Kakuzu's hands began to form hand seals, and the black threads Run through his entire body squirmed violently like living things.
With a tearing sound, the four grotesque masks on his back began to change—they were the materialized forms of the four hearts stored in Earth Grudge Fear.
The black threads on Kakuzu's body suddenly trembled violently, emitting a grating, teeth-aching creak.
The strange threads that ran through his entire body twisted like living things, suddenly bursting open from the surface of his skin.
Accompanied by the sound of flesh tearing, four masses of pitch-black substance gushed out from the wounds on his back.
"Poof—"
Four completely black masked creatures broke free from Kakuzu's body, twisting into shape in mid-air.
They varied in form but were equally grotesque.
"Lightning Release: False Darkness!"
The masked creature representing the lightning attribute suddenly opened its mask, and a dazzling blue light erupted from the void beneath the mask.
In an instant, a torrent of violent Lightning Release electricity poured out like a breaching dam, and thick lightning snakes carved charred furrows into the ground.
Facing this destructive Lightning Release, Menma simply raised his right hand calmly.
The Nine-Faced Beast scattered in perfect coordination.
"Boom—!"
The blinding lightning completely engulfed Menma's figure, and the explosive roar shattered nearby trees at their trunks.
Kakuzu stared intently at the center of the lightning storm.
The raging electricity lasted for a full ten seconds before gradually dissipating, and in the rising dust, the ground had already turned into scorched earth.
However—after the dust settled, Menma still stood in place, maintaining his raised hand posture.
His robe didn't even have a single scorch mark.
Naruto hadn't considered using Flying Thunder God to evade; instead, he chose to test the new Ninjutsu he had diligently developed over the past year.
In addition to practicing the Ninjutsu scrolls given to him by the Third Hokage, he had also repeatedly delved into the abilities of "Menma Uzumaki" that he had briefly experienced.
This inspiration came from a scene in the movie—when Konoha Shinobi threw kunai at Menma, the Ninja Tools strangely hovered in mid-air the moment they touched his body, then fell powerlessly.
Through his understanding of the abilities he had used via the experience card, Naruto analyzed the essence of this move.
This was a technique that involved diffusing Wind Release Chakra throughout his entire body and the surrounding space with extremely precise nature transformation, creating an invisible storm domain.
This domain could actively attack approaching enemies and passively defend against attacks from all directions.
Achieving this offensive and defensive effect required almost harsh Chakra control precision.
Fortunately, Naruto's systematically drawn sealing Ninjutsu talent became a crucial aid.
As the category of Ninjutsu that emphasized precise control the most, the delicate control cultivated through long-term practice of sealing Ninjutsu allowed him, after a full year of repeated attempts, to finally successfully reproduce this Ninjutsu even without the experience card, and he named it.
[Windstorm Flow]
At this moment, this invisible Wind Release barrier perfectly withstood Kakuzu's Lightning Release: False Darkness.
Naruto secretly breathed a sigh of relief, as this was the first practical test of the Ninjutsu, but he always kept a trump card; if the defense failed, he could activate Flying Thunder God to escape at any time.
Kakuzu on the other side didn't show much surprise.
Given "Menma's" notorious reputation in the Ninja World, it would be surprising if an attack of this level actually worked.
Kakuzu's hands formed hand seals again, and two masked creatures reacted simultaneously.
"Wind Release: Pressure Damage!"
"Fire Release: Searing Migraine!"
The masked creature representing the wind attribute opened its fangs, and violent air currents gushed out from the mask's holes, instantly forming a giant wind pressure with a diameter exceeding ten meters.
Almost simultaneously, raging flames erupted from the crevices of the fire attribute masked creature's mask, and the scorching fire wave perfectly merged with the wind pressure.
"Boom—!"
At the moment of wind and fire generation, a flame tornado with a diameter of over 20 meters rose from the ground.
The scorching air instantly carbonized nearby trees.
Menma's figure remained motionless in the flames, and the voice from beneath his fox mask suddenly turned cold.
Naruto decided to end the battle swiftly.
"Let's stop playing games."
Just as the flame tornado was about to engulf him, Menma's figure suddenly vanished.
The next moment—
"Bang!"
"Crack!"
