With that suspicion, the immortal duo headed to the fake Takigakure where Shigeo was operating. There, they caught wind of the Seven-Tails' jinchūriki and gave chase—only for the jinchūriki to lead them here.
"You playing house? Your own people fighting your own people?" Hidan grinned, looking at the ten men bound in chains below.
Kakuzu scanned the surroundings. They had tailed the Seven-Tails all the way to Mizushima, only to lose her trail. Was that man down there the chief of Takigakure? If they seized him, would she refuse to show herself?
In the timeline, the real Fū was captured because she was careless, even chirping about wanting to be friends with Kakuzu, which let him nab her off guard. The rest was predictable.
But now none of that had happened. The whole plot had been pulled forward, and Shigeo's involvement had altered many things. On top of that, his flesh clone masquerading as a fake Fū had completely disrupted the immortal duo's usual search.
"Grab him."
While Hidan was still mocking the two groups below, Kakuzu had already launched forward.
Seeing this, Hidan plopped back down on the roof. With Kakuzu moving personally, taking down the head of a small hidden village would be trivial.
Kakuzu surged in. His speed was fierce. When he was still more than ten meters out, one arm suddenly warped longer, snapping out toward Shigeo's neck like some aberrant limb.
The ten captives gaped. Baibei, peeking from the gate, wore the same stunned look. What was that? How could a human arm stretch that far? And what were those black things linking wrist and forearm—like writhing black worms?
This was Kakuzu's tentacle punch. The black threads on his arm were only the tip of Jiongu (Earth Grudge Fear).
From appearance alone, Sasori looked abnormal. Kakuzu and Hidan did not. They both looked like ordinary shinobi. But once the fighting started—
One body was monstrous. One mind was monstrous.
The elongated fingers snatched for Shigeo's throat. He dipped under them—but Kakuzu had already closed in below, his other hand stabbing for Shigeo's heart.
Shigeo flipped midair, tucked, and landed atop the great tree in the courtyard.
"Oh? Did you see that? He can rotate in midair without any leverage!"
"Impossible. That violates basic mechanics…" The ten Takigakure shinobi bound in chains craned their necks to watch. But since each stood at a different angle, none saw the same thing.
"Katon: Zukokku (Fire Release: Intelligent Hard Work)." Kakuzu unleashed fire.
If he had classified this "Shibuki" as a low-level enemy before, the clean evasion of Kakuzu's first strike raised the threat level a tier.
Roaring flames blasted forth. Shigeo countered with Suiton (Water Release). Water and fire clashed with a sizzling hiss.
A heartbeat later, while the flames still burned, Kakuzu's lightning was already upon him. If Shigeo didn't withdraw his water instantly, Raiton (Lightning Release) meeting Suiton would only amplify the current. He would be the one injured.
Kakuzu hadn't even cranked his lightning to full. But this was Kakuzu—an over-ninety-year-old powerhouse, far beyond most shinobi in ninjutsu and combat experience both.
At least right now, Shigeo felt he was stronger than the sand's Sasori.
His battle planning and execution were first-rate.
"Hey, gramps, how about you join me? Be a shinobi of my village. I guarantee meals, a home, a trade, and a peaceful old age." Shigeo didn't think the world of Kakuzu's character, but he respected his fighting craft.
His water had just dispersed, and lightning was already crashing in. With the attack coming head-on and from above, and a big tree blocking behind, his options were two: use Jiton (Magnet Release) for defense, or Doton (Earth Release) to dive.
He'd leaned on Magnet Release a lot lately. Not today.
So, earth it was. With that, he snapped down to the ground and slipped below. Lightning smashed down, making the earth crackle and buzz, but it hit nothing.
Kakuzu's eyes darted. He braced and thrust a hand down, a spear of earth forming in his grip and stabbing into the soil.
He lacked sensory ninjutsu. But he was razor-brained, with years of fighting behind him. From the faint tremors in the ground, he could read his opponent's path below.
The Doton: Doryūsō (Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears) crashed down. The earth loosened with a thump—then Shigeo cursed from below. "Bastard. You think I'm a house cat because the tiger's been quiet?"
He twisted—and vanished. This was the Second Tsuchikage's Mujin Meisai (Dustless Bewildering Cover), a cloak of invisibility.
"Fight me and you have no chance to win." Shigeo finished the words and drove in with a flurry of kicks. Kakuzu was booted backward, skidding before he steadied, eyes sweeping, body tensed to the limit.
On the roof, Hidan stood up in surprise. All his years in the shinobi world, and this was the first time he'd seen someone go invisible in open air. Well—there was also Uchiha Madara (that is, Obito), whose space-time could make him vanish and reappear.
Now here was another—someone who could vanish in the air itself.
"Fūton: Atsugai (Wind Release: Pressure Damage)." Kakuzu refused to sit still. His hands flashed through seals, and a massive squall roared out in every direction.
Roof tiles flipped. Trees strained and bowed.
"There!" Kakuzu's body swelled, clothing splitting apart until his bloated frame stood bared in the sunlight.
What a body it was. All four limbs were stitched with black threads. The skin of his back was patched in slabs, like a ragdoll sewn from scraps.
As he swelled, those skin-patches flew open, held by black threads, while clumps of black vein-tubes crawled within. Four masks leered across that patchwork hide. Right now he looked like some alien creature.
This was the once-secret art of Takigakure: Jiongu (Earth Grudge Fear).
The crushing wind howled with grit and shards. Kakuzu lunged with both arms, attacking to kill.
Even cloaked in Mujin Meisai (Dustless Bewildering Cover), Shigeo's position could be inferred—from the wind's shifted currents and the drag across objects, Kakuzu read him cleanly.
"A true elite among elites," Shigeo thought. Compared to the Kakuzu he'd seen more than a decade ago, this one was stronger.
(End of Chapter)
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