Samiu stood frozen, her face filled with shock and despair. Her hand shook uncontrollably around the tanto.
Ever since she had accidentally discovered that scroll etched with the Lightning Blade Art within the Clan District, Samiu could clearly sense her power growing rapidly. Yet just now, when facing Anya, she hadn't even mustered the courage to draw her blade.
Her entire being—including her reason—screamed at her that drawing her sword meant certain death.
"Why is he so strong? Strong beyond hope?"
Samiu murmured softly. Was the Raikage strong? He was indeed powerful too—but not so overwhelmingly that she would lose all will to fight. At least that kind of strength had felt real, tangible. Unlike this situation where the two of them seemed to exist on entirely different levels of life itself.
Anya withdrew his killing intent and oppressive aura before speaking calmly, "There's no need to feel discouraged. Facing me, even someone stronger than you wouldn't perform much better."
Samiu tried hard to calm herself, and once regaining composure, couldn't help but ask, "What exactly do you want? Can you tell me?"
Anya didn't hide anything. Spreading his arms wide, he declared with conviction, "I intend to end this era of the ninja world and eliminate ninjas altogether. From now on, there'll be no such things as the Five Great Countries or ninja villages."
Samiu was deeply shaken by the man standing before her—the confidence and arrogance radiating from his words were captivating.
But…
"Why have you chosen me?"
Anya shrugged indifferently, "Unless necessary, I prefer not to kill unnecessarily. The Raikage of Kumogakure can be anyone else—but not the current one. I know him well. He has a stubborn character who'd rather die than yield. Even if everyone else in Kumogakure dies, he still won't surrender. Therefore, I hope you can replace him and properly lead Kumogakure. And why choose you specifically? Simply because you happen to be here, possess decent strength, and are capable of gaining others' respect."
Inhaling sharply, Samiu asked, "So…are you planning to kill Lord Raikage?"
Anya replied expressionlessly, "I won't hesitate toward anyone blocking my path. Also, let me share one more piece of information: The Third Raikage was killed by me. Therefore, killing another Raikage would be perfectly normal for me."
Samiu's eyes widened in disbelief. The legendary Third Raikage, known for resisting a Tailed Beast physically and fighting ten thousand Iwa ninja for three days and nights straight—had been slain by this very person right in front of her.
"Think it over carefully," said Anya. "Will you save your village by accepting my offer, or stick blindly to the Raikage's doomed path?" With a wave of his hand, Anya instantly made Konoha's devastation unfold directly before Samiu's eyes.
"You've seen what I did to Konoha. If I act, Kumogakure will suffer far worse than what happened here. You should understand clearly—I definitely possess such capability."
After delivering these words, Anya didn't pressure Samiu into deciding immediately; instead, he simply left her alone.
Konoha has now fallen into chaos, its security across all departments dropping to historically low levels, utterly failing to detect Anya's infiltration. Naturally, even at full strength, they wouldn't have posed any real challenge to him either.
Anya strolled casually into Konoha's secret research facility. As he stepped inside, everyone hiding within the institute instantly collapsed.
Pushing open a door, he entered a room where Kakuzu's corpse lay. Ever since his death, Kakuzu had been brought here and subjected to various experiments. However, due to the short time span, it seemed little progress had been made.
A black thread appeared in Anya's hand as he poured Shikkotsu Forest Sage Chakra into it. The thread suddenly came alive like a serpent twisting and transforming in Anya's grip, eagerly longing to enter the body below.
"Patience."
Anya soothed the slumbering consciousness within the thread, while producing a colorful heart with his other hand. Infused with Mount Myoboku Sage Chakra, this heart began beating powerfully.
With both streams of sage energy combined, Anya fused the heart and the thread together.
The thread rapidly expanded like a python devouring the heart whole. Then it extended itself, connecting with lines floating above the corpse. Soon enough, all the threads entered the body.
"Thump...thump...thump..."
A powerful heartbeat echoed from the corpse. Kakuzu opened his green eyes.
Seeing this, Anya's face lit up with joy. "Uncle, you're awake!"
Kakuzu adjusted to his new heart and sat up, looking at Anya with a complex expression. "Kid, when you sought me out back then to learn about [Earth Grudge Fear], did you already plan for this moment?"
"Just a precautionary measure. Didn't expect you'd actually lose to Konoha though. Tsk, I don't need to ask who dragged you down—Hidan, right?" Anya said indignantly. "C'mon, let's go get Hidan and teach him a proper lesson."
"Hmph." Kakuzu agreed. Just as he stood up, sensing something briefly, his face quickly turned shocked. "This heart... It's incredible! It can divide and fuse? So now I can simultaneously use Five Nature Transformations, and my chakra is also much greater than before! Kid, how exactly did you accomplish this?"
His eyes sparkled with curiosity, masking a deeper emotion beneath.
"Hehe, just a small feat really. As long as you're satisfied, Uncle," Anya replied modestly, careful not to take credit. No choice—he couldn't let on yet about what he'd done. The less concern he showed, the less likely Kakuzu would be furious later once discovering everything.
As for this heart, only one person across the Ninja World could have crafted such a perfect creation—Serpent Master.
It contained portions of tailed beast cells, perfectly combining with Kakuzu's Secret Jutsu to display part of a tailed beast's power, even enhancing and fusing it. Without exaggeration, Kakuzu was now essentially a walking jinchuriki possessing Five Nature Transformations. His chakra quantity might still fall slightly short of a real jinchuriki's, but he carried absolutely no risk of losing control.
The two walked out together and soon appeared in a forest. Before long several deer walked out from among the trees watching them closely, their gazes surprisingly humanlike in their wariness.
Anya activated his Sharingan, and the deer quickly collapsed lifeless to the ground.
Pressing a finger against the ground, Anya quickly sensed everything deep beneath the earth. Found it...
[Lightning Release] surged into the soil, triggering an explosion that tore open a crater, revealing Hidan's severed body parts before the two of them.
Apparently due to long-term starvation, Hidan had already lost consciousness. His body was reduced to skin and bones, his head resembling a skull—truly a pitiful sight.
Kakuzu shot out several black threads, reconnecting Hidan's body pieces. Beside him, Anya began treating the corpse using Sage Chakra.
Kakuzu said with a frown, "Kid, at your power level, you actually came yourself to save him? That really surprises me."
Anya smiled slightly and said, "Actually, Hidan's abilities come in handy sometimes. There are some people I can't handle directly—those I can leave to him. Besides, he's really stupid—his skill gets figured out immediately. Against real experts, it's practically useless and easily countered. If I were him, without enough strength, I'd just go snoop around the women's restroom. Every day, you could find someone to offer up to his dark god."
After hearing this, Kakuzu just stood there, stunned speechless...
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