POW!
As Ren Uchiha's hand slammed against his own heart, Kakuzu's own heart skipped a beat. A long-lost panic surged within him, feeling as if ten thousand ants were crawling over his chest while a bone-chilling frost swirled in his soul.
The last time he had felt this... was forty-five years ago.
Burdened with a responsibility he couldn't push away, he had trembled as he stepped forward alone to face the Wood Clone of the God of Shinobi. And what had driven him to despair was that very clone—standing atop a Wooden Golem two hundred meters high.
Now, fire-attribute chakra erupted wildly from Ren Uchiha's body. The surrounding air began to turn dry and scorching, searing the lungs of anyone nearby. A brilliant, majestic sun was slowly rising before Kakuzu's eyes!
That familiar yet distant terror awakened the weakness Kakuzu had buried in the deepest parts of his heart—the part not yet filled by Earth Grudge Fear threads or numbed by the lust for money. He couldn't help but widen his eyes.
Tentacles of Earth Grudge Fear began to erupt uncontrollably from the stitch-marks on his body, standing on end like the fur of a cornered, shadowy creature instinctively trying to hide within its own coat to find safety.
The moon faded, and the world fell silent. Infinite darkness wrapped around Kakuzu, but the radiance emitted by the increasingly brilliant sun before him left him with nowhere to hide! Under this merciful yet equal light, Kakuzu was forced to remember his past.
His expression began to warp and break.
"You've got to be kidding me!!"
"Madman!"
"LUNATIC!"
"A suicidal maniac!!"
"How can a technique like this appear on a single-tomoe Sharingan Uchiha?!"
Kakuzu realized instantly: this was a Forbidden Jutsu! And without a doubt, it was a suicidal move that surpassed ordinary forbidden techniques. He cursed inwardly—what kind of grudge did this broke brat have against him?! Why would the kid use such a move on him? This was only their first meeting, right?!
Looking at the terrifying aura radiating from Ren, Kakuzu felt his scalp go numb. Immediately, he moved!
Kakuzu forcibly deactivated his Earth Style: Earth Spear, letting his body be sliced and shredded by the very Earth Grudge Fear threads that bound him! A massive spray of blood erupted as his tissues, organs, his Earth-style heart, head, limbs, and body fragments scattered, only to be pulled back and reconstructed by his tentacles. He didn't care how many "parts" he was losing; he didn't have time to think.
"HRAAAAAAAAH!!!"
Facing Ren, who was already roaring from the pressure of uncontrollable power, Kakuzu—having escaped the binding—clapped his hands into the Snake seal.
Four dark shadows shot out from his back. Three stood in a line, while the fourth stood beside Kakuzu. The three in front represented his hearts: Wind, Fire, and Lightning! The three Earth Grudge Fear mask-monsters opened their maws, glowing with white, red, and blue light. The three jutsus combined, charging into a terrifying blueprint of a blue chakra cannon.
What was about to be released was a move even more horrific than his previous composite jutsu:
Earth Grudge Fear: Final Shot!
At that moment, Ren's final roar rang out:
"Now... it's MY turn!!"
Ren watched as Kakuzu summoned his monsters. The lead Water Style mask released a Water Curtain on the ground to create a vast amount of water, while Kakuzu himself formed seals to create a massive Water Wall to obscure Ren's vision.
But Ren, who knew the man's secrets from "original intel," knew exactly what was happening. Kakuzu was preparing his strongest combination. The enemy was ready for a head-on clash of blasts.
How could Ren disappoint him?
Ren gripped the flaming greatsword, a grin of pure exhilaration curling his lips. Right now, he felt like he could cleave a mountain in half! The price for this god-like power was the very death he dreamed of.
And his opponent was an S-Rank powerhouse, Kakuzu. Whether he cut Kakuzu down or Kakuzu blasted him into atoms with the Final Shot, it was a win-win for Ren. If he died in a full-power struggle, he'd go home with five hundred million RMB!
Five hundred million! Just the interest alone would be over 7.5 million a year! He could spend the rest of his life lying down! The "good life" was right in front of him!
With that thought, Ren didn't hesitate. He stepped forward and raised his blade high! With each step, his chakra sprayed out like a solar flare, a brilliant sun rising behind him. The cliff cracked, spiderweb fissures spreading everywhere.
Holding this violent power, Ren felt like a kid again, like Wataru from Mashin Hero Wataru. He raised his sword and sang out: "Victory! Ryujinken!"
He was so excited that if someone had shouted "Now's your chance, Ren!" from behind, he would have felt a shiver of joy go from his toes to his skull. He'd probably shout back: "You think I'm using Ryujinken? Wrong! I'm that kid with the firecrackers yelling 'Holy Sword! My Holy Sword!'"
Because that was the life Ren had actually lived.
In this split second, a year's worth of memories in the shinobi world flashed by like a kaleidoscope. Shisui, Setsuna, Seiichiro, Obito and his grandma, the shop owner, Hidan, Mei, Shinno, Kakuzu, the Cloud trio, the Jashin trio... All those faces passed in a long, lingering thought.
Finally, Ren's gaze hardened. He twisted the hilt, positioning the blade above his head. Like King Arthur raising Excalibur, the six-foot flame blade exploded with a fresh surge of fire! The high-intensity flames reached toward the heavens, like a sword of justice forged in the sun!
Ren raised the greatsword and roared at the top of his lungs:
"Since we must say goodbye, then this strike shall be called—"
"Final Blade: FAREWELL!"
The giant sword cleaved downward, splitting even the clouds in the sky! Simultaneously, Kakuzu's face contorted as he screamed:
"You think you can kill ME?! KEEP DREAMING!"
"EARTH GRUDGE FEAR: FINAL SHOT!"
The chakra cannon boomed, firing a blue beam filled with the scent of death!
The next moment, a notification flared into existence:
[CLANG!]