"Not even defending? Trying to trade your life for mine?"
"What a pathetic cheap shot from a weakling!"
Kakuzu's face twisted with disdain as he watched the kunai thrust toward him. He didn't bother dodging or blocking, and instead hardened his entire body with Earth Release: Earth Spear.
Clang!
The kunai bounced off his blackened skin with a sharp metallic ring. At the same moment, Kakuzu's tentacle fist punched straight through Zabuza's chest.
"Gotcha. Easy p—what?!"
Kakuzu's smug grin froze solid. Gold-red Nine-Tails chakra flared around Zabuza. Panic shot through him as he yanked his fist back and scrambled away.
Sizzle!
Too late. The kunai had already slashed across his cheek and chest, leaving deep gashes stained with that blazing chakra. Through the wounds, dense, writhing black lines pulsed with energy.
"Tch. Looks like a bunch of black maggots. Disgusting."
Zabuza, cloaked in the Nine-Tails Chakra Cloak, spat the words with pure contempt. The hole in his chest from Kakuzu's punch healed before his eyes—flesh knitting together, scabbing over, then vanishing completely until only a faint scar remained.
Kakuzu's eyes nearly popped from his head. His pupils trembled violently.
"Immortality?!"
"No, the wound actually healed. Must be some kind of insane recovery ninjutsu!"
"So that's how he survived when the Five-Tails jinchuriki and I wrecked the terrain. He didn't run—he was hiding in plain sight the whole time, counting on this regeneration!"
"And that Nine-Tails chakra... it's nothing like what the Five-Tails uses..."
All his earlier contempt for Zabuza evaporated in an instant, and Kakuzu's mind raced back through the fight.
If I'd been half a second slower retreating... I would've lost a heart.
That kunai, wrapped in Tailed Beast chakra, had sliced through his Earth Release like paper. Kakuzu quickly controlled the black threads bursting from his body, stitching his chest and cheek wounds closed.
He didn't attack again, and instead tossed the Executioner's Blade back in front of Zabuza.
"You're tough enough to survive my attacks. You'd make a decent partner."
"But watch your mouth. Keep running it like that, and I'll just rip your heart out anyway."
A partner who wouldn't die from the shockwaves of his battles? That was rare. Kakuzu decided to give Zabuza more leeway, knowing that killing a guy who could heal this fast—and with that monstrous chakra—would cost him multiple hearts. Not worth it.
"Heh heh heh. You're stubborn as hell, old man."
"If you could actually kill me and take my heart, you wouldn't be talking big from across the room."
"Otherwise, I might just lose control and chop your head off!"
Zabuza slung the Executioner's Blade back over his shoulder, clearly disappointed. He'd just warmed up, and Kakuzu was already calling it quits. He hadn't even seen those masked, black-threaded monsters yet.
"Heh. Sounds like you want to die."
Countless tentacle-like threads slithered back out of Kakuzu's skin as he weighed whether killing Zabuza right now was worth the risk.
Just as the two stared each other down, a masked figure appeared beside Zabuza.
"Looks like things have already started?"
Kakuzu frowned, eyeing the newcomer with suspicion.
"You. The newbie named Menma!"
"Shouldn't you be with Sasori and the others? Why come to me? Got some ulterior motive?"
Menma ignored him, looking instead at Zabuza's torn clothes with a sneer and shaking his head.
"I figured you couldn't beat Kakuzu, but I was hoping I'd be wrong."
"Just hope, I guess. Can't make it real."
Zabuza's face darkened at Menma's words, and he grit his teeth.
"Boss, you got here too fast! I was just getting warmed up—I hadn't even gotten serious yet..."
Menma cut him off with a single cold glare that silenced him instantly.
"Fine. You're one of my guys. It'd be embarrassing if you couldn't keep up."
"Use this for now."
He tossed a small glass bottle to Zabuza—Kotoamatsukami. With his own Mangekyō Sharingan now active, Menma had no use for an eye with a ten-year cooldown. Besides, with his current power, he doubted it could even affect him.
Watching Menma dismiss him so casually, Kakuzu bristled.
"You only beat a fake Hashirama Senju. You've got no right to act arrogant!"
"Rookie, state your real business, or you'll be heart food!"
As he spoke, Kakuzu threw off his crimson robe, revealing four masks on his back. The skin beneath them bulged and split, spewing torrents of thick, writhing black threads.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
In seconds, four massive monsters made of black threads and wearing masks stood behind Kakuzu.
Secret Technique, Earth Grudge Fear!
Zabuza, now holding Kotoamatsukami, didn't equip it yet. He glared at Kakuzu.
"Boss, this fight's not over. I won't lose to this creep..."
Before he could move, Menma waved him off.
"Enough. Stand aside. Don't test my patience."
Then Menma vanished from his spot and reappeared directly in front of Kakuzu.
"Fast!" Kakuzu gasped, startled. A crushing sense of danger made his hands blur through seals.
"Wind Release: Pressure!"
"Lightning Release: False Darkness!"
"Fire Release: Head-Piercing Diligence!"
"Water Release: Water Curtain!"
Crack crack crack!
The mouths of the four Earth Grudges snapped open, ready to unleash their elemental attacks. But before they could, several golden-red streaks flashed behind Menma.
Like lightning, they sliced through the four monsters.
The next second, the Earth Grudges collapsed into piles of lifeless mud, their masks shattering one by one.
Kakuzu stared in shock at Menma's flickering fox tail.
"Those... those were my hearts?!"
"No way! That was just a second!"
"This is impossible!!!"
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