Wind and fire—the two powerful, near "immortal" masks—fell to Uchiha Yorin's blades. Seeing this, Kakuzu's eyelid twitched; his wariness spiked.
He was nearly unkillable; his only weak point was his hearts—sounds like a cliché, but it isn't.
Ordinary people have many weak points.
Spleen, blood, brain, tendons… hit any one of them and it's lethal. That's why shinobi have so many vital spots to protect—and so many targets to strike.
Kakuzu has none of those—only hearts. That gives him far more tactical freedom than most.
Yet that huge advantage evaporated in front of Uchiha Yorin.
If this continues, he'll die. He will definitely die.
With that fear biting, round two exploded.
"No—I have to stop him!"
More thread-limbs of black cords erupted from the ground, blasting toward Yorin—a menacing black jungle. Earth Grudge Fear.
He didn't expect it to kill Yorin—only to snare him, slow him down, then he could deal with him.
Yorin: "Naïve!"
Chakra-threaded Chidori kunai shot everywhere; razor lightning shredded Kakuzu's black cords to tatters—no speed loss at all.
Kakuzu: "Think you've got me? Don't kid yourself! I don't die before I've banked a hundred billion in funeral money!!"
As he roared, the Lightning and Water masks retracted into his body—then popped back up on his shoulders.
He even looked more like a certain toad sage now—and the barrage was very Goemon-coded—
"At this range—let's see you live!"
As he thought it, the Lightning and Water masks fired:
Another composite ninjutsu—this one a monster.
Lightning Release: False Darkness + Water Release: Water Formation Wall = Composite: Thunder-Sea Sky Howl!
Uchiha Yorin: "Good one! Useless, though!"
Clad in Lightning Susanoo, he could ignore a sea of fire—he wasn't going to worry about a lightning–water storm.
He cut upstream, Thunder–Fire blades cleaving waves. The massive current's lightning did nothing to his lightning-natured armor.
Yorin reached him—thirty-two Chidori kunai whirled, mincing every black cord that came near.
At the same time, the twin blades extended—striking true. Kakuzu screamed—two more spare hearts destroyed in that single exchange!
Only one left. He had only one heart left. Keep fighting and he will die.
Sheer panic ripped a howl from the veteran Kage-class fighter—
He hadn't lived enough; he didn't want to die. He wanted to make more money—more, more.
Yorin: "And when you've made all that money—then what? What do you do with it?"
Kakuzu: "Ah…"
The question froze him.
He had no family, no home, no village, no lover.
His body—rewrought into a mass of black threads—couldn't have children, didn't need women, barely needed food or water.
What did he need the money for? He'd piled up a fortune—nowhere to spend it. What did it mean?
Lost in that moment, Yorin pierced his final heart. Life fled him at once.
His pupils clouded; the revolving lantern spun—his long, bloody, meaningless life.
"But if not money—what else is there to pursue?"
Just before death, he looked to Yorin and asked.
Uchiha Yorin didn't answer—he only looked at Kakuzu with a trace of pity.
Just as he'd said before the fight:
Once, Kakuzu had been hot-blooded—loyal enough to challenge Hashirama Senju alone on the village's orders.
Such a faithful shinobi was brutally punished for the "crime" of losing to Hashirama—an absurdity.
It wasn't Kakuzu who failed Takigakure—Takigakure failed Kakuzu. His betrayal was rational.
The village elders crushed a youth with a limitless future.
But now… it was too late for words.
"If I could do it over—I wouldn't be a shinobi. Maybe being ordinary would be happier."
With those last words, Kakuzu collapsed with a thud.
Uchiha Yorin: "Rest easy."
"I'll find a way," he said. "What happened to you—won't happen again… I'll try."
As he spoke, the system chimed:
[Emergency Quest · Undying Warrior Strikes! Objective: Defeat Kakuzu. Reward: Secret Technique — Earth Grudge Fear Scroll (Money, money, more money!)]
[Quest complete · Reward Issued]
Yorin: "Huh. I have said money matters… but it isn't everything."
As for Earth Grudge Fear—Yorin wouldn't learn it. Whoever wants it can. He'd toss it to Orochimaru and see what surprises the snake comes up with.
…
With that thought, he flicked out a Fire Release—giving Kakuzu a measure of dignity—stretched, sheathed his blades, and turned to the "harem Sannin":
"My villa's gone. Buzzkill. The night's still long—standing around won't help. Let's find a town—"
"—Yorin-kun~"
Before he could finish, he was flattened by a charge-with-ball.
Not Tsunade. Mei Terumi.
Under two other beauties' astonished eyes, the redhead threw herself into his arms: "I'm so moved—you saved me! This is that legendary 'hero saves the beauty,' right?
"So next, I can repay you… with myself, right?!"
She looked up at him, eyes shining—her "super-initiative" cresting—ready to press close the second he nodded.
~~~
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