Hizuki Style: Fire Tempering!
The tip of the blade erupted with absolute sharpness, carving a path straight through the sea of flames.
Sparks flashed in Shingetsu’s eyes as he locked onto Kakuzu’s position.
With a wave of his hand, a pitch-black chain shot out from his sleeve.
Whoosh—!!
The chain’s tip glinted purple, coated in poison.
Kakuzu tilted his head just in time.
The razor edge brushed past his ear, slicing off a few strands of hair.
In the same instant, Sakumo Hatake’s short sword slashed in from the other side, white lightning dancing along its blade.
Its sheer sharpness alone was enough to sting the eyes.
Kakuzu’s remaining hearts jolted at once.
Tentacles burst from beneath his feet, letting him barely avoid the strike.
His vision seemed to split beneath that white lightning, and even though it had not touched him, pain still prickled across his body.
This guy…
The White Fang Blade had not been forged by some famous master.
It was merely a ninja blade mixed with a small amount of chakra metal, far from the level of the Kusanagi Sword.
But in Sakumo’s hands, even a ninja known for his immortality felt the threat of death closing in.
“Konoha’s White Fang…
you’re going to become famous throughout the world…”
“You too, kid!”
Clang!!
Kakuzu raised his hand to block.
The crimson blade pierced through his tentacle-hardened palm, stopping only an inch from his throat.
Boom—!!
Kakuzu’s upper garment was torn to shreds as three massive tentacles shot out, splitting left and right to meet the two of them.
The huge tentacles looked as if they had been shoved into a meat grinder, rapidly worn away amid the flash of blades and steel.
Using that brief moment he had bought, Kakuzu slammed both hands hard against the ground.
“Earth Release: Earth Shore Return!”
Just as the two closed in again, a massive stone slab rose from the ground and blocked the space between them.
BOOM!!!!
Shingetsu shattered the slab with one punch.
But there was nothing behind it.
Kakuzu had leapt into midair, his hands forming seals at high speed.
Another blue mask had appeared on his shoulder, filling the gap left by the Wind Release mask.
The ninjutsu ended on the Boar seal.
It was Water Release!
“Water Release: Water Curtain!”
Whoosh!!!!
Like a flood bursting forth, a massive surge of water instantly engulfed the area.
Within the torrent, Shingetsu and Sakumo used broken logs to keep closing in, like two fish swimming against the current.
Both of them were close-combat ninjas.
Once a ninja like Kakuzu, who specialized in wide-area ninjutsu attacks, managed to put distance between them, the battle would become extremely difficult.
Before one’s strength broke through its limits, the counter-relationships between ninjutsu, combat systems, and the natural environment were all key factors that could decide victory or defeat.
That was what made all-around ninjas like Hiruzen Sarutobi, Jiraiya, and Kakashi so exceptional.
No matter the opponent or environment, they could always produce the best response.
By then, Kakuzu’s next technique was ready.
A third white mask emerged from his back, cyan-blue electric arcs gathering in its mouth.
“Of course, that’s assuming you survive!”
“Lightning Release: False Darkness!!”
Crackle, crackle, crackle—CRACK!!!!
A massive spear of lightning tore through the air and struck the nearest stretch of water.
Blue-white electric arcs exploded across the surface, spreading toward the two of them at terrifying speed.
Combined Ninjutsu: Water-Lightning Chain!!
When a single person fused two or more chakra attributes inside their body, the new ninjutsu produced was known as a Kekkei Genkai.
A combination formed by multiple people or multiple techniques was called Combined Ninjutsu.
The two belonged to different categories of difficulty, but they shared one thing.
Overwhelming power!!
Shingetsu’s pupils contracted.
The instant he turned and met Sakumo’s eyes, they understood each other without a word.
It was too late to crouch down and leap away.
The electric arcs were spreading too quickly.
Once they were hit, paralysis was inevitable.
Against an enemy like Kakuzu, even one second of paralysis was enough to die several times over.
Whoosh, whoosh!!
