Read ahead of public release on P atreon at: p-atreon.com/Knockturn_Alley
Check out Chapter illustrations on Pixiv at unhinged_uchiha
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Crack! Crack!
Mikoto felt so lost and frozen that she didn't even notice the ground beneath her feet begin to crack.
Misaki did. "What the, those cracks?!" she shouted. "Mikoto-sama, dodge!" She tried to scramble to her feet, bracing herself for whatever was about to happen.
The neko-nin farther away snapped to attention as well.
But the warning, and everything else, came too late for Mikoto.
The concrete burst apart.
"Kyaa!" Mikoto cried as her footing gave way and she started to fall. As she struggled to understand what was happening and tried to regain her balance, she saw it, a hand erupting from the shattered ground. It's just that the hand part was only up to the forearm; the part after the forearm seemed to be writhing threads that lunged straight for her waist as if trying to wrap itself around her.
She tried to dodge, but being midair and off balance made it difficult. Still, she forced herself to react, only to feel a hand wrap around her stomach and lift her up.
"Huh? What—?" she cried in panic, reaching for a kunai as she struggled against the grip.
"Now, now… no need to struggle like that," the person holding her said.
She looked up, eyes widening. "K-Kanzou-sama…?!!"
The one holding Mikoto was, of course, Kanzou.
He had sensed the presence moving beneath the ground long before it surfaced, closing in on Mikoto and Misaki. The sheer volume of chakra coming from it told him immediately that it wasn't something they could handle on their own. That was why he'd rushed here… and fortunately, he had managed to make it in time, before the hand could touch Mikoto, or wrap itself around her waist.
A possessive man like him would never allow another man to touch her; such a thing was simply unthinkable.
"You okay, Mikoto?" he asked calmly, one arm wrapped firmly around her waist as he held her suspended in the air.
"Y-yes…" she nodded. She felt embarrassed by the way he was holding her, but she didn't complain. She knew Kanzou had rushed in without a moment to spare and hadn't had time to worry about propriety.
Setting that aside, she lifted her head and looked at Kanzou's other hand, which was tightly gripping the wrist of the arm that had burst out of the concrete and was trying to attack her.
"A hand… whose hand is that?" she asked. "And how did a hand come out of the ground…?"
She had never seen anything like this before. The sight alone left her stunned, and the fact that it had clearly attacked her made it undeniably hostile.
"This sort of hand with threads coming out of it in this manner…" Kanzou murmured, tightening his grip as the hand struggled to wrench itself free while the threads coming out of it became taut. "I might have an idea."
"You do?" The question came from Misaki, not Mikoto. She hadn't expected Kanzou to already have an idea of who was behind the attack.
"Yeah…" Kanzou murmured as he set Mikoto back on her feet while coldly addressing the one hiding underground.
"You had the audacity to attack my Mikoto," he said calmly. "So why don't you come out and show me your face, Kakuzu?"
Beneath the ground, Kakuzu's eyes widened. 'This guy… Uchiha Kanzou… he has already identified me?'
This was the last thing Kakuzu had expected.
He was a famous mercenary; of course, many people knew his name. Being recognized wouldn't have been strange if he were showing his face. But he wasn't. He was still hidden beneath the ground, with only his arm exposed, and yet Uchiha Kanzou had identified him instantly.
Just from that.
There were only two possibilities.
The first was that Kanzou had recognized his chakra signature.
'But that's impossible,' Kakuzu thought. 'I've never met him.'
It's impossible to recognize someone's chakra without already being familiar with their chakra signature.
The second possibility was more troubling.
'He recognized me from my jutsu.'
That shouldn't have been possible either. Although Kakuzu was well known, detailed intelligence about his techniques was rare, and intentionally so. Information was power. Shinobi battles were often decided by knowledge and preparation, and Kakuzu had survived as long as he had by ensuring that anyone who learned the secrets of his jutsu never lived to share them.
Very few people should have known what techniques he uses.
