Boom!
Before the smoke and flames could dissipate, a figure shot out from the thick smoke at the edge of the explosion.
It was Asuma.
He slammed heavily into a burning tree trunk, barely managing to stop himself.
A sweetness rose in his throat, and a trace of blood spilled from the corner of his lips.
His right arm, gripping the blade, trembled slightly, indicating he had suffered a fierce attack.
Just then, a muffled groan, suppressing pain, sounded from a distance.
It was Kurenai.
Kakuzu said, "I'll deal with you, the troublesome woman, first."
Kurenai had no time to retreat and was tightly entangled by Kakuzu's Earth Grudge Fear.
A cold, slimy tentacle, like an iron band, wrapped around her slender neck, constantly tightening.
Suffocation and intense pain made her face flush red. Her hands futilely clawed at the black tentacle around her neck, her crimson eyes widening in agony from lack of oxygen.
"Thirty-five million, plus a ninja who isn't worth much. Not a wasted trip."
Kakuzu stepped out of the smoke, a perfectly intact Earth Grudge Fear tentacle raised high. Its tip was sharp as a spear, gleaming with a cold, eerie light, aimed at Kurenai's defenseless, exposed heart.
"Kurenai!" Asuma shouted, rushing towards Kurenai with all his might.
Just a second before the black spear was about to pierce Kurenai's heart, a piercing shriek ripped through the air, like a silver flash tearing through space.
Pfft!
The black tentacle, which was about to pierce Kurenai's heart, was impaled by a blade wrapped in bone-chilling cold, slamming it into the ground.
Kakuzu sharply looked up, towards the direction of the attack.
A white-haired youth slowly walked over, his crimson Three-Tomoe Sharingan slowly rotating.
"I'm not too late, am I?"
"Sharingan?"
Kakuzu's hoarse voice carried a hint of surprise, followed by deeper greed.
His green eyes stared intently at Satoshi's rotating eyes. Kakuzu knew what this meant—a considerable income.
He even felt his Earth Grudge Fear squirm slightly in excitement.
His mind was already racing, calculating that selling this brat would not only compensate for Orochimaru's escape but also yield a huge profit.
He would kill a few more people when he returned, to commemorate this lucky day of stumbling upon a fat pig.
On the other side, Asuma propped up his scarred body.
"An Uchiha brat… Thank you."
He then cautioned Satoshi, "Be careful, Kakuzu is no ordinary ninja."
Satoshi grinned. "I know, Kakuzu, the old immortal who was scared witless by Hashirama-sama and barely escaped with his life."
[Kakuzu, whom big brother Hashirama spared back then, is now audacious enough to invade Konoha!]
[New mission: Eliminate Kakuzu completely]
"Arrogant!"
Kakuzu instantly turned red, as if his most painful memory had been poked.
That was Hashirama, the God of ninja, who handled Nine-Tails as easily as squeezing a chick.
If you don't like it, you go up against him.
Kakuzu glared fiercely at Satoshi. He would slowly torture this Uchiha brat who dared to speak nonsense to death.
"I'll kill you, you ignorant brat!"
Fire Release: Searing Migraine!
A more violent flame than what Asuma had encountered earlier surged towards Satoshi. Where the flames passed, the ground was scorched black and cracked, and trees instantly carbonized.
The terrifying high temperature made Asuma and Kurenai, from a distance, feel a stinging sensation on their skin.
The tomoe in Satoshi's eyes spun rapidly. He clapped his hands, and the Chakra within him surged out like a flood from an open dam.
Water Release: Water Formation Wall!
A huge, incredibly solid water wall instantly rose from the ground.
Rumble!
The violent flames crashed fiercely against the water wall, creating deafening "sizzling" sounds. Large plumes of white steam shot into the sky, instantly engulfing the entire battlefield, blurring visibility.
"An Uchiha brat, capable of using Water Release of this caliber?"
From within the dense fog, Kakuzu's hoarse voice sounded.
After a brief moment of surprise, he became even more excited.
Such strength at a young age, Water Release plus Sharingan—this time, it was a huge gain.
"What a delightful day."
Kakuzu's voice was filled with uncontrollable excitement, temporarily forgetting about Orochimaru's escape. His mind was only on mountains of cash.
The moment he was distracted, several faint red lights suddenly lit up on the ground beneath his feet.
"Hmm?"
Kakuzu looked down and saw that countless explosive tags had been silently affixed to the soil beneath his feet and the surrounding tree trunks at some unknown point.
"Art is an explosion!"
Boom... Boom... Boom...
A series of violent explosions instantly swallowed the spot where Kakuzu stood.
Flames shot into the sky, and intense shockwaves stirred up clouds of smoke.
"Did it work?" Asuma's heart tightened.
An explosion of this magnitude should be enough to blow him to bits, right?
However, the next moment, a hoarse laugh pierced through the aftermath of the explosion.
"There's no need to bring out such childish toys, is there?"
The smoke was blown away by a strong gust of wind, revealing Kakuzu's figure. He was covered in a layer of grayish-brown, cracked rock armor, which had withstood the explosive impact of the explosive tags. The armor was covered in scorched marks and cracks, but his main body seemed unharmed.
At the same time, on his other shoulder, a blue mask etched with lightning patterns emerged.
Lightning Release: False Darkness!
Blinding lightning condensed in the mask's mouth, and a thick, bluish-white lightning spear tore through the air, emitting a spine-chilling "sizzling" sound, shooting towards Satoshi at an extremely fast speed.
Just as the deadly lightning was about to touch Satoshi's body, his figure eerily vanished into thin air.
"What?!" Kakuzu's pupils constricted sharply.
He felt a fatal chill from behind him.
Flying Thunder God Slash.
Puff!
The sharp blade pierced the beating heart, revealing a blood-stained blade tip.
"What immortal ninja? Someone like you dares to challenge Hashirama-sama?"
Satoshi kicked Kakuzu's corpse away, shaking off the blood from his blade.
"Is it over?"
Asuma and Kurenai exchanged glances.
The battle started quickly and ended even faster. They hadn't even seen how Satoshi dodged the lightning or how he appeared behind Kakuzu.
Is this really an eleven-year-old kid?
"Regardless, thank you." Asuma lit a cigarette and took a deep drag.
"Take his body back to…"
Before he could finish, Asuma's pupils suddenly constricted, and the cigarette in his mouth almost fell out.
"Watch out!"
He witnessed the most unbelievable sight of his life. The corpse, whose heart had been pierced by a blade and then kicked away, had silently stood up.
From the gaps in the stitches, several black, inky tentacles emerged like poisonous snakes from their lair. With a sharp whistling sound, they lightning-fast struck Satoshi's defenseless back, just as he landed.
Satoshi seemed to have anticipated it, not even turning his head. He merely moved his finger seemingly casually.
When he reappeared, he was beside Kakuzu, who had just launched the sneak attack and was still in a stiff state.
"When did you get the impression that I didn't know you were still alive?"
His right hand was raised high, and vast, boundless Chakra furiously gathered and compressed.
Water Release: Hard Whirlpool Water Blade.