Chapter 45: Kakuzu Can't Rise Again
Squelch—!
The sound of a Kunai's tip piercing flesh sounded exceptionally harsh in Kakuzu's ears. He could even feel a chill crawling up his spine.
However, as a bounty hunter who had lived for ninety years, Kakuzu's reactions were practically etched into his marrow.
"You're still too green to take my life!"
At the very moment the Kunai was about to sink deep, Kakuzu's back burst open eerily, and pitch-black Earth Grudge Fear tentacles wove into a thick black shield wall. Yahiko's Kunai stabbed into it and was firmly caught by that resilient force.
In the next instant, Kakuzu's figure was pulled by the Earth Grudge Fear, sliding twenty meters across the ground.
He steadied himself and wiped away the trace of blood from the back of his neck with the back of his hand, his green pupils filled with horror: "Is this the yellow flash's Flying Thunder God? Are you Minato Namikaze?"
As a mercenary wandering through various countries, he naturally knew about the news of Konoha's Nine-Tails Attack not long ago; the man known as the "yellow flash" should be dead.
"Don't compare me to that dead man," Yahiko said, casually twirling his Kunai. "I'm not as indecisive as he was."
"Arrogant!" Kakuzu snorted coldly, his hands moving in a blur of seals.
As a long-renowned top-tier powerhouse, he would never fall into the same trap twice. With a tearing sound, the four Mask Monsters originally attached to his back completely detached from his body.
The Water Release mask took the center, the Lightning Release and Earth Release masks guarded the sides, while the Fire Release and Wind Release masks floated in mid-air, vaguely forming a three-dimensional sensory formation with no blind spots.
"Space-time Ninjutsu ultimately needs a landing point. As long as I blockade all your Kunai positions, your technique will be your own undoing!" Kakuzu's analysis was extremely calm as his Earth Grudge Fear tentacles spread out like a spider web, bringing every inch of the surrounding ground under surveillance.
With this formation, even if Minato Namikaze were here, it would be difficult to launch a forceful attack without paying a price.
Yahiko looked at this scene and chuckled, "[Epitaph]."
In Yahiko's vision, the surrounding world instantly lost its color, turning into a gray texture. Frames of the future skipped through his mind like a slideshow.
He saw the scene ten seconds later: he would throw a Kunai, only for it to be stopped by the Earth Release mask's hardened defense, followed by a crossfire of the Lightning Release 'False Darkness' and Wind Release 'Pressure Damage', completely shattering the large tree he was standing on.
"Lightning Release: False Darkness!"
"Wind Release: Pressure Damage!"
Kakuzu made his move. A sharp spear of flashing lightning and a vacuum wave of storm-force winds capable of tearing through steel erupted simultaneously, locking down all of Yahiko's evasion paths in an X-shape. Kakuzu calculated that with this coverage, unless the opponent could teleport a hundred meters away, they would surely die.
"Disappear, you one billion ryo!" Kakuzu laughed wildly.
However, at the very last 0.5 seconds.
"[King Crimson]!"
Crack.
The real world seemed like a shattered mirror. The roaring lightning, the violent wind blades, and even the dust dancing in the forest all became fragmented at this moment.
This was a "time-space" that only Yahiko, as a Stand User, could step into.
In this erased ten-second segment, all processes lost their meaning. Yahiko walked slowly through this stagnant and distorted space. He bypassed the trajectory of the lightning spear, stepped over the frozen wind blade fragments, and unhurriedly walked directly behind the Lightning Release Mask Monster.
He raised his fist. The hideous red-and-white Stand—King Crimson—emerged behind him, its explosive arm overlapping with Yahiko's movement.
The deletion ended, and time began to flow.
To Kakuzu, this scene was like some kind of edit.
He was watching as the Lightning and Wind Releases were about to tear the red-haired brat to shreds, but in the blink of an eye, the figure who was supposed to be dead simply vanished into thin air!
Puchi!
Before the Lightning Release Mask Monster could even let out a cry of pain, its entire chest cavity was instantly pierced by an iron fist covered in a dark red phantom.
"The first one."
Yahiko's cold voice exploded behind Kakuzu's ear.
With the sound of the mask shattering, the heart containing Lightning Release Chakra was crushed into pulp by King Crimson. Black threads scattered across the ground like withered vines.
"How is this possible!" Kakuzu had never felt anything so absurd in his life; even when facing the First Hokage's Wood Release back then, he could at least see the source of the attack. But that move just now completely defied the common sense of time and space.
"I was clearly watching for the Flying Thunder God markers..." Kakuzu leaped backward frantically, the remaining three Mask Monsters huddling together. Having lived so long, this was the first time he felt the icy fear brought by the "unknown."
This isn't the Flying Thunder God at all!
"You have three masks left."
Yahiko's figure flickered, the orange light perfectly aligning with the landing points of the Flying Thunder God Kunai. Kakuzu instinctively shot out Earth Grudge Fear to intercept the Kunai, only to find that Yahiko's hands hadn't stopped.
Five golden Adamantine Sealing Chains burst from Yahiko's back, forcibly imprisoning the Wind Release and Fire Release masks like a cage. At the same time, King Crimson's arms behind him moved rapidly.
They were afterimages so fast they couldn't be captured by sight.
"Water Release: Water Severing Wave!"
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique"
Dual Casting!
Two high-pressure water jets, one thick and one thin, formed a perfect coordination at this moment. The extremely thin water line acted as a scalpel, precisely slicing through the wind-fire barrier Kakuzu used for protection, while the following vast waves turned into a heavy hammer, slamming the two Mask Monsters firmly against the rock wall.
Water overcomes fire, and the Adamantine Sealing Chains suppress Chakra.
"No—!" Kakuzu let out a shrill cry of anguish.
He watched helplessly as the Mask Monsters he had painstakingly nurtured for decades were rendered immobile by those unreasonable golden chains, then sliced in half by that thin water line like cutting through tofu.
Two more hearts stopped beating.
By now, the forest clearing had turned into a muddy swamp due to the massive irrigation of water. Kakuzu's main body knelt in the muddy water, the sole Earth Release mask clinging to his back. Due to the heavy consumption of Chakra, his breathing became heavy and ragged.
Ninety years of experience shattered all over the ground at this moment.
Yahiko's figure flashed again. That was the Flying Thunder God.
Kakuzu almost subconsciously activated his Earth Spear defense, his skin instantly hardening into dark brown steel. As long as he blocked this hit, he still had a chance to use a secret technique... but the thought had only just arisen.
Buzz—!
The world's hues inverted once more.
In the erased time, Kakuzu's proud hardened defense was as slow as a movie in King Crimson's vision. Yahiko didn't choose to clash head-on but calmly circled to the core gap of the Earth Release mask.
The moment time resumed its flow.
Kakuzu didn't even feel pain; he only felt his back suddenly become lighter. Immediately after, the Earth Release mask that had always accompanied him actually turned into countless fragments and fell powerlessly into the swamp.
Four hearts, all destroyed.
"It seems ninety years of experience haven't taught you how to maintain reverence for a God."
Yahiko stood before Kakuzu, looking down at the man with a blood-stained face and hollow eyes. The Kunai in his hand was pressed against the position of the last heart in Kakuzu's main body.
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