"I have been in contact with the Root. The reputation of your Konoha is so bad that I don't want to do business with you..."
Kakuzu raised three fingers.
"Today is my lucky day. The Hokage's son, a brat from the Uchiha clan, and Sarutobi Hiruzen's apprentice. Taking their bodies to the black market will secure me profits for the next three years..."
Nohara Rin, who was beside Kazuki, was not taken seriously by Kakuzu.
Kazuki looked at Kakuzu, and the corners of his mouth were slightly raised. If this situation continued, it seemed that a famous scene would appear!
The image of Tobirama sacrificing himself so that Hiruzen and the others could escape came to mind: the only one capable of fighting defending the weakest...
Tsunade wanted to say something, trying to have a final negotiation with Kakuzu...
But Kakuzu's actions had already revealed his answer. A hideous black monster suddenly flashed from the side of the valley and opened the big mouth behind the mask!
A gust of extremely fierce wind swept the earth and roared towards Kazuki and others!
"Wind Release: Pressure Damage!"
It seems that the black monster does not need to make hand seals to release ninjutsu. In this ambush, neither Asuma nor Rin, who were still feeling sick from having killed, could react in time. They could only watch helplessly as the hurricane approached...
Kazuki squinted his eyes and watched the wind release. When the hurricane was about to swallow Asuma and Rin, he lifted them up and seemed to dodge the attack with difficulty.
It seemed that Kazuki was also shocked by Kakuzu's momentum, and just barely reacted.
From afar, Kakuzu's eyes exuded a mixture of coldness, greed and bloodlust.
This wind release attack was not a simple test. Kakuzu had poured in a considerable amount of chakra from the start...
"Damn, damn, why is it so strong!" Asuma cursed in fury and terror, clenching his fists helplessly after having narrowly escaped death.
At this moment, both Asuma and Rin were covered in cuts caused by the sharp gusts of the gale.
If it weren't for Kazuki, Kakuzu's attack would have already turned them into corpses, ready to collect a bounty.
Tsunade was also unable to avoid it completely, and her face was scratched by the wind release, and a little blood flowed out.
After a long period of slackness and the pressure in her heart, Tsunade's combat status as a kunoichi has fallen to the bottom.
"Tsunade-sensei! What do we do now?" Asuma turned to look at Tsunade, but he was stunned.
Tsunade looked even more helpless than he did.
She was visibly shaking, her gaze focused on the blood on her hands, on Asuma and Rin's wounds, and on the blood stains covering their bodies.
The bright red blood awakened the tragic memories in her mind and instantly devoured her reason. This was an illusion more powerful than the Sharingan, which directly shattered Tsunade's defenses...
In a trance, Tsunade seemed to see the bodies of Kazuki, Asuma and Rin. In the illusion, Kazuki was like her younger brother, who once brought her warmth with his smile, but the dead body had even his internal organs emptied...
Tsunade had lost control of her thoughts. She even began to imagine that if Kazuki fell into Kakuzu's hands, he wouldn't even have a whole corpse to bury.
An Uchiha was like a living treasure. Every part of his body could be sold for a fortune on the black market, and the Sharingan, especially, was invaluable...
How could Kakuzu let Kazuki go?
But the more she thought about it, the more serious Tsunade's hemophobia became, so that her whole body trembled, and she couldn't even stand steadily.
Kakuzu looked at Tsunade's reaction with surprise, as if he had seen a large number of gold coins waving at him!
At first, he thought Tsunade could hold out a little longer, but seeing her like this, she seemed even weaker than Asuma and Rin!
At least, these two people can still hold the kunai in their hands...
"Tsunade-sensei! What's wrong with you?" Asuma shouted, completely disoriented at seeing Tsunade like that. A feeling of panic washed over him.
Tsunade, who should be their greatest strength, had suddenly collapsed like this. If she continued like this, weren't they all doomed?
In Asuma's mind, Kazuki was an unparalleled genius, that was without a doubt. But Kakuzu... he seemed to be on the same level as Tsunade, or even slightly above.
The wind release he had just witnessed could not be described in words. There was no way Kazuki could face Kakuzu alone!
Kakuzu watched coldly as Tsunade's team panicked and he took advantage of that opportunity without mercy.
"Fire Release: Intelligent Hard Work!"
An ocean of flames engulfed the mountain, as the burning fire approached, roaring endlessly.
At that moment, the kunai Asuma was holding fell to the ground, producing a clear sound, and his heart sank along with it...
That day, he had not only witnessed the brutality of the battlefield, but he had also learned beforehand what the true power of a Kage-level shinobi meant when he took a battle seriously.
Asuma was stunned, Nohara Rin was powerless, and Tsunade was deeply trapped in her inner fear. The three seemed to have given up, and just watched the fire getting closer and closer...
Kazuki looked at the scene calmly and stepped forward:
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
The wall of water and the fierce fire collided violently, and a dense mist began to churn in the air.
"Kazuki!"
Asuma shouted happily, seeing Kazuki's figure in front of him. His body, which was unable to move due to nervousness, seemed to wake up at this moment.
Kazuki ignored Asuma and quickly formed a seal.
"Hiding in Mist Technique!"
In an instant, a thick fog covered the valley, leaving everything plunged into a blinding white.
"Run, Asuma!"
Kazuki turned around abruptly, the red light of the Sharingan looming in the mist, and his tone was extremely serious: "The enemy's chakra is extremely powerful, this is not an opponent we can deal with!"
