'What did he do... to make Isobu this angry...'
Lexon shot a sideways glance at Kakuzu.
A violent chakra fluctuation surged again.
A massive amount of chakra gathered at Isobu's mouth, converging into a pitch-black sphere that emanated an incomparably terrifying aura.
"Dodge that!" Kakuzu warned Lexon.
He had seen the power of that Tailed Beast Bomb when it exploded at the bottom of the lake. It was unimaginably terrifying!
Black threads surged from Kakuzu's severed arm, converging to form a new one, restoring his limb.
Then, two more Earth Grudge mask-monsters suddenly emerged from his body, standing alongside the previous one.
He probably hadn't found a suitable replacement heart yet, so one spot was still empty.
His main body then leaped away, while the other three Earth Grudge monsters charged toward Isobu.
"Wind Style: Pressure Damage!"
"Lightning Style: False Darkness!"
"Fire Style: Searing Migraine!"
A wind impact, flashing lightning, raging flames...
Three powerful ninjutsu of different natures attacked Isobu.
But all the attacks hit Isobu's shell, dissipating without leaving so much as a white mark.
'Dammit... What a hard shell...'
Kakuzu leaped around frantically.
But no matter where he ran, Isobu would turn its body and aim the still-gathering Tailed Beast Bomb at him.
'Damn... If my main body is destroyed, it will be very troublesome, even if my Earth Grudge mask-puppets and hearts survive...'
'Where is Uchiha Lexon... Why isn't he doing anything...'
Kakuzu's peripheral vision searched for Lexon's figure. He then saw Lexon still standing calmly on the water, watching with great interest, as if enjoying his desperate flight.
"Make your move! Uchiha Lexon!" he couldn't help but shout.
'Looks like he really can't hold on...'
Lexon stopped watching the show and turned his gaze to Isobu.
'So what on earth did Kakuzu do... to make Isobu this angry...'
He didn't quite get it.
'But a furious giant turtle... doesn't look too bright... should be pretty simple to take care of.'
The next moment, just before Isobu's Tailed Beast Bomb was fully formed and ready to fire, Lexon's figure flashed, landing beside Isobu's eye in an instant.
"Sleep."
The moment Isobu reacted, Lexon's eyes suddenly transformed into the sinister Mangekyo Sharingan.
An extreme ocular power surged, penetrating Isobu's enraged pupil.
Immediately, Isobu's massive body visibly swayed, and the furious color in its eye lessened.
'But... it's not enough...'
A simple ocular hypnosis wasn't enough to make Isobu succumb.
The dazed Isobu slowly moved its tails, swatting in Lexon's direction.
'Still not enough...'
The next second, Lexon's pupils widened, and drops of blood-tears seeped from his eyes.
"Tsukuyomi."
Isobu's consciousness was instantly pulled into the Tsukuyomi world.
A long time passed in the Tsukuyomi world, but in reality, it was only an instant.
When Lexon's consciousness returned to his body, Isobu had already closed its eyes, deathly still. Its massive body floated on the water's surface without sinking. The Tailed Beast Bomb it had been forming had dissipated.
'He really is just a dumb, giant turtle...'
Lexon stood on the unconscious Isobu's head, thinking.
He wiped the few drops of blood-tears from his face, leaped off Isobu's body, and stood on the water, looking at Kakuzu.
"What did you do to it just now?" Lexon asked Kakuzu loudly.
"I... poked it somewhere with an earth spear..." Kakuzu scratched his head.
'No wonder...' Lexon thought.
"How did you take care of it?" Kakuzu walked toward Lexon. He had been thoroughly shocked when he saw Isobu suddenly collapse.
"I used an ocular jutsu to put it to sleep," Lexon replied.
"Your genjutsu is that strong?" Kakuzu was a bit surprised. He hadn't seen Lexon use genjutsu to hypnotize him during their fight.
"It's alright..." Lexon replied. He then looked at the giant turtle, Isobu, and continued, "How do we get this guy back?"
"A summoning scroll will do." Kakuzu approached the Three-Tails, took out an empty summoning scroll, and was about to press it onto its body.
"Wait," Lexon said. He had forgotten to check in on the Three-Tails, so he temporarily stopped Kakuzu.
"Hm?" A questioning sound came from under Kakuzu's mask.
Lexon got close to the Three-Tails and pressed his hand onto Isobu's shell.
[Sign-in]
[Sign-in successful]
[Congratulations on obtaining "Water-Nature Chakra"]
'Ah... failed... Didn't get what I wanted.'
Lexon was a bit disappointed.
"Go ahead," Lexon said to Kakuzu.
Although Kakuzu didn't understand what he was doing, he didn't ask. He just pressed the summoning scroll onto Isobu's body, leaving a mark.
The next moment, Isobu's massive body, along with a 'poof' of white smoke, disappeared into the scroll.
"Here," Kakuzu tossed the summoning scroll directly to Lexon.
"Interesting. Do you have any more of these?" Lexon caught the scroll and asked Kakuzu.
Kakuzu frowned, a vague sense of foreboding washing over him.
'This guy, he's not going to...'
"Yep, it's exactly what you're thinking." Lexon held out his hand to Kakuzu without any courtesy.
"..." Kakuzu turned his head. "I'm out."
"Really?" Lexon curled his fingers, a smile in his voice.
Kakuzu silently took out five more summoning scrolls from his clothes and tossed them to Lexon.
"Many thanks." Lexon caught them and stored them in his space ring.
'Is this... my karma for killing people and taking their money all the time...'
Kakuzu stared at the water's surface, thinking silently.
"Let's go..." Lexon stuffed the scroll containing Isobu into his clothes and said.
It contained a living being, so it couldn't be put into the space ring, only in his pocket.
"Do we continue hunting Tailed Beasts, or do we go back to the leader and hand over the Three-Tails first?" Kakuzu asked, seeking Lexon's opinion.
"Let's go to Amegakure first. The leader still owes me something..." Lexon said.
Compared to hunting Tailed Beasts and checking in for their chakra, Lexon felt it was more important to check in on Nagato's Rinnegan first.
"Mn." Kakuzu had no objection.
Suddenly, the sound of ninja leaping was heard.
Several Anbu ninja wearing masks suddenly appeared in front of Kakuzu and Lexon, surrounding them.
'Kirigakure Anbu... We made too much commotion, and they noticed...'
Lexon looked at the Anbu, thinking.
"Who are you? What are you doing here? What is your purpose... Speak," the leading Anbu ninja demanded.
But neither Kakuzu nor Lexon responded.
"Not answering..." The Anbu ninja drew their kunai. "If you won't answer, then die!"
"You or me?" Kakuzu asked.
"You do it," Lexon replied casually.
"Earth Grudge Fear." Numerous black tentacles burst from Kakuzu's body, attacking the surrounding Anbu.
'What is this?'
The Anbu ninja were shocked and uncertain, raising their hands to defend.
But the black tentacles were too fast and too numerous. They instantly pierced their bodies.
Kakuzu seemed to be in a bad mood. He tore their bodies apart, not even leaving full corpses.
Soon, all the surrounding Anbu were dead, their remains sinking slowly into the lake.
"Such a bad temper," Lexon muttered as he walked forward, ignoring Kakuzu's actions.
'Hm?'
The next moment, Lexon's eyebrows raised. He smelled a familiar scent.
'The scent of a Reincarnator.'
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]