At the same time, tree branches quickly wrapped around, fixing his entire body in place.
"Kakuzu, what are you trying to do?" Shigeo's face was cold as he looked at the child in front of him. He wanted to form hand seals, but his hands were bound.
"You ask what I'm doing? Whatever you tried to do to me, I'll do to you." Shigeo stepped closer, smiling faintly. When he saw the man's stitched and split skin, he shook his head. As expected, all members of Akatsuki were lunatics.
"Jiongu…"
Just as Shigeo was thinking about his grotesque body, the man suddenly opened his mouth wide, the stitched lines at the corners tearing apart. From within, countless black, blood-vessel-like threads shot toward Shigeo.
The two were close. This time, escape seemed impossible. Kakuzu was pleased. He had not used Jiongu's flow state to retreat earlier because he wanted to seize the boy's heart at close range. Nothing he desired had ever slipped from his grasp.
The black threads pierced through the location of Shigeo's heart. At the same time, his Mokuton (Wood Style) instantly impaled all five of Kakuzu's hearts.
Black blood dripped down. Kakuzu smiled faintly. "Cruel. I like it."
Though his hearts were destroyed, he felt no regret. He had obtained the heart he desired most—a heart that could wield Mokuton (Wood Style), Shoton (Crystal Style), Raiton (Lightning Style), and Doton (Earth Style).
As long as he endured once more the agony of tearing himself apart and stitching back together, he would live again.
That pain was nothing to him. He had suffered worse countless times. To him, cruelty to others was trivial compared to what he had inflicted upon himself.
Thus he was ruthless, indifferent. As long as it made him stronger, he would strike anyone, even a six-year-old child.
"Your heart is mine now." Kakuzu's mouth bled black, his eyes dimming.
Then shock. The black threads churned inside Shigeo's chest but found nothing. It was as if the boy's body was made of air.
If not for the child's blinking eyes, he would not have believed what he saw.
"Pff…" Shigeo smashed his fist into Kakuzu's head, then drew his kunai in a flash and severed Kakuzu's head.
"You… how? How can you have no heart? Impossible." If this had been a Mokuton clone, Kakuzu could accept defeat. But when his Jiongu had ripped open the boy's chest earlier, the boy had still moved his head with that same body. He was no clone.
How to explain? Was this child stranger than him? Not human? A ghost?
He did not know. When Shigeo had approached, his eyes had shifted to Mangekyō Sharingan. With it, he could shift parts of his body into another space at will.
Knowing Kakuzu aimed for his heart, Shigeo had already displaced his chest into another dimension before the strike landed. Naturally, the Jiongu threads found nothing.
At this time Kakuzu knew of Pain but not of Uchiha Obito, nor of space-time transfer.
His plan failed. His body shattered, his five hearts destroyed. He looked at himself, unwilling to accept it.
The child rummaged through his Akatsuki cloak, taking every scroll and item. The scrolls with preserved organs he incinerated with Katon (Fire Style). The money Kakuzu had saved over two months was also seized.
No wonder he had said, "Whatever you try to do to me, I'll do to you." He truly meant it.
In all his years, Kakuzu had robbed others. This was his first time being robbed.
Shigeo finished and waved casually at the corpse. "Regret it. No one will bury you. Though you cling to life, deep in these mountains only beasts will claim your body."
He waved again, turned, and vanished.
In the forest, insect cries rose. Kakuzu's black threads shoved a rabbit's heart into his ruined body to sustain life. His head twisted slowly, watching the boy's fading figure. His mind reeled: He has no heart. He has no heart!
How could someone without a heart live? Impossible.
…
Shigeo left the forest heading east. The coastal areas bustled with ships, but the deeper he went into the Land of Water, the more desolate it became.
Population sparse, farmland barren. Only small towns showed any liveliness, and even there people were wary.
Inns were cautious, never taking in foreign shinobi or missing-nin. Shigeo, being young and without a forehead protector, found it easier to stay.
This was the Land of Water under the Bloody Mist. Many fled rather than remain, many chose trade or farming over shinobi life.
Even so, those with special abilities were persecuted, especially bloodline limits.
Along the way, Shigeo heard again and again of people with kekkei genkai being slaughtered.
Obito was insane. He wanted no chance for Kirigakure to recover.
After seeing so much cruelty and darkness, Shigeo began to understand why Madara placed his faith in the Moon's Eye Plan, why Pain wished for all to share suffering. This world was disappointing.
No matter how strong one's ability, it seemed nothing could change it.
No wonder Jiraiya-sensei searched for a child of destiny to change the world. People needed not ninjutsu, not power, but belief. Without it, they were walking corpses, unable even to act on the simplest good in their hearts.
(End of Chapter)
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