Hiruzen Sarutobi, relying on his formidable strength, immediately dodged the attack. His guards, however, were not so lucky; some collapsed on the spot, leaving only two of them.
"Buzz, buzz, buzz…"
That was the sound of insect wings fluttering, coming from the sky. The guards spotted the enemy, raised their arms, and threw several kunai, soaring towards the sky.
"Up in the sky!"
A dark figure swiftly moved, easily dodging the shuriken. Then it descended from the sky, landing precisely in front of Hiruzen Sarutobi and his group, stirring up a cloud of snow that diffused around them.
Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others narrowed their eyes, watching as a human figure slowly emerged from the snow mist. The figure was over 180cm tall, completely wrapped, its face unclear, but from its build, it was male.
"Lord Hokage, please be careful."
One guard stood in front of Hiruzen Sarutobi, raising his arm and sword, confronting the enemy: "Who are you!"
"Dead men don't need to know that much."
The enemy was Kakuzu. He had received orders from Uchiha Madara to intercept Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The goal wasn't to kill him, but merely to severely injure him.
The previous attack used the Seven-Tails' ability to spread sleep-inducing scales disguised by the falling snow.
Hiruzen Sarutobi narrowed his eyes, observing the enemy.
Just then, the guards beside him decisively attacked.
They were both Hiruzen Sarutobi's bodyguards and bait to test the enemy's abilities.
The guards cooperated seamlessly, one attacking, one feinting, sandwiching the enemy.
Kakuzu understood that those chosen by Hiruzen Sarutobi as his guards were relatively skilled ninjas. The best way to end the fight quickly was by surprise.
He deliberately exposed a weakness, allowing the two to stab him with their weapons.
"We got him!"
The guards instinctively showed a flicker of joy, but soon felt something was amiss.
Was it too easy to hit him? They realized, but it was already too late.
"Too bad."
Kakuzu hardened his arms. Taking advantage of their momentary carelessness, he split his hands, thrusting his vertical palms into the chests of both guards, piercing through them from front to back, blood splattering.
"How is that possible!"
"I clearly hit him!"
Their hearts pierced, both men spat blood, uttering a final word each, then died.
Kakuzu, thanks to his unique body structure, was basically unharmed by attacks to any part of his body except his heart.
His body could split at will, so being stabbed by a sword was nothing.
These two guards were skilled, but their immediate demise was due to insufficient intelligence.
W-what!
He didn't even bleed…
What kind of body structure is this?!
Kakuzu's unique nature puzzled even the well-informed Hiruzen Sarutobi.
He prepared for battle, pulling at his collar, then throwing his hand, making his robes flutter to reveal his tight-fitting undergarment. He entered a combat stance, completely without openings.
Facing a Kage-level opponent, even the arrogant Kakuzu dared not be careless, shedding his contemptuous gaze.
As a cold wind blew, like a whistle, both men attacked simultaneously.
Hiruzen Sarutobi quickly formed hand seals. A brown earth dragon surged from the ground, opening its mouth, which glowed with white light. Several brown earth bullets shot out from within.
Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet.
Without a moment to spare, Hiruzen Sarutobi, standing nearby, also kept busy. He straightened his body, ended his hand seals with the Tiger sign, and exhaled a ball of fire from his mouth. It attached to the earth bullets, forming fire bullets.
The opponent's abilities weren't yet clear. To be safe, it was best to use long-range attacks to probe before attempting to break through his defenses.
Starting with a combination ninjutsu, Kakuzu dared not be slow. He pressed his hands to the ground, erecting an earth wall to block the fire bullets.
"Bang, bang, bang…"
The fire bullets struck the surface of the earth wall, producing violent impacts, indicating their considerable power.
"He's truly formidable…"
Kakuzu's inhuman eyes showed a glint of greed.
It was said that the Third Hokage mastered all five basic nature transformations. A heart like his was worth five!
On the other side of the earth wall, Hiruzen Sarutobi, seeing his ninjutsu blocked, remained calm and exploited a weakness in the opponent's technique.
With the Earth-Style Wall blocking his vision, Kakuzu's line of sight was obstructed. Hiruzen Sarutobi exploited this, forming a cross hand seal and summoning a Shadow Clone.
The Shadow Clone, sharing the main body's thoughts, leaped like a monkey, swiftly climbing to the top of the earth wall, facing the enemy directly and drawing fire.
