"You deserve to die!"
Seeing the mask monster killed, Kakuzu's face darkened.
Each mask monster represented a life with the death of this one, he lost another life.
"Wind Release: Pressuring Gale."
Under his control, the mask monster in front opened its mouth, unleashing a swirling sphere of raging wind.
It was like a ball made of countless high-speed rotating blades, hurtling toward Uchiha Fugaku.
"Do you really think such a jutsu can break through Susanoo's defense?"
Enveloped within the black Susanoo, an eerie cold aura radiated from Fugaku.
As the spinning wind sphere approached, Susanoo's massive, millstone-like hand shot out and caught it effortlessly.
Cling, cling, cling!
The wind sphere spun rapidly in his hand, attempting to slice through the giant limb.
But Susanoo's hand, though not metal, was several times harder than steel.
Despite the cutting, the hand remained unscathed — only crisp sounds of impact echoed.
Pfft!
With a slight squeeze, Susanoo's hand crushed the wind sphere completely, scattering it into nothingness.
Its other hand immediately shot out, aiming to grab the mask monster that cast the Wind Release.
"Retreat!"
Already on alert, Kakuzu forced the mask monster to pull back quickly, moving beyond Susanoo's reach.
His remaining hearts were few — he couldn't afford to let Fugaku keep destroying him like this.
If this continued, his fate would be grim today.
"Think you can escape that easily?"
Fugaku let out a cold laugh. Susanoo's attacks weren't so simple to evade.
The giant hand, which had already extended to its limit, suddenly stretched even further forward —
over ten meters — seizing the fleeing Wind Release mask monster in one grasp.
Susanoo was formed from solidified chakra; by increasing chakra flow, its limbs could extend beyond their original range.
Not only that, it could even repair its damaged body.
Crack!
With a forceful squeeze, the mask monster was crushed to death.
Now only one mask monster remained.
"Damn it!"
With another loss, Kakuzu's expression grew extremely grim, his fear deepening.
Fugaku's strength was far beyond what he expected —
not only had he reached Kage-level power, but he had surpassed the typical standard for such a rank.
Even among the strongest foes Kakuzu had faced, Fugaku would rank third.
Though only third, that still testified to how terrifying Fugaku's power was.
To put it in perspective, the two ahead were Hashirama Senju — known as the God of Shinobi —
and the leader of Akatsuki, who possessed the legendary Rinnegan.
Whoosh!
At Kakuzu's command, the last Lightning mask monster quickly flew back, merging into his body.
It transformed into a skull appearing on his left shoulder.
"Water Release: Water Formation Pillar."
"Lightning Release: False Darkness."
Kakuzu's real body unleashed a Water Release technique, forming a powerful water pillar with a strong impact force.
The remaining Lightning mask monster infused lightning into the water pillar, making it flash with electric sparks as it charged at Fugaku.
A combined ninjutsu!
Two elemental jutsus merged, their power more than doubled — far stronger than a single element alone. It was Kakuzu's trump card.
"An interesting jutsu... but you really think you can counter Susanoo with that? Futile."
Fugaku's face was cold.
Susanoo's giant hand extended like a massive millstone, smashing down against the electrified water pillar.
Pfft!
The lightning water pillar shattered instantly, while Susanoo's hand remained perfectly intact.
Just as Fugaku said, a mere combined jutsu couldn't break Susanoo's defense.
Only a Kekkei Genkai-level jutsu might stand a chance.
"Still no good?"
Kakuzu's face darkened as he watched his combined attack get effortlessly destroyed.
An intense fear crept into his eyes.
Even his strongest jutsu couldn't harm this black skeletal monster — let alone Fugaku, protected within it.
This was no longer prey he could hunt — retreat filled his heart.
"Water Release: Water Formation Pillar."
"Lightning Release: False Darkness."
He launched the combined ninjutsu again toward Fugaku — but swiftly turned and fled.
"Trying to run?"
Fugaku sneered.
One of Susanoo's giant hands smashed the incoming water pillar to bits,
while the other stretched forward, slamming toward the fleeing Kakuzu.
"No good!"
A roaring sound came from behind as Kakuzu suddenly stopped in his tracks and hurriedly backed up.
At that moment, Susanoo's giant hand slammed down exactly where Kakuzu had stood.
Boom!
A massive palm imprint cracked the ground, radiating fissures from its center.
If Kakuzu hadn't stopped and dodged backward, he would've been smashed into a bloody pulp.
But the danger was far from over.
The hand that crushed the lightning water pillar extended again, slamming down where Kakuzu now stood.
Boom!
Another huge palm imprint cracked the earth.
He narrowly dodged once again, but the shockwave's powerful gust nearly knocked him off balance.
As a Kage-level shinobi, Kakuzu had excellent body control, quickly regaining his footing.
Yet even in that brief moment, Susanoo's first hand swung toward him once more.
Boom!
Pushing off with his feet, Kakuzu leapt into the air, narrowly avoiding the sweeping blow.
But inside, a deep unease grew.
Suspended midair, with nothing to brace against, he was in a precarious position.
Just as he jumped, the other giant hand lunged upward, aiming to grab him.
He knew jumping was risky — but it was the only way to dodge the sweeping hand.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Black tendrils burst from Kakuzu's body, wrapping around a tree over ten meters away, then tightening rapidly.
With the tendrils' pull, his body swung sideways midair, narrowly evading the grabbing hand.
The close call made cold sweat pour down his body involuntarily.
"Strong will to survive... but it ends here!"
Fugaku's eyes were icy, the Mangekyō Sharingan spinning furiously as he increased chakra flow into Susanoo.
Boom!
From Susanoo's shoulder, a third massive black hand sprouted and shot toward Kakuzu in the tree.
Caught off guard by the sudden new hand, Kakuzu couldn't dodge in time.
Crack!
The hand grabbed both Kakuzu and the tree, crushing the wood while tightly restraining him.