WEEKLY POWER GOALS 💎🔥 30→2ch | 60→5ch | 100→8ch | 200→15ch | 400→25ch⏰ Resets Monday!
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Kakuzu stepped out of the bounty exchange in the south of the Land of Fire, the case containing the cash for Chiriku's bounty feeling weightless in his hand. He felt rejuvenated.
Hidan trailed behind him, looking thoroughly disinterested in anything involving money, slouching with his scythe over his shoulder.
Whoosh!
A black vortex swirled on a distant ridge. Obito descended calmly, while Zetsu rose from the earth beside him.
"Really? Not going to warn Kakuzu and Hidan that Orochimaru is targeting them?" Zetsu asked, his white half chiming in.
Obito adjusted his robes slightly and sat down on the rocky ground, his silence the only answer.
Zetsu shrugged, the black half sighing. "Fine. They might not even show up. My clones haven't spotted them on the approach at all."
Rustle rustle!
Not long after, movement stirred in the forest below. Orochimaru's group of four emerged from the shadows.
White Zetsu gasped. "They actually came! Weird! My clones along the path didn't see them at all. It's like they just… appeared!"
From behind his mask, Obito's gaze darkened, fixed on Kabuto's 'right eye' in the distance. What was he thinking? Unreadable.
— Mind's Eye of the Kagura!
Karin finished her sensory sweep, her expression grim.
"Two powerful chakra signatures approaching directly ahead. Also, two more on the ridge at nine o'clock. One of them I recognize… that masked man who was with Deidara. The one you call 'Obito'."
Kabuto adjusted his glasses. "So he did make a personal appearance. Lord Orochimaru, your thoughts…?"
Orochimaru pondered briefly. "As long as they don't interfere, we shall act as if they aren't there. What say you, Sasuke?"
Sasuke's voice was flat. "I never intended to hide from his sight in the first place. The immense ocular power within his eyes is a force I'll need in the future. When the time is right, I'll secure him. But at this stage… I'd rather he not become a distraction."
"Should Obito make a move," Orochimaru purred, "then so shall I. Go ahead, Sasuke."
Swoosh!
With his rear secure, Sasuke shot toward the forest's edge.
"Hm?"
Outside the treeline, Kakuzu halted. His jade-green eyes narrowed, locking onto the figure emerging from the woods.
A young man in a white kimono walked forward with casual steps. Seeing two more Akatsuki members he hadn't faced in his past life, he inquired, "Akatsuki members. Hidan and Kakuzu, correct?"
Kakuzu subtly shifted the money case behind him. "And you are?"
"Sasuke Uchiha."
Kakuzu's expression didn't flicker. "Oh? The little Uchiha brat causing quite the stir lately. What business do you have?"
Shiiing!
Sasuke drew the Kusanagi blade, his voice calm. "I merely wish to use the two of you… to measure my current capacity."
"Oh-ho?"
This unconventional opening statement made Kakuzu's brow crease slightly. He gently placed the money case on the ground and spoke to his partner without turning. "Hidan. Guard this case. If anything inside is damaged, I'll put three thousand holes in you."
Hidan groaned. "Tch, come on! Making me do this crap again. Can't you just seal it in a scroll?"
"Silence!" Kakuzu snapped. "If it's in a scroll and I accidentally throw money instead of a weapon in battle, what then?"
He strode forward, mind racing with questions. Why was Sasuke targeting them? How did he track them? What gave him the confidence to face two Akatsuki members alone?
He didn't voice these doubts. In the end, he only believed one thing: Sasuke was doing this for profit.
As he advanced, Kakuzu's voice rumbled low. "A shinobi's word carries weight. It's worth a thousand pounds of gold, they say. So, Sasuke Uchiha… how many pounds is your head worth?"
Sasuke's gaze was steady. "I'd like to know that myself."
"You have no bounty on the black market," Kakuzu stated. "But your eyes should fetch a fine price. And your young heart… would make a suitable spare for my collection."
"Is that so? Suit yourself."
"And you seem to have killed Sasori. Wounded Deidara. Am I to assume… you possess the value required for me to fight at full strength?"
Rip!
Kakuzu tore open his Akatsuki cloak.
Crack!
A mass of inky black threads exploded from the seams on his back, lashing out toward Sasuke like a nest of furious vipers.
Kakuzu's killing intent became palpable. "A head delivered to my doorstep… I never refuse such gifts."
Sasuke's eyes sharpened. This technique… I've never even heard of it in my past life.
With zero intel, Sasuke couldn't afford even a moment of carelessness. The Kusanagi became a blur of silver as he deflected and slashed at the encroaching tendrils.
"Too green…"
Crack! A second wave of black threads from Kakuzu's back had already burrowed underground. While Sasuke dealt with the frontal assault, they erupted at his feet, coiling around his ankles with terrifying speed.
