The rough voice faded, and a figure slowly stepped out from behind the tree.
Black cloak. Half his face hidden behind a dark mask. Eerie green eyes, cold and flat, stared straight at Uchiha Sogetsu.
Kakuzu folded his arms across his chest, chin lifting a fraction as he waited.
Waited for that expression.
Shock. Awe. The moment the other side realized just who was standing in front of them.
This routine had worked for decades.
Especially on Konoha ninja.
After all, the First Hokage was the legend of the age. The man who ended the Warring States, divided the Tailed Beasts, created the very idea of "hidden villages." Every shinobi raised in Konoha grew up on stories of Senju Hashirama.
And he, Kakuzu, was a man who had fought the First Hokage.
Just that identity was enough to scare most people half to death.
But the expression he expected never showed up.
No shock. No awe.
Sogetsu's mouth even twitched—just barely. And in his eyes, Kakuzu saw it clearly:
Contempt.
Kakuzu's face froze.
A vein throbbed at the corner of his eye.
"Arrogant little Uchiha brat," he ground out. "Did you not hear what I said… or are you implying I'm lying?"
Trying to salvage his pride, he grabbed the front of his cloak and yanked it open.
Underneath, his torso looked like it had been stitched together from several corpses—skin crisscrossed with thick black seams, each one neatly sewn like the work of a lunatic tailor.
"Heh. Then let this old man… show you the proof."
Kakuzu sneered, cruel and self-satisfied.
"Your head is worth eighty million ryō. I suppose that barely qualifies you to see this jutsu of mine."
Boom, boom.
Boom, boom.
His hearts thundered in his chest, the sound echoing in his ears.
The flesh on his back began to bulge, as if something inside were swelling and forcing its way out. Four masks, each with a different pattern, warped his skin and then tore free with a wet rip.
Tar-black threads spilled out around them.
Those viscous, oily masses splattered onto the ground, writhed like nests of worms, then slowly rose into four hunched, bestial shapes—each topped with one of Kakuzu's masks.
"Consider it an honor to die by this technique," Kakuzu said proudly. "To date, the only man who's seen it and lived… is your First Hokage, Senju Hashirama."
"Yeah, I'm going to stop you right there."
Sogetsu's brows drew together. He'd already been in a foul mood; his tolerance for long monologues was nonexistent.
"When you say you 'fought' the First Hokage," he asked blandly, "you mean that time you threw a shuriken at him from eight hundred meters away?"
"…"
Kakuzu's eye twitched.
The long-prepared brag jammed in his throat like a bone.
"I honestly can't figure it out," Sogetsu went on, expression full of mild, polite disgust. "So do me a favor and explain something."
He gestured lazily at the four stitched-up creatures.
"With only this level of strength, how are you still alive?"
"Looking at these scraps, I'm struggling to picture it. Even one of Hashirama's wood clones could probably kick you around."
Stab. Stab. Stab.
It felt like someone had jammed a handful of kunai straight into Kakuzu's heart.
His face flushed red; veins bulged at his temples.
Lies don't hurt half as much as truth.
And this truth had just ripped the fig leaf right off him.
"You insolent brat…!"
Shame boiled over into rage.
"The more that sharp mouth of yours runs, the clearer it is you don't understand how big this world is," Kakuzu snarled. His green eyes narrowed into slits. "Fine. Let me broaden your horizons."
His fingers blurred into a cross-shaped Ram seal.
The four mask-beasts around him convulsed as if struck by lightning, then surged forward with shocking speed. Their masks split open.
"Wind Release: Pressure Damage!"
"Lightning Release: False Darkness!"
"Fire Release: Head Hunter!"
"Water Release: Violent Water Wave!"
Four different chakra natures condensed in their throats.
Then the world roared.
Wind, lightning, fire, and water exploded out in a single howling torrent—like four natural disasters fused into one. The storm slammed into Sogetsu, swallowing his figure whole.
Air shrieked. The forest shook.
