"I never expected my end would come like this…"
Kakuzu's voice was hoarse, stripped of its usual cold confidence.
"…dying at the hands of a brat."
These were his final words.
His body lay half-sunken into the shattered earth, threads torn, masks destroyed, and chakra utterly exhausted. Decades of accumulated power, countless battles survived, and an infamously undying reputation—all of it had reached its conclusion here.
There was no resentment left in his eyes.
Only unwilling acceptance.
Kakuzu's chakra network had completely dried up. The Earth Grudge Fear technique, which had allowed him to cheat death time and time again, could no longer sustain him. No hidden heart remained. No forbidden jutsu could be activated.
Death was inevitable.
And in truth, Kakuzu had not been weak.
Having survived since the era of Hashirama Senju, he was unquestionably Kage-level. In terms of raw combat power, battlefield experience, and lethality, he stood near the peak of the shinobi world.
Had he encountered any other opponent, this battle would not have ended in such humiliation.
Unfortunately for him, his enemy was Qingshui.
A man who possessed the Rinnegan.
A power that stood above common logic.
Soon after Kakuzu's life faded, Qingshui stood silently beside the corpse, his expression calm and detached. His Rinnegan spun slowly as his consciousness invaded the remnants of Kakuzu's mind.
Memories surfaced one after another.
Contracts. Assassinations. Betrayals. Endless battles. A lifetime devoted to profit and survival.
After confirming everything he needed, Qingshui reached out.
The Human Path activated.
An invisible force seized Kakuzu's soul.
With a single pull, the soul was extracted cleanly from the body.
Death came instantly.
There was no scream.
No struggle.
Only silence.
After killing Kakuzu, Qingshui did not immediately leave.
Instead, he carried the corpse deep into a secluded cave hidden among jagged cliffs. The location was remote, far from prying eyes, and ideal for what he intended to do next.
Kakuzu's value was far from exhausted.
"Time to put you to better use."
Although Qingshui had not possessed the Rinnegan for very long, his understanding of its abilities was frighteningly deep. Unlike Nagato, who had been crippled and relied heavily on proxies, Qingshui's body was intact and adaptable.
He had already mastered the Six Paths techniques.
Creating a Pain was no longer difficult.
Black receiver rods pierced into Kakuzu's body at precise locations, forming a perfect network for chakra transmission. Qingshui infused his own chakra, synchronizing the corpse completely.
Moments later—
Kakuzu's body twitched.
Then, slowly, it stood upright.
When his eyes opened, the familiar emerald-green pupils were gone.
In their place were concentric ripples of violet.
The Rinnegan.
This was the unmistakable mark of Pain.
However, this Pain was different from Nagato's Six Paths.
Qingshui did not seal away Kakuzu's original abilities. On the contrary, Kakuzu's Earth Grudge Fear technique, elemental masks, and monstrous physical resilience were fully preserved.
This Pain was closer to Obito's Jinchūriki Pains—enhanced vessels rather than restricted puppets.
"From now on," Qingshui said calmly, "you are my Pain, Kakuzu."
He removed his sunglasses and placed them onto Kakuzu's face.
The black receiver rods were embedded deep within the body and hidden from sight. However, the Rinnegan itself was impossible to conceal without such measures.
It would draw far too much attention otherwise.
He could always buy another pair later.
Deep within the mountains of the Land of Rivers, a massive bandit stronghold loomed.
Black Mountain Stronghold.
For years, a powerful group of bandits had entrenched themselves here, preying upon nearby villages. They robbed, extorted, and murdered without restraint.
The villagers had tried everything.
They pooled their savings and hired shinobi to eliminate the threat.
But all those ninja had died.
To make an example, the bandits massacred an entire village, leaving corpses displayed along the mountain road.
From that day on, fear ruled the land.
The remaining villages had no choice but to deliver food and supplies regularly, praying only that their lives would be spared.
Thus, the bandits became tyrants ruling hundreds of miles.
No one dared challenge them.
Until today.
A lone figure wearing dark sunglasses walked calmly toward the stronghold gates.
It was Pain Kakuzu.
"Who the hell are you?!"
A burly bandit leader stepped forward, his face scarred and ferocious. "This is Black Mountain Stronghold! How dare you trespass?!"
Pain Kakuzu did not answer.
He merely glanced at the man.
Black threads shot out instantly.
In the blink of an eye, the bandit leader's body was torn apart, his eyes frozen wide in disbelief as life left him.
The surrounding bandits froze.
Then panic erupted.
"S—Scatter!"
"Run!"
They fled in every direction, screaming in terror.
Pain Kakuzu showed no mercy.
Earth Grudge Fear activated.
Countless black tendrils burst forth, piercing bodies, ripping limbs apart, and slaughtering the bandits like livestock.
Blood soaked the ground.
Screams echoed briefly—then ceased.
The disturbance finally drew out the true leader of Black Mountain Stronghold.
Kawaifū.
A former elite Jōnin of Kirigakure.
He had defected during the era of the Bloody Mist, unable to endure its brutality. Since then, he had hidden here, ruling from the shadows.
The reason the bandits had survived this long was because of him.
The ninja previously hired by the villagers had been nothing more than Chūnin.
They never stood a chance.
When Kawaifū saw the man standing amidst the corpses, his pupils shrank.
"You are… Kakuzu."
As a former Mist ninja, he recognized the infamous Akatsuki member instantly.
And that recognition filled him with dread.
"I don't recall ever provoking you," Kawaifū said quickly. "There must be some misunderstanding."
It was a plea.
An indirect surrender.
But Pain Kakuzu had no interest in negotiation.
Qingshui's objective was clear.
Kawaifū specialized in Water Release.
He would make the perfect replacement heart.
Without hesitation, Pain Kakuzu launched a tentacle punch, aiming straight for Kawaifū's chest.
But Kawaifū was a Jōnin.
He vanished instantly using the Body Flicker Technique, reappearing several meters away while forming hand seals at blinding speed.
"Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!"
A massive sphere of water roared toward Kakuzu with crushing force.
"Damn you, Kakuzu—die!"
Yet the moment the jutsu activated, Kawaifū turned and fled.
There was no hesitation.
He understood the reality.
The gap between Jōnin was often greater than the gap between Jōnin and Genin.
He knew he could not defeat Kakuzu.
But he believed he could escape.
Unfortunately—
A Fire Release mask monster emerged, evaporating the water attack in a violent explosion of steam.
At the same time, Pain Kakuzu fired another tentacle punch.
It pierced Kawaifū—
Clang!
The body turned into a log.
Substitution Jutsu.
But before relief could form—
A masked monster appeared in front of him.
"Wind Release: Pressure Damage!"
The compressed wind blast struck him head-on, slamming his body into the mountainside.
Cracks spread across the cliff.
Blood sprayed from his mouth.
"What kind of monster technique is this?!" Kawaifū roared.
His escape route was gone.
Realizing survival was no longer possible, his eyes turned feral.
"Then I'll take you with me!"
A Jōnin fighting without regard for life was terrifying.
The mountain trembled.
The stronghold collapsed completely under their clash, reduced to rubble.
But Kawaifū's fate was sealed.
Pain Kakuzu was already dead.
And this corpse would not fall.
In the end, Kakuzu tore out Kawaifū's heart.
Another heart added.
Another step toward absolute dominance.
The mountains fell silent once more.
Advance Chapters avilable on patreon (Obito_uchiha)