Ruri controlled her Susanoo as it extended its right hand, gathering a massive sphere of chakra in its palm. It was the Yasaka Magatama!
Countless magatama-shaped projectiles fired like chakra artillery, blasting toward Kakuzu and shaking the entire ground violently. Fragments of rock flew everywhere as a thick cloud of smoke billowed up.
Mitsuki casually formed a few hand seals.
A powerful gust burst from his mouth, sweeping away all the smoke over the battlefield.
Lying motionless on the shattered ground was Kakuzu, his clothes torn to shreds.
Seeing the overwhelming power of her Susanoo, Ruri smirked.
"Hmph. Overestimating yourself."
Still cautious, she had one of her shadow clones—each from a different timeline—approach the body, its Susanoo still activated, to verify his death. The massive chakra avatar grabbed Kakuzu's body and crushed it with ease.
That was Ruri's idea of "confirming the kill".
With the enemy obviously dead beyond repair, she dispelled her Susanoo and dismissed the two clones back into her shadow space. A hint of pride lifted the corner of her lips as she walked back toward Mitsuki.
But Mitsuki, who had watched the whole thing, felt she was getting a bit too confident.
Even if the enemy should be dead, there was nothing normal about someone whose entire arm was made of exposed, writhing tendrils. Trusting normal logic around this guy was asking for trouble.
"…Sigh." Mitsuki exhaled.
Sure enough, the moment Ruri turned around after dispelling her Susanoo, two black masked monsters burst out of the earth — reanimated hearts of Kakuzu — and unleashed devastating ninjutsu from their mouths at point-blank range.
"Searing Migraine!"
"Pressure Damage!"
Wind fed fire, and the roaring inferno swelled into a massive orange-red blast, fiercer than even Ruri's own Great Fire Annihilation. The attack spread across half the sky — a clear sign Kakuzu had prepared thoroughly for this sneak attack.
"What—?"
There was no way for Ruri to slip into her shadow space in time. She would just have to die once.
Weird as it sounded, for someone with Ancient Echo of Heaven, a Mangekyō technique that guaranteed survival, dying once was literally just "dying once". Still… being burned alive definitely wouldn't feel good.
Right when she braced herself to take the hit, a figure appeared in front of her.
Only a handful of shinobi in the entire world could intercept that technique head-on in time.
One of them was Mitsuki, using the Flying Thunder God.
Mistcutter flashed free of its sheath as Mitsuki's Full Counter domain expanded instantly around him.The moment the orange-red inferno touched the domain's boundary, every chakra law twisted backwards.
Both Pressure Damage and Searing Migraine were forcefully reversed—doubled—and slammed into the two masked hearts, shattering their bodies and masks in an explosion of flames and smoke.
Mitsuki spun his blade and smoothly resheathed it. Then, glancing over his shoulder at Ruri, he said in a soft but reproachful tone:
"You've gotten a little arrogant since awakening your Eternal Mangekyō, Ruri."
Remembering the bold speech she'd made before the fight, Ruri's cheeks flushed red.She pressed her lips together, embarrassed, but still muttered stubbornly:
"That kind of attack wouldn't kill me."
Mitsuki raised a brow, ready to retort—But then she added, barely audible:
"…But thanks anyway."
He shrugged, shifting his gaze toward Kakuzu, who was dragging himself upright again.
Now stripped of his shredded cloak, Kakuzu's grotesque body—stitched together like some kind of Frankenstein monster—was fully visible.
While Mitsuki and Ruri had been talking, Kakuzu had only one thought: escape. He had lost three hearts, while his two opponents were completely unharmed. With only Water and Earth hearts left, there was no winning this.
"I'll use Earth Release: Underground Projection Fish Technique to get away…"
But before he could finish forming hand seals, several Flying Thunder God kunai cut through the air, forcing him to abort.
Kakuzu recognized them instantly — they were the same medium Tobirama had used in the First Shinobi War.
He batted them aside with Earth Grudge Fear tendrils, trying to send them as far as possible.
Ruri stared at the black sludge left behind by the destroyed masked beasts. She had thought they were allies of Kakuzu, but clearly they were constructs created by his secret jutsu.
Mitsuki stepped forward, curiosity in his eyes.
"So, you're the Kakuzu rumored to love money more than life itself. Mind telling me how much you've accumulated over all these years?"
It wasn't greed; Mitsuki simply had no interest in robbing people. He was just genuinely curious.
Of course, Kakuzu wasn't about to answer. He glared viciously at Mitsuki.
"Hmph. Trying to take my money? You may be called the next 'God of Shinobi' by the world, but compared to Hashirama, your character is leagues beneath him."
Mitsuki shrugged. If Kakuzu didn't want to talk, then fine. He wasn't offended—mentioning something more precious than Kakuzu's life was bound to piss him off.
Ruri, chin raised, snapped back, "You've met the First Hokage and dare compare him to Mitsuki?"
If Mitsuki didn't know her so well, he'd think Kakuzu hired her just to argue on his behalf.
Sure enough, Kakuzu naturally took the bait.
"The first Konoha shinobi I ever fought was your First Hokage."
Ruri scoffed internally, ready to mock him—But then Mitsuki said:
"Ruri, he's not lying."
"Hah? Someone this weak fought the First Hokage and lived?" Ruri stared at Mitsuki in disbelief.
Mitsuki explained:
"You saw his forehead protector, right? Back then, Takigakure sent him to assassinate the First Hokage. Hashirama used a Wood Release secret technique to capture him alive. Since small villages struggled to survive during wartime, Hashirama let him go."