Kakuzu's hands began to form hand seals, and the black threads running through his body writhed violently like living things. With a tearing sound, the four grotesque, eerie masks on his back began to change—they were the manifestations of the four hearts stored within his Earth Grudge Fear.
The black threads on Kakuzu's body suddenly trembled violently, emitting a grating "creak." The strange threads that ran through his entire body twisted like living things, suddenly bursting from the surface of his skin. With the sound of tearing flesh, four masses of black matter erupted from the wounds on his back.
Splurt—
Four pitch-black masked monsters broke free from Kakuzu's body, twisting into shape in mid-air. They were all different in form but equally grotesque.
"Lightning Style: False Darkness!"
The mask representing the lightning element suddenly opened, and a blinding blue light burst from the cavity beneath it. In an instant, a violent torrent of lightning chakra poured out, the thick bolts of lightning plowing charred furrows in the ground.
Faced with this devastating lightning jutsu, Menma just calmly raised his right hand. The Nine Masked Beasts默契地 scattered.
BOOM—!
The blinding lightning completely engulfed Menma's figure, the roar of the explosion snapping the surrounding trees in half.
Kakuzu stared intently at the center of the lightning storm. The raging currents lasted for a full ten seconds before gradually dissipating. In the rising smoke and dust, the ground had been turned to scorched earth.
However—after the smoke cleared, Menma was still standing there with his hand raised. His robe didn't even have a single scorch mark.
Naruto hadn't considered using the Flying Thunder God to dodge; instead, he chose to test the new jutsu he had been secretly developing for the past year. In addition to practicing the ninjutsu scrolls given to him by the old man Hokage, he had also repeatedly studied the "Menma Uzumaki" abilities he had briefly experienced.
This inspiration came from a scene in the movie—when the Konoha ninja threw kunai at Menma, the weapons had strangely hovered in mid-air the moment they touched his body, then fallen powerlessly.
Through the understanding gained from the trial card, Naruto had analyzed the essence of this move.
It was the ultimate precision of nature transformation, evenly spreading wind-style chakra throughout the body and the surrounding space to construct an invisible storm domain. This domain could both actively attack approaching enemies and passively defend against attacks from all directions. To achieve this integrated offense and defense, it required almost苛刻 of chakra control.
Fortunately, the sealing jutsu talent Naruto had drawn from the system became a key asset. As the category in the ninjutsu system that most emphasized precision control, the delicate control he had cultivated through long-term practice of sealing jutsu allowed him, after a full year of repeated attempts, to finally successfully replicate this technique even without the trial card, and he had named it.
[Tempest Flow]
At this moment, this invisible wind-style barrier had perfectly defended against Kakuzu's Lightning Style: False Darkness. Naruto secretly breathed a sigh of relief. After all, this was the jutsu's first combat test, but he had always had a backup plan. If the defense had failed, he could have activated the Flying Thunder God at any time to escape.
Kakuzu, on the other hand, showed no particular surprise. With "Menma's" infamous reputation in the ninja world, it would have been more surprising if an attack of that level had actually worked.
Kakuzu's hands formed seals again, and two of the masked monsters reacted simultaneously.
"Wind Style: Pressure Damage!"
"Fire Style: Searing Migraine!"
The mask representing the wind element opened its fangs, and a violent airflow spewed from the holes in the mask, instantly forming a giant wind pressure over ten meters in diameter. At almost the same time, blazing flames erupted from the cracks in the fire element mask, the scorching wave of fire perfectly merging with the wind pressure.
BOOM—!
The moment wind and fire met, a fire tornado over 20 meters in diameter shot up. The scorching heatwave instantly carbonized the nearby trees.
Menma's figure remained motionless in the flames, the voice from under the fox mask suddenly turning cold. Naruto decided to end the fight quickly.
"Playtime is over."
Just as the fire tornado was about to engulf him, Menma's figure suddenly vanished. The next moment—
Thud!
Crack!
A continuous series of cracking sounds exploded around Kakuzu. The Nine Masked Beasts had, at some point, completed their encirclement.
