Boom! Boom!
In the depths of a once-tranquil forest, the dull thud of bodies colliding echoed continuously. Two figures moved at such high speed that they left afterimages, chasing, clashing, separating, and clashing again among the dense trees and bushes. Each collision sent out a shockwave, tearing up and scattering leaves, dirt, and branches as the trees groaned under the strain.
In the next moment, the two figures—one large and one small—punched each other in the chest at almost the same time.
Thump!!
A mighty sound, like a great bell ringing or metal clashing, erupted, and the piercing sound waves caused the surrounding trees to shake violently. The immense recoil sent both figures flying backward.
Crack! Rumble!
Another deafening crash sounded as several giant trees, so large that it would take two people to embrace them, were struck hard by the two figures. The thick trunks snapped, and with a tearing sound, they crashed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust and wood chips.
As the smoke cleared, the two figures stood up and slowly walked out. One was tall and imposing, with a bare torso and gnarled muscles covered in gruesome-looking stitches. His skin was a rocky gray-brown.
Earth Release: Earth Spear.
Kakuzu raised his hand and patted his chest where he had been hit. Some broken stone chips rattled down as his emerald green eyes watched the figure in the distance.
"Good defense, and speed too. A pity…" Kakuzu raised his arm, his fingers opening and closing, his voice filled with disdain and sarcasm. "Your strength and technique are far inferior to mine."
"It seems all your flashy abilities were forcibly stolen from others with the Chimera Technique, just as the intelligence reports suggested. Hmph, you're all flash and no substance."
In the distance, Hiruko's clothes were also in tatters, revealing his slender body wrapped in bandages and skin with a metallic, silvery-gray sheen. Although his defenses and speed were superior to Kakuzu's thanks to his Steel and Swift Release, his breathing was noticeably more labored, and a trail of blood stained his lips. With just the Steel and Swift Releases he currently possessed, he couldn't create a significant gap between himself and Kakuzu, and the old man's technique and experience crushed him.
"Hmph!"
Hiruko's face was grim as he looked at the distant Kakuzu, his cold voice cutting through the air as he watched the grotesque stitches and constantly squirming black threads. "And you have the right to talk about me?"
The "Chimera Technique" and the "Earth Grudge Fear" they both possessed shared similarities in their principles of plundering and body modification. One transformed the internal body into the "black threads" of the Earth Grudge Fear, while the other transformed the interior into the "black water" of the Chimera Technique. However, the Earth Grudge Fear was still at the level of organ transplantation, while the Chimera Technique had clearly reached the cellular level of fusion.
But this did not mean that the Chimera Technique was more advanced than the Earth Grudge Fear. This was because the Chimera Technique required a special ritual for fusion and couldn't be instantly plundered or peeled off and replaced like the Earth Grudge Fear. So in a sense, the two could even complement each other.
"If only I could merge the two jutsus…"
As a ninja with a talent for developing new jutsus, Hiruko immediately saw a few of the secrets of Kakuzu's "Earth Grudge Fear," and this idea involuntarily formed in his mind. He felt as if he was on the verge of discovering something.
But he could only think about it.
This guy, known as the "Immortal," had suddenly appeared and inexplicably asked him to join some "Akatsuki" organization. What a joke.
Where did this guy even get my information?
He had gotten his inspiration from the "Hollows," and his experiments were at a crucial breakthrough point. How could he possibly join some random organization?
"Hmph, you talk a big game," Kakuzu said, clearly not sharing a similar thought. "If you don't join the Akatsuki, I'll just have to put you to good use and collect your bounty. An S-rank missing-nin's body is worth a lot of money!"
With that, he stomped on the ground and charged at Hiruko again, forming a hand seal to use a Lightning Release jutsu.
A fierce glint flashed in Hiruko's eyes. He didn't retreat. Instead, he leaned forward slightly and snapped his arms out.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The white bandages wrapped around his arms shot out like living snakes, hardened by the Steel Release and glinting with a cold metallic light. The sharp, spear-like tips of the bandages pierced through the air and thrust toward Kakuzu's vitals: his eyes, throat, and heart.
