Even after defeating an immortal monster, the greatest rewards are never as simple as they seem.
Only after Kakuzu was completely restrained did Hoshishita Shu step forward.
Seeing how cautious Shu remained, Kakuzu stopped pretending and lifted his head.
"You seem to know a great deal about me."
Shu nodded openly.
Kakuzu continued, his gaze sharp.
"Have you also mastered some kind of immortality technique?"
"Otherwise, I clearly removed your heart."
Shu chuckled softly.
"Kakuzu… as a ninja, I'm not in the habit of exposing my own intelligence."
"Even if your life and death are already completely in my hands."
It was precisely the asymmetry of information that had allowed him to defeat Kakuzu.
If their intelligence had been equal, Shu knew very well he would never have been Kakuzu's opponent.
Unfortunately for Kakuzu—
Shu knew Kakuzu had five hearts.
But Kakuzu didn't know Shu had three.
When Kakuzu had torn out Shu's heart earlier, a new one had immediately formed within his body.
Even so, his sneak attack had nearly been avoided.
Kakuzu's gaze darkened.
"Since you know my abilities, yet didn't kill me immediately… it seems you weren't simply trying to complete Konoha's bounty mission."
"You want my secret technique."
His tone was certain.
Shu admitted it without hesitation.
"That's right. My target is your forbidden technique—Earth Grudge Fear."
"Kakuzu, hand over the technique, and I'll spare your life."
Kakuzu snorted coldly.
"It seems your understanding of Earth Grudge Fear is still very limited."
Shu's expression immediately turned cold.
"Kakuzu, you'd better recognize the situation you're in."
"I'm fully aware," Kakuzu replied calmly.
"But you cannot separate Earth Grudge Fear from my body."
"I've lived until now only because of this technique."
"And once I lose it… my life will come to an end."
Shu frowned.
He had already prepared himself for the possibility that even if he obtained the technique, he might not have enough time to master it.
But he had never expected this situation.
If Kakuzu would die the moment he lost the technique—
Then why would he ever hand it over?
Could Kakuzu be lying?
Shu pondered silently, but the probability seemed extremely low.
If that were true…
Then all this effort had been for nothing.
Shu stared at Kakuzu, his gaze growing colder.
"Kakuzu. If you can't give me Earth Grudge Fear… then there's no reason for you to exist."
Cold sweat appeared on Kakuzu's forehead, yet his voice remained steady.
"That's true. I can't give you the technique."
"But if your goal is the life-extension ability of Earth Grudge Fear…"
Shu narrowed his eyes.
"You're suggesting you work for me?"
Kakuzu corrected him immediately.
"Partner."
"I can solve many problems for you."
A Kage-level combatant as an ally.
On the surface, that sounded very tempting.
But Shu had no means of controlling Kakuzu.
He had no doubt that if he released him, Kakuzu might very well betray him the next time they met.
The only reason he had managed to capture Kakuzu today was because of the overwhelming intelligence advantage.
Although Shu hadn't revealed his own secret of multiple hearts, with Kakuzu's experience he could easily deduce many things.
Once that advantage disappeared—
Facing a fully restored Kakuzu with all five hearts intact would be far more dangerous.
After a brief moment of consideration, Shu shook his head.
"Sorry."
"I don't need a partner I can't control."
He raised one hand.
"In that case… this is where it ends."
Kakuzu's pupils shrank.
Countless black tendrils erupted from his body, desperately trying to break free from the wooden restraints.
But Shu was faster.
The wooden spike embedded inside Kakuzu suddenly grew again.
Branches exploded outward—
Piercing straight through Kakuzu's final heart.
The writhing tendrils froze instantly.
Then they hung limply.
Kakuzu—
One half of the infamous Immortal Duo—
Was dead.
Shu watched as Kakuzu's breath gradually faded.
For a moment, his mind felt strangely distant.
Since the awakening of his past memories, this was the first familiar figure he had personally killed.
And not just any figure.
A Kage-level ninja.
For a moment, Shu's emotions were complicated.
A little excitement.