A gouge tens of meters wide and nearly a hundred meters long carved itself into the earth, trees and soil torn up like paper. Opposing elements crashed and reacted in a chain: heat and steam flared, lightning crackled, flames scattered, water vapor detonated.
In seconds, the air temperature jumped by dozens of degrees. Steam and smoke rolled together into a boiling white haze.
"Heh."
Kakuzu let out a slow breath, though his eyes stung as they swept the ruined forest. That kind of devastation wasn't cheap.
"The more arrogant they are," he said, "the less substance they have."
His tone was light. His face looked like he'd just watched someone set fire to a pile of money.
"Seems Uchiha Sogetsu's head wasn't worth eighty million after all."
The words had barely left his mouth when—
"Four-nature chakra fusion, huh," a calm voice remarked.
Kakuzu's heart seized.
Sogetsu stepped out from behind him, completely unscathed, hands tucked casually into his pockets.
"Not bad," he said, glancing at the smoking trench. "Decent power. Accuracy could use work, though. Next time, remember to actually look at what you're shooting at."
"…What?!"
Kakuzu's back went cold.
He sprang away like a startled cat, retreating several dozen meters before he dared stop. His green eyes were wide with disbelief.
"You didn't move," he rasped. "Not once. My Earth Grudge Fear never sensed you… so when did you get behind me?"
Those masks weren't just weapons—they were extra senses. His perception should've covered everything within the blast radius.
Yet from beginning to end, he'd never felt Sogetsu approach at all.
If Sogetsu had actually aimed to kill just now, at that distance…
At least one of his hearts would be gone.
"I don't know what trick you used to dodge my detection," Kakuzu said slowly.
Black chakra surged through his meridians as he formed another Ram seal.
"But that was your last chance. I won't let you near me again."
Dark armor crawled across his skin, a hard, blackened shell of earth-nature chakra coating his entire body.
The black market intel had been clear: Uchiha Sogetsu favored taijutsu and genjutsu, backed by extremely fast Body Flicker.
Against him, though?
Genjutsu was useless.
His hearts could disrupt his chakra flow from outside his brain, breaking illusions in an instant.
And in a long-range fight?
That was where he shined.
In the space of a heartbeat, Kakuzu had laid out a complete, "airtight" battle plan in his head.
The four mask-beasts screamed back to his side.
Every seam on his arms and torso split open. Bundles of black thread spewed from his mouth and back, tangling and knitting together, thickening his outline into something monstrous. Tentacle-like cords whipped and writhed all around him.
"Earth Grudge Fear — Full Mode!"
When Kakuzu went serious, he left no room for contempt. He intended to start from his peak.
"You know," Sogetsu said mildly, raising a hand to adjust glasses he wasn't even wearing anymore, "I've met a lot of people with severe mental illness like yours."
His Sharingan rippled faintly.
"Hypnosis."
Kakuzu froze.
Every muscle locked. The mass of tentacles gave a single violent shudder and then went stiff.
Sogetsu walked toward him at an unhurried pace, shaking his head.
"I did try to warn you," he sighed. "I said I was in a bad mood today. Why did you have to pick now to bother me?"
Can't… move?!
Realization arrived half a second too late.
"The hearts might be under your control," Sogetsu went on, red eyes half-lidded, "but spiritually speaking, they're still simple creatures."
"To put it simply, my pathway hard-counters them."
He didn't even have to reach for any advanced arcana.
A simple, gentle mental tap—like a god knocking on the glass of an aquarium—and all four Earth Grudge hearts had curled up, cowed by a fear they couldn't name.
"W–wait!"
Raw panic finally broke through Kakuzu's paralysis, spilling out of his mouth.
"I was wrong! I yield! I'll serve you!"
The words tumbled over each other, frantic.
"I know plenty of secrets! More than you can imagine! I can be useful to you!"
"Oh?"
Sogetsu had closed the distance now, looking him over like a piece of merchandise.
"But you're already more useful to me dead."
Steel flashed.
He drew his hand across Kakuzu's neck.
"Remember," Sogetsu added, voice still light, "to be more careful in your next life."
Kakuzu's world lurched and spun.
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