The Azure Dragon's body pinned the wind element mask monster to the ground, and in the struggle, the mask had already shattered.
The White Tiger and the Vermilion Bird attacked from the left and right, and the fire element mask monster was torn apart under the dual assault.
The Black Tortoise's thick shell directly crushed the water element mask monster that was trying to escape.
The Southern Dipper and Northern Dipper Sages formed seals, and under the Grim Reaper's scythe, all the chakra of the last lightning element mask monster was harvested, rendering it unable to fight.
Kakuzu stumbled back a few steps, the black threads writhing frantically to repair the damage. Each of his four masked monsters had the strength of a Jonin, but against nine beasts that were at least elite Jonin level, some even approaching Kage level, this battle was destined to be a landslide from the start.
The power gap was just too big...
Kakuzu felt the last earth-element heart in his body. He finally realized what kind of monster he was facing. The encirclement formed by the Nine Masked Beasts was slowly closing in, each giant beast exuding a dangerous pressure.
"It's over."
A voice suddenly sounded in his ear. Kakuzu whipped around. That strange fox mask was right in front of him, so close he could see every tiny line on it. Driven by instinct, he unhesitatingly threw a punch at Menma's face—
Thud!
An invisible heavy blow accurately struck his wrist, and his bone let out a cracking sound under the strain. Kakuzu stumbled back two steps, his green eyes filled with shock and confusion.
What was that?!
He stared at the empty space around Menma. The force of that blow was definitely no less than his own full-strength punch, but why couldn't he see the attacker at all? The writhing black threads frantically repaired the damage to his wrist.
Behind Menma, [Crazy Diamond], visible only to him, slowly withdrew its fist, its phantom-like Stand figure quietly floating beside its master.
Kakuzu was panting heavily. The Nine Masked Beasts were scattered around, unharmed, while Menma—still stood there, untouched by dust, not even a wrinkle on his robe.
I can't even touch him...
Nearly a hundred years of combat experience seemed so laughable at this moment. Kakuzu clearly realized that if his opponent wanted to take his life, he would already be a corpse.
"So? Still want to fight?" Menma's voice came.
Kakuzu wiped the corner of his mouth and suddenly let out a hoarse laugh. "No, I've completely lost..."
The fragments of the masks representing his Earth Grudge Fear hearts were scattered on the ground. Kakuzu took a deep breath, his green pupils looking directly at Menma.
"I will keep my promise... but it's not like I'm not getting anything out of it." His voice had regained its familiar mercenary tone. "Joining an organization with a figure like you isn't a bad deal."
Menma nodded slightly, and the figures of the Nine Masked Beasts began to fade. "Mhm, I won't stop you from pursuing money. Let's go then."
Kakuzu nodded, but then suddenly stopped. "Wait, just a moment. I only have one heart left now."
He turned to look at the body of the rogue ninja leader not far away. "I need to replenish my hearts fir—"
"No need for that," Menma interrupted, his right hand already on Kakuzu's shoulder.
"Wh—" Kakuzu's question died in his throat. The next moment, the sensation in his body made his eyes widen. Kakuzu looked in disbelief as the wounds on his body healed at a visible rate.
What shocked him even more was that the shattered fragments of the masked monsters on the ground suddenly trembled, as if pulled by an invisible force, and reassembled, glowing with new life.
"This... what is this?!" Kakuzu's voice wavered for the first time. The masked monsters that should have been completely destroyed were now completely intact and re-entering his body, the beating of the four hearts clearly audible.
"Just a little special ability," Menma said, withdrawing his hand, his tone flat. "Let's go."
Kakuzu looked down at his completely restored body. He immediately realized the strategic value of this ability. In the end, all his shock turned into a meaningful sigh. "...Those guys who make an enemy of you must have a real headache."
At that moment, a familiar notification sound rang in Naruto's mind.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations, Host: You have established an initial bond with the original character "Kakuzu"!]
[Points Awarded: 150!]
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