A little melancholy.
Even someone at the level of a Kage could be killed by a mere Chunin—if the intelligence gap was large enough.
Of course, Shu's official rank might only be Chunin.
But his actual combat strength far exceeded that.
His expert-level swordsmanship alone was enough to place him among Jonin.
Yet to Kakuzu—
That meant almost nothing.
During their earlier clash, Kakuzu had disarmed him with ease.
"Information… trump cards…"
Looking at Kakuzu's corpse, Shu silently reminded himself.
Raw strength was important.
But intelligence and hidden cards were even more important.
He stepped forward and lowered Kakuzu's body from the vines.
Then he sealed the corpse into a sealing scroll.
Kakuzu's body still had research value.
And someday—
It might prove useful.
For example…
The Reanimation Jutsu.
Of course, before sealing the corpse, Shu searched it thoroughly.
Kunai, soldier pills, explosive tags—those were nothing special.
But the greatest surprise was Kakuzu's money.
"Not bad… not bad."
"As expected of Akatsuki's hardest-working employee."
"There's over three hundred million ryō here."
Shu grinned from ear to ear.
The small disappointment of failing to obtain Earth Grudge Fear vanished instantly.
After tidying up the battlefield, Shu left the scorched forest and returned to the valley where his temporary camp was located.
He resumed training immediately.
Time was running out.
Although he could no longer stabilize the three-hearts dual-mind state, Shu still wanted to push further.
His goal was to fully develop the skill—
One Mind, Two Uses.
So during this final window of time, his clones stopped practicing ninjutsu.
Instead, they trained by drawing circles with one hand and squares with the other simultaneously.
He could already feel that he was close.
Naturally, he had to give it one last push.
Time passed quickly.
Before long, night fell.
Inside the wooden room he had created with Wood Release, one clone after another dispelled into wooden figures.
Shu himself collapsed onto the wooden floor, breathing heavily.
After resting for a while, he forced himself upright, drank some water, and swallowed a soldier pill.
Once his strength recovered slightly, he extended both arms.
Two fingers formed blades as Wind Release chakra gathered at his fingertips.
Sharp wind blades appeared.
Then both hands moved simultaneously.
Using the wind blades like carving knives, he began cutting into the wooden floor.
Soon—
A dragon appeared on the left.
A dog appeared on the right.
Shu smiled in satisfaction.
The result couldn't compare to the mysterious efficiency of dual-soul consciousness.
But it was still incredibly powerful.
For example—
Two-handed combat evolving into dual-blade swordsmanship.
Or forming different hand seals with each hand to create combined ninjutsu.
Or…
Wood Release.
Or even the perfect version of Wind Release: Rasenshuriken.
Countless ideas flooded Shu's mind.
Once his stamina had mostly recovered, Shu vanished from the wooden house in a flash.
He lowered his eyes, gathering his thoughts.
Under the state of single-soul consciousness, Shu opened his eyes.
Then he formed a single hand seal.
Snake.
Wood Release — Wood Locking Wall!
Thick wooden vines erupted from the earth, forming a row of towering wooden barriers.
Shu maintained the same hand seal.
Behind him, two Wood Clones emerged.
The clones leapt onto the wooden wall.
Shu's hand seal still didn't change.
Yet vines suddenly burst from the ground, launching attacks toward the clones standing on the wall.
Wood Release — Wood Dragon Strikes!
Still—
Only the Snake seal.
Immediately afterward, Shu released his left hand while raising his right palm.
Wood erupted directly from his palm, rapidly growing forward and branching into multiple tendrils.
Wood Release — Great Forest Technique.
After severing the vines growing from his palm, Shu nodded in satisfaction.
"Still not at the level of Hashirama Senju—where he simply claps his hands and wood appears."
"But the improvement isn't small."
Previously, every Wood Release technique required him to carefully perform the full sequence of hand seals.
Although Wood Release didn't require many seals to begin with.
But now—
With the skill One Mind, Two Uses, he could perform every Wood Release technique he currently knew…
Using just a single Snake seal.
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