"Who did this?!"
"Konoha ninja, Sanada Kazama!"
"Sanada{Kazama}! This kid's way too terrifying!"
Hearing Kurozetsu's words, everyone present—except Itachi—was shocked to their core.
Sure, they'd heard about Kazama's exploits before, but no one expected him to be this powerful—taking on two opponents at once and killing both Hidan and Kakuzu.
"Looks like Kazama's strength has grown a lot since back then!"
Learning of Kazama's newfound power, Itachi felt a quiet sense of relief. The stronger Kazama was, the safer his little brother, Sasuke, would be.
"This Kazama kid doesn't just have the Mangekyō Sharingan—he can absorb and use his enemies' attacks. He's a real pain to deal with. You all need to be extra careful not to end up like Kakuzu and Hidan!"
"Serves them right! Who told those zombie idiots to ignore orders and go after Nibi on their own?"
At Kurozetsu's explanation, Deidara burst out laughing, mocking the fallen Hidan and Kakuzu.
"They only acted because they ran into Nibi's jinchūriki by chance. No matter what, Hidan and Kakuzu were our comrades. Don't talk about them like that!"
"Fine, whatever."
Scolded by Pein, Deidara could only scratch his head sheepishly.
"Since our plan to capture Nibi has failed, Kazama's probably already tipped off the five great ninja nations about our organization's moves. That's going to make things trickier for us moving forward. Scorpion, Deidara!"
"Here!"
"Put your mission to capture Ichibi Shukaku on hold for now. Wait until the nations lower their guard before taking action."
Meanwhile, back in Konoha, Kazama wasted no time informing Orochimaru and handed him Shirozetsu's corpse.
"Isn't this the other half of Zetsu's body?"
Seeing the corpse Kazama brought, Orochimaru's heart skipped a beat. As a former Akatsuki member, he knew full well how slippery Zetsu's abilities were—practically invisible, coming and going without a trace.
Yet here was Kazama, delivering half of Zetsu's body.
It only made Orochimaru respect Kazama even more.
"This is Shirozetsu. His abilities are barely a fraction of Kurozetsu's, but his body contains cells from the Gedō Mazō and the Shodai Hokage. You should study it closely—I'm sure it'll help with your immortality jutsu."
"Really? That's incredible! Thank you so much, Kazama-sama, for this gift!"
Orochimaru hadn't known the secrets of Shirozetsu's body. Now, hearing Kazama's words, he was practically buzzing with curiosity.
"Since you're here, why not show yourself?"
After Orochimaru left, Kazama grinned, calling out to Itachi, who was lurking in the shadows.
"I can't believe even Orochimaru's bowing to you. Impressive. Really impressive!"
For Itachi to say "impressive" twice, Kazama was probably the only one who'd ever earned that. After all, Itachi knew just how ruthless Orochimaru could be. Back when they were teammates in Akatsuki, Orochimaru had even tried to make a move on him. To Itachi, Orochimaru was like a venomous snake—always ready to strike when you least expected it.
Yet now, seeing Orochimaru obey Kazama without question, Itachi realized Kazama's power was beyond anything he'd imagined.
"Guess it's just one thing taming another, huh?"
Kazama chuckled and nodded.
"Why'd you come looking for me? Has Akatsuki started their tailed beast hunt?"
"No, not only have they not started, they've actually delayed it."
"Why's that?"
Kazama frowned, puzzled by Itachi's response.
"Because of you, obviously. You took out Hidan and Kakuzu in Kaminari no Kuni, and it shook Akatsuki to its core. They're worried you've already warned the five great nations to tighten their defenses. So they've decided to wait until the nations let their guard down before going after the tailed beasts."
"I see. Man, I was hoping to use Akatsuki's moves to track down the other tailed beasts faster so I could absorb their powers."
Thinking about it, Kazama let out a frustrated sigh.