"Gentlemen, could you take this outside? It's not easy doing business here, you know?" the old man interjected nervously. If they started fighting here, the exchange would be instantly obliterated.
Kakuzu, hearing this, sealed up the corpse he'd brought to exchange and strode outside, unafraid of a sneak attack from Gusion. "Let's talk outside."
Gusion didn't mind—he didn't want to destroy the exchange either, as he'd need it for future quests.
The manager watched them leave and breathed a sigh of relief.
But the moment they turned the corner and were out of sight, a massive explosion and intense shockwave rattled the area.
"Wind Style: Pressure Damage!"
Kakuzu didn't immediately enter his Earth Grudge Fear mode; he attacked in his normal state, using Wind Style. He'd heard Disaster was a powerful Lightning Release kekkei genkai user, so he tested with Wind.
Kakuzu's chakra was substantial, and his jutsu's power was immense. The gale felled trees like a scythe, the wide blast sweeping toward Gusion.
Gusion jumped back, lightning spreading like a web, turning into a giant net that fell toward Kakuzu.
Kakuzu saw Gusion's speed and knew this level of wind jutsu wouldn't hit him directly. Gusion's lightning style wasn't stopped at all, descending on his position.
And, unlike the usual lightning style in the ninja world, Gusion's lightning was like natural lightnin, almost instantaneous from casting to impact.
If not for Kakuzu's experience and preemptive use of the Body Replacement Technique, he'd have been fried on the spot.
Even this brief exchange made Kakuzu realize that Disaster was a troublesome opponent. This sixty million wouldn't be easy.
He'd killed many lightning-style users, even possessed a powerful lightning-style heart. But most lightning users fell into two types.
One type, like the Raikage, used lightning to stimulate their bodies, giving them extreme speed and power for taijutsu. He'd heard Copy Ninja Kakashi had a similar technique. This was rare, but Kakuzu had defeated such opponents.
The other type used conventional lightning jutsu: converting chakra to lightning and attacking with it. Since these were ninjutsu, the lightning could be shaped and its path controlled—limiting its speed.
For example, his own Lightning Style: False Darkness, fired sharp lightning spears from the Earth Grudge Fear's mask mouth. These were tangible, their path controlled, and thus slower.
So, in fact, externalized lightning jutsu weren't that fast. From forming to hitting the enemy, there was always some travel time.
In summary, the Raikage-style chakra mode was even faster than most externalized lightning techniques.
But Gusion's case was different. From appearance to impact, his lightning was almost instantaneous. Kakuzu could only evade by predicting where Gusion would strike.
"You kids these days are terrifyingly strong," Kakuzu sighed. But he hadn't given up on that sixty million bounty—he'd only been saying hello.
"You're with Akatsuki, right? Judging by your outfit—Takigakure rogue-nin? The underground rumor is, you even tried to assassinate the First Hokage?"
Gusion asked, interested.
"Heh, didn't expect you to know that. I did fight your village's First Hokage," Kakuzu said, a note of pride in his concealed face. "But you're too young."
As he spoke, his Earth Grudge Fear hearts emerged from behind, unnoticed by Gusion. When he finished, four black-stitched masked monsters rose from the ground, encircling Gusion.
Three masks, black threads writhing like tentacles, empty eyeholes staring at Gusion. They stood in a triangle, with Kakuzu himself forming a four-cornered encirclement.
Kakuzu said Gusion was "young" because he dared to chat mid-fight. His casual sigh was just a distraction.
"Interesting secret technique—but you think these toys are enough to fight the First Hokage?" Gusion said playfully. Of course, he'd noticed Kakuzu's trick—his Observation Haki and sense of electric currents made everything in hundreds of meters clear.
But he didn't stop Kakuzu from using Earth Grudge Fear. He wanted to see what Kakuzu could do with his little toys.
From the original work, he thought Kakuzu was pretty weak. Earth Grudge Fear could surprise those who didn't understand it, but against anyone with strong analysis or raw power, Kakuzu would be easily defeated.
