Kakuzu's sudden appearance answered one question immediately—and raised several more.
If Kakuzu was here, then by Akatsuki's usual pattern there should be…
Well—perhaps not. Kakuzu's "partners" rarely survived long enough to be considered teammates. They usually ended up as supplementary income.
…Though technically, all that "income" went straight into Akatsuki's treasury.
By that logic—was Akatsuki, in some warped sense, running a scam?
Roshi forcibly reeled his drifting thoughts back.
The important part was clear:
Kakuzu acting openly under Hidden Mist orders all but confirmed it—
The Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, was already under Obito's control.
That explained the strange half-hearted assaults, the inconsistent orders, the pointless harassment. It all fell neatly into place.
But the mastermind behind the curtain could wait.
Right now, the problem standing in front of him was Kakuzu—and Kakuzu alone.
Five masks. Five hearts. Five chakra natures.
A monster whose Ninjutsu could level an entire platoon if left unchecked.
If Kakuzu unleashed his full arsenal here, Shisui and the others would be overwhelmed while still managing the Mist squads.
He needed to be pulled away—or taken down quickly.
"Earth Release: Rock Storm!"
Roshi slammed a palm onto the ground.
The earth trembled—then erupted.
Chunks of stone tore free, dozens at a time, and shot toward Kakuzu like a concentrated hailstorm.
Kakuzu didn't bother dodging.
His skin darkened instantly, hardening into black armor-like steel.
The stones shattered against him with nothing more than faint pings, bouncing harmlessly off his body.
"…Childish little tricks."
Kakuzu's green eyes narrowed, measuring.
The massive Earth Flow Rampart earlier—and the Clear Expanse wind technique before that—proved this Konoha jōnin had real power.
But this attack?
This was a probe. Or a taunt.
He wants to separate me from the battlefield.
A single combat.
Good.
Kakuzu wanted that too.
Under normal circumstances, with the Five Great Nations watching and Pain demanding subtlety, he rarely got the chance to hunt high-value targets.
But now—endorsed by Hidden Mist—He could claim his ten million ryō without restraint.
Once his decision was made, he moved.
Kakuzu's body blurred and seemed to flatten—then streaked forward like a jet-black bolt skimming the ground.
He lunged straight at Roshi.
Roshi immediately pivoted and retreated into the thicker forest, deeper and deeper into the shadows.
Two figures—hunter and hunted—vanished among the trees in an instant.
During the chase, Kakuzu's masks floated beside him, jaws gaping wide—
Strange Mask Exploding Flame!
Flames and wind merged into a roaring inferno again, hurling toward Roshi with murderous force.
The forest ignited behind him.
Roshi didn't spare a glance.
His hands were already flashing through seals mid-sprint.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Rampart!"
A towering wall erupted behind him again.
The firestorm slammed into it with explosive force.
Heat blasted outward.
Smoke mushroomed, swallowing the clearing.
Roshi used that split-second of cover.
His hands moved again.
A Wood Clone slipped into being beside him—an exact replica—and positioned itself where the thinning smoke might allow Kakuzu to see it, making a show of preparing another Earth Release.
From behind the smoke, Kakuzu scoffed.
"As expected… He hides behind Earth Release again."
Exactly what he anticipated.
And exactly what he wanted.
Because Kakuzu had already determined—this Konoha ninja relied on Earth Release as his primary defense.
And Kakuzu had just the technique to tear that apart.
The Lightning Mask tore itself free from Kakuzu's back, its grotesque jaw unhinging. A piercing sphere of azure chakra condensed in its maw, sharpening into a spear of pure annihilation.
Lightning Release: False Darkness!
The lightning lance fired in a straight, merciless line—ripping through the half-dissipated smoke—
drilling straight through Roshi's weakened Earth Flow Rampart.
The instant the wall crumbled, Kakuzu's right wrist snapped with a sickening crack.
A tide of black, thread-like tendrils erupted outward, faster than a striking snake.
They wrapped around Roshi—who stood momentarily still, seemingly stunned by the breach.
"Got you… Ten million—"
Kakuzu gave a slight tug.
The threads constricted like iron cables, hauling the immobilized "Roshi" toward him.
Then—Something felt wrong.
A faint, primal warning, flickering from the depths of a lifetime of battle. Kakuzu's instincts screamed.
Retreat. Now.
But his body reacted a fraction too slowly.
The captured Roshi's surface rippled—then burst open.
Sharp wooden branches exploded outward, tearing through the black tendrils as if they were paper, stabbing toward Kakuzu in a lethal flurry.
Wood Release—?!
That man's…
Wood Release!!
Kakuzu's eyes flew wide. He jerked backward, body bending like a whip.
Behind him, three masks—Wind, Fire, Lightning—snapped into position, unleashing chakra with ferocious speed.
Their combined chakra condensed into a raging, unstable mass—
Earth Grudge Fear: Final Shot!
The blast swallowed the rampaging Wood Clone entirely.
Light flared—the clone detonated—a storm of scorched branches and splintered wood sprayed across the battlefield.
But before the shockwave had even dispersed—
A shadow cut through the haze.
Coming straight for Kakuzu.
Fast. Too fast.
He didn't have time to think.
His skin darkened instantly, Earth Spear reinforcing every inch of his body to its absolute limit.
And then—A fist wrapped in a faint, shimmering blue aura slammed squarely into his chest.
BOOM.
A crushing, world-stopping impact resounded like a thunderclap.
Kakuzu's reinforced armor—supposedly able to shrug off most Ninjutsu—cracked.
He flew. Spinning. Smashing through dirt. Bouncing across the ground like a rag doll fired from a cannon. He clawed into the earth more than ten meters away, gouging furrows as he came to a violent stop.
Pain burned through his chest—and beneath it…
A hollow absence.
One heart… destroyed.
Ten million? This was ten million?!
But the assault did not stop. The ground writhed. Then erupted.
Tangles of thick roots and vines surged upward in a living tidal wave, wrapping toward him from every direction—strangling, crushing, devouring.
That familiar power—that cursed power—sprang back into full view.
For the first time in this battle, Kakuzu's composure cracked.
He roared—and black tendrils erupted violently from every inch of his body, unraveling him into a monstrous silhouette.
Earth Grudge Mode: Full Release.
Supported by writhing black threads, Kakuzu's body contorted into inhuman angles, skittering along the ground and leaping through the trees, barely slipping free of the Wood Release's relentless pursuit.
And through the storm of twisting branches, he could see it—A lone figure approaching through drifting smoke.
Calm. Cold.
Kakuzu's eyes burned with disbelief and fury.
"Wood Release…? Are you kidding me?!"
"A ten-million-ryō bounty—for a man who uses Wood Release?!"
"Do those idiots issuing the bounty have any idea what they're dealing with?!"
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