that created a blur of motion. Most of the fireballs deflected off the spinning whips and scattered into the burning forest around them. A few penetrated the defense and scorched his exposed skin with intense heat that left blackened patches.
The burns healed within seconds as new skin grew to replace the damaged tissue.
"The fire isn't working! Nothing we do is stopping it!" one of the shinobi shouted in desperation.
While Muzan was occupied deflecting the fire techniques, a Shimura came from directly above where he'd been hiding in the smoke. "Wind Style: Vacuum Blade!"
Wind chakra extended from his sword and created an invisible cutting edge that was two feet longer than the physical blade. He brought the technique down toward Muzan's neck in a diagonal slash.
Muzan's left whip shot upward faster than the attacker could adjust and caught him mid-air around the waist. Muzan reversed the motion and slammed him into the ground with enough force that the impact created a crater three feet deep. The shinobi's back broke with an audible crack and he went limp.
Before Muzan could finish him with a follow-up strike, the ground beneath his feet exploded upward. "Earth Style: Earth Flow Spears!"
Stone spikes erupted from the earth and punched through both his feet, continued up through his legs, pierced his torso in three places, and one burst through his left shoulder. Blood poured from the wounds and ran down the stone spikes.
"We got it! The spikes went straight through!" someone shouted triumphantly.
The stone spikes began to crumble as Muzan's regeneration pushed against them from the inside. Within five seconds, he had forced the spikes out of his body completely and the wounds sealed shut as muscle and skin knitted back together.
The Sarutobi who had performed the earth technique stared at him with his mouth hanging open. His kunai fell from his nerveless fingers and clattered against the ground.
Muzan swung his right whip across the clearing and it extended to its full ten-meter length. The whip wrapped around the shinobi's waist and he pulled sharply. The man flew toward him while screaming incoherently.
As the shinobi approached through the air, Muzan swung his left whip to intersect his path. The blade at the tip caught him at chest level and his body separated into two pieces that fell in different directions.
Three enemies remained alive aside from the clan heads.
The survivors' nerve broke completely. "Retreat to the rally point!"
Muzan let his whips extend to their full length of ten meters each. He swung them in wide horizontal arcs that carved through everything in their paths. Trees fell as the whips cut through trunks. Boulders split in half from the impacts. The three fleeing shinobi didn't make it more than ten steps before the whips caught them and tore them apart.
Silence fell over the battlefield except for the crackling of burning wood.
Only Sasuke and Kaze remained alive from the enemy force.
Muzan retracted his whips to a more manageable seven meters and turned to face the two clan heads. Blood dripped steadily from the spines that covered the whips.
Sasuke gripped his bo staff with both hands and his expression shifted from shock to grim determination. "Kaze, we can't hold back against this thing anymore."
Kaze raised his war fan and wind chakra began gathering around it in visible currents. "Agreed. We use everything we have."
They moved simultaneously in coordinated attack.
Sasuke inhaled deeply until his chest expanded far beyond its normal size. "Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"
A massive dragon head formed from white-hot flame erupted from his mouth. The technique was twenty feet wide and roared toward Muzan while consuming everything in its path. Trees exploded from the heat before the flames even touched them. The ground beneath the fire dragon turned to molten glass that glowed orange.
Kaze swung his fan in a complex pattern. "Wind Style: Vacuum Serial Waves!"
Multiple currents of compressed air shot forward from the fan and merged with Sasuke's fire technique. The wind fed oxygen into the flames and made them burn hotter and move faster. The combined technique created a wall of white flame that was thirty feet wide.
Muzan crossed his whips in front of his body and rotated them at maximum speed to create a barrier. The fire hit his defense and some of the flames deflected to either side, but the technique was too large and too powerful to block completely. Fire pushed through his defense and scorched his skin black.
The heat was more intense than anything he'd experienced. His flesh blackened and cracked open to expose muscle beneath. The muscle charred. Then both layers healed and regenerated. The cycle repeated continuously as the technique continued to pour fire at him.
The combined jutsu lasted for fifteen seconds before both clan heads ran out of chakra to sustain it.
When the fire cleared, Muzan stood in a pool of molten glass that had been solid ground moments before. His clothes were mostly burned away and smoke rose from his skin where the last burns were still healing. But he was whole and undamaged.
Sasuke's eyes widened and the confidence drained from his expression. "That's impossible. No living thing should survive that technique."
Muzan charged forward while they were still recovering from using such large techniques.
Kaze reacted first and his hands blurred through seals. "Wind Style: Vacuum Sphere!"
He exhaled and spat multiple bullets of compressed air that whistled as they cut through the atmosphere.
Muzan weaved between the first three projectiles by reading their trajectories from the air displacement. The fourth clipped his shoulder and tore away a chunk of flesh the size of a fist. The tissue regenerated within two seconds as he continued his charge without slowing.
Sasuke moved to intercept his advance. He swung his reinforced bo staff in a horizontal arc at head level with enough force behind the strike to crack stone.