Sasuke was silent.
— Earth Grudge Fear: Tentacle Fist!
Crunch!
Once his target was bound, Kakuzu's wrist and forearm detached and shot forward, guided by the dense black threads. It punched straight through Sasuke's chest!
Kakuzu sighed, disappointment thick in his voice. "Over. How utterly dull…"
— Earth Grudge Fear: Heart Extraction!
The threads burrowed deep, fusing with Sasuke's 'flesh,' beginning to tear his heart free along with the entire network of 'chakra pathways.'
I see… Sasuke thought. Using those threads as both weapon and conduit to strip chakra and the heart itself. That's his ability…
Crackle…!
Suddenly, Sasuke's body shattered into brilliant blue arcs of lightning!
Kakuzu's jade-green eyes went wide. "Lightning Clone…!?"
ZAP!!!
The electricity from the dispersed Lightning Clone traveled back along the conductive black threads of the Earth Grudge Fear!
"Gah—AAAAH!" Kakuzu convulsed, paralyzed on the spot.
The severity of the situation finally dawned on him. "A Lightning Clone… that's a top-tier shadow clone technique, second only to Wood Clones! And this brat… used it purely as a feint!?"
CRACK!
The ground erupted. Sasuke's true body shot upward!
— Rasengan!!
BOOM!
The spiraling sphere of chakra slammed directly into Kakuzu's torso.
Kakuzu's voice was a strained whisper. "Not even using your Sharingan… I really am being looked down upon…"
Crumble… crackle…
As the Rasengan detonated, Kakuzu's body dissolved into mud.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "A Mud Clone substitution the instant he realized it was a Lightning Clone? Without the Sharingan active… indeed hard to perceive."
BOOOOOOM!!!
Kakuzu's true form erupted from the earth behind Sasuke, launching another Tentacle Fist straight at his back!
Relying purely on sound and instinct, Sasuke—without activating his Sharingan—sidestepped the devastating punch. His right hand shot out, grabbing the 'tentacle' behind the fist, and he used the momentum to heave Kakuzu forward!
— Uchiha Shoulder Throw!
THUD!!!
Kakuzu, still connected by his own threads, was yanked into a high arc and smashed face-first into the dirt!
Sasuke's left hand formed a sharpened wooden stake. He hurled it forward with lethal force!
On the ridge, White Zetsu gasped. "Hey… that move is!!!"
Behind his mask, Obito's eyes slowly narrowed. "I see…"
Thunk!
The moment the wooden stake pierced his chest, Kakuzu's pupils contracted violently. "This is…"
Sasuke formed a single, cold hand seal.
— Wood Style: Cutting Technique!
Snap! Snap! SNAP!
Barbed wooden spikes erupted in all directions from inside Kakuzu's body, shredding his chest and back into a bloody, pulpy mess.
Thud.
Kakuzu's knees hit the ground. He pitched forward, motionless.
Sasuke's expression held a flicker of doubt. An opponent for his second major test… surely he couldn't be taken down this easily?
Hidan called out, bored. "Hey, hey, Kakuzu. What're you playing at? Get up already."
Then… the 'dead' Kakuzu stirred. He pushed himself up. The jade-green of his eyes was now veined with furious red. "You've… transplanted the cells of the First Hokage… you little brat…!!!"
Obito's gaze deepened. "No… not a transplant. It's those faint white markings on his body. Orochimaru's cursed seal… combined with Hashirama's power…"
As Kakuzu stood, he began pulling the wooden stakes from his body, one by one. With a wet slosh, a black, monstrous form with a shattered mask oozed out from the gaping wound in his chest.
Sasuke stared for a moment, then a faint, challenging smile touched his lips. "An immortal body… That's more like it…"
Rip! Rip! Rip! Rip!
Kakuzu tore away his tattered Akatsuki cloak. From his mouth, his shoulders, his back—a torrent of Earth Grudge Fear threads surged forth! They coalesced into four monstrous, masked entities, each radiating a different elemental aura, surrounding Kakuzu like a deadly honor guard.
— Earth Grudge Fear Mode!
At full power, Kakuzu had transformed into a true monster.
His voice was a cold declaration. "Sasuke Uchiha… your Wood Release is worthless compared to the First Hokage's."
Sasuke responded with utter calm. "Of course I know that. But… how can you be so sure?"
Kakuzu's next words landed with the force of a physical blow. "Because… I have fought the First Hokage myself."
The sheer impact of that fact made Sasuke's pupils shrink to pinpricks.
"And so…" Kakuzu's voice rose to a roar, "I cannot tolerate you wielding that man's power as some cheap trick before my eyes!!!"
Crack! The red-masked monster on Kakuzu's right shoulder opened its maw.
— Fire Style: Searing Migraine!
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