Yet Uchiha Kanzou had identified him immediately, based solely on the jutsu.
'This guy…' panic flickered through Kakuzu's mind. 'He might know the secret of my technique.'
For the first time, he realized he truly couldn't afford to underestimate the teenager.
"Aren't you going to come out, Kakuzu?" Kanzou's voice echoed again.
'Damn it… this guy, why is his grip so strong?' Kakuzu tried to pull his hand back, but it wouldn't budge. Kanzou's grip was ironclad; no matter how hard he struggled, he couldn't withdraw it.
His own strength is not small, yet Kanzou's strength seemed to be much higher.
"Since you don't want to come out on your own," Kanzou's cold voice echoed, "I guess I have no choice but to pull you out myself."
He yanked harder, trying to haul Kakuzu's entire body from underneath the ground.
The next instant, Kakuzu felt himself being dragged upward, his body starting to tear free from the ground.
'If that's how it's going to be…' he thought, pouring chakra into the threads connected to his arm.
At that moment, several black threads burst from the arm that Kanzou held and shot toward him, whipping through the air as they lunged for his neck, trying to coil around it and choke him to death, or at least loosen up his grip.
"Kanzou-sama, be careful!" Mikoto cried and drew her Kunai to assist him…
"Don't worry about it…" said Kanzou casually, as he swiftly formed one-handed seals with his free hand and invoked his jutsu.
When Kanzou was still very young, just a newly promoted genin, one problem had always bothered him: he only had two hands to fight with. If both were occupied, and an enemy attacked from behind or from the side, he would be left with no way to respond. It was a weakness that became especially dangerous when facing multiple opponents, something common in war, where attacks could come from anywhere at any moment.
To overcome that flaw, he learned several hair manipulation jutsus after mastering the Yang Style. It was a solution born from necessity… and he had developed several variations of it to the point his hair can even act as limbs.
And that was exactly what he was using now.
"Yang Style: Coiling Hair Serpents!"
Chakra surged through his body and into his black hair, which suddenly lengthened and lashed forward like living serpents. The strands wrapped tightly around the incoming grey threads, stopping them short of his neck. The hair didn't stop there; they continued to elongate and slither forward like snakes, coiling around the threads and restricting their movement as they pulled more and more strongly, dragging Kakuzu's body closer to the surface.
"Tch…" Kakuzu clicked his tongue. This time, instead of resisting, he went along with the pull, hardening the fist of his free hand.
Crack—smash!
The ground split open as Kakuzu's body burst out, his fist hardened with Earth Style shot straight toward Kanzou's face. "Die, boy!"
"Useless," Kanzou replied calmly.
Without a trace of panic, Kanzou redirected part of his hair, wrapping it tightly around Kakuzu's wrist and locking the hardened fist in place. Kakuzu tried to force it forward, if he couldn't kill Kanzou with that punch, he would at least smash his face.
But his arm didn't move an inch.
"So… I was right," Kanzou said calmly, studying him. "It really is you, Kakuzu, S-rank rogue-nin and bounty hunter."
The man wore a cloak that concealed his body and a mask covering the lower half of his face. Bandages wrapped around his forehead, leaving only his gleaming, pupil-less green eyes exposed.
"Uchiha Kanzou…" Kakuzu said, staring up at the man who stood even taller than him.
"Yep. That's me," Kanzou replied with a smile. In the same motion, he drew the katana hidden beneath his cloak with his free hand and drove the blade straight through Kakuzu's heart.
"You…" was all he managed to say before blood burst from his mouth, staining the mask he was wearing.
His life seemed to leave him in that instant, and his head slumped forward, limp.
"D-did you hit his vital point, Kanzou-sama…?" Mikoto asked.
"Yeah. I pierced his heart," Kanzou replied with a nod.
Under normal circumstances, piercing Kakuzu's heart with a blade would've been impossible. His Earth Style body-hardening made him nearly impervious; only Lightning Style could normally pierce through it. But Kanzou's katana was no ordinary weapon. Ryūjin Jakka didn't rely on lightning, yet it could still pierce that hardened body and puncture the heart with ease.