Muzan ducked under the staff and his right whip lashed out at Sasuke's legs in a sweeping motion.
Sasuke jumped straight up and vaulted higher into the air than a normal leap should allow. While airborne, his hands formed seals despite holding the staff. "Fire Style: Flame Bullet!"
A continuous stream of fire poured from his mouth toward Muzan's position below him.
Muzan raised his left whip vertically and cut through the stream of flames. The fire parted around the whip and scorched the ground to either side of him. He swung the same whip at Sasuke's airborne form while the clan head was still breathing fire.
Sasuke twisted his body mid-air with impressive flexibility and the whip barely missed him. The blade caught his shoulder guard and tore the metal plate away from his armor.
Sasuke landed twenty feet away from his starting position. "Earth Style: Earth-Style Wall!"
A massive earth wall erupted between them. The barrier was thirty feet high and six feet thick with reinforced layers.
Muzan swung both whips at the wall simultaneously. They carved through the packed earth like it was wet clay instead of solid stone. Within five seconds, he had created a gap large enough to walk through.
Kaze was waiting on the other side with his fan already positioned. "Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
Gale-force wind slammed into Muzan with enough pressure to bend trees. The wind was compressed and sharp enough to cut skin. His exposed flesh split open in dozens of places as the cutting wind sliced through it.
The wounds healed as quickly as they appeared.
Muzan leaned into the wind and took one step forward despite the pressure pushing against him. Then he took another step. The wind howled around him but couldn't stop his advance.
Kaze's eyes narrowed and he increased the chakra output into his technique. The wind pressure doubled.
Muzan kept walking forward one slow step at a time.
Sasuke appeared from his right side where he'd circled around the earth wall. His bo staff came at Muzan's temple from a blind angle with all his strength behind the swing.
Muzan couldn't dodge the attack because the wind was pinning him in place. The reinforced staff connected with the side of his head with tremendous force. The impact was massive enough that his skull cracked and his head snapped sideways at an unnatural angle. His vision went white from the trauma.
But he didn't fall or lose consciousness. His head straightened as the fractured skull sealed itself back together and his vision cleared.
Muzan grabbed the bo staff with his left hand before Sasuke could pull it back for another strike.
Sasuke's eyes widened in shock. He tried to wrench the staff free with both hands, but it didn't budge even a fraction of an inch from Muzan's grip.
Muzan yanked hard on the staff and Sasuke stumbled forward as he lost his balance.
His right whip wrapped around Sasuke's torso and he lifted the clan head off the ground. Muzan threw him backward with enough force that he flew thirty feet through the air and crashed through Kaze's earth wall. Stone exploded outward in all directions from the impact.
Kaze changed tactics immediately and stopped his wind technique. "Wind Style: Vacuum Blade!"
Wind chakra extended from his war fan and created a cutting edge that was five feet long. He swung the enhanced weapon at Muzan's neck in a diagonal slash.
Muzan raised his right whip to block the attack. The vacuum blade cut clean through the whip and severed it completely. The detached end fell to the ground.
Sharp pain shot through his arm where the whip had been cut. Blood sprayed from the stump.
Then the whip began to regrow. Flesh extended outward from the wound, spines erupted along its length, and the blade reformed at the tip. The entire regeneration process took three seconds.
Kaze stepped back and his expression showed genuine fear for the first time. "He can regenerate even severed limbs within seconds."
Sasuke returned from where he'd crashed through the wall with blood running from a cut on his forehead. "Then we need to destroy him so completely that there are no pieces left to regenerate from."
He slammed his bo staff against the ground. "Summoning Jutsu!"
Chakra poured from Sasuke into the seal he'd created. Smoke exploded outward in a massive cloud. When it cleared, a creature stood beside Sasuke that made Muzan's chest tighten.
It was a monkey that stood seven feet tall with white fur covering its muscular body. It wore a black suit with mesh armor underneath and a sleeveless kimono-style shirt with tiger-stripe markings. A red sash held the clothing closed. The monkey's eyes were intelligent and calculating as they locked onto Muzan.
"Menma," Sasuke said to the summoned creature. "I need your help fighting this thing."
The monkey's lips pulled back to reveal long fangs. "What is that abomination, Sasuke? I have never seen anything like it in all my years."
"It's some kind of demon that was hiding among the Uchiha," Kaze said while keeping his distance. "It won't die no matter what we do to it."
Menma cracked its knuckles and the sound was like breaking wood. "I can see that just by looking at it. This will be interesting."
The monkey began circling around Muzan while maintaining a distance of fifteen feet.
Muzan struck first rather than waiting for them to coordinate. His right whip lashed toward Menma's chest in a straight thrust.
The monkey dodged sideways with surprising speed and agility for its size. It closed the distance while Muzan's whip was extended and couldn't immediately return to a defensive position.
A fist came at Muzan's ribs with tremendous force behind it. He brought his left whip down to block the punch.
Menma pulled the strike at the last instant and swept Muzan's legs instead with a low kick. He stumbled but managed to stay upright by using his whips for balance.
