"What's with that incredulous look on your face...? Are you that surprised I'm still alive?"
Kakuzu, now standing, spread his hands as if to deliberately mock.
Hiruzen Sarutobi watched him with a grave expression, his mind furiously working to quickly match Kakuzu's ability information.
In terms of knowledge, Hiruzen Sarutobi possessed a considerable wealth of information.
"But you're truly formidable... worthy of being an opponent with the name of Kage. You're incomparable to any opponent I've faced before."
As an experienced veteran, Kakuzu knew what to say and what not to say.
He wouldn't be so foolish as to say obvious nonsense like "destroying a heart," allowing the opponent to make connections.
In ninja combat, intelligence played a huge part.
"Who exactly are you?"
With the opponent's abilities still unclear, Hiruzen Sarutobi probed, intending to start with his name.
Possessing such strength, he shouldn't be an unknown figure.
"If this is a trick to gather intelligence, isn't it a bit too obvious?" Kakuzu saw through it instantly, his words dripping with sarcasm.
His petty trick exposed, Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't feel discouraged. He continued to patiently analyze the intelligence.
Excellent taijutsu.
Calm and composed from his demeanor.
The enemy currently seems proficient in both Earth Release and Lightning Release. His Earth Release has the ability to harden his body, which is very troublesome.
Whether physical and ninjutsu attacks are ineffective against him remains to be confirmed.
His hands can also detach from his body, move at extreme speed, and be freely manipulated.
Based on this information alone, the enemy's strength was already Kage-level.
Damn it, where did such a powerful opponent come from?
Hiruzen Sarutobi cursed inwardly.
Considering he appeared during the alliance negotiations, he easily linked him to Iwagakure and Kirigakure.
Was he destined to follow in his teacher's footsteps…?
Thinking this, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt a fleeting sense of sorrow.
However, this emotion was fleeting. Hiruzen Sarutobi quickly pushed these distracting thoughts aside, focusing on the enemy before him.
Hiruzen Sarutobi bit his finger, squatted down, and pressed his palm to the ground. Mysterious characters spread outwards.
With a bang, the smoke dispersed, revealing a towering humanoid creature.
It had round eyes, long ears, a hairy face, a thunder god's mouth, a pointed muzzle, sunken cheeks, a body like a pine nut-eating ape, a Konoha forehead protector on its head, a fluffy, radiating white mane, and was clad in tiger-skin clothing.
Summoning Jutsu: Enma.
"Finally decided to show yourself...?"
Kakuzu's face grew solemn. When he received the mission to intercept, he had thoroughly researched Hiruzen Sarutobi's information.
Among it, this Enma was a key object of analysis.
Although it was a summoned beast, it couldn't be evaluated like an ordinary one.
Its humanoid form, exquisite taijutsu, and adamantine body were merely superficial abilities. Furthermore, it possessed two great secret techniques: it could transform into a weapon, and it could also form hand seals.
This single summoned beast's strength alone was comparable to a Kage-level ninja.
After being summoned, Enma surveyed its surroundings, roughly understanding the situation: "Hiruzen, it seems you've run into quite a bit of trouble."
"Yes…"
Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed, not denying it.
Enma's eyes were fixed on Kakuzu, preventing him from making any untoward moves: "Who is this guy?"
"Unclear, but one thing is certain, this guy is very strong," Hiruzen Sarutobi commented, then informed him of the opponent's abilities.
Enma nodded in understanding.
"Let's go."
Enma's body swayed, then it charged out.
With its adamantine body, it was best suited for testing the enemy.
Before fully understanding the enemy's abilities, Hiruzen Sarutobi was not in a hurry to attack alongside Enma.
Enma leaped, initiating the attack with a kick.
A sudden shift, and Kakuzu sidestepped to avoid.
Enma's kick missed, striking the ground and leaving a large crater.
Kakuzu's side glance showed a hint of caution.
Both speed and strength were first-rate.
Enma rose and attacked, swinging a punch.
Kakuzu hardened his arms, raised his right arm, and pressed it against the opponent's wrist, hindering his momentum. At the same time, his hardened right hand, palm like a shovel, stabbed towards Enma's heart.
"Thud."
As if striking steel plate, the shovel-like palm could not penetrate further.
Kakuzu flinched.
So hard!
Indeed, the adamantine body isn't just for show…
With his chest pierced, Enma glared with angry, golden eyes. He let out a thunderous roar, clenched his fist into a hammer, and swung his arm to strike Kakuzu's head.
Kakuzu's head exploded. Enma, with his immense strength, slammed him into the ground.
With that hit landed, Enma was still not satisfied. He bent his arm at the elbow, leaned his body back, and used the inertia to smash into Kakuzu's abdomen.
