Kakuzu was a mess — bleeding, staggering, still refusing to fall.
I could admit it: a little part of me respected the bastard.
But he'd still killed Kagenami Akito. And my Anbu weren't about to let that slide.
I was just deciding whether to kill him outright when a surge of chakra flashed across my senses.
Huge.
Wild.
Ancient.
A Tailed Beast.
I lifted my head.
"So it finally shows itself."
To anyone else it would've felt like a distant breeze.
But to me — with my Sage-enhanced perception — it was a beacon screaming across the mountains.
"Anbu!" I called out quietly. "Target confirmed. We're moving."
Before they could respond, I flickered across the battlefield and appeared right beside Kakuzu. His pupils shrank hard.
"W–wait—"
I grabbed him by the throat.
"You're lucky. Today, I only strike you once. If you survive, crawl away and live. If you don't…"
I shrugged. "Then die."
My right eye burned purple.
"Tsukuyomi."
The world snapped.
One Strike of the Moon
Inside the Tsukuyomi realm, Kakuzu was nailed to a wooden cross beneath a crimson moon.
Figures emerged from the shadows — hundreds of them — each holding a blade.
They stabbed him.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Kakuzu screamed until his voice cracked, but Tsukuyomi didn't let him faint.
It forced him to stay awake.
To feel everything.
In the real world, I tossed his body aside, turned, and walked toward the mountains.
He wasn't worth another second of attention.
The Worm Survives
Ten minutes after I left, Kakuzu's eyes flickered open.
He convulsed on the ground like a dying beetle. The mental damage alone was enough to ruin a lesser man for life.
But he remembered my warning:
One chance. Don't still be here when I return.
And terror worked miracles.
Shaking like a newborn deer, he dragged himself across the dirt — crawling on elbows and chin, inch by pathetic inch — until the forest swallowed him whole.
Whether he lived or died afterward… I didn't care.
I had bigger prey to hunt.
The Valley
My Sage Mode perception made tracking the chakra easy.
Anbu had searched the mountains for a week and found nothing.
I found the exact spot in one day.
We stopped at a quiet valley, sheer cliffs circling us like a stone arena.
"This is it."
A massive chakra pulse throbbed beneath the earth, shifting like a creature holding its breath.
I stepped forward alone.
"Stay back. If you fight a Tailed Beast as you are, you'll die."
The Anbu swallowed their frustration and obeyed. Their job was to support me, not commit suicide.
I walked into the valley.
Silence.
Not a twig snapped.
Not a leaf moved.
A place like this should've been crawling with birds and insects.
Instead, it was dead quiet.
"As expected of the Seven-Tails," I said softly. "Your disguises are annoying."
The earth shivered.
Clay cracked.
A shape burst from the ground — massive wings, long body, a tail splitting into seven jagged appendages. Its screech rippled the air like a shockwave.
The Seven-Tails, Chōmei, had arrived.
First Clash
Its roar hit like a hammer of sound.
I didn't even blink.
"Sound tricks won't work on me."
The beast dove at me, wings slashing the wind to ribbons.
I raised one hand.
"Shinra Tensei."
Repulsion blasted outward.
Chōmei slammed into the invisible wall, then shot backward, smashing into the cliff with a thunderous crack.
Dust rained from above.
"Human!" it hissed, voice buzzing like a swarm of hornets. "You dare—!"
Its wings beat once.
Chakra exploded off its body in a violent torrent, shredding boulders into dust.
Then it charged again, body compressed into a living spear.
The ground split open behind its path.
To Chōmei's eyes, I probably looked like I was mocking it — standing still, watching, bored.
Tailed Beasts hate that.
It roared in fury, claws raised, shadow swallowing my position.
"Die!"
The impact detonated the valley floor.
Smoke mushroomed upward.
Even the Anbu watching from afar flinched at the shockwave.
Chōmei exhaled in triumph.
"That is what happens to humans who—"
The smoke twisted.
Cold chakra surged upward.
Chōmei froze.
A second later, an unseen force slammed into its abdomen and hurled it across the valley like a rag doll. It crashed against the far wall with a scream.
I walked out of the smoke.
My chakra burned crimson around me.
"You've got some bite. Good."
From the red blaze behind me, a titanic figure rose.
A complete-body Susanoo.
Armor gleaming.
Eyes glowing.
Towering over the valley like a god of war.
I looked up at the flailing Tailed Beast.
"In that case," I murmured, "I'll play with you properly."
The Susanoo's hand tightened into a fist.
This hunt had just begun.