After a brief moment of surprise, Kakuzu's expression calmed. "As expected, it's not that easy to get him..."
As soon as he finished speaking, a capsule descended from the sky, directly targeting Kakuzu's location.
Kakuzu had witnessed the power of this technique. He leaped to the right, dodging the cylindrical ice capsule.
The attack missed, but Tōshirō's lips curved into a smile. This move wasn't meant for him to begin with.
Kakuzu, who had dodged the attack, suddenly realized he had fallen into a trap. He turned his head and saw that one of the black creatures created by Jiongu had been covered by the cylindrical capsule at some unknown point.
Damn it, this guy is going for the heart.
Kakuzu instantly understood Tōshirō's intention. He swung his arm and punched with his hardened black fist, connected by black threads, towards the cylindrical ice capsule, intending to shatter it.
Not a chance...
Tōshirō leaped, jumping in front of the ice capsule. His eyes widened, chakra gathered in his eyes, his pupils dilated, capturing Kakuzu's attack trajectory. He spread his palm and grabbed the incoming fist.
The first attack missed, but Kakuzu still had his Tailed Beast. He ordered the Jiongu monster that wasn't trapped to flap its wings and pounce on Tōshirō.
Tōshirō glanced, a red light flashed, and a white tail grew from behind him. He whipped his tail, directly swatting away the pouncing Jiongu creature.
Without a moment to spare, Tōshirō channeled chakra into his right arm, emitting steam, and pulled forcefully.
Boil Release: Peerless Strength.
Tōshirō's incredible strength was too much for Kakuzu to parry. He tried to sever the black threads connecting him to his body, but it was too late. His body, connected by the black threads, was pulled, lost its balance, and flew off.
Tōshirō seized the opportunity, throwing a powerful, merciless punch that slammed into Kakuzu's forehead.
"Boom."
Kakuzu, taking the full force of the punch, spiraled away, flying far into the distance.
During this time, Tōshirō did not press his advantage. He turned to look at the ice sculpture behind him and, without hesitation, shattered it with a single punch.
Having instantly destroyed one heart, Tōshirō eagerly set his sights on another heart. Steam surged from his body, he instantly entered Steam Armor state, and teleported closer.
The black creature with the blue patterned mask on its head was slightly bewildered when it saw Tōshirō, clearly not having reacted yet.
Tōshirō punched its face.
The weakness of these creatures was their masks.
"Crunch."
After the mask was shattered, the black creature turned into a pile of sludge and fell to the ground.
In an instant, Tōshirō had killed two hearts. He pressed on, his gaze sweeping, aiming for the third heart. He surged forward, repeating the same move, punching its face.
However.
This time, he missed. The moment Tōshirō threw his punch, the black creature turned into a black pillar and surged into the air.
Not just this one, but the remaining black creatures all did the same. Without exception, they all transformed into the same form and surged in one direction.
Following the direction, a figure stood there. It was Kakuzu.
Kakuzu summoned the remaining Jiongu creatures into his body. He gazed ahead, his eyes filled with deep apprehension.
Tōshirō's punch just now was incredibly powerful. Even with his Earth Release: Earth Spear for defense, he felt a certain degree of pain, indicating its remarkable force.
The creatures created by Jiongu actually had decent strength, on par with a Special Jonin.
But the current Tōshirō was simply too strong, killing them as easily as butchering pigs and dogs.
If they continued to wander outside, Tōshirō would surely slaughter them all.
"Damn it, you know my abilities too well."
Tōshirō's crimson eyes were cold and profound, radiating a chilling glint. "That's something I should be saying."
He didn't understand why Kakuzu had ambushed him, but he now knew one thing: Kakuzu was his enemy.
Since he was an enemy, there was nothing more to say; he just needed to be killed.
He had originally thought of developing Kakuzu into a comrade, but in the end, this guy had betrayed him.
Just as he was thinking, a sound like shattering glass came from above.
Tōshirō looked up, and the Ice Release: Ice Crystal Maze Jutsu that enveloped the surroundings instantly shattered into fragments, raining down to the ground.
