"Pfft."
Kakuzu spat out a mouthful of blood.
Hideki appear behind Kakuzu.
A stone spike condensed in his left hand, and he drove it straight through Kakuzu's heart.
"Damn it... never thought I'd fall at your hands."
After saying that, he collapsed face-first onto the ground, motionless.
Hideki: ??? Do you think you're funny? You're actually pretending to be dead?
Kakuzu: Which bastard leaked all my intel?
The moment Kakuzu saw Hideki preparing to attack his "corpse" again, he immediately dropped the act.
He shot back to his feet, while one of the nearby mask monsters hurried over and merged back into his body.
"Who the hell are you? How do you know so much about me?"
Kakuzu was utterly confused.
How could this ninja trying to kill him know about something as secret as his multiple hearts?
Back then, he had slaughtered every single elder in Takigakure who knew about the Earth Grudge Fear secret technique.
Could this guy be some survivor raised specifically to hunt him down?
But that didn't make sense either. Since when did Takigakure have the ability to cultivate such a terrifying Earth Release ninja?
"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Spikes."
Hideki stomped the ground, and countless stone spikes erupted outward toward Kakuzu.
Kakuzu knew he had to go all out now.
Otherwise, he really would die here.
Both of his arms detached from his body, dragging masses of black threads behind them as they shot toward Hideki.
"Pssh!"
Hideki's spikes pierced straight through Kakuzu from bottom to top.
But at the same time,
Kakuzu's black threads successfully latched onto Hideki's body.
Having lost another heart and been impaled clean through, Kakuzu instead revealed a grin.
"The moment you think you're closest to victory is when you're closest to defeat. Die."
The remaining three mask monsters rapidly fused back into Kakuzu's body.
His entire form transformed into a grotesque monster made of writhing black threads.
He yanked hard.
Only then did Hideki realize that black threads had somehow already spread across his chest, burrowing inward.
"AAAAAH! What the hell is this?!"
Hideki let out a miserable scream.
Kakuzu's eyes lit up with delight.
Kid, you still fell for it. In the ninja world, being too arrogant will get you killed. Get over here.
Kakuzu pulled violently, dragging Hideki right in front of him.
"I'll be taking your heart."
"Earth Release: Earth Barrier."
The ground instantly surged upward.
In the blink of an eye, it formed into a massive square earthen box.
Both Hideki and Kakuzu were sealed inside.
Hideki grabbed the black threads on his chest and ripped them off.
"Perfect. Now let's see where you think you're running."
Kakuzu exploded with rage.
"You bastard, you set me up!"
...
Land of Water,
Hidden Mist Village.
"Kōjin-kun, your cooking is seriously incredible."
"No, no, you flatter me."
"It's just a shame about your eyes. Want me to help you get a new pair? Eye transplant surgery is pretty common in the ninja world."
"No need, no need. I appreciate your kindness, Mei-sama, but in this filthy ninja world, perhaps being unable to see is a kind of blessing."
"Kōjin-kun... that's so profound."
The blue-clad Mei looked at him with admiration overflowing in her eyes.
The object of that admiration was none other than Uchiha Kamito, currently infiltrating the Hidden Mist Village under the alias Tengawa Kōjin.
Kamito himself felt incredibly conflicted inside.
Why does it feel like my luck with women keeps getting better after going blind?
Is this what they mean by, "When heaven closes one door, it opens another window"?
Then heaven should've said so earlier!
If I'd known the window was insane romantic luck, I would've gouged my eyes out the moment I was born!
After chatting with Tengawa Kōjin, the owner of Tengawa Restaurant, for a while longer,
Mei finally stood and left.
As a ninja—especially a ninja from the Hidden Mist Village—every day was busy.
Either killing others, or being killed yourself.
"Kōjin-kun, see you tomorrow."
"Until tomorrow."
After leaving, Mei entered a small, inconspicuous room.
Ao and several others were already waiting inside, fully armed.
"Mei-sama, what do you think? Have we confirmed that the owner of Tengawa Restaurant is a Konoha spy?"
"He's definitely a spy. But not necessarily from Konoha."
"But he cooks dishes with unmistakable Land of Fire flavors. Who else could he be working for?"
"Can't rule out the possibility of a double agent. A spy sent into Konoha by another village, then redirected into the Hidden Mist Village to use us as a battering ram against Konoha."
"Then what do we do now? We've already confirmed Tengawa Kōjin is definitely a spy."
"Keep monitoring him. Once a spy is exposed, they lose their greatest advantage. There's no need to alert him prematurely."
"Understood, Mei-sama."
Mei looked in the direction of Tengawa Restaurant.
Kōjin-kun... let's keep playing tomorrow too.
She licked her lips as she spoke.
Sure enough, no matter where you go, the prettier the woman, the better she is at lying.
Meanwhile, inside Tengawa Restaurant, Uchiha Kamito—completely unaware that his cover had already been blown—continued washing dishes while putting on an act.
"Sigh... my charm really is getting more ridiculous by the day. A blind restaurant owner with no fighting ability somehow managed to capture the heart of the Hidden Mist Village's most beautiful kunoichi. Charm really is impossible to explain."
At that moment, his sensory technique was already following Mei into the hidden room.
"Let's see which one of us outplays the other. Careful you don't lose both the woman and the war."
Kamito smiled.
...
Takigakure.
"Hah... finally got the place surrounded. Not even a fly is getting out now."
Ryoha wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Handling something like this alone was still pretty exhausting.
But there was no way he could bring Rinko along to help.
Mass slaughter was too cruel for a woman.
"Now that everything's ready, it's time to get to work."
"Summoning Jutsu."
"ROAR!"
"WOOF WOOF!"
More than a hundred giant ninja hounds appeared around Takigakure.
"Insect Barrier... activate."
A black-purple barrier rose from the ground, enveloping both the hounds and the entire village.
"Begin. The hunt starts now."
The moment Ryoha finished speaking, the ninja dogs all let out thunderous howls, then charged toward Takigakure.
Meanwhile, Ryoha simply lay comfortably on the grass.
It wasn't arrogance.
Takigakure genuinely had nothing worth taking seriously.
The Hidden Grass Village at least had the Box of Bliss.
The Land of Demons had its demon.
Even the Sky Ninja had the Zero-Tails.
But what did Takigakure have?
The Seven-Tails had already been buried by Hideki and was still reviving.
Earth Grudge Fear had been stolen by Kakuzu, and by now Hideki had probably dealt with that too.
As for that so-called Hero Water?
What a joke.