Immediately, Kazuki took a step and picked up the trembling Tsunade from the ground and said in a deep voice: "The Hiding in Mist Technique can only delay him for a moment, we have to prepare to escape!"
"Come on, you and Rin run first, I will be responsible for your retreat!"
Asuma stared at Kazuki blankly, and the whole person seemed to have lost his soul.
The same is true for Nohara Rin. This short change made her unable to adapt for a while.
For the two Genin, encountering a murderous Kage-level enemy in the first battle out of the village is a bit too exciting.
"What are you waiting for, death?"
Kazuki spoke with uncommon severity: "They can't take Tsunade-sensei, and they can't stop the enemy either! Every second they waste means one less chance to escape."
"Run now! We'll meet up later in the pine forest."
Finally, under Kazuki's rebuke, Asuma and Nohara Rin moved, desperately driving their stiff bodies to run out of the valley...
Meanwhile, Tsunade, in Kazuki's arms, slowly began to regain consciousness. The trembling in her body gradually decreased, although she still could not regain her normal state.
A feeling of helplessness and shame flooded Tsunade's heart. Until a moment ago, she had thought of protecting her talented student, but now it had become a burden…
"Wind Release: Pressure Damage!"
A terrifying gust of wind blew forth again. The mist that filled the valley dissipated in an instant under the force of the wind.
Kakuzu's dark green eyes shone with a sinister light, fixed on Kazuki like a vulture's. He smiled cruelly. "Brat, you, Tsunade, and the Hokage's son won't be able to escape…"
"Together, you are worth approximately 100 million ryo. I won't let you go so easily."
Kakuzu extended his arm with tremendous strength, launching his fist towards Kazuki as if it were a cannon.
Kazuki dodged the blow with precision, lifting Tsunade onto his shoulder as his Sharingan glowed. With a quick swing of his sword, he cut through the black ropes binding Kakuzu's fist.
Kakuzu looked at the three tomoe spinning in Kazuki's eyes and was slightly stunned.
But soon, Kakuzu was filled with intense excitement!
If Kazuki showed a pair of Mangekyo Sharingan, then Kakuzu would consider himself unlucky today. It would be hard to say what the result would be if he fought with the Uchiha madman who opened the Mangekyo...
The Uchiha with Mangekyo could go to unthinkable extremes, regardless of personal damage in order to finish off their opponents.
But with only a three-tomoe Sharingan, Kakuzu felt no fear. In fact, he was more determined than ever to hunt down Kazuki.
Kazuki glanced at Kakuzu coldly, and the power of his pupils was released towards him at this moment.
Kakuzu snorted coldly, formed seals with his hands, and the black lines in his body surged, conducting the chakra in his body in an extremely chaotic manner...
For a monster physique like him, the mechanism of genjutsu interfering with the flow of chakra is ineffective for him.
Unless, the level of pupil power or the level of the genjutsu caster is much higher than his...
However, what Kakuzu didn't expect was that Kazuki was only pretending to attack. Instead of using his ocular power, he turned on his heel and, carrying Tsunade, fled at an impressive, almost ghostly speed, despite carrying another person.
"Cunning brat!"
Kakuzu cursed, condensed chakra under his feet, and chased after him fiercely!
But on the way of his pursuit, Kazuki released mist from time to time, delaying his steps.
Kakuzu became more and more angry, and more and more calm.
"If this brat wants to escape with Tsunade, and is determined to run to the center of the Land of Fire, I may not be able to catch up with him..."
Kakuzu blew away the mist in front of him again with his wind release and sneered.
"But the remaining two brats are not capable, and one of them is the son of the Hokage. I don't believe that an Uchiha dares to abandon the child of the Hokage and return to the village. It would be better for me to kill him..."
Kakuzu, who had been betrayed by the top leaders of Takigakure, deeply understood what kind of faces these top leaders of the hidden village had.
Maybe some are kind, some are vicious, and some look ordinary, but when it comes to their interests, they are several times more vicious than him, a bounty hunter.
Although Kazuki objectively has the ability to escape, in the eyes of Kakuzu, an old man, Asuma is like a chain that ties him tightly and makes him lose the chance of survival.
Unless Kazuki immediately became a traitor and cut off all ties with his family and village.
But in Kakuzu's opinion, Kazuki, who could come out to cover the rear, would not do such a thing.
Thinking of this, Kakuzu relaxed his mind, located Kazuki's position, and chased after him at a steady speed...
What does it matter if Kazuki runs faster?
He will eventually meet up with Asuma and Nohara Rin. By then, Kakuzu will not give Kazuki a chance to escape!
...
In the pine forest.
Asuma and Nohara Rin were panting. The nervousness and running consumed their physical strength. The sweat mixed with blood flowed down their faces, and they looked extremely embarrassed.
Before they could rest in the pine forest for a while, Kazuki rushed over with Tsunade in his arms, frowned, and whispered softly: "It's troublesome, the enemy's speed is faster than I thought..."
"At this speed, we can't get rid of the enemy."
Tsunade moved in Kazuki's arms, patted Kazuki's arm gently, and signaled to put her down.
"Kazuki is right. The enemy is the most feared bounty hunter in the shinobi world, Kakuzu, known as the 'immortal ninja'. He is said to have the power of a Kage level and has survived since the Sengoku Period. He is an extremely strong and mysterious ninja…"
Tsunade seemed to have recovered a little. She pursed her lips and said in a deep voice: "Asuma, Rin, although your speed is considered top among the Genin, it is still too slow to deal with such an enemy."
"Kazuki, take Asuma and Rin with you and escape. I'll try to summon Katsuyu to stop him."
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