The two masks released a massive amount of chakra, and right after that, a gigantic sea of flames appeared out of thin air, even more intense than the previous head-engraving torture, and within it carried the power of wind.
The flames instantly engulfed Kairen. Kairen curled his lips.
"So what if you use such a huge Fire Release? Isn't it still wiped out by a single move from me?"
He stood directly in place without even the slightest movement. Once the flames passed, Kairen was burned into ashes.
"Ding!"
"Kakuzu dealt 500 points of damage to you!"
"Bang!"
As the flames dispersed, a puff of white smoke rose toward the sky.
"Roar—!"
A gigantic monster appeared out of thin air on the plaza, about 30 meters tall, its entire body covered with pitch-black exoskeleton armor, and coral-reef-like bone spikes grew from its back.
It was Kairen's Godzilla transformation!
Kakuzu controlled one mask and cast a ninjutsu: "Lightning Release: False Darkness!"
The thunder spear struck Kairen's body, giving Kairen another 200 experience points.
"Watch my Godzilla Tail!"
Kairen swung his tail toward the Lightning Release mask, instantly sweeping it away.
Right after, the bone spikes on Kairen's back lit up with blue light. He inhaled sharply.
"Atomic Breath!"
A white shockwave spewed from Godzilla's mouth, sweeping across the Lightning Release mask like a beam of light, and in an instant reduced it to ashes.
"Damn it!" Kakuzu cursed. He lost a Lightning Release heart in an instant — a heart he had spent so long acquiring.
"You brat! I'll kill you! I'll take your heart and make it my Wood Release heart."
"If you've got the guts, come take it!"
Kairen's massive jaws turned toward Kakuzu, and the white shockwave appeared again. A Wind Release-formed shockwave launched toward Kakuzu.
Kakuzu used Body Flicker to evade Kairen's Wind Release attack, then immediately controlled the wind and fire masks.
The two masks instantly coordinated mid-air: "Combined Ninjutsu: Explosive Fire Dance!"
A spiraling massive flame shot toward Kairen like a long spear, piercing through Kairen's heart in an instant.
"Bang!"
Kairen turned into a puff of white smoke and restored to his original form. A huge hole appeared on his chest, yet he still looked at Kakuzu with a cold smirk.
"You can't kill me!" The flesh buds on Kairen's chest squirmed, repairing his body in the blink of an eye.
Kakuzu cursed under his breath.
"Damn, so troublesome!"
He quickly analyzed in his mind. Kairen's recovery ability was extremely strong, and his chakra was absurdly massive — since the start of the fight, he hadn't lost even a trace. What technique should he use to subdue him?
Kakuzu pondered for a moment, then shook his head violently. Even his strongest combination ninjutsu couldn't kill the other party.
This was the first time he had ever seen such a troublesome ninja. Oh… perhaps Senju Hashirama was also like this, but Kakuzu never forced out Hashirama's full power back then.
Kakuzu looked toward Kairen — and froze, eyes widening. Kairen was on the opposite side snoring, head tilted, a snot bubble inflating from his nose, sleeping soundly.
"This kid doesn't take me seriously at all!" Kakuzu roared in fury.
The wind and fire masks rushed forward again, unleashing another large-scale combination ninjutsu.
But once the ninjutsu passed, a cloud of white smoke appeared again. Kairen regenerated from it in the blink of an eye.
Infinite regeneration, infinite recovery, getting stronger and stronger.
Kairen tilted his head. Up to now, Kakuzu had already provided him with about 3000 experience points. It was about time to get serious.
Kairen took a deep breath and formed hand seals with both hands: "Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!"
A massive piece of wood surged from Kairen's hands. The wood clicked and shifted, instantly forming a barbed wood dragon. The wood dragon screeched and charged toward Kakuzu.
A wood dragon was no ordinary dragon — its whole body was covered in sharp barbs, and once it wrapped an enemy, it absorbed the enemy's chakra.
Senju Hashirama had once used this technique to suppress the Nine-Tails controlled by Uchiha Madara.
Kakuzu muttered, "Wood Dragon Technique… a high-level Wood Release."
"Get lost! Don't underestimate me!"
Kakuzu roared and controlled his three masks to fly into the sky.
The wind and fire masks unleashed a combined ninjutsu, spewing sea-like flames. The wood dragon pierced through the flames, half of its body burned away, but its momentum remained, still charging at Kakuzu.
Kakuzu's Water Release mask spewed a Water Formation Wall. The 10-meter-tall water barrier blocked the wood dragon. Kakuzu seized the chance and leapt upward:
"Earth Release: Earth Spear!"
Earth-natured chakra condensed in Kakuzu's palm, turning his hand pitch-black.
"Hah!"
Kakuzu inhaled deeply, gathering mountain-shattering strength, and punched the wood dragon, smashing its head into fragments in the blink of an eye.
Kakuzu turned toward Kairen.
"See? So what if you have Senju Hashirama's Wood Release? I can still smash you apart."
Then his pupils shrank. Kairen's hair had grown long, his entire body covered in black bone-like armor, chakra pouring out of him.
Kakuzu's voice trembled.
"Y-you… what form is that?!"
Kairen smiled, pressing his palms together. His cold voice reached Kakuzu's ears:
"A sage-level Wood Release ninjutsu. Have you ever tasted a fist larger than a human?"
The sage-level Wood Release secret art — True Several Thousand Hands — had long been researched by Doctor Snake.
Kairen roared: "Eight Gates · Five Gates Open!"
Green chakra flared across his entire body, then a layer of Tailed Beast cloak stacked atop it.
The massive chakra around Kairen whipped up a violent storm. Kakuzu had to shield his face with his arms, peeking through the gaps at Kairen within the raging winds.
"Y-you… what are you trying to do?!"
Kairen gathered all chakra into both hands: "Sage Art · Wood Release · True Several Thousand Hands!"