"Are you unscathed?"
Kakuzu's eyes grew serious.
He had already taken Simu seriously enough.
Even after using a compound ninjutsu to launch a direct attack, he didn't expect it to be completely ineffective.
The woods behind Simu were ablaze.
The cloak of justice on his back fluttered gently in the hot air.
"As expected of Teacher Simu!"
Obito clenched his fist, speaking with admiration.
"Brat, have you forgotten you're in a fight?!"
A hunter seized the chance to rush at Obito.
Luckily, Kakashi arrived just in time.
Powerful lightning coiled around his kunai.
With a flash, he pressed the blade against the hunter's neck.
"Idiot, stay alert!"
Kakashi scolded.
Obito scratched his head, uncharacteristically not snapping back.
Instead, he activated his Sharingan and focused on another enemy.
"Thanks, Kakashi. I'll leave this guy to you."
Meanwhile, Kakuzu was still observing Simu, who remained unharmed.
His eyes narrowed slightly as a bulge formed on his back.
A clump of writhing black threads separated from him, landing on the ground and taking the form of a grotesque creature, its mask pale white with brownish-yellow patterns.
The creature smashed its fist into the ground in Simu's direction.
"Earth Style: Earth Spear Forest!"
The earth trembled as sharp rock spikes burst from below.
Simu effortlessly dodged with the help of Observation Haki.
Hundreds of soil spears couldn't even scratch him.
But Kakuzu's real target wasn't Simu.
The thorns extended outward, rapidly aiming for Haruko Kamizumi and her guards.
"I can't let the mission target get hurt."
Simu calmly pushed up his glasses.
A spike erupted under his feet.
He clamped it with both legs and launched himself into the air.
Clapping his hands together, he instantly absorbed a large amount of natural energy.
A dark red pattern emerged across his face.
Compared to two years ago, the markings were deeper, almost black.
This was proof—his mastery over Sage Mode had improved dramatically.
"This feeling…"
Kakuzu's mind drifted back to decades ago.
Back then, he was a genius shinobi from Takigakure, sent on a mission to the Land of Fire to assassinate Senju Hashirama...
And then... nothing.
He'd barely survived. But instead of being rewarded, his village condemned him.
Enraged, he stole the Earth Grudge Fear technique, defected, and became a mercenary.
Suddenly—dazzling flashes cut through the night sky.
"Sage Art: Yasakani no Magatama!"
A rain of shining orbs bombarded the earth, shattering every rock spike the moment they emerged—turning them to dust.
Simu stomped midair with both feet, launching himself like a meteor toward Kakuzu.
But Kakuzu—an old monster who had survived for generations—had battle instincts far beyond most shinobi.
The moment Simu charged, the Earth mask creature beside Kakuzu activated its jutsu.
A towering wall of earth—ten meters thick—rose to shield Kakuzu.
Simu's golden-glowing foot slammed into the wall, demolishing it instantly.
But Kakuzu's assault wasn't over.
After all—he had five hearts.
From his body emerged another mask—this one sky-blue.
It opened its mouth and unleashed a fine, misty spray.
"Water Style: Water Soluble Technique!"
The rubble instantly turned into sticky mud upon contact with the mist, surrounding Simu.
Then came a mask shaped like a bird's head, emerging from Kakuzu's stomach.
"Lightning Style: False Darkness!"
"Compound Ninjutsu: Gate of Destruction!"
Lightning Chakra surged like a tidal wave.
As the mud conducted the electricity, lightning tore wildly across the battlefield!
The murky swamp was lit in an instant.
Blue-white bolts illuminated the entire area.
Kakuzu, always cautious, retreated a few steps.
His hands never stopped forming seals, ready to strike at any threat.
As the smoke and thunder faded...
Simu's charred body?
Didn't appear.
Instead—
A massive blue figure descended from the sky.
"ROAR!!!"
A ghostly blue flame flared around the shadow.
Erwei let out a terrible roar at Kakuzu in front of him.
Simu slowly walked out from Erwei's mouth.
"Oh, that was really close, but fortunately, Matatabi, you helped me block it."
Simu jumped onto Erwei's head and patted it with satisfaction.
Erwei's face was covered with black lines.
This guy has loved putting himself out there to block attacks ever since the last time he saw Killer Bee in action.
Although Erwei has rough skin and thick flesh, Kakuzu's attack wasn't fully blocked and caused a lot of damage.
The most important thing is that Erwei can't get angry with Simu.
So, he can only vent his anger on the enemy.
Feeling Erwei's resentment, Kakuzu narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Is this what the intelligence said about Erwei?"
The two monsters around Kakuzu were ready for battle.
The three masks on his body were prepared to attack at any moment.
But faster than all of them was Simu.
