"You little bastard, you've been playing me this whole time?!"
At long last, Hidan finally realized just how thoroughly he'd been outmaneuvered by Kirito. No wonder the boy had ignored all his feints.
No wonder he had passed up so many "easy" opportunities to strike vital points. He hadn't taken the bait because he'd known from the very start, everything, about Hidan's abilities.
"Took you long enough to figure that out. How pathetic."
Kakuzu's cold voice cut through the air. He had noticed Kirito's caution from the start, and had already suspected the kid knew at least some of their secrets. What he still couldn't understand was, how? They'd kept a low profile in the ninja world. Their movements were rarely exposed.
So how did this young nobody… know so much?
"Hidan, former ninja of Hot Water Village. Branded an S-rank rogue ninja after slaughtering his own comrades. Currently a member of Akatsuki. A jutsu specialist, and the only one in your organization capable of using forbidden techniques indefinitely.
Your body's immortal because of a curse technique. But in my eyes… immortal doesn't mean indestructible."
With a flick of Sode no Shirayuki, the severed pieces of Hidan's remaining right arm disintegrated, not even a bone left behind, turned to ash and scattered.
Immortal does not mean indestructible.
If every part of the body is pulverized into dust, then not even immortality can save you.
"You… You little shit! How do you know all that about me?!"
Hidan shouted, stunned.
Shing!
Kirito didn't answer.
His figure flashed, and in the blink of an eye, he was in front of Hidan.
Raising his Zanpakutō overhead, he prepared to strike downward. One clean vertical cut to split Hidan's body in two. Freeze each half. Even if he couldn't die, he sure as hell wouldn't be moving.
CLANG!
Kakuzu stepped in at the last moment, raising his arm to block the slash.
"Fall back, Hidan. I'll deal with this one myself."
He locked eyes with Kirito. Glancing at his own arm, reinforced by Earth Release, it now had a long, deep cut gouged into it. The blade of that sword… was not normal. From the point of contact, a bitter cold was already creeping up his arm, trying to invade.
"So that's it… An ice-element blade that can endlessly emit freezing chakra? What an unusual weapon. You might even rival that shark bastard in our group."
"You mean Kisame Hoshigaki?"
Kirito's voice was calm, even condescending.
"Please. Samehada doesn't even deserve to be compared to my Sode no Shirayuki."
"Oh?"
Kakuzu's tone was dry.
"Then by all means, show me just how special your blade really is."
Kirito didn't waste breath arguing. With a sharp twist of his wrist, the sword slashed clean through Kakuzu's hardened wrist, severing it entirely.
"Grgh!"
But Kakuzu didn't flinch.
There was no blood. Not a drop. And that wasn't the effect of Kirito's freezing blade.
It was because Kakuzu's arm contained no blood.
TSSSSHH!
Out of the severed stump, a mass of black, hair-thin tendrils emerged, wriggling and slithering like worms.
"Earth Grudge Fear!"
Kirito narrowed his eyes.
The black threads moved like living things, suddenly transforming into sharp, needling cords that launched toward his heart.
Kirito raised his sword to intercept, but the threads from Kakuzu's severed wrist suddenly surged forward, wrapping around the blade, locking it in place!
Ssshhk!
Ice bloomed outward.
Sode no Shirayuki's chill instantly began freezing the threads.
Kirito pulled his sword free with effort, but that momentary stop…
Was all Kakuzu needed.
"Too slow."
SHHK!
Kirito sprang back, just in time.
The razor-sharp threads that had been aimed for his throat now fluttered harmlessly to the ground, sliced into ribbons.
Kirito exhaled lightly.
"Living for a hundred years… you're not just old, you're terrifyingly experienced."
As he spoke, a gust of petal-like blades began to drift around his body, cherry blossom fragments in midair.
Kakuzu's eyes narrowed.
His gaze dropped to Kirito's left hand, now gripping a second sword, composed entirely of those floating petals.
"A dual swordsman…?"
Kakuzu frowned.
"Since when does the ninja world have a dual-wielding kid with blades like these?"
"You're one to talk," Kirito muttered, slicing down the next wave of incoming black threads.
SHHHK!
Sode no Shirayuki swept through the swarm, instantly freezing every last tendril.
But Kirito's eyes sharpened, beneath his feet, the ground shifted.
A dense mass of threads erupted from below, aiming to wrap around him from the blind spot.
Kirito slashed down with his left sword, Senbonzakura.
With several quick swings, he sliced through a large portion of the rising cords.
But the threads seemed endless. They regenerated, swelled, and swarmed.
Within moments, Senbonzakura was bound, gripped tightly in a mass of tendrils.
Kirito raised his right arm, only to find even those relentless cords had coiled around it.
It seemed they feared the cold of Sode no Shirayuki, yet were clever enough to bind his arm, rather than the blade.
"Got you now."
Kakuzu's eyes gleamed.
From his mouth erupted a massive lance of threads, twisting into a hardened, spear-like form.
He took aim directly at Kirito's heart, and launched it forward.
"Die."
SHHKKKK!!
The lance tore forward, but just as it struck-
BOOM!
The entire mass of threads shattered into powder, including those binding Kirito's arms.
A cyclone of pink petals burst outward, dancing like a storm of cherry blossoms.
Kakuzu's eyes locked on Kirito's left hand.
The sword had vanished.
In its place, petals hovered around him, floating and spinning.
"I see…" Kakuzu murmured.
"The blade turned into thousands of tiny fragments… blades no thicker than flower petals… and each one just as sharp. That's what tore my threads to pieces…"
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45 Advanced Chapters on p(a)treon
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200 P.S = 1 Extra Chapters