Faced with the overwhelming pressure from Naruto, Kakuzu reacted like a startled cat, instantly baring his claws and fangs.
The threads beneath the skin on his back rapidly snapped, revealing what had been hidden underneath.
It was a massive tentacle composed of black threads.
[Secret Technique: Earth Grudge Fear!]
The tentacles quickly tore through Kakuzu's clothing, exposing the four masks on his back.
Then, the masks began to squirm violently before being lifted by the tentacles. A pitch-black monster, supporting the masks, emerged from his back.
Watching as the masked monster, formed from black tentacles, effortlessly crushed the ground beneath it into a massive crater, Naruto frowned slightly.
"I can't exactly fight you here directly..."
Before Kakuzu could fully process his words, he suddenly felt his body being lifted into the air, a strong sense of weightlessness enveloping him.
By the time he regained his bearings, he realized Naruto was gripping his head with one hand, dragging him out of the forest at high speed.
Meanwhile, the mask monster representing the Water Attribute Chakra, which he had just summoned using Earth Grudge Fear, wasn't so lucky… it was instantly destroyed by a single kick from Naruto, severing its connection to his consciousness.
Feeling one of his hearts stop beating, Kakuzu was immediately gripped by a sense of mortal danger.
Though he was known as the [Immortal Ninja], he understood all too well that if all five of his hearts were destroyed before he could replenish them, even he would die.
Therefore, the moment he regained control of his body, he immediately lashed out at Naruto with his black tentacles.
At the same time, his body detached from his neck, allowing him to move freely.
Two masks of different colors quickly shifted from his back to his shoulders.
[Lightning Release: False Darkness!]
[Earth Release: Earth Spear!]
[Earth Grudge Fear: Tentacle Fist!]
In an instant, dark purple lightning transformed into a spear, shooting from the mask, while one of his arms turned ashen white, similar to Naruto's Armament Haki Hardening, and struck at Naruto simultaneously.
"Idiot! At this range, let's see how you dodge!"
Truth be told, if his head hadn't been gripped by Naruto, Kakuzu wouldn't have resorted to this tactic.
After all, if the lightning spear hit Naruto, he himself would also be electrocuted due to the contact.
But with five lives to spare, even after losing one, he could afford the risk.
Faced with the incoming lightning spear and tentacle fist, Naruto didn't even blink, nor did he attempt to use Kakuzu's head as a shield.
This guy couldn't die yet. At least Naruto doesn't want this connection to be completely severed before he finds out who is behind this.
So, through the gaps between Naruto's fingers, Kakuzu watched as the tentacle fist struck Naruto's forehead first, and a triumphant grin instinctively spread across his face.
But the next moment, his expression froze in shock.
Naruto's head seemed to have been made of some unbreakable alloy. When Kakuzu's fist collided with Naruto's forehead, it felt no different from smashing into solid rock.
The lightning spear struck Naruto immediately afterward.
Purple electricity coursed through his body in an instant, and Kakuzu, who is still in contact, also felt the numbing pain of the shock.
But Naruto remained completely unfazed, only tilting his head slightly from the impact.
"Now, do you feel like talking?"
Naruto's tone was as calm and indifferent as before, but to Kakuzu, it sounded like thunder crashing in his ears.
"...What the hell are you?"
Taking a B-Rank Ninjutsu head-on without flinching… this level of physical durability reminded Kakuzu only of the muscle-bound freaks from Kumogakure, who tempered their bodies with Lightning Attribute Chakra.
"I never thought that a killer like you would have such a strong professional code..."
It sounded like a complaint, or perhaps just a mutter to himself.
After saying this, Naruto lifted Kakuzu's head high and slammed it straight down into the ground.
Boom!
The impact shattered the earth, sending spiderweb-like cracks radiating outward in layers.
Meanwhile, Naruto landed lightly back on the ground.
"Fire Release: Intelligent Hard Work!"
"Wind Release: Pressure Damage!"