Shingetsu threw the Hiki toward Sakumo, and Sakumo moved in perfect sync.
Slap!!
Shingetsu grabbed the hilt of the White Fang short sword, letting the blade’s momentum carry him into the air.
“So that works too…”
Watching the two of them break free from the sea of lightning and water like birds in flight, Kakuzu murmured.
Then…
A cruel smile spread across his stitch-covered face.
“Well then…
how do you dodge in midair?”
“Fire Release: Searing Migraine!”
It was not a fan-shaped blast.
Two scorching pillars of fire shot from the Fire Release mask.
Wherever the flames passed, even the moonlight was swallowed, and the entire night sky was dyed dark crimson.
Expressionless, Sakumo gripped the hilt of the Hiki and faced the pillars of flame head-on.
I can cut through them!
Just as he began channeling chakra, a sudden pull from the hilt made his body tilt sharply to one side.
The abrupt change in direction caused the pillar of fire aimed at him to miss, roaring away into the distant sky.
What was that?!
Looking down and seeing the steel wire tied to the hilt, Sakumo understood.
He hurriedly raised his head toward Shingetsu.
But he had not tied any steel wire to the White Fang short sword.
How was Shingetsu supposed to dodge?
No miracle occurred.
Shingetsu failed to avoid it.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!!!!
The pillar of fire slammed into its target, erupting into a massive explosion of flames.
“Shingetsu!!”
“So this is the so-called bond between comrades from the same village…
heh.”
Kakuzu’s voice was filled with mockery.
“For the sake of a more valuable person like you, that guy chose to sacrifice himself.
Quite the bargain.”
His voice returned to calm, as though he were not speaking about what had just happened before his eyes.
Sakumo could not sense Shingetsu’s chakra.
Or rather, aside from special Dōjutsu like the Byakugan, very few sensory ninjutsu could detect Shingetsu’s condition.
He did not think Shingetsu would die, but that strike would likely leave him severely injured.
The mission had failed.
He had to take Shingetsu and leave immediately!
Sakumo made his decision.
After landing on the water’s surface once the electric arcs faded, he sprinted toward the explosion, ready to catch Shingetsu.
The firelight gradually dimmed.
Boom—!!
A human figure actually broke through the flames and charged out.
His clothes were still burning, exposing large patches of scorched skin.
Red marks where the flames had swept over him covered his arms and face.
Kakuzu’s pupils shrank sharply, his smile freezing on his face.
How is that possible!!
There’s no way he had time to use a defensive ninjutsu!!
That was heat intense enough to melt rock!!
“Impossible!!”
After taking Fire Release: Searing Migraine directly, how could his burns only be this bad?!
Is this guy even human?!
“What…
exactly are you…?”
Shingetsu’s lips curled upward.
The burn marks made his smile look savage and terrifying.
“You ugly, inhuman freak.
Are you really in any position to ask me that?”
Kakuzu fell silent for a few seconds.
Then, as if he had figured something out, he suddenly laughed.
“I see now…”
“You really are an anomaly unlike anything I’ve ever seen!”
“It’s not that you don’t use ninjutsu.
You simply can’t use ninjutsu at all!!”
“My perception wasn’t wrong.
You really can’t project chakra outside your body!!”
The corner of his stitched mouth split wide.
No wonder.
An Uchiha with that much combat power lacking the Sharingan was strange enough, but how could he fail to use even a single Fire Release technique…
So that was it!
“And here I was, following the standard measures against Uchiha the entire time, avoiding eye contact with you.
What a waste.”
Kakuzu stared directly at Shingetsu, mocking him without restraint.
“Trading everything for physical strength far beyond ordinary humans…
to be born an Uchiha with a life like yours.
How truly tragic!”
“Is that so?”
Shingetsu smiled faintly, the crimson burn marks on his face seeming to surge toward his eye sockets.
“Then…”
“It’s your turn to lament your miserable fate, that you were never born an Uchiha.”
Scarlet light flared.
Sharingan…
Activate!!