Sasuke came from behind while Muzan was off-balance. His staff swung at the back of Muzan's head in an overhead strike.
Muzan spun and both whips came around in defensive arcs.
Menma grabbed his right whip mid-swing despite the spines that covered it. The sharp protrusions pierced through the monkey's palm and blood ran down its wrist, but Menma held on and grimaced through the pain. It yanked hard on the whip and pulled Muzan off-balance.
Sasuke's staff connected with Muzan's shoulder while he was being pulled. Bone cracked from the impact.
The fracture healed within a second. Muzan tore his whip free from Menma's grip and the spines ripped away chunks of flesh from the monkey's palm.
Menma jumped backward and examined its torn hand. "That regeneration is going to be very troublesome to deal with."
"Keep applying constant pressure," Kaze called from his position twenty meters away. "Don't give it any time to focus or plan. Overwhelm it with continuous attacks from multiple angles."
They coordinated their assault with the practiced efficiency of experienced combatants. Sasuke attacked from Muzan's left with his staff. Menma came from his right with its fists. Kaze provided covering fire from range with wind techniques that forced Muzan to constantly adjust his position.
Muzan couldn't focus his attention on any single opponent. Every time he engaged one of them, another struck from a blind spot that he couldn't defend.
Sasuke's staff caught Muzan's knee and the joint bent sideways. He collapsed briefly before the injury healed. His whip lashed at Sasuke while he was falling. The clan head blocked the strike with his staff and the wood splintered but held together.
Menma came in low during Muzan's moment of weakness. Its fists hammered into his torso in a rapid combination of punches. Each impact was strong enough to crack ribs, but Muzan's demon physiology was stronger than human bone. He healed through the damage and wrapped his left whip around the monkey's arm.
Muzan pulled with all his strength and they entered a contest of raw power. The monkey was far stronger than any human, but Muzan was stronger. Menma's feet slid forward across the ground as he dragged it toward him.
"Wind Style: Vacuum Wave!" Kaze's technique sliced across Muzan's back and opened deep cuts through muscle.
Muzan's grip on Menma loosened from the pain and distraction. The monkey broke free and jumped backward.
Sasuke formed hand seals while Muzan was bleeding. "Fire Style: Flame Bullet!"
Continuous fire engulfed Muzan's head and upper chest. His flesh charred black and the smell of burning meat filled the air. He could feel his healing slowing down as his energy reserves depleted. The regeneration took three seconds instead of one.
Menma pressed its advantage and struck while flames still covered Muzan's face and blinded him. Its fists pounded repeatedly into his stomach, ribs, and face with crushing force.
When the fire technique ended and Muzan could see again, he lashed out wildly with both whips in sweeping arcs.
Menma ducked smoothly under the first whip. It caught the second whip despite the pain from the spines and held on while yanking Muzan forward.
Sasuke was ready and waiting for the opening. His reinforced bo staff came down on Muzan's head with his full strength behind it.
Muzan's skull fractured and his vision blurred. He dropped to one knee as his legs gave out.
They didn't give him any time to recover. Kaze sent cutting wind techniques that sliced through Muzan's back and arms. Sasuke struck repeatedly with his staff and each impact cracked bones. Menma grappled with Muzan and used its superior skill and leverage to keep him off-balance and unable to mount an effective counter-attack.
Muzan was being worn down through sustained pressure. Not overpowered by superior strength, but worn down by continuous damage that was accumulating faster than he could heal. His regeneration was slowing down too.
The hunger that had been a minor annoyance was now gnawing deeply at his core. He needed to feed soon or his healing would stop entirely.
"There!" Kaze shouted while pointing at Muzan's exposed torso. "When he regenerates from major damage to his chest, watch carefully!"
Sasuke glanced at Muzan's chest while blocking his whip strike. The clan head's eyes widened in realization. "I see it now. There are distortions in the way his flesh moves. Multiple separate points that pulse independently."
"His heart isn't located where a normal human heart would be," Kaze continued while his eyes tracked the movement beneath Muzan's skin. "I counted seven distinct pulsing points when his chest was fully exposed. And in his head when it was damaged, I saw five separate clusters that regenerated independently."
Sasuke's expression hardened as he understood the implications. "Seven hearts distributed through his torso and five brains in his head. That's why destroying any single organ doesn't kill him."
"We need to destroy all of them simultaneously," Kaze said. "Or he'll just continue regenerating from whichever organs survive."
Muzan heard every word clearly despite the chaos of combat. His enhanced senses had picked up their entire analysis.
They had figured out the core weakness of his demon physiology. As long as even one heart and one brain remained intact, he could regenerate from almost any damage. But if they destroyed all twelve organs at once, he would die.
Menma stepped back while breathing hard from the sustained combat. It examined its wounded hands where the spines had torn through flesh. "What kind of monstrosity has this many vital organs?"
"It doesn't matter what it is," Sasuke said with grim determination. "As long as it's a living creature, it can be killed. We just need the right technique to do it."