It seemed to have reached its limit...
Ice Release: Hippolyte Capsule was an extension of the Ice Crystal Maze Jutsu. Once this technique was used, the Ice Crystal Maze Jutsu would disappear.
Additionally, this technique consumed a significant amount of chakra. Without Tailed Beast-level chakra to sustain it, a ninjutsu of this caliber would exhaust the user's entire chakra supply.
"You've gotten stronger..."
Feeling the aura of power emanating from Tōshirō, Kakuzu was particularly moved.
In their brief exchange, he had already realized that if he were his past self, he would likely no longer be a match for the current Tōshirō.
"At this point, regret is useless..."
Tōshirō uttered a meaningless phrase, appearing impatient, but in reality, he was calculating how to instantly kill Kakuzu when he was off guard.
He currently had an information asymmetry with Kakuzu.
The Seven-Tails should be Kakuzu's trump card and probably wouldn't be used easily. Tōshirō aimed to exploit this psychology, hoping to instantly kill him with a powerful technique before he could unleash the Tailed Beast's power.
Although this would also kill the Seven-Tails within Kakuzu, it was an unavoidable consequence.
For someone of Kakuzu's caliber, Tōshirō dared not be careless.
Moreover, he himself couldn't use ninjutsu that extracted Tailed Beasts.
Tōshirō spoke in an apologetic tone, giving the Five-Tails within him a preemptive warning: "To deal with the enemy before me, I must be prepared to kill the opponent. At that time, I might also eliminate the Tailed Beast within him."
The Five-Tails mused, "Is that truly the only way?"
Although Tailed Beasts could revive after being killed, they all ultimately met the same fate.
Tōshirō explained his predicament to the Five-Tails.
The Five-Tails fell silent.
Tōshirō secretly breathed a sigh of relief. With the rear properly handled, Tōshirō could now fight freely.
On the other side, Tōshirō dared not be careless against Kakuzu, and Kakuzu felt the same way: "Tōshirō, next, I'll show you something interesting."
Tōshirō frowned.
Kakuzu smiled coldly, directly manipulating the Tailed Beast's power. A pair of insect-like wings appeared behind him.
"This is..."
Tōshirō's crimson eyes widened in astonishment.
"This is the same power as the Tailed Beast within you." Kakuzu's gaze fell on the white tail behind Tōshirō.
Tōshirō narrowed his eyes. "The Seven-Tails..."
"You're quite perceptive..."
"I don't understand what good this does for you."
"Don't look at me like this, I'm also in a difficult position."
From the information revealed by the other party, it seemed someone was forcing him to do things... Tōshirō frowned. Who could it be?
He didn't know why, but since earlier, he had felt particularly anxious and unable to concentrate.
There was no point in saying more. Kakuzu stopped revealing further information.
Tōshirō's growth in strength far exceeded his expectations. He was starting to feel a bit of regret now.
However, nothing he said now would change anything. As a betrayer, Kakuzu could only follow this path to the end.
Having made up his mind, Kakuzu spread his wings, flapped their thin membranes, lifted his feet off the ground, and flew high into the sky.
Damn it...
Seeing Kakuzu fly, Tōshirō couldn't help but curse, letting out a national expletive.
Kakuzu's individual strength alone was already troublesome enough for Tōshirō, and now he could even fly...
Kakuzu, flying in the sky, had two masks protruding from either side of his head. Each mouth brewed fire-natured chakra and wind-natured chakra, respectively. Then, the two forces merged, forming a massive fireball.
"Boom."
The fireball exploded, scattering countless small fireballs that descended through the air like a meteor shower.
Tōshirō spread his arms, forming a hemispherical ice sphere around himself to block the continuous bombardment of fireballs. However, the surrounding environment turned into scorched earth where the fireballs passed, incinerating trees into ashes.
In an instant, thick smoke permeated the surroundings, obscuring visibility.
Kakuzu had the advantage of elevation. From mid-air, he overlooked the area below.
Suddenly, a massive ice pillar shot up into the sky, attacking directly.
Ice Release: Cliff of Severed Blades.
(End of Chapter)
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