Chapter 47: Counterattack, Counterattack, and More Counterattack!
A ninja's battle is a battle of intelligence.
Tsukasa attacked with taijutsu, and Kakuzu countered with his own. Besides being enraged and wanting to teach this broke brat a lesson, he was also testing the waters.
After all, the kid had rushed forward without warning, deployed a barrier, and confidently promised to cover his teammates' escape.
Kakuzu didn't believe he was completely without capability.
Caution had been his greatest asset from the Warring States period until now!
Ever since being slapped aside by that man's Wood Clone, Kakuzu's perspective had crystallized.
He had etched those principles into his very bones.
Now, seeing Tsukasa withstand that torrent of taijutsu strikes and regain his footing like an unkillable monster—his wounds completely healed, aside from looking slightly fatigued and breathing heavily—he was in remarkably good condition.
Kakuzu narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Medical ninjutsu? No, such powerful healing effects... something's off."
This level of combat endurance wasn't achievable even when using Mystical Palm Technique while fighting. It was far too exaggerated.
Thinking this, Kakuzu tilted his head slightly and glanced up the cliff face.
Besides the three brats, he remembered there was also a tall, middle-aged man in a yellow cloak.
Furthermore, that man gave him an unsettling feeling—making him sense the target would be difficult to eliminate.
"Hmm?"
Just as Kakuzu glanced sideways, he suddenly froze, looking toward a specific direction outside the barrier.
Without him noticing, the middle-aged man in the yellow cloak had already positioned himself on the cliff face outside the barrier. His eyes were filled with inexplicable shock as he stared intently at Tsukasa.
Seeing this, Kakuzu instantly understood.
"That guy taught this broke brat this terrifying forbidden technique!"
"Are these two master and disciple? Is he impressed by his student's performance?"
"Could it be that this guy wants to use me as a whetstone to polish his disciple?"
Kakuzu frowned, sensing something wasn't adding up.
This broke brat was throwing up a barrier for a one-on-one duel, a true warrior's confrontation, then unleashing this troublesome forbidden technique, pushing his teammates aside to fight alone—acting like he wouldn't be satisfied unless Kakuzu killed him.
Even this seventy-year-old veteran was getting concerned.
He wondered internally: Who's trying to scam whom here?
Now the situation was becoming clear.
This kid really did have backing!
With this thought, Kakuzu's mindset began to subtly shift.
On the battlefield, Tsukasa looked at Kakuzu, his gaze slightly focused.
He briefly assessed his internal condition. After using the Forbidden Technique: Physical Regeneration to restore his body, he felt like his parts had rusted—not as responsive as before.
While this technique was powerful, its side effects were equally dramatic.
Shinnō was able to use it with near-zero side effects because he combined it with the incomplete Zero-Tails' chakra, essentially replacing the power source.
Orochimaru was able to exploit this technique fully because he had the body-modification techniques and Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation to simply swap to a new vessel.
Tsukasa, however, was consuming his own physical vitality directly.
He estimated that given his current bodily condition, he could only use the Forbidden Technique: Physical Regeneration two more times before requiring medical treatment.
Otherwise, he would die from vitality depletion.
Therefore, he only had two more chances.
With this thought, Tsukasa took a deep breath, his Sharingan flashing with determination.
He lunged forward again in the same offensive stance—the only difference being that this time he wielded the spiraling water blade gifted by Mei Terumi!
Water Release: Water Fang Blade!
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
Three shuriken shot through the air!
"You think the same attack will work twice?"
Kakuzu's eyes narrowed as he immediately shifted his stance. He extended three intertwined Earth Grudge Fear tentacles, deflecting the shuriken while simultaneously attacking Tsukasa.
After the previous taijutsu exchange, Kakuzu had a rough assessment of the brat's reflexes.
Hmm, somewhat abnormal.
If it weren't for his unique anatomy allowing him to unexpectedly entangle the kunai with Earth Grudge Fear threads, the kid's leg-sweeping combination would have succeeded.
Now the opponent had pulled out a water blade capable of cutting through his tentacles.
The calculation was obvious—practically hitting this seventy-year-old veteran in the face with its transparency.
Kakuzu wasn't stupid, so naturally he wouldn't stand still and let Tsukasa trim his legs again.
The combat situation immediately escalated.
When Tsukasa saw Kakuzu change tactics and actually shoot a mass of Earth Grudge Fear threads at him, he was immediately delighted.
The effectiveness of this water blade exceeded that of a kunai!
Before he could even rush forward to trim Kakuzu's legs, the old man had turned around and rewarded him with a bunch of valuable ninja tools!
Tsukasa immediately braked, planting his feet on the cliff to halt his momentum.
Then he gripped the blade and executed a beautiful flourish.
His Sharingan locked onto the tentacles violently shooting toward him.
Then he positioned the blade along his arm, lowered his stance, and suddenly slashed!
First, he used Cloud Style: Deceptive Slash, tricking Kakuzu's tentacle past his right shoulder.
Then, swiftly following up with Cloud Style: Crescent Moon Beheading!
A perfect replica of the Cloud-style sword technique he'd witnessed only once within the volcanic region!
The spiraling Water Fang Blade suddenly shone with three crescent-shaped arcs of light!
CLANG! SNAP! SNAP!
Kakuzu's three tentacles severed instantly.
Tsukasa quickly crouched down, gathering the massive clump of tentacles dangling from the cliff face like scattered pieces. With a sweeping motion, he scooped them all into his ninja tool pouch.
Then, with a grin on his face, he turned and scurried away, ducking and rolling to avoid several tentacle counterattacks.
In a flurry of movements, he pulled out his empty ninja wire spool and quickly straightened the tangled Earth Grudge Fear threads, winding them onto the mechanism.
Only when he confirmed the ninja wire spool was fully loaded did Tsukasa smile with genuine satisfaction.
While Tsukasa now possessed numerous ninjutsu and forbidden techniques, ignoring the smoke-and-mirrors Fire Release techniques like Great Fireball and Phoenix Flower—the only techniques that could truly threaten Kakuzu were the two recently acquired from Great Elder Uchiha Setsuna:
Uchiha Style: Transcendent Shuriken Manipulation Technique!
This was the absolute core of all Tsukasa's current combat tactics.
In a single word: Speed!
So fast that opponents had no time to form hand seals, unleash ninjutsu, or mount proper defenses!
With only their desperate efforts to dodge, they would inevitably reveal openings, allowing Tsukasa to seize the opportunity for a decisive strike!
Third-rate Uchiha used shuriken as distractions, second-rate Uchiha used them for sneak attacks, and first-rate Uchiha seized critical opportunities with them!
But the masterful Uchiha Style: Transcendent Shuriken Manipulation Technique—
It was rated S-Rank because it was, in and of itself, a killing technique!
End of Chapter 47
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