Back when Kakuzu was still an elite jonin of Takigakure, he was ordered to assassinate Senju Hshirama.
Of course, he failed. The terrifying pressure from that encounter is still fresh in his memory. To motivate himself and simultaneously break free from that ridiculous village leader, he killed his comrades, stole the forbidden jutsu Earth Grudge Fear, and survived to this day by relying on its power.
He outlasted the First Hokage, outlasted the Second Hokage, and now he was on the verge of wearing down the Third Hokage as well.
Yet today, he was being mocked by a mere brat.
Rage surged uncontrollably from the depths of Kakuzu's heart. He had to kill this brat—this brat must die!
Not to mention, he had even smashed one of his own hearts, and that broken heart would be repaid with his own!
Kakuzu stretched both hands forward. Black tendrils surged from every part of his body, swarming toward Gekko Chizan like a locust plague.
Gekko Chizan remained unperturbed, a confident smile curling at the corner of his lips.
In an instant, he vanished from his spot—it was the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Kakuzu, missing his attack, began searching for Gekko Chizan's location. Unexpectedly, the previously injured Saibon rose to his feet again.
"Wind Release! Crushing Calamity!"
The renewed tempest swept over Kakuzu and his mask monsters once more.
Seeing Kakuzu in the center of the storm, Saibon, despite the pain, wanted to pin him down.
But severely injured, the jutsu he used was already far weaker than before.
"Wind Release! Great Breakthrough!"
Just as he felt his power waning, Yahiko suddenly appeared beside him. Although Wind Release wasn't his specialty, he could still generate wind using pure chakra.
With the additional wind support, Saibon's Crushing Calamity gradually regained lethal potency.
"Hmph!"
But Kakuzu was unfazed by a jutsu of this level. Three mask monsters formed a barrier around him, and he activated Earth Release.
His body, as hard as iron, absorbed the attack head-on.
When the violent wind subsided, Gekko Chizan vanished again. Kakuzu gritted his teeth in fury.
Suddenly, a strange phenomenon occurred.
Countless paper-like objects began floating down from midair.
This bizarre scene left Kakuzu, Saibon, and Yahiko stunned.
Kakuzu grabbed one and held it before his eyes. In the next moment, his eyes widened in shock at what he saw.
These weren't paper—they were money!
Two hundred ryō! The sky was full of them!
As Kakuzu hesitated about whether to collect the money, a voice resounded in midair, striking the final straw in his heart.
A slow, drawn-out voice echoed:
"I love money, money loves me, money comes from all directions..."
"Money Release! Sky-Flooding Cash!"
These words hit Kakuzu right in the core of his being. He loved money! After all these years, he had realized one truth: money is all-powerful. Money never betrays. With money, one has everything!
At that moment, Earth Grudge Fear's tendrils displayed unparalleled efficiency.
Each black tendril snatched up a coin and swiftly returned it to Kakuzu's hand.
The speed was so astonishing that Saibon and Yahiko were dumbfounded.
Weren't they in the middle of a battle? Weren't they supposed to be fighting desperately? Why was Kakuzu grabbing money mid-fight?
Was this monster serious? Why was it so absurd?
"Hehehehehe..."
The next moment, as Kakuzu collected all the coins, a cunning laugh echoed.
Hearing it, Kakuzu sensed something ominous.
Before he could react, Gekko Chizan's mocking face appeared before him.
With a large hand, he grabbed all the coins Kakuzu had just gathered. Before Kakuzu could respond, Gekko vanished from sight.
Kakuzu stared at his empty hands in utter disbelief.
Shock quickly turned into rage!
He had his money stolen! Right from his hands! And so openly!
When had Kakuzu ever been humiliated like this?!
"You little brat! Give me back my money!!!"
He was furious, enraged.
But this was exactly the reaction Gekko Chizan wanted. In his hands was the stack of money Kakuzu had collected.
[Ding! Detected host using money to toy with the money-obsessed Kakuzu, provoking extreme rage bordering on madness. Special reward: Fire Release: Intelligent Hard Work!]
Oops? Unnoticed, Kakuzu had just triggered a jutsu reward. No, not just any jutsu—Intelligent Hard Work had been unleashed?!
Hilarious. At this moment, Gekko Chizan intended to further exploit Kakuzu's value.
Looking down at Kakuzu, now seething with fury, he smirked mischievously.
"Looking for this?"
"Huh? Isn't this my money?"
"It accidentally fell while you were running. Thanks for picking it up, sewing freak."
"You're not so bad after all."
Merciless! It sounded like gratitude, but it was really poking at Kakuzu's raw nerves.
Otherwise, Kakuzu, full of black thread-like tendrils, would have vomited blood in rage.
Now Kakuzu opened his mouth, but only black threads spewed out.
The figure that had retained some humanoid form was now fully transformed into a monster.
"Hey hey hey? Why are you so impatient?"
"Crystal Release."
Gekko Chizan grinned and launched his attack. Countless crystal spears and a massive crystal dragon erupted simultaneously.
Fully berserk, Kakuzu absorbed all his mask monsters into himself, becoming a true monster.
Facing the descending attack, he countered without hesitation.
"Fire Release! Intelligent Hard Work!"
"Lightning Release! False Darkness!"
The composite Fire-and-Lightning ninjutsu erupted from the mouths of two mask monsters.
The attacks collided midair, and the resulting shockwave forced Saibon and Yahiko to stagger back a few steps.
"What a terrifying attack."
"Is that the power of the Konoha Ghost?"
"Crystal? This is a kekkei genkai."
Saibon looked at Gekko Chizan suspended in the air by crystal and expressed his admiration.
"No wonder he shined in this war. This power is indeed formidable."
"But..."
He trailed off, yet Yahiko understood his meaning.
Roughly, it meant that even with this level of power, it wasn't enough to deal with Kakuzu.
Unfortunately, they had no idea of Gekko Chizan's true strength. Even if he couldn't reveal all his power now, he had plenty of tricks to handle Kakuzu.
Floating midair, he revealed a sly grin once again.
Clearly, he had another devious plan.
Teasing one's opponent in the middle of battle—he never grew tired of it!