Seeing this, Kakuzu let out a cold snort and didn't slow his charge. He simply snapped his arms.
Pfft!
Countless viscous, wriggling black threads from the Earth Grudge Fear gushed out of the stitches on his shoulders, arms, and back, meeting the incoming steel-hardened bandages!
Clang! Dang, dang!
A dense rain of metallic clanging instantly erupted, sending sparks flying! The toughness and flexibility of the black threads were not inferior to the steel-hardened bandages. They coiled, blocked, and pierced, neutralizing all the attacks and even coiling back along the bandages toward Hiruko!
Hiruko's face instantly changed. Relying on the speed of his Swift Release, his body shot backward like a phantom. He raised his hand and bit his finger.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
With a low growl, Hiruko slammed his palm onto the ground, and a huge puff of white smoke erupted. The smoke filled the air.
Immediately after, a sharp, ear-piercing cry of a bird, full of ferocity, echoed through the forest. The white smoke quickly dissipated, and a massive, bizarre-looking bird appeared in front of Hiruko! Its appearance was more like a moth than a bird. Its wings and abdomen were covered in stitches. Its head, with no beak, was grotesque, with only a pair of scarlet eyes visible. The most striking feature was its huge wings.
"Chirp!!"
Hiruko leaped onto the bird's back, and the strange bird let out a shriek. It flapped its wings, stirring up a gust of wind, and instantly broke free of the black threads, flying into the sky.
"Bastard, let me give you a taste of this before I go!"
Hiruko stood on the bird's head, looking down at Kakuzu below. He laughed maniacally and waved his hand.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!!
The strange bird's huge wings flapped downward, and countless feathers shot out like arrows, raining down on Kakuzu below! The feathers were extremely fast and covered a wide area. They were densely embedded in the ground, trees, and rocks around Kakuzu.
Kakuzu didn't hesitate to form a hand seal, and his body was instantly covered by "Earth Release: Earth Spear." He raised his arms to block the feathers. At the same time, he formed hand seals with both hands again, and two masked monsters emerged from his back.
However, just as he was about to use a jutsu, those feathers suddenly exploded with a blinding white light.
Boom! Boom, boom!!
A deafening series of explosions sounded, like countless explosive tags detonating at once! Violent flames and light shot into the sky, dyeing it a layer of orange-red, and the resulting shockwaves spread wildly in all directions.
Large swaths of trees were blown apart, the surrounding solid rocks were reduced to powder, and the ground was blasted into one charred, bottomless pit after another! Thick smoke, mixed with the acrid smell of burning wood, consumed the entire area.
Hiruko stood on the strange bird's head, looking at the area below that was swallowed by fire and smoke. A satisfied smile curved on his lips. He didn't believe that Kakuzu could be unharmed by this level of saturation bombing.
However, before he could say something sarcastic, a cold, infinitely malicious aura suddenly surged out, instantly dropping the temperature of the surrounding air to below freezing.
"This aura…"
The smile on Hiruko's face froze. The strange bird beneath him also felt a great threat and let out an uneasy shriek, instinctively flapping its wings to climb higher.
But it was too late.
Whoosh!!
A claw tore through the churning smoke and grabbed the bird's foot. Below, a massive silhouette slowly emerged from the churning smoke and sea of fire. It was an extremely bizarre, horrifying monster. It was pitch black all over, and its body wasn't smooth, but covered in a layer of black feathers. What was most shocking was its form. It had no head, no eyes, no nose, no ears. Instead, a grotesque giant mouth was split open in the center of its broad chest.
A long, spine-like waist connected to a lower body that was also covered in black feathers and resembled a giant bird's claw.
This was the ultimate monster birthed from the "Box of Ultimate Bliss."
—"Satori"!
At this moment, "Satori" was slightly hunched over, its massive body and huge black wings folded inward, covering a relatively intact area below. And under the protection of those wings, Kakuzu stood there, completely unharmed. The devastating explosion had not damaged him in the slightest; even the ground beneath his feet was relatively flat and intact.
"How is that possible?" Hiruko's pupils shrank. "What the hell is that?"
Just then, "Satori" opened its giant mouth. The inