Hidan walked forward without hesitation, going straight in the direction Kakuzu pointed.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Explosions erupted one after another.
Enormous plumes of water and fire bloomed from the ground.
White steam and blinding light swallowed Hidan whole, hiding him from view.
Kakuzu let out a cold snort.
Just as he suspected. It wasn't that simple.
An ambush. Of course.
"Fire Style: Great Fire Dragon Technique!"
Three ferocious fire dragons howled towards him—from behind, left, and right.
Smoke billowed.
The Kakuzu struck by the dragons turned into a log.
Hanataki stood amidst leaves on a branch, expression grim.
A sudden whoosh cut the air.
Hanataki's eyes narrowed. He leaped to another tree.
Thud!
Where he'd just stood, a fist trailing a dense web of black threads punched clean through the tree trunk.
"Fast reflexes," Kakuzu said coolly, retracting his arm.
"Wind Style: Pressure Damage!"
Suddenly.
A gale-force wind erupted.
It spread from Kakuzu's position like a crushing wave.
Trees bent. Grass tore. Trunks splintered under the immense pressure.
Hanataki frowned, his gaze locked on the black, masked silhouette emerging from Kakuzu's body.
A weird mask. And it can use jutsu independently?
"What kind of strange technique is this?" he muttered.
As the wind blast surged forward, his hands flew through seals.
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Singing Projectile!"
The roaring flames, fueled by the wind, exploded in size and instantly surrounded Kakuzu.
Scorching heat warped the air.
Everything beneath the fiery waves seemed to distort.
Then, a second black shadow emerged from Kakuzu's back.
"Water Style: Great Waterfall Technique!"
Powered by the nearby ponds and waterfalls, a colossal tidal wave surged forth, extinguishing the flames in an instant and crashing towards Hanataki in the trees.
Trees were ripped from their roots. A flash flood scoured the land.
Black skeletal armor materialized over Hanataki.
The tomoe in his eyes swirled and connected.
The raging water weakened, breaking into mere streams.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet!"
Using the terrain, Kakuzu unleashed water jutsu in rapid succession.
As Hanataki formed seals, a gust of sharp wind sliced at his waist.
He flipped mid-air, landing on a more distant tree.
The water dragon obliterated the surrounding timber.
THWACK!
A massive, bladed scythe—the Bloody Three-Bladed Scythe—imbued with terrifying force, slammed deep into a tree trunk beside him.
CRACK!
The trunk fractured, then was cleaved clean in two by the weapon.
The scythe traced a deadly arc back through the air, homing in on Hanataki again.
He dodged. The scythe flew back into Hidan's waiting hand.
Hidan landed on a tree trunk behind Hanataki, a wild, excited grin splitting his face.
Hanataki's expression turned grave.
What's going on?
He'd seen this man walk right into the explosive tag array with his own eyes.
To survive that density of explosions… and come out looking completely unharmed?
"Damn, that hurt like a bitch!" Hidan yelled, shaking his head. "You fucking animal!"
He wouldn't die, but he sure as hell felt the pain.
And this pain was courtesy of someone else. Hidan was pissed.
Decision made. I'm gonna carve this guy up for Lord Jashin.
His scythe whirled again, aiming for Hanataki's neck.
Kakuzu stopped attacking, calmly observing the fight between Hidan and the Leaf ninja.
Then Kakuzu froze.
His vision filled with countless, solidified afterimages.
Before he could react—
Squelch.
One of the hearts within him shattered.
Kakuzu vanished from the spot the next instant, retreating out of attack range. His eerie green pupils fixed tightly on the newcomer.
"Shisui Uchiha!"
Of course Kakuzu recognized him. A man ranked in the top three on the Bingo Book.
He glared at the spot where his fire-natured heart had just been destroyed, grinding his teeth. "Damn it all."
Kakuzu took a deep breath, steadying himself. He stood tall.
"The head of 'Shisui the Teleporter' is worth a fortune," he growled.
His fist shot towards the figure in the air.
A thousand afterimages—all of them solid, impossibly fast—converged on Kakuzu at once.
In Kakuzu's vision, every single one was real. Their speed was unreal.
His own fist was immediately tangled and restrained by other figures. He couldn't free his hands.
He could only watch helplessly as countless short blades closed in.
"Wind Style: Wind Cutter!"
Another distinct black shadow emerged from Kakuzu's back.
A storm of wind blades shot out in all directions.
They struck Shisui's forms.
And did absolutely nothing.
The thousand figures kept coming.
"As expected of Shisui the Teleporter," Kakuzu hissed through clenched teeth.
With a powerful jerk, he broke free of the restraints and blasted backwards, putting distance between them.
Shisui Uchiha's Body Flicker Technique… It was a truly chilling jutsu. Even the afterimages were physical, and they didn't dissipate after taking a hit.
Who the hell can deal with that?
On the other side, Hidan wasn't faring much better.
His scythe couldn't pierce that black armor forming around his opponent, but the opponent's jutsu couldn't kill him either.
They were locked in a stalemate.
