[Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation (Gōka Messhitsu)]
Kakuzu kept running without pausing his hand seals.
A black beast erupted from behind him, spewing a torrent of flames.
[Water Release: Water Formation Wall]
Faced with the raging inferno, several Konoha ninjas skilled in Water Release swiftly deployed their defenses.
A wall of water appeared out of nowhere, shielding them from the fire.
Although water techniques normally counter fire techniques, it still depends on the difference in strength.
Clearly, Kakuzu was far superior to these Konoha ninjas.
Their water wall offered little resistance against Gōka Messhitsu. It barely managed to slow the flames for a moment before vanishing into steam.
The Konoha ninjas were now engulfed in the roaring flames, left completely defenseless.
The fire spread too widely for them to escape anymore.
"Stay back. I'll handle this."
Just as they were completely at a loss, Kawaki's voice rang out beside them.
In an instant, they were all pulled out of harm's way.
"Lord Kawaki."
The captain looked joyful at first—a happiness born from surviving near-death.
Then shame washed over his face once more. He'd failed them again.
"Don't blame yourselves. This enemy is beyond your strength."
Kawaki didn't continue scolding; this matter was clearly beyond their capabilities.
Judging from the strength of that fire technique, the enemy was at least Kage-level.
"It was my mistake."
The captain lowered his head in shame, unable to think of anything else to say.
"No time for regret."
"Go back."
Leaving them behind made no difference, so Kawaki spoke and resumed pursuit.
"We…"
The captain trailed off, but Kawaki had already vanished from sight.
Meanwhile, Kakuzu had taken this opportunity to disappear without a trace.
"Sigh… Let's head back."
The captain sighed deeply and led the way back.
With Lord Kawaki involved, the outcome was already predictable.
If even Lord Kawaki couldn't handle him, following along would only mean more unnecessary deaths.
That's all there was to it!!
He felt guilty—not just for failing, but for needing Kawaki to save them.
"Captain, we've already done our best."
One ninja noticed his low spirits and tried to comfort him.
They had nearly died trying—who could blame them for falling short?
"Maybe you're right, but..."
"Forget it. We'll just wait for Lord Kawaki's return."
Not wanting to burden the others, the captain held back what he wanted to say.
The entire group returned in silence, the air thick with tension.
"You still think you can chase me? Ridiculous!!"
After running for a while and seeing no sign of pursuit, Kakuzu finally relaxed.
He was nearly at Konoha's main gate—he had no choice but to force his way through.
As long as he remained inside Konoha, he wouldn't feel safe at all.
Now he was starting to regret taking this job.
"I'd say you're the one being ridiculous."
Suddenly, a voice sounded, startling Kakuzu.
"What? Who's there?"
Kakuzu stopped in his tracks, eyes narrowing seriously toward the front.
Not far away, standing on a tree, was a man wearing pajamas. Beneath the moonlight, his silver hair shone like polished steel.
Wasn't that Kawaki Hatake—the very person he'd been keeping an eye on?
When Kakuzu saw who it was, his pupils instantly constricted.
Unless absolutely necessary, he wanted nothing to do with fighting Kawaki.
He knew his chances of victory were next to nothing.
"That's your three hundred and fifty million."
Kawaki darted forward a few steps toward Kakuzu, scaring him into taking several steps back.
"So you're Kakuzu?"
Kawaki carefully examined him, then revealed a strange smile on the corner of his lips.
So this really was that greedy bastard who valued money over his own life!
"You know me?"
"Is there even any record of me in Konoha?"
Kakuzu looked astonished, puzzled as to why Kawaki would know his name.
How could Kakuzu know that Kawaki had such a vivid impression of him?
In the original plot, he was the Akatsuki organization's financial director.
After working so hard all these years, he got directly drained dry by Konan.
Six billion explosive tags—that was a dream Kakuzu couldn't even imagine reaching.
"There isn't exactly any record."
"It's just that someone who loves money enough to throw their life away for it... That must be you, Kakuzu."
Kawaki teased. With his current power, facing Kakuzu was practically effortless.
"Hmph. I only believe in money."
Kakuzu could clearly sense the mockery behind Kawaki's words.
If he hadn't assessed that he couldn't win a fight, he would've already attacked.
"The money is right here before you. Why not go for it?"
Kawaki extended his right hand, wiggling his index finger mockingly.
Combine that with his pajamas, and he looked absurdly arrogant.
"I'm willing to give up the bounty today."
"Let me go."
Kakuzu, after living this long, had never actually backed down face-to-face like this.
After saying those two sentences, his face had turned reddish purple from frustration.
The time with Hashirama—he merely fled after defeat.
At least that's how he personally viewed it.
"No no no."
"Now, I won't allow you to give up."
Kawaki said, his expression turning serious. The faster this ended, the sooner he could go back and snuggle up beside Tsunade.
There was no benefit at all in wasting more words here with Kakuzu.
"No room for negotiation?"
Seeing Kawaki's stance, Kakuzu realized there was no peaceful resolution.
Silently, he had already begun gathering chakra.
"No room for negotiation."
"If you won't come at me, then I'll take the first move."
Kawaki pretended to step forward again.
[Earth Grudge Fear]
[Tendril Fist]
Kakuzu detached his wrist from his arm, instantly shooting out dense black threads from his forearm.
The ends of those threads were attached to fists, rushing toward Kawaki at incredible speed.
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"With just this much skill, I doubt you can even escape my grasp."
Kawaki took one step forward, completely enveloped in crackling lightning.
With what appeared to be a casual strike, he effortlessly nullified Kakuzu's entire attack.
In the blink of an eye, Kawaki vanished from Kakuzu's sight.
Puchi!!
Kakuzu spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed forward.
"The first heart."
Kawaki shook his hand, now covered in blood.
"Cough cough~"
"How come you understand Earth Grudge Fear so well?"
Despite the searing pain, Kakuzu forced himself to move away from his spot.
From their initial clash, he had already lost one of his lives.
At this rate, surviving another five seconds would be hard.
No wonder—the whole of Konoha was covered in Kawaki's Flying Thunder God markers.
If it had been somewhere else, Kakuzu might have lasted a few more seconds.
"Five hearts? You actually think you're the only one who knows that?"
Kawaki feigned mystery. Of course, unless he'd read the original plot, where else would he have gotten that info?
"Do we really have to do this?"
"I can give you money."
When it came down to life or death, ultimately, life was more important.
Sure, Kakuzu loved money, but compared to that, he valued his life even more.
"How much can you give me?"
Kawaki couldn't help but laugh out loud, feeling somewhat playful—like a cat toying with a mouse.
He was curious to hear what else Kakuzu would come up with.
"All of it. Right now, I've saved exactly 925,627,891 taels."
Kakuzu wasn't holding anything back.
"No wonder you became chief accountant."
"Even your hidden stash is accounted for down to the last tael."
Kawaki wasn't particularly surprised — after all these years of murder, it made sense that Kakuzu had amassed such wealth.
It was all built on blood-soaked lives — but none of it mattered to Kawaki.
"Just promise me my freedom, and it's all yours."
Noticing Kawaki had stopped attacking, Kakuzu spoke faster.
He had no will to keep fighting — that one blow through the chest had completely drained his courage.
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