Chapter 44: Forbidden Technique: Earth Grudge Fear and the Generational Gap
The forest after the rain still reeked of a damp, cold moldiness.
"That guy Zetsu, he's certainly quick."
Just ten minutes ago, that pitcher plant who only knew how to spy emerged from the ground, delivering the corpses of the 'Naraka Path' candidate high priest and the 'Preta Path' candidate guide to Nagato in the Hidden Rain Village.
The team was now streamlined to three: Yahiko, Deva Path Pain, and the Animal Path.
"There's movement ahead."
Deva Path Pain suddenly stopped, those pale purple Rinnegan eyes shifting slightly toward the southeast. Even without a conscious effort to sense it, that violent and blood-scented Chakra fluctuation was as conspicuous as a bonfire in the dark of night.
"Let's go have a look," Yahiko said. "The 'Akatsuki' is currently short on people."
The three figures flickered, turning into three afterimages that vanished from the spot.
Three kilometers away, in a messy forest clearing.
The thick scent of blood was so dense it almost felt solid. Five corpses wearing Kusagakure flak jackets lay scattered in the mud, their deaths gruesome; without exception, their hearts had been pierced by some sharp black thread, as if they had been preyed upon by a giant spider.
In the center of the pile of corpses, a man with a bare upper body stood with his back to them.
His skin had an eerie bronze hue, and there were obvious stitches on his back and shoulders, making him look like a cloth doll forcibly stitched together from countless pieces of shredded meat.
"Too few..."
The man complained. He held a freshly severed head in his hand and casually tossed it into a handbag at his feet.
"Including this one, this trip is only ten million Ryo. Ninja bounties are really becoming worth less and less these days..."
The man turned around, revealing a face covered by a mask and those eerie eyes with murky whites and emerald green pupils.
The moment he turned around, his movements froze.
His gaze pierced through the bushes, locking precisely onto the three figures on a tree trunk a hundred meters away. To be exact, he was staring intently at the Deva Path Pain standing to the side.
"Those eyes..."
The man's breath hitched for half a second, his originally lifeless green pupils suddenly exploding with greedy light, like a miser seeing a mountain of gold.
"Purple ripple-patterned eyeballs... could they be the legendary eyes of the Six Paths Sage?"
He threw away the bloody Kunai in his hand and pulled a bounty manual from his robes, his fingers flipping through it rapidly.
"No bounty record? No, something like this is a 'priceless treasure.' If auctioned on the black market, the Daimyo of those Great Nations would likely empty their treasuries for it."
Kakuzu licked his dry lips, the smile at the corners of his eyes tugging at the stitches on his face, making him look exceptionally grotesque.
"Good luck. I thought I was just making some pocket change today, but I didn't expect to run into such high-quality goods."
Atop the tree trunk.
Yahiko looked down from above at the man radiating a terrifying Aura, the information about the opponent quickly surfacing in his mind.
Kakuzu.
A rogue Ninja from Takigakure, the future Chief Financial Officer of the Akatsuki, the man jokingly called 'as old as heaven and earth.' As for the meme about 'throwing a shuriken at the First Hokage from eight hundred miles away,' although Yahiko wanted to laugh, he had to maintain his cool persona at this moment.
"Kakuzu," Yahiko called out the man's name indifferently.
Kakuzu was slightly taken aback, his gaze turning dangerous: "Oh? Since you know my name and haven't run away? It seems you have quite a bit of confidence in yourselves."
"We are 'Akatsuki'."
Yahiko ignored the other's Killing Intent and got straight to the point. "We are recruiting core members. I've seen your resume; although your personality is a bit nasty, your financial management skills are passable. We need an accountant. Are you interested?"
The air was silent for three seconds.
Then, Kakuzu let out a strange laugh that sounded like a broken bellows being pulled.
"Hehehe... You want me to join you? Such an unknown little organization?"
Kakuzu acted as if he had heard the world's biggest joke; he pointed at the corpses on the ground, then at himself: "Kid, do you know who I am? In this world, only two things can move me—eternal life and endless money."
"So-called ideals, organizations, peace... those are all bullshit. Only money will never betray you."
A burst of black Chakra suddenly erupted from Kakuzu, causing the gravel on the ground to tremble slightly.
"Instead of having me join you, why don't you give me those eyes and your heads? I'll very gently exchange them for cash."
Facing this naked threat, Deva Path Pain expressionlessly raised his hand, his palm aimed at Kakuzu.
The repulsive force of Shinra Tensei was already gathering in his palm.
"Wait, Nagato."
Yahiko reached out and pressed down on Deva Path's arm. He took a step forward, standing at the very edge of the branch, confronting Kakuzu below from a distance.
"Since you love money so much, how about we make a bet?"
