"It seems I can't treat him like a normal shinobi," muttered Uchiha Shisui, his tone low and wary.
Having suffered a minor setback, Shisui observed Kakuzu's demeanor. The Sharingan in his eyes spun rapidly before settling into the distinctive pattern of a four-pointed pinwheel.
"That's...?"
Kakuzu's sharp senses immediately picked up on the sudden shift in chakra nature radiating from Shisui. Noticing the chilling presence now emanating from the Uchiha and the ominous pattern in his eyes, Kakuzu instinctively tensed.
Without delay, one of his detached masked creatures sprang into action, quickly blanketing the area in a dense, misty fog. At the same time, another mask fired a piercing lance of condensed lightning chakra.
Lightning Style: False Darkness!
A high-level Lightning Style jutsu known for its lethal piercing power and immense destructive potential.
Boom!
The brilliant flash of lightning tore through the mist in an instant, followed by a deafening explosion that reverberated through the battlefield.
Kakuzu's attack hit its mark, but he did not press the advantage. Instead, he and the masked creatures swiftly retreated, increasing the distance between themselves and Shisui.
As a veteran bounty hunter, Kakuzu knew better than to engage in unnecessary fights. The moment he recognized those infamous eyes—etched into his memory from countless years of experience—he decided against continuing this confrontation with the young Uchiha.
Although False Darkness was a powerful trump card, capable of devastating opponents in battle, Kakuzu doubted its effectiveness against those eyes.
Suddenly, the mist began to tremble!
A powerful shockwave, accompanied by the aftershock of the earlier explosion, swept through the area, dispersing the fog entirely.
Before Kakuzu could fully withdraw from the battlefield, a massive chakra-formed arrow pierced through his head with unrelenting force.
From the thinning mist, a colossal, glowing green figure emerged. Its imposing presence reflected in Kakuzu's dimming eyes as the spectral entity loomed over the battlefield.
The thick mist began to dissipate.
It seemed that the chakra maintaining the mist vanished along with its caster's life.
Kakuzu, who had been pierced through a vital spot by the arrow, lay motionless, seemingly lifeless.
But in the next moment, a barrage of arrows, fired by the giant clad in emerald-green energy, rained down from above, blanketing the area where Kakuzu lay.
The supposedly lifeless Kakuzu suddenly sprang into motion, leaping to dodge the attack. A nature mask emerged, shielding him from the front.
At the same time, the earth rolled on either side of him, forming a protective dome of rock that resembled a giant pot. This defense encased Kakuzu and the nature masks that had detached from his body.
The arrows struck the rocky dome, their piercing force embedding deep into its surface, turning the structure into a spiky porcupine.
Despite the overwhelming assault, this Earth Release defensive jutsu bought Kakuzu enough time to retreat and regroup.
"Susano'o, huh!"
Emerging from the shattered earth, Kakuzu knelt on one knee, staring at the green, skeletal giant ahead of him. For a moment, even he, with his usually emotionless demeanor, felt a pang of awe.
Many modern shinobi may have forgotten the legends of old, but Kakuzu, who hailed from the Warring States era of the ninja world, could never forget the names of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha. They were once figures of unmatched power, whose mere mention commanded respect and fear.
He had personally faced Hashirama in battle once. The man's power had shattered Kakuzu's understanding of what a shinobi could achieve. Hashirama had rightfully earned the title God of Shinobi.
The only reason Kakuzu managed to escape with his life and return to Takigakure was because Hashirama, for some unfathomable reason, decided to spare him. It wasn't due to Kakuzu's own strength—it was sheer luck.
As for Madara Uchiha, the man renowned as Hashirama's equal, Kakuzu had gathered as much information on him as possible, even secretly observing one of Madara's battles from afar.
The sight of Madara's Susanoo—its overwhelming power and the devastation it could cause with a mere swipe—had been burned into Kakuzu's memory, an unshakable nightmare alongside his encounter with Hashirama.
Now, standing before Kakuzu was another manifestation of Susano'o. While it wasn't Madara's—it lacked the same form and color—the destruction it caused was no less staggering.
Black tendrils burst from Kakuzu's chest, their writhing forms stitching together the damage done by the arrow. They wove through the gaping holes in his chest, reconnecting and restoring what had been lost.
One of the detached nature masks was pulled back into Kakuzu's body by the black tendrils, replacing his damaged heart. Meanwhile, a shattered mask and lifeless tendrils were expelled from his body, falling to the ground as nothing more than discarded remains.
Lightning crackled faintly across the giant skeletal figure, whose surface showed subtle cracks. However, under Shisui's continuous supply of chakra, those cracks were healing rapidly.
The destructive power and piercing strength of the Lightning Style: False Darkness were formidable. The Susanoo in its skeletal stage could not fully block the attack.
Seeing the skeletal giant nock another arrow, Kakuzu understood one thing clearly: unless he defeated his opponent, the chances of escaping unscathed were next to none.
The enemy's attack range was too far, and its power was terrifyingly strong.
Bang!
The arrow transformed into a blazing meteor, once again hurtling toward Kakuzu.
Even though Kakuzu had immediately gone on the defensive and tried to evade, the arrow still tore through most of his body.
If not for having turned his body into a mass of black Earth Grudge Fear threads, he would not have survived. Thanks to the stolen hearts that served as his chakra sources, Kakuzu had long abandoned the vulnerabilities of a normal human body.
In some ways, calling him immortal wouldn't be far from the truth. Even with most of his body destroyed, he could still survive and recover quickly.
But this time, he hadn't managed to relocate his heart in time.
Another one of the elemental mask monsters inside him was lost. The remaining three masks outside his body quickly merged with his broken form, repairing his missing body parts with their Earth Grudge Fear organs while replenishing his chakra sources.
Two hearts remained.
****
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