Hearing from him that the enemy's heart was pierced. Misaki let out a breath. "Phew… i-it's over…"
Unlike her, Mikoto didn't relax. Her Sharingan continued to spin slowly as she scanned their surroundings. There was still the possibility that Kakuzu had accomplices.
"Is it over? No," Kanzou said, shaking his head. "It's not over."
Misaki tensed immediately, glancing around. The neko-nin, led by Yoru, did the same, extending their senses in every direction.
After a moment, Yoru frowned. "Boss… I don't sense anyone else."
"I don't either," Misaki added. "Kanzou-sama… are you sure this isn't over?"
Mikoto also looked at him, questioning.
Kanzou smiled faintly. "Yeah. It's not over yet, is it, Kakuzu?" His gaze dropped to the body. "You don't seriously plan on faking your death to catch me off guard, do you?"
At those words, Kakuzu's body twitched, and he lashed out with a kick aimed at Kanzou's chin.
Kanzou dodged it effortlessly by moving his head to the side and didn't forget to taunt him, "Come on… what's with that reaction? Did I hit the mark? Were you really planning something like that?"
Kakuzu didn't answer. Taking advantage of the moment, he wrenched himself free and retreated, landing several steps away.
Of course, the reason he managed to retreat was not that he had forced his hand out of Kanzou's grip, but because Kanzou had let him go, allowing him the space to recover.
Meanwhile, Mikoto, Misaki, and the neko-nin froze in shock.
"He… he's alive even after his heart was pierced? How is that possible?" Misaki gasped.
It was unbelievable. None of them had ever seen, or even heard of, something like this.
Even in shock, they didn't hesitate. Mikoto moved first, ready to attack and keep the pressure on him.
Kanzou stopped her with a gesture. "Don't interfere."
"Kanzou-sama… I'll help you," she said firmly, making her intent clear.
"Not needed," Kanzou replied, shaking his head.
It wasn't that he didn't want Mikoto's help, it was that Kakuzu wasn't an opponent she could afford to face. Mikoto was jōnin-level, possibly even elite jōnin if she went all out, but Kakuzu was on an entirely different tier. He was a true Kage-level shinobi with decades of combat experience, and worse, he was dangerous in ways that weren't obvious. Anyone who didn't fully understand his abilities would be walking straight into a nightmare.
Kanzou had no intention of letting Mikoto take that risk. Besides, he didn't need her help. Someone like Kakuzu was an enemy he could kill with a single gaze, there was no reason to involve her at all.
As for letting Mikoto gain experience by fighting Kakuzu? No.
Kakuzu wasn't the kind of opponent she can learn from. She needs to be stronger for that.
"I… I see…" Mikoto murmured when she realized he truly didn't want her to interfere. She accepted it, but she didn't retreat.
She remained where she was, eyes locked on Kakuzu, body tense and ready to move at a moment's notice. Even if she was obeying Kanzou, she had no intention of standing by if he ran into trouble.
Misaki did the same as Mikoto, drawing her own kunai and taking a position on Kanzou's other side. Around them, the neko-nin tensed as well, claws extending and eyes sharpening as they prepared for battle.
'This is bad…' Kakuzu thought, his back pressed to the wall.
Uchiha Kanzou stood directly in front of him, katana in hand. Uchiha Mikoto and the other woman flanked Kanzou on either side. And beyond them were the neko-nin, every one of them, save for the smallest kittens, watching him like predators eyeing their prey.
Being surrounded wasn't the real problem. Kakuzu was confident he could handle the two kunoichi or the neko-nin if they attacked. After all, he wasn't worried about chūnin- or jōnin-level opponents.
The real problem was Uchiha Kanzou.
And it wasn't Kanzou's strength; Kakuzu didn't even know how strong the boy truly was. The problem was that Kanzou clearly knew far too much about his jutsu.