In the blink of an eye, he appeared in front of the earth attribute monster.
"Have you ever been kicked by light?"
Golden light pierced the night sky.
Simu kicked directly into the mask on the monster's face.
It didn't even respond.
A crisp shattering sound resounded from the monster's face.
Huge power was suddenly released, and the mask fragments floated in the air.
The giant body of the monster was kicked out fiercely and smashed into the sea of flames.
Five hearts, huh?
Kakuzu's eyelids twitched.
Although he'd heard the speed of the golden flash is unmatched, it was beyond his expectations that it was that fast.
The Water Style masked monster was the first to target Simu.
"Water Style: Water Curtain Tent!"
A huge water flow was compressed into a water column strong enough to penetrate steel, piercing Simu's body.
Simu raised his arms horizontally.
Countless light spots and natural energy mixed together to form a long sword.
"Immortal Technique: Amazon Cloud Sword!"
Simu cut out with a sword.
Flashes flew by.
This sword actually split the incoming strong current in two.
Simu just wanted to take advantage of the situation to kill the monster when suddenly a gust of wind surrounded him.
"Wind Style: Depressed!"
A powerful gust of wind suppressed Simu's movements.
The Fire Style mask on Kakuzu's shoulder was ready to go.
Realizing this, Simu suddenly appeared high above the sky in a flash of light.
He held his hands in front of him like a mirror.
"Immortal Technique: Yata Mirror Mirror Slash!"
The golden light condensed into an extremely sharp lightsaber that cut through the air.
Sensing the power of this move, Kakuzu's Lightning Style bird-shaped mask on his abdomen spat out a large amount of lightning.
"Lightning Style: False Darkness!"
The terrifying thunder collided with the lightsaber in mid-air, causing it to deviate from its course and pierce straight into the ground.
Simu hadn't had time to breathe yet when his face suddenly changed.
The lightsaber turned back from the ground at some point and pierced the Water Style mask beside him.
A trace of heartache appeared on Kakuzu's face.
Each mask represented a heart.
These were the hearts of strong men that he had collected over the years.
Now, he had lost two in one breath.
How many tasks would it take to get them back?
"You bastard... you're simply unforgivable!"
Kakuzu was truly angry.
The black lines on his body wriggled violently.
The remaining three attribute masks gathered together on his left hand under the squirming motion.
"Try this trick, Gold Glitter."
Flames, lightning, and hurricanes converged on his left arm.
Simu suddenly felt a palpitation.
But he couldn't avoid it, as Kakashi, the three of them, and Miss Haruko were behind him.
He shook his head; it seemed the opponent was going to force him to take this move.
In that case…
The three energies in Kakuzu's arms intertwined.
Flame and lightning intertwined with each other, and finally, under the blessing of Wind Style, it turned into an entangled lightning strike aimed directly at Simu.
"Earth Resentment: Final Shooting!"
The ground melted wherever the shot passed, and the terrible temperature distorted the surrounding air.
Facing such a terrifying move, Simu slowly raised his palm and aimed at the incoming fire pillar.
In an instant, thousands of light spots gathered in the palm of his hand.
"Immortal Technique: Carved Pillar!"
The spot of light in Simu's palm instantly swelled up.
It formed a beam of light that slammed into the oncoming flames and thunder.
This technique is inspired by Armament Haki's external release.
Using the ability of the Sparkling Fruit, Armament Haki, and Xianju Chakra, he achieved the effect of emitting waves in the form of waves.
This huge beam of light collided with the flames.
The two different energies repelled each other, forming an incompatible ball of energy that eventually exploded!
A huge energy shockwave swept across the entire battlefield.
Even the convoy in the distance was almost overturned.
If Kakashi hadn't caught the carriage quickly, Miss Haruko might have been blown away.
A large pit appeared in the center of the battlefield.
The dense smoke was suddenly cut by a flash of light.
At the moment when the explosion ended, Simu rushed to Kakuzu with the Amazon Sword.
Kakuzu hastily threw a punch.
Under the influence of Earth Resentment, his body strength was comparable to steel.
But it still wasn't enough to match Simu.
With the blessing of Armament Haki, the lightsaber in Simu's hand was no less sharp than the real Amazon Sword.
It easily cut off Kakuzu's arm.
Kakuzu tried to struggle, but Simu had already brought the lightsaber to his face.
"It's really scary. You still have three lives left."
Simu's tone was teasing, but it fell on Kakuzu's ears like thunder.
He stared at Simu intently and asked:
"Who are you, and why do you know so much?"
Simu pushed his glasses.
"I'm just an average little ninja trying to retire."
He stared at Kakuzu seriously, then whispered to him:
"I'll give you two choices: one is to die, and the other is to surrender to me."
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