From within the dust-covered rubble, Kakuzu's voice suddenly rang out.
At the same time, a ball of highly compressed air and a sea of flames appeared.
The flames were swept and spread by the exploding wind pressure in mid-air, instantly turning into a large sea of fire, submerging Naruto's figure in the blink of an eye.
[Combination Ninjutsu: Strange Mask Exploding Flame!]
At this moment, Kakuzu slowly emerged from the rubble, his hands forming hand seals as the two black tentacle monsters continued spewing attacks.
At the same time, countless threads rapidly stitched his head back together.
Naruto's earlier throw had nearly turned his skull into paste, and if not for his extensive experience in stitching corpses, he wouldn't have been able to restore his own head.
'Hmph. A careless fool.'
He, the Immortal Ninja Kakuzu, had once again triumphed over his enemy.
Of course, though he thought this way, his hands never stopped moving, his Earth Grudge Fear monsters relentlessly unleashing Ninjutsu.
The sea of flames continued spreading, threatening to engulf the area where Sasuke and the others were.
It seemed he intended to burn his own partner to death as well.
He felt it's a perfect opportunity to replace him with someone less troublesome.
At this moment, a voice Kakuzu least wanted to hear rang out.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique."
In an instant, smoke from the Shadow Clone Technique rapidly expanded. After the smoke dissipated, hundreds of Narutos appeared in front of the sea of flames.
'Just clones? They'll still die under my Combined Ninjutsu!'
He seemed to be very confident in his own Ninjutsu. Even after seeing that he failed to kill Naruto directly, Kakuzu had no intention of stopping and running away. Instead, he poured even more Chakra into the attack.
Meanwhile, the Naruto clones all formed hand seals in unison.
[Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!]
This is a C-Rank ninjutsu he had learned from one of the unknown pursuers who had chased him before.
Normally, such a technique would be ineffective in this situation… but that depended on who was using it.
With Naruto's monstrous Chakra reserves, the Earth-Style Wall, which should have only raised a thin barrier, now summoned a ten-meter-thick fortress of earth in an instant air.
The outer layer of the wall crackled under the flames, drying and cracking rapidly… but more mud surged forward, reinforcing the barrier against the fire.
"Damn it… Since when was Earth-Style Wall this strong?!"
Seeing this scene, Kakuzu felt a surge of sheer disbelief.
But before he could intensify the flames, a series of crisp cracking sounds froze him in place.
He turned his head with some difficulty and saw Naruto had already stood beside him at some point.
At this moment, Naruto's hands had already plunged into the masks on Kakuzu's body.
Now, only Kakuzu's original heart remained beating.
"Now, do you feel like talking?"
Naruto's tone was still casual, as if he were asking if Kakuzu wanted to grab a meal.
But as he spoke, his hand was buried inside Kakuzu's chest, gripping his last remaining heart.
Naruto had encountered plenty of 'immortal' beings with powerful regeneration back on the seas.
He remembered one guy in particular who used the Kage Kage no Mi to turn corpses into zombies.
Those things are the real immortals, as unless exposed to sunlight, they would regenerate no matter how many times they were cut apart. (T/N: The Author is actually wrong. Moria's zombies can only be defeated by removing the shadow inside them, which can be done by letting them swallow salt.)
Now, with his final life in the enemy's grasp, Kakuzu finally realized-
Maybe he wasn't as fearless of death as he thought.
"...We were contacted through the black market. I don't know who he really is."
As the saying goes, a wise man knows when to yield.
Kakuzu was nothing if not pragmatic.
"I see…"
Naruto nodded regretfully before locking eyes with Kakuzu.
"Anything else you want to say?"
Seeing that Naruto had no intention of letting him go, the last flicker of Kakuzu's survival instinct faded.
"...Akatsuki will avenge me."
Squelch-
Naruto pulled his hand away and wiped the blood off Kakuzu's clothes, who had completely lost his life.
"Now it's your turn, Kakashi-sensei…"