Then, he quickly scrambled to his feet, swinging his thick, muscular arms, hammering wildly. His fists were like a collapsing mountain, his force like a storm, pounding the ground into cracks and filling the air with white mist.
After this flurry of attacks, Enma grabbed Kakuzu's head, pulled forcefully, and actually tore Kakuzu in half with his bare hands, discarding the pieces like garbage.
Looking at Kakuzu, torn in half, Hiruzen Sarutobi opened his mouth: "It seems I overdid it a bit."
Enma said warily: "Don't be careless, Hiruzen. This guy has given me a very unsettling feeling from the start."
As if in specific response to him, Kakuzu, with his head ripped off, replied.
W-what!
Even with his head gone, he's still alive…
Kakuzu's inhumanity sent shivers down Hiruzen Sarutobi's spine.
Kakuzu's two halves stretched out black threads.
Enma was startled. Out of caution, he retreated backward, watching with a grave expression as the two severed halves of the body reconnected via black threads, restoring him to his original state.
Kakuzu looked at Enma and praised, "What a terrifying monkey…"
"Hiruzen, what exactly is this guy's ability?"
Enma, standing beside Hiruzen Sarutobi, looked forward and asked Hiruzen Sarutobi behind him.
"I apologize, please help me test him further."
Only by understanding the enemy's abilities could Hiruzen Sarutobi devise countermeasures; otherwise, it would be a wasted expenditure of chakra.
"I understand."
Enma pulled out a strand of hair from his head, clapped his vertical palm, rubbed it a few times, then blew on his cupped palm. The strands of hair scattered, transforming in mid-air into clones identical to Enma, standing beside him.
Ninja Art: Lawless Clone.
This was Enma's unique Shadow Clone, more durable than ordinary Shadow Clones.
One Enma was enough for Kakuzu, let alone several. Kakuzu began to show his true skills.
As the hand seals were completed, Kakuzu's body split, and four masses of black substance emerged from him, forming humanoid figures beside him.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes showed deep solemnity, and he said calmly, "What a bizarre ninjutsu."
Enma chimed in: "Now's not the time to be surprised by the enemy."
As they spoke, one of the black creatures suddenly let out a pained gurgle, turning into a pool of black water, and its mask also shattered in half.
This was one of the hearts that Hiruzen Sarutobi had destroyed earlier.
Enma, seeing this, instinctively thought the opponent was about to attack and quickly adopted a defensive stance. However, after a while, nothing happened, leaving him somewhat bewildered.
"What's wrong with this one?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi narrowed his eyes, silent.
As if deliberately interrupting his thoughts, Kakuzu formed hand seals, commanding two of the creatures to open their mouths. A massive amount of fire-style chakra and wind-style chakra gathered at their respective mouths.
"Fire Release: Headhunter!"
"Wind Release: Pressure Damage!"
This was a combination ninjutsu combining Fire Release and Wind Release.
Like an overwhelming wave surging from the sea, a sea of fire spread out. Wherever it went, the surrounding air instantly heated up, and the accumulated snow on the ground was directly evaporated by the high-temperature flames.
He even knows Wind Release and Fire Release!
The towering flames reflected, warming Hiruzen Sarutobi's face.
Seeing Kakuzu unleash a brand new ninjutsu, he was greatly surprised. Without time to think, he used a wide-range Water Release attack. The stream of water he spat out formed a rapidly flowing, thick water wall in front of him, successfully intercepting the sea of fire.
The sea of fire and the water wall collided, generating dense steam that diffused all around.
The black creature of the fire nature, twisted its neck, making crackling sounds. Fire bullets shot out from its mouth, assaulting the Enma Shadow Clones.
The fire bullets were much weaker than the "sea of fire" in terms of power, but made up for it in speed.
The fire bullets struck the ground, creating numerous deep craters, preventing the Enma clones from engaging in close-quarters combat.
Meanwhile, the other black creatures, representing different heart natures, were not idle either. They spewed wind and water-style attacks, carpet-bombing the Shadow Clones.
Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't rush to attack Kakuzu. He calmly and composedly analyzed Kakuzu's abilities.
From the attacks of these masked creatures just now, it seemed that each creature could only use one type of chakra attack.
And each monster corresponded to one chakra nature. Adding the main body, this coincidental number made Hiruzen Sarutobi easily connect the dots.
The enemy before him likely possessed mastery over all five basic nature transformations.
Thinking this, Hiruzen Sarutobi gained a clearer understanding of Kakuzu's strength.
Considering that Kakuzu could still use Earth Release ninjutsu when facing Enma, then the one that died earlier must have been the one representing Lightning Release.
Suddenly, as if realizing something, Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes widened...
(End of Chapter)
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