"Hahahaha! It's been a long time since I've met someone so reckless and arrogant! I'll make sure to leave your corpse intact!"
A mass of black threads burst out from Kakuzu's body. Four grotesque masks shot out from his back, each painted with a distinct symbol.
Rokuro immediately recognized them—those symbols represented different chakra natures.
"So that's how it is… Looks like this so-called Earth Grudge Fear incorporates sealing techniques as well. Makes sense—absorbing another's chakra is, in essence, a form of sealing."
The mask representing Wind Chakra opened its mouth, gathering an immense storm of energy. At the same time, Kakuzu's hands flew into a rapid series of seals.
"Wind Release: Pressure Damage!"
A sphere of compressed air, like a massive Fireball, roared forth and slammed into the spot where Rokuro had just been standing.
The instant it hit the ground, the sphere expanded violently into a swirling vortex, gouging out a crater several meters wide.
Rokuro had already leapt aside the moment the wind sphere was fired. Lightning armor crackled across his body as he dashed forward like a thunderbolt, appearing right before Kakuzu. He swung his kunai toward Kakuzu's neck.
Kakuzu was startled by his speed but reacted in time, raising an arm to block.
Clang!
The kunai struck his arm with a metallic sound, sparks flying on impact. The blade's edge chipped and curled from the collision.
"I see... so your main body's Earth-natured, huh? That makes all five elements complete."
"Arrogant brat! Don't underestimate me!"
Kakuzu leapt backward, and his right arm shot forward like a rocket punch—its severed end trailing countless black threads still connected to his body.
Rokuro twisted aside, narrowly dodging. To his surprise, the detached arm turned midair and homed back toward him like a guided missile.
He swung his kunai to intercept—another metallic crash rang out—and this time, the kunai shattered completely!
As Rokuro retreated, his foot suddenly caught. Looking down, he saw black threads coiling tightly around his legs, binding him in place.
At that moment, Kakuzu's left arm came crashing down—aimed straight at Rokuro's vital point.
"Brat, you're finished!"
Rokuro's legs were bound, and his weapon was gone. By all appearances, he was trapped with no way out.
Yet Kakuzu failed to notice the paper talisman that had appeared at his feet. It resembled an explosive tag—but the script written on it was entirely different.
Just as Kakuzu's twin fists were about to pierce through him, Rokuro vanished—disappearing into thin air—and reappeared behind Kakuzu in the blink of an eye. His hand chopped downward, slicing clean through Kakuzu's heart.
"Impossible!?"
Kakuzu's face twisted in shock as his heart was crushed. In that instant, his four remaining masks unleashed simultaneous jutsu—blasting even the main body in the explosion.
Rokuro flickered away using Body Flicker, retreating just as the entire area erupted in a blinding storm of fire and lightning.
When the flames subsided, Kakuzu was still standing amid the debris. His clothes were nearly burnt away, revealing a grotesque body covered in black stitching and threadlike veins.
"That last barrage was all jōnin-level ninjutsu. Even a seasoned jōnin would've been killed if they weren't specialized in defense. And this guy took it head-on... his body's that tough?"
Though Rokuro already knew of Kakuzu's abilities from the original reports, seeing it firsthand was staggering.
Now one of Kakuzu's hearts—the Earth-natured one—was gone. Before Rokuro's eyes, the Lightning heart merged into his body, while the Wind and Fire masks landed on his shoulders. Their black threads intertwined, fusing together in a grotesque composite form. Only the Water-natured clone remained outside.
As the flames died down, Rokuro noted that while Kakuzu's body was damaged, it wasn't by any means incapacitated. The effect on his combat ability seemed negligible.
"I get it now... this Earth Grudge Fear—it's basically a zombie technique. Kakuzu's nothing but a corpse held together by those threads. He doesn't even feel pain. And since those black lines can reattach severed limbs, attacking his body's pointless. His only real weakness is those four hearts."
While Rokuro was calmly analyzing the battle, Kakuzu was raging like a mad beast.
"You damn brat! You destroyed one of my hearts! I'll tear yours out!"
His hands blurred into seals.
"Fire Release: Searing Migraine!"
"Lightning Release: False Darkness!"
"Wind Release: Pressure Damage!"
Three elements erupted in unison, weaving together into a compound jutsu. The destructive force it radiated was overwhelming—reminiscent of Jiraiya's Goemon.
Of course, its power didn't reach that level—after all, Goemon was a Sage Art combining the strength of two Toad Sages with Jiraiya's own senjutsu chakra.
Still, even if it fell short, the combined technique was lethal enough to threaten Rokuro.
He used Body Flicker to retreat, but the composite jutsu surged after him with astonishing speed.
Rokuro drew his last special kunai—the one engraved with the seal for the Flying Thunder God Technique.
He threw it—but before it could land, Kakuzu's water clone lunged forward and fired a Water Cannon, striking the kunai midair and blasting it into the heart of the explosion.
"Brat! You think the same trick will work twice? You're dead! No one survives my full-power attack!"
The combined elemental storm surrounded Rokuro completely. Unless he could teleport—or fly—there was nowhere left to run.
At that critical moment, Rokuro raised his left hand.
[Shinra Tensei]
BOOM!
A thunderous blast ripped through the mountain peak. The compound jutsu of fire, lightning, and wind was annihilated in an instant.
The summit of Mount Iwami caved inward, forming a fifty-meter-wide crater with Rokuro at its center.
Kakuzu was sent flying, rolling across the shattered ground nearly twenty times before crashing into a pile of rubble.
"What… what kind of jutsu is that!?"
Rokuro didn't bother explaining. He simply raised his left hand toward Kakuzu again, fingers curling slightly.
[Banshō Ten'in]
Before Kakuzu could react, his body was pulled helplessly through the air—dragged toward Rokuro as though seized by an invisible force.
Terror filled his eyes; he couldn't move, couldn't resist. It felt as if a giant unseen hand was gripping his entire body.
Lightning flared once more. Rokuro raised his right hand, fingers pressed together into a blade as blinding thunder gathered along its edge.
Just as their bodies were about to collide, Kakuzu's water clone dove between them, taking the strike.
With a sharp slicing sound, the water mask shattered—and Kakuzu regained control of his body.
"If I'm going to die, then I'm taking you with me!"
He charged in close, unleashing another tri-elemental blast at point-blank range.
At that distance, only space-time techniques like Kamui—or the Flying Thunder God—could possibly evade it.
But Rokuro didn't need to dodge.
[Shinra Tensei]
END OF CHAPTER
35 CHAPTERS AHEAD!!
Forbidden Java Jutsu - MrBehringer's Secret
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