"Stubborn to the end."
Minato wasted no time resuming his assault, giving Kakuzu no chance to catch his breath.
And this was all while Minato held back his Flying Thunder God technique.
If all four of them had gone all out, Kakuzu would have already been finished.
[Wind Release: Pressure Damage!]
To avoid being surrounded again, Kakuzu unleashed a wide-range Wind Release at Nagato and the others. This was also his final elemental heart.
The masked wind beast exhaled a high-pressure sphere of wind from its mouth, instantly forming a vortex storm that surged toward Nagato and the others.
Trees exploded into splinters in its path.
He kicked off hard with his feet, trying to dodge Minato's attack.
"Not so fast, pal."
Minato wasn't worried about Nagato and the others' safety at all—his eyes were locked solely on Kakuzu.
Another kunai shot through the air, straight for Kakuzu's wind-elemental heart.
This time, Kakuzu didn't dare mock him anymore.
Minato's danger level in Kakuzu's mind skyrocketed after being hit with two Rasengan.
[Shinra Tensei!]
Nagato extended his right hand and calmly spoke the four words.
The explosive vortex was instantly repelled.
Kakuzu wore an expression of complete disbelief—what kind of technique was that?
He hadn't just never seen it; he hadn't even heard of it!
Are Konoha's ANBU really this strong?
How foolish of me to think I could come here and kill Kawaki Hatake.
At this point, Kakuzu had completely accepted reality.
From the moment he accepted the bounty contract on Kawaki Hatake, his fate had been decided.
He knew just how powerful his own techniques were.
Right now, he needed to get out of Pressure Damage's range.
But Minato kept sticking tightly to him—he had absolutely no chance to break free.
Didn't this kid fear death?
"Damn it!!"
Kakuzu fiercely cursed inwardly—if you won't run, neither will I.
Who's afraid of who?
As the explosion from Pressure Damage erupted behind Kakuzu, he suddenly noticed Minato in front of him had vanished.
Looking up again, Minato stood impossibly on a distant tree branch.
Although he couldn't see Minato's facial expression through the mask, Kakuzu could tell—it must've been smug.
"Ahhh—!"
A pained cry tore from Kakuzu's throat as he flew backward once more, caught in the blast radius of his own technique.
The power of Pressure Damage was immense enough.
Blood spewed from his mouth midair.
When the dust finally settled, Kakuzu was too weak to even stand.
His entire strength had nearly depleted, leaving only his original heart remaining.
Relying solely on Earth Grudge Fear's black threads, there was practically no hope left for escaping.
"Done already?"
Konan didn't approach but instead flew over to stand beside Minato.
She'd spent most of the battle doing nothing, barely contributing at all.
"Yeah, he can't move anymore."
Minato nodded—Kakuzu had lost his ability to fight.
"What a bore."
Yahiko felt slightly unsatisfied; he only got to use one Water Release, nowhere near enough to warm him up.
"Mission's done."
"Time to head back."
Minato glanced at Nagato and pointed toward Kakuzu.
[Universal Pull.]
Nagato nodded and stretched out his right hand.
An unseen force yanked Kakuzu straight toward them.
Kakuzu had barely begun to speak when he suddenly felt the last traces of chakra in his body completely drained by the red-haired Anbu.
Then, like a lifeless dog, he was hoisted over the shoulder of an orange-haired man.
"You're getting more skilled at using it," Nagato said, patting Yahiko's shoulder.
That really was convenient. This saved them the trouble of having to seal their prisoner themselves.
"Well, everyone has to grow, right!" Pain laughed heartily, without the slightest hint of embarrassment.
As he aged, he was gradually mastering the unique abilities of his Rinnegan.
When the day came that he fully controlled the Rinnegan, he would definitely be far stronger than the Pain from the original timeline.
Had it not been for his physical limitations, he wouldn't have needed to go through the trouble of creating the Six Paths of Pain in the first place.
The true power of the Rinnegan lies within its original host.
"Alright, let's return to the village."
After Minato spoke, the four set off toward Konoha Village.
In reality, they had only been gone for a few hours at most.
Lord Kawaki had never truly intended to let Kakuzu leave.
As time passed, Minato and the others drew closer and closer to Konoha.
Kakuzu slowly regained some strength and muttered from Yahiko's shoulder:
"Earlier, I admit—I was out of line with my words."
"I'm truly not a bad person."
"A few hours ago, it was even Lord Kawaki himself who sent me off from the village."
"If you don't believe me, ask the guards later."
Kakuzu backed down first, hoping to correct their misunderstanding about him.
Spent nine hundred million for freedom, only to get captured again—what kind of situation was this?
"Shut up. We'll naturally ask Lord Kawaki ourselves."
"And we're certainly not taking requests from you."
Minato snapped back sharply, showing Kakuzu no mercy.
As for actually asking Kawaki? That was just lip service.
His teacher had summoned him specifically for this mission.
"Blond kid, talking so disrespectfully."
"Just wait until you face Lord Kawaki. You'll have to apologize then."
Seeing Minato's attitude, Kakuzu realized he'd been too optimistic.
Letting him go freely because of someone like this? No hope at all. His only chance was relying on Lord Kawaki.
He believed that since Kawaki had just accepted his enormous bribe, he must at least grant him a meeting.
This hasn't even lasted half a day.
Plus, he still had evidence exposing how Kawaki had accepted bribes. There remained a good chance of being released.
Thinking clearly now, Kakuzu decided to stop speaking further.
He feared he might actually die from fury at Minato.
(End of this short chapter — More exciting content coming soon!)
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"I'm waiting."
Minato threw out those three words and fell silent afterward.
This guy really was pitiful—still unaware of the truth after everything.
As they entered Konoha Village, Kakuzu tried to chat with the guards.
But they didn't even spare him a glance, treating him entirely as if he didn't exist.
Once brought back into the Anbu cell, Kakuzu surprisingly calmed down.
He firmly believed it wouldn't be long before Lord Kawaki appeared before him.
Leaving Kakuzu behind, Minato and the others made their way directly to the Hokage's office.
Lord Kawaki was deep in discussion with Shouta.
"Mission completed?" Kawaki asked first, leading with the question.
"Yes, teacher."
"The prisoner is already in the Anbu cell."
Minato did exactly as Kawaki instructed.
"That's settled then. Don't worry about him anymore."
"Just keep him locked up."
"Letting him live was already me being merciful enough."
"Heaven knows how much more bloodshed he'd cause if we let him loose."
Kawaki felt like he had just done something genuinely good.
"He keeps asking to see you, though."
Konan chimed in—it didn't sit well with her to stay silent for long.
She was nothing like the cold, aloof girl from the original plot.
"You think I'm just going to drop everything to meet him?"
"What standing does he have compared to mine?"
Kawaki couldn't help but laugh as he spoke. He could be surprisingly petty at times.
Even Kakuzu, usually so level-headed, started shouting after being tricked by him.
"Exactly."
Konan nodded in agreement, treating it all as natural—after all, what was he but just a captive?
"Alright, you guys can head home and rest now."
"The Anbu won't be giving you any missions today."
Kawaki had made that clear with Sakumo earlier. Minato and the others had basically finished their early shift.
"Then I'll go find Kushina."
Minato bolted off faster than a rabbit. Flying Thunder God technique wasn't allowed when arriving here—but no rule stopped him from using it on the way back.
"Teacher, goodbye."
Nagato and the other two exchanged glances, shaking their heads helplessly.
Senior Minato couldn't wait to spend every spare moment glued to Kushina.
The truth was, they were all lovesick teenagers—none of them were any better than the others.
...
Naruto: Starting from Pursuing Tsunade
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