"Boy… you seem to know a lot about me," Kakuzu said, staring at Kanzou, very curious as to how Kanzou knows so much about him.
It was said that in battle, one should never make eye contact with a Uchiha. As a veteran, Kakuzu knew this well, but he wasn't worried about the Sharingan's genjutsu. Even if he were caught in one, his masks could snap him out of any illusion instantly. So he met Kanzou's gaze head-on, unafraid, waiting for his response.
"Hmm… know about you?" Kanzou said thoughtfully. "I suppose that's true." He nodded lightly. "I know quite a lot about you, like how you were once a shinobi of Takigakure, how you stole a jutsu and betrayed your village, and how you became a mercenary who hunts bounties." He paused, then added calmly, "I even know how you die."
He wasn't boasting. Kanzou truly knew things about Kakuzu that Kakuzu himself didn't, his future as a member of the Akatsuki, his partnership with Hidan, and his eventual end from Naruto's incomplete Jutsu.
But Kakuzu, unaware of all that, took it as arrogance, as if Kanzou were claiming he could already see his death.
"Hmph," Kakuzu snorted. "Not even Konoha's Shodaime Hokage could kill me. Do you really think you can?"
"This guy… he survived an encounter with the Shodaime Hokage of Konoha?" Misaki murmured, horror creeping into her gaze. "Just how old is he?"
"Oh… he is old," Kanzou said casually. "Old enough to be a grandfather. Maybe we should call him Kakuzu Ojii-san." He glanced at Kakuzu with a grin and asked lightly, "What do you think? You don't mind if we call you Kakuzu Ojii-san, right?"
Beneath his mask, Kakuzu's lips twitched. It was true, he was old. But being called Ojii-san by a brat he planned to kill and cash in for a bounty was infuriating. Worse, Kanzou's tone made it clear he was being underestimated.
"Kanzou-sama… we should be careful," Mikoto said urgently, her guard fully raised. She couldn't shake the feeling that Kanzou was being far too relaxed, especially if Kakuzu truly was someone who had survived an encounter with the Shodaime Hokage.
After all, Senju Hashirama was the God of Shinobi, someone even Madara couldn't defeat. If Kakuzu truly had survived an encounter with him, it wasn't something to dismiss lightly, no matter how unbelievable it sounded.
"Don't be unnerved, Mikoto," Kanzou said calmly. "He didn't survive because he fought Senju Hashirama. He survived because Hashirama couldn't be bothered chasing a mosquito that threw a kunai from a distance. At the time, he had more important things to deal with."
He then turned to Kakuzu and asked him, "Isn't that right, Kakuzu Ojii-san? How far away were you from Senju Hashirama when you threw your kunai at him to assassinate him and then ran away when you failed at it…?"
Kakuzu's lips twitched again. He had tried to unnerve them, but it hadn't worked at all. If anything, they were looking down on him.
"So that's how it is," he said coldly. "Since you don't think I'm a big deal… I suppose I'll have to get serious."
"Oh?" Kanzou replied lightly. "You're going all out? In that case, I'll get a little serious too."
As he spoke, Kanzou activated his Mangekyō Sharingan and fixed his gaze on Kakuzu.
Since Kakuzu wasn't avoiding eye contact, their gazes met directly.
'What's with those eyes? he thought. That pattern… It's different from the three tomoe.'
He sensed something was off, but he couldn't place it. The idea that it might be the Mangekyō Sharingan didn't occur to him. Though he had heard of the legendary Mangekyō, he had never seen it himself. It was a rare tale, mentioned only in passing over the years, not something that would immediately come to mind.
Seeing Kakuzu meet his gaze, Kanzou chuckled. "Kakuzu Ojii-san… even as a veteran, don't you know better than to look a Uchiha in the eye?"
"Your genjutsu won't work on me," Kakuzu snorted. Fully convinced of his immunity, he began unbuttoning his cloak, preparing to discard it. This fight wasn't just against Kanzou; it also involved two kunoichi and the neko-nin. To even the odds, he would need his mask entities.