A series of continuous shattering sounds exploded around Kakuzu.
The Nine-Faced Beast had completed its encirclement at some unknown point.
The Azure Dragon's body pressed the wind attribute masked creature into the ground, and in its rampage, the mask was already shattered.
The White Tiger and Vermilion Bird attacked from left and right, and the fire attribute masked creature disintegrated under the dual tearing.
The Black Tortoise's thick shell directly crushed the water attribute masked creature attempting to escape.
Hokuto Sennin and Nanto Sennin formed hand seals, and under the Grim Reaper's scythe, all of the Chakra of the last lightning attribute masked creature was harvested, rendering it unable to fight.
Kakuzu staggered back a few steps, his black threads squirming frantically, trying to repair the damage.
Each of his four masked creatures possessed Jonin-level strength, but facing the Nine-Faced Beast, which was at least Elite Jonin level, and even close to Kage level, this battle was destined to be a crushing defeat from the start.
The strength gap was too great...
Kakuzu felt the last earth attribute heart within him, and he finally realized what kind of monster he was facing.
The encirclement formed by the Nine-Faced Beast was slowly tightening, each giant beast exuding a dangerous sense of oppression.
"It's over."
A voice suddenly sounded in his ear, and Kakuzu spun around abruptly; the bizarre fox mask was already within arm's reach, so close he could even see every tiny line on the mask.
Driven by instinct, he unhesitatingly threw a punch at Menma's face—
"Bang!"
An invisible heavy blow accurately struck his wrist, and the bone let out a crisp snap under the unbearable force.
Kakuzu staggered back two steps, his green eyes filled with shock and confusion.
What was that?!
He stared intently at the empty space around Menma.
The power of that strike was definitely no less than his full-force punch, but why couldn't he see the attacker at all?
The squirming black threads frantically repaired the damage to his wrist.
Behind Menma, only he himself could see the [Crazy Diamond] slowly retracting its fist.
It floated quietly beside its master.
Kakuzu breathed heavily.
The Nine-Faced Beast was unharmed, arrayed all around, and Menma—still stood in place, spotless, not even a wrinkle on his clothes.
Can't even touch him once…
Nearly a hundred years of combat experience seemed so laughable at this moment.
Kakuzu clearly realized that if the other party wanted his life, he would already be a corpse.
"What? Still fighting?" Menma's voice came.
Kakuzu raised a hand to wipe the corner of his mouth, then suddenly let out a hoarse laugh.
"No, I've completely lost…"
The mask fragments representing the Earth Grudge Fear hearts were scattered on the ground, and Kakuzu took a deep breath, his green pupils looking directly at Menma.
"I will keep my promise… but I'm not without profit either."
His voice regained its familiar shrewdness, "Joining an organization led by someone like you isn't a losing business."
Menma nodded slightly, and the figures of the Nine-Faced Beast began to gradually fade.
"Mm, I won't hinder your pursuit of money.
Let's go."
Kakuzu nodded, but then suddenly stopped.
"Wait, wait for me a moment, I only have one heart left now."
He turned to look at the corpse of the rogue Ninja leader not far away, "I need to replenish my hearts first—"
"No need, there's no necessity for that." Menma interrupted, his right hand already on Kakuzu's shoulder.
"Wh—" Kakuzu's question was cut short.
The next moment, the sensation on his body made him widen his eyes; Kakuzu watched in disbelief as his wounds healed at a visible rate.
Even more astonishing was that the scattered mask creature fragments on the ground suddenly trembled, reassembling as if pulled by an invisible force, and radiating new life.
"This… what exactly is this?!" Kakuzu's voice uncharacteristically wavered.
The masked creatures that should have been completely destroyed now perfectly re-entered his body, and the beating of his four hearts was clearly audible.
"Just a special ability." Menma withdrew his hand, his tone flat.
"Let's go."
Kakuzu looked down at his fully recovered body, and he immediately realized the strategic value of this ability.
Ultimately, all his shock transformed into a meaningful sigh.
"…Those who make an enemy of you must have a terrible headache."
Just then, a familiar notification sound rang in Naruto's mind.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations to the host: Initial bond established with original character "Kakuzu"!]
[Points gained: 150 points!]