"Hanataki! Try cutting off his head!" Miyako's voice suddenly rang out.
Thump!
A spear pierced through Hidan's chest, pinning him firmly to the forest floor.
In the next second, Hanataki's blade flashed.
Hidan's head rolled.
Miyako landed lightly beside the body. She watched the head bounce, then stepped forward to yank her spear free.
"Fuck! It's a female animal!" Hidan's head thudded onto the dirt.
He got a good look at Miyako and immediately started ranting.
Miyako's eyes widened. "What the—? You're still alive with your head cut off?"
Hanataki's gaze also darkened.
"You bitch! What are you staring at?" Hidan snarled, a vein throbbing on his temple as Miyako studied his disembodied head.
Miyako: "…"
Female animal?
Bitch?
Oh, this guy had a way with words.
Hanataki saw Miyako's already-voluminous hair begin to stand on end like an explosion. He wisely chose silence.
The next second.
Hidan's head shot into the sky like a meteor launched in reverse.
"…"
Hanataki watched with a complex expression as Miyako swiftly sealed Hidan's headless body into a scroll.
"Hmph! Try messing with me!" Miyako tossed the scroll into her weapon pouch and dusted off her hands. "We'll punt his head back to Konoha later," she said with a cold smirk.
Hanataki followed silently behind her.
"What's wrong with you?" Miyako glanced at him.
Hanataki being quiet for a whole day felt… wrong. Unnatural.
"Nothing, nothing," Hanataki quickly waved his hands.
"Come on. Let's see if Shisui finished the other one off." Miyako had blind faith in Shisui's abilities.
They leaped through the trees towards the sounds of the other battle.
Honestly, when she saw the Akatsuki members who arrived didn't include the masked man from the previous encounters, she'd breathed a sigh of relief.
If that masked man showed up, they'd be in a true life-or-death situation.
But without him? Miyako trusted the strength of their trio.
BOOM!
A figure crashed heavily to the ground, skidding for ten meters.
In the next instant, Shisui appeared on a branch overhead, looking down at the severely wounded Kakuzu. The green light around him, like flickering flames, slowly faded.
"Shisui!" Miyako waved.
She opened her pouch, showing the scroll. "Got the other guy's body. We'll find his head in a minute."
Kakuzu's brow furrowed.
That idiot Hidan. Got his head chopped off again.
He quietly began to stand.
He'd underestimated these three. They were no pushovers.
Kakuzu's retreating back stiffened mid-motion.
Blocking his path was one of Shisui's clones.
"Save your energy," Shisui said flatly.
At the same moment, Miyako in the distance smiled. Her spear spun in her hand.
Then shot forward like a bolt, aimed straight for Kakuzu's chest.
His last heart.
"To think…" A complex emotion flickered across Kakuzu's scarred face.
He'd lived so many years, only to be killed by three youngsters.
A golden flame appeared at the tip of the spear.
The finely forged steel dissolved into ash, scattering in the wind.
The arrogant smirk vanished from Miyako's pretty face, replaced by pure seriousness. Instinctively, she grabbed Hanataki and yanked him aside.
A beam of light pierced through the tree where they'd just stood a second later, extending into the distance.
Golden light shimmered around Kakuzu. A familiar, masked figure materialized before them.
Kakuzu saw Owl and instinctively relaxed, though shame prickled inside him.
To be beaten by a few kids…
A faint golden orb formed in Owl's hand and sank into Kakuzu's body.
Kakuzu's wounds closed in an instant.
He stood up, awaiting Owl's orders.
"This just got complicated," Miyako muttered, clenching her fists.
"Where's Hidan?" Owl asked Kakuzu.
Kakuzu was silent for three seconds. "His body was sealed by them. His head… location unknown."
Owl: "…"
He glanced at Kakuzu. No words were needed.
This happening to Hidan wasn't strange at all.
It was perfectly on brand.
"You walked into a trap," Owl said to Kakuzu.
Kakuzu stiffened.
Shisui and the others also tensed.
"The Seven-Tails Jinchūriki is on the move to Konoha."
Owl's words made the hearts of the three Leaf ninja leap into their throats.
Shisui thought of Itachi and his team, his chest tightening.
Was the reason this masked man didn't appear immediately because he went to intercept them?
Is Itachi…?
"I have already dispatched Sasori and Orochimaru to intercept them," Owl continued.
Hearing those names, Miyako and the others gritted their teeth.
Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin, and Sasori of the Red Sand. For Itachi and Amari, who had just become Jōnin, that was far too much to handle.
And now Miyako's group had their own hands full.
The masked man before them was terrifyingly strong.
"Hand over the scroll," Owl said, his voice devoid of inflection as he looked at Miyako.
Miyako's eyes shifted slightly. She pulled the scroll from her pouch.
Flames burst from her hand, consuming the scroll to ashes in an instant.
"…"
Owl was silent.
That move was… unexpected.
Poor Hidan.
But then…
Owl stared at the distinctive pattern swirling in Miyako's eyes and smiled faintly.
Ordinary flames couldn't burn Hidan's body. But special flames? That was a different story.
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