"Is that what you think?" Kanzou said calmly. "Then why don't you take another look around you… and say that again?"
Hearing those words, Kakuzu frowned and looked around—
Only to realize that the two kunoichi and the neko-nin were gone.
The surroundings had changed as well. The underground space vanished, replaced by a grim torture chamber. His arms and legs were bound and suspended by ropes, leaving him hanging helplessly in midair.
"W-what…?" he muttered, stunned and unable to comprehend what had happened.
"Even though you claimed my genjutsu wouldn't work on you," Kanzou said with a laugh, "you were already caught in it before you even realized."
The words struck Kakuzu like a slap to the face.
"This… this shouldn't be possible…!" he growled, refusing to accept it.
Yet no matter how much he denied it, the reality was undeniable: he had been caught in a genjutsu. There was no escaping that fact.
'It seems I underestimated the Uchiha Clan…' he thought, bitterly regretting his lapse in caution.
Still, as a veteran, he adapted quickly. Once he accepted the situation, he focused on breaking free.
"Even if you managed to trap me in your genjutsu," he snorted, "do you really think I can't break out of it?"
"You think you can? Then go on, try. Let me see." Kanzou replied, nodding slightly.
He allowed Kakuzu to struggle, watching with genuine interest.
Until now, Kanzou had only used Tsukuyomi on Mikoto, and that had been for rehearsal. He was curious to see whether it was truly impossible for anyone other than an Uchiha, one with visual prowess surpassing his own, to break free from it.
He already knew the answer.
No one who wasn't a Uchiha could hope to escape Tsukuyomi.
Still… he wanted to see it for himself.
Kakuzu snorted and strained, trying to force his way out of the genjutsu.
With his limbs restrained, he couldn't form hand seals, but he didn't really need to since he was certain the masks within his body would snap him out of the illusion.
They didn't.
Seconds passed. Then minutes. One… five… and still nothing changed. The genjutsu held firm.
Seeing that the masks weren't freeing him, Kakuzu clenched his teeth. He hardened his fists, then the rest of his body, and strained against the ropes binding his arms and legs. He believed that if he could force his way out of the restraints, he could form hand seals himself and break the genjutsu.
It didn't work.
No matter how hard he struggled, the ropes didn't budge.
He then tried to manipulate the threads within his body, hoping to shock himself with pain or force a reaction out of his body that would snap him out of the Genjutsu, but there was no response at all.
It was as if the threads didn't exist. "W-what's going on…?" he muttered in disbelief.
No matter what he tried, nothing worked. He could do nothing but hang there, suspended, arms and legs bound.
Still, he refused to give up. Decades of experience told him there had to be a way out. So he kept trying, again and again.
All the while, Kanzou remained where he was, leaning casually against the wall, watching in silence.
He didn't interfere as Kakuzu struggled in vain. Only when Kakuzu finally seemed to tire did Kanzou speak again.
"So," he said calmly, "it seems you can't break free from this genjutsu. Not much of a surprise." He then stepped closer to Kakuzu with a Kunai in hand and smiled. "Now then… let's hear why you tried to attack my Mikoto, Kakuzu Ojii-san~"
He already had a good idea why Kakuzu would attack someone, but he asked anyway, just to be certain.
Despite the calm smile on Kanzou's face, Kakuzu found it deeply unsettling. A chill ran down his spine, and he suddenly regretted ever trying to cash in on that five hundred million ryō.
Wouldn't it have been better if he had just left Sora-ku and gone after the target he had originally selected?
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The PS goal was 150… but we failed to meet it again.Still… we did well. Quite well, actually.So I'll rein in my disappointment and shamelessly announce the next PS goal: 200 PS within the next 24 hours.
So, hurry up and drop your Power Stones!
Read ahead of public release on P atreon at: p-atreon.com/Knockturn_Alley
Check out Chapter illustrations on Pixiv: unhinged_uchiha