Those five hearts were just too weak. In a fair fight, even the Raikage could probably kill Kakuzu five times in an instant...
"You kids sure have big mouths," Kakuzu said coldly. Besides his earth (main) and retained lightning hearts, each Earth Grudge Fear mask unleashed jutsu.
Wind Style: Pressure Damage!
Fire Style: Head Hardening Jutsu!
Water Style: Water Curtain!
He wasn't a rookie—he'd done his homework on Gusion and wouldn't attack directly with external lightning jutsu.
He kept the lightning heart in his body, as insurance—if he couldn't dodge Gusion's lightning, he could counter with his own.
The other three hearts took the offensive, surrounding Gusion for an all-out attack. If Gusion couldn't break this, Kakuzu could just take his bounty and report back.
Boom—
Wind fanned flames, merging the Pressure Damage and Head Hardening into a new combo Firestorm, blasting Gusion directly.
Simultaneously, the water clone sprayed high-pressure water for follow-up suppression.
By his senses, Kakuzu was sure his ambush had succeeded; Gusion hadn't dodged, and all the water blasts hit.
He felt pleased but disappointed. "Still too young—far inferior to your First Hokage."
But then, from the smoke, a voice replied, "Is that so? I doubt you really fought the First Hokage. Maybe you just threw a shuriken at him from 800 meters away?"
Hearing the calm voice, Kakuzu instinctively leaped back, pulling his clones with him to increase the distance.
But to his annoyance, Gusion didn't attack—he waited for the smoke to clear, just standing there, aura farming.
Gusion dusted himself off. "All that flash and no substance. Go ahead, show me more. Is this all the 'Warring States-era ninja' have?"
Kakuzu's face turned ashen, shocked and angry. He was sure his ninjutsu had hit Gusion—but Gusion was completely unharmed! How?
He'd seen tough ninja before. In 80+ years, he'd encountered all kinds of kekkei genkai, but Gusion was a lightning user—not a defensive type.
And his jutsu was far above a typical jonin's. Even Hashirama couldn't just tank it, could he?
Gusion stepped out of the smoke and flames. Honestly, Kakuzu's jutsu was disappointing—he'd hoped for a real fight.
Kakuzu's power was too spread out, with no finishing moves. With all five hearts together, his mental stats barely hit 70; if he'd unleashed a massive combo, Gusion might have dodged.
But split up, each clone's mental stat was just over 60—strong for a jonin, but barely elite jonin level. Such attacks, Gusion didn't even bother dodging.
With his Armament Haki and two defensive items, he barely felt it.
"Bastard, how did you do that?" Kakuzu asked, quietly reabsorbing his clones.
"No secret. Your jutsu is just too weak," Gusion grinned. "I respect older people, so I let you go first. Now… my turn?"
Seeing Gusion's smile, Kakuzu—despite his eighty years—felt a chill down his spine. He realized this opponent was a terrible match for him.
His earth heart was weak to lightning; his usual multi-directional attacks were wasted on Gusion, who could dodge effortlessly.
In a chakra battle, he'd likely lose.
Even worse, as Gusion drew his ninja sword, his "chakra" surged, as if he were transforming.
"Wait!" Kakuzu raised his hand to stop Gusion's charge.
But Gusion didn't pause—he used Shunpo, instantly closing the gap.
Kakuzu, seeing Gusion unresponsive, summoned his wind, fire, and lightning masks to his right arm, unleashing the ultimate combo: Earth Grudge Fear: Final Shot!
Boom—
To Kakuzu's surprise, Gusion didn't dodge or stop his charge, taking the blast head-on.
But his Final Shot didn't kill Gusion, only striking an invisible barrier.
Even worse, Gusion was now just three meters away. The reflected blast spread fire and wind back toward Kakuzu.
At the same time, Gusion slashed diagonally with his sword.
It was as if the blade sliced through the air itself. Dozens of trees fell in a wide arc.
Kakuzu himself lost half his body, his right arm—just used to fire his attack—falling away.
Then, lightning flashed from Gusion's body, spearing Kakuzu's three hearts in the severed arm and several more at his main body.