Meanwhile, his main body submerged underground, waiting for an opportunity.
Kakuzu looked up. He disliked being looked down upon, as it reminded him of that man.
He clasped his hands together. Blue light erupted from his body, from inside out, and lightning crackled, converging into a beam of light. The lightning flowed and shot out.
Lightning Release: False Darkness.
Wind Release countered Lightning Release ninjutsu.
Seeing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi quickly used a countering Wind Release ninjutsu.
He swiftly formed hand seals, took a deep breath, his chest swelling like a giant toad. He exhaled a massive amount ofira wind-style chakra that had gathered in his abdomen, spraying it out in a spiral, flowing and intertwining.
Wind Release: Vortex.
The pillar of lightning and the wind tornado collided. After a symbolic resistance, the lightning pillar was defeated by the countering wind tornado, which then swept forward with unstoppable force towards its target.
Facing the surging windstorm, Kakuzu had nowhere to hide. He slightly bent his legs, rooted himself to the ground, and remained as still as a mountain.
Then, he clasped his hands together, his entire body turning black, as if covered in a thick armor. The windstorm, like a blade, swept over his body, leaving him completely unharmed.
As the snow mist stirred by the windstorm cleared, a dark silhouette emerged. Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes narrowed slightly, thoughtfully.
Kakuzu's last move, hardening his entire body, reminded him of his disciple's ninjutsu—Earth Release: Earth Spear.
Through the recent tests, Hiruzen Sarutobi had now grasped the two nature transformations Kakuzu excelled at: Earth Release and Lightning Release.
Typically, a jōnin would learn two or more nature transformations.
Although Hiruzen Sarutobi wanted to continue testing and probing his limits, the chakra allocated to this Shadow Clone was limited, preventing him from continuously using ninjutsu. He immediately changed his approach, intending to engage in taijutsu.
Hiruzen Sarutobi leaped into the snowy ground, his hands swinging back, and dashed forward like the wind.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's actions played right into Kakuzu's hands; he feared close combat the least.
He dashed forward. As the two reached a certain distance, Kakuzu pushed off the ground with his right foot and performed a spinning roundhouse kick in mid-air.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was startled. He dove down, dodging the sweeping leg whip.
When Kakuzu landed, he turned and swung his leg.
Hiruzen Sarutobi stepped back, dodging.
Kakuzu pressed his advantage, swinging his arm for a punch.
Hiruzen Sarutobi raised his arm to block.
Kakuzu switched from punching to kicking, delivering a direct knee strike.
Hiruzen Sarutobi pressed his hand against the incoming kick, pushed down the extended leg, then seized the lower leg. He spun a few times and flung him away.
Hiruzen Sarutobi pressed his advantage, charging forward, intending to continue his fierce assault before the opponent could get back up. However, a sudden change occurred: a hand flew towards him midway. Unable to dodge, he was directly grabbed by the neck.
With his windpipe choked, Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a pained gurgle, desperately trying to break free.
"Die!"
Kakuzu began to exert force, and the hand connected by black threads pulled Hiruzen Sarutobi towards him.
Although Uchiha Madara had only ordered him to beat Hiruzen Sarutobi half to death, if an accident happened, it wouldn't be his fault.
He had coveted Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart for a long time.
Without hesitation, he thrust his vertical palm forward, directly aiming for the heart, piercing through from front to back.
Kakuzu frowned. This wasn't the feel of flesh.
Soon, as if in response, the pierced Hiruzen Sarutobi turned into white smoke.
Damn it, I was careless…
Kakuzu seemed to notice something and abruptly glanced sideways, but it was already too late. Hiruzen Sarutobi's main body was standing beside him at some unknown point, and had already completed his hand seals.
This distance left no room to dodge. Kakuzu quickly formed hand seals, using Earth Release: Earth Spear to harden his body.
Hiruzen Sarutobi anticipated his anticipation and used a Lightning Release ninjutsu. Lightning erupted from his body, forming a lightning spear that shot out, piercing directly through Kakuzu's heart with a single strike.
Lightning Release: Lightning Spear.
Kakuzu, directly hit, collapsed to the ground.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed in relief. Just as he relaxed his guard, he suddenly realized that the enemy, who had seemed lifeless, had come back to life and was standing up again.
(End of Chapter)
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