[Jokes aside, Kakuzu wasn't just boasting about having fought the First Hokage.]
[The Konoha shinobi present were most shocked by Kakuzu's long lifespan.]
[Soon after, Kakashi was thoroughly beaten and pinned down by Kakuzu, looking completely exhausted.]
[Ino and Choji took this chance to spectate, almost bringing out some watermelon to enjoy the show.]
"Hey~! Can the person narrating on the screen be a bit more serious? What do you mean I was 'pinned down by Kakuzu looking completely exhausted'? That could easily lead to misunderstandings."
Kakashi sighed, clearly frustrated by Hayashi Sora's choice of words in his commentary.
"Haha, well, Kakashi, you were acting weak. When you overuse your chakra, of course, you'll end up all soft and tired," Asuma said, striking a bodybuilder pose to show off his biceps.
"Come on, give it a rest," Kakashi glanced at Asuma and then at Kurenai, grinning slyly, "After tonight, who knows which one of us will be more worn out?"
"Kakashi, what are you talking about?"
Kurenai's face turned bright red, clearly flustered.
Asuma, on the other hand, blushed too but was a little irritated.
"Hmph, unlike you, I don't get tired just from using a few jutsu. If you're that weak, why not change your name to 'Kaka-Weak'?"
Kakashi: "..."
[Kakuzu was mercilessly thrashing Kakashi, and neither Choji nor Ino could help. That was until, from a distance, Hidan fell into Shikamaru's trap, accidentally licked Kakuzu's blood, and ended up harming Kakuzu by damaging one of his hearts. That gave Kakashi the chance to turn things around.]
"Licking blood to cause damage? That technique seems rather eerie."
In his office, Tobirama watched as Kakuzu's heart was destroyed from a distance by Hidan, deep in thought.
"Earlier, during Hidan's fight with Asuma, Hayashi Sora mentioned that Hidan has a strange ability to attack by licking others' blood. It looks like Shikamaru took advantage of that power and tricked Kakuzu."
"He must have secretly collected Kakuzu's blood during their fight, but making Hidan think he was licking Shikamaru's blood instead of someone else's would've taken some effort."
"No wonder Shikamaru decided to take on Hidan alone; he wanted to destroy one of Kakuzu's hearts without anyone noticing."
Everyone in the office believed Shikamaru's plan to lure Hidan away was to eliminate one of Kakuzu's hearts.
But those familiar with the Nara clan, like Tobirama and Danzo, knew that taking out Kakuzu's heart was just a bonus. Shikamaru mostly wanted to personally defeat Hidan to avenge Asuma.
"Speaking of which, it's strange to see the scene of my son's death on the screen when Biwako is just now pregnant."
Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't realize that he would have two sons in the future.
Right now, Biwako was expecting their eldest son, Sarutobi Shinnosuke, Konohamaru's father, and not their second son, Sarutobi Asuma.
"It's definitely weird. Your son is older than you. Even if you don't find it strange, we all do," someone commented.
"Uh, really?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked around, seeing everyone nodding enthusiastically. He could only sigh in resignation.
At this point, he hadn't yet grown a beard, and his face still looked quite youthful.
Unlike Asuma, who had a full beard and, at almost thirty, looked like he was forty.
With that kind of appearance, he was really wasting his talent as a ninja. He should've gone to play basketball.
(Someone named James: "You better be talking about basketball.")
[Kakuzu silently cursed Hidan in his mind for being such a troublemaker, but he still managed to retrieve the remaining hearts. At the same time, he used his tentacles to bind the three people present.]
[After binding the three, Kakuzu unleashed a high-level Wind-Fire Style attack.]
[Unfortunately, it was blocked by Naruto and Yamato, who had just arrived, using Wind and Wood Style.]
Naruto: "Huh? What's this got to do with me?"
Seeing his image appear on the screen, Naruto was first startled, then ecstatic.
"See, I told you I was strong, Kakashi-sensei! I saved your life!"
Kakashi had just managed to recover from being called "Kaka-weak" when Naruto's direct mention of his name made him feel even more awkward.
It was a truly uncomfortable moment.
"Yes, yes, you're the strongest."
Kakashi sighed and rubbed his forehead. To avoid getting dragged into another debate by Naruto, he reluctantly played along.
Naruto, however, didn't pick up on the hint of sarcasm in Kakashi's tone. He thought his strength had impressed his teacher and earned his approval.
With his hands on his hips and his chest puffed out, Naruto stood tall, like a proud rooster.
"This idiot..."
Naruto's behavior made not only Kakashi cringe but also embarrassed Sasuke, who was his teammate.
He wondered what misfortune had led him to be on a team with this guy.
In Team 7, their supervising Jonin was a pervert who liked to read Icha Icha Paradise. The only girl, Sakura, was always drooling over his looks and was completely obsessed with him, while Naruto was just a fool.
As the only normal one, it was really hard for Sasuke to deal with being in such a team.
"Sasuke, Sasuke! Did you see that? I looked so strong on the screen!" Naruto called out.
"Idiot, don't talk to me."
"Why?"
"Because I'm afraid I'll become an idiot like you."
"I amn't idiot! I'm going to talk to you, hehe~"
Sasuke: "."
Jiraiya, the Fifth Hokage, ignored Naruto and Sasuke's antics.
He focused intently on Naruto in the projection, wanting to see how the Child of Prophecy would deal with Kakuzu.
Everyone recognized Kakuzu's strength; he was acknowledged as a powerful ninja.
Even Kakashi had suffered at Kakuzu's hands.
At that moment, could Naruto really defeat Hidan? Jiraiya wasn't optimistic.
[When Naruto and Yamato rescued Kakashi, from this point on, Kakuzu's reputation started to drop significantly.]
[In his fight with Naruto, Kakuzu was stunned after seeing Naruto's Rasenshuriken.]
[After dealing with a few shadow clones, he somehow failed to notice Naruto's direct attack.]
[Fortunately, Naruto had a talent for being a funny ninja, and his first shuriken malfunctioned midway.]
"You truly are something! Only you could pull off such a ridiculous move in the entire ninja world, Naruto."
Jiraiya covered his face, feeling embarrassed by Naruto's antics.
At that moment, he made up his mind to train Naruto intensively. He couldn't let Naruto act "funny" in future battles.
One careless mistake could be deadly.
[The malfunctioning Rasenshuriken further confused Kakuzu, and he froze for a few seconds before trying to restrain Naruto.]
[Even in a five-on-one situation, Kakuzu remained quite brave.]
[Little did he know, he had become a test NPC for Naruto's new ninjutsu.]
[After taking a second Rasenshuriken, he was unable to fight back.]
Kakuzu: "Impossible! I won't go down this easily!"
*********
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