Yahiko's voice wasn't loud, but it reached Kakuzu's ears clearly.
"A bet?" Kakuzu narrowed his eyes.
"That's right. The stake is..." Yahiko pointed to Pain beside him, "these Rinnegan."
Before Kakuzu could show an expression of wild joy, a golden light flashed behind Yahiko.
Clatter!
Five golden Adamantine Sealing Chains burst forth, clawing at the air behind him, radiating heart-palpitating sealing fluctuations.
"Plus the Uzumaki Clan's bloodline limit—the Adamantine Sealing Chains."
Yahiko watched Kakuzu's pupils gradually contract and threw out the final bait: "These two combined should be worth at least a billion Ryo at the Bounty Station, right? This amount of money is enough for you to buy a small country."
"A billion..." Kakuzu's Adam's apple bobbed violently. As a man who valued money as much as life itself, this number directly shattered his psychological defenses.
The bet is simple.
Yahiko pulled a specially made Kunai from his tool pouch, spinning it lightly on his fingertip.
"If you win, we'll hand over our heads with both hands and won't resist. But if you lose—"
Yahiko's gaze instantly turned cold, his voice like ice from the depths of the underworld:
"Your life belongs to me. From now on, you'll obediently serve as the Akatsuki's financial manager until the day you die."
"Arrogant brat!"
Kakuzu laughed out of extreme anger, his Killing Intent no longer suppressible.
"Since you're in such a hurry to die, I'll fulfill your wish!"
Rip—!
Accompanied by the sound of tearing cloth, Kakuzu directly shredded the black robe he was wearing.
This scene was nauseating no matter how many times one saw it.
The skin on his back suddenly burst open, and four black masked monsters emerged along with a large number of vascular black tentacles (Earth Grudge Fear) drilling out. Those masks represented the Earth, Fire, Wind, and Lightning Chakra natures respectively; combined with Kakuzu's own Water nature, the sound of five hearts beating simultaneously was as heavy as a war drum.
"Let me show you the gap brought by ninety years of experience!"
Kakuzu's hands quickly formed Seals. The two masked monsters behind him—the Fire and Wind masks—simultaneously opened their huge mouths, aiming at Yahiko.
Since the opponent had sealing techniques and the eyes of a god, he absolutely could not hold back.
His first move was a large-scale destructive Ninjutsu!
Compound Ninjutsu: Strange Mask Exploding Flame!
Boom!!!
A terrifying torrent of flames erupted from the Fire mask's mouth. Simultaneously, the high-pressure hurricane spat out by the Wind mask instantly merged into the sea of fire. The wind aided the fire, and the originally crimson flames instantly turned pale white, their volume more than tenfold!
This was no longer a Ninjutsu; it was a man-made natural disaster.
The forest within a hundred meters was instantly ignited by the high temperature. Trees were directly vaporized, skipping the carbonization process. The rolling heatwave was like a tsunami, carrying a momentum that destroyed everything as it overwhelmed the large tree where Yahiko was located.
Before this world-destroying sea of fire, the human figure seemed so minuscule.
"If you don't act, you might die," Deva Path Pain reminded him calmly, looking at the sea of fire before them.
"No need."
Yahiko remained where he was, not even making a move to dodge.
The firelight reflected on his face, dyeing his short orange hair as vivid as blood.
He looked at the snarling Kakuzu below, the mocking curve at the corner of his mouth becoming more pronounced.
"Is this all a so-called Ninjutsu master is capable of?"
Before his voice had even faded, Yahiko flicked his wrist.
Whoosh!
That Kunai engraved with a special formula turned into a streak of black light, shooting straight into the towering sea of fire.
"Fool!"
Kakuzu watched this scene and couldn't help but let out a sneer: "Have you been scared stupid? Such a meaningless attack will be melted before it even pierces the flames—"
Before he could finish his sentence, the sound got stuck in his throat.
Because in the split second before that boundless pale white firelight swallowed Yahiko—
That orange-haired figure vanished.
It wasn't the afterimage left by high-speed movement like the Body Flicker Technique; it was a complete disappearance into thin air.
Where did he go?
Kakuzu's battle-hardened instincts screamed frantically. His five hearts contracted violently at the same time, and a strong premonition of death enveloped his entire body.
"Are you looking for me?"
A cold voice abruptly rang in his ear.
The voice was right next to him, as if the Shinigami were breathing against the back of his neck.
The hair all over Kakuzu's body stood on end. He subconsciously tried to control the masked monsters on his back to defend him, and even wanted to activate Earth Release to harden his skin.
But it was all too late.
The sharp tip of the Kunai had already pierced the skin on his chest. If it moved forward even just one more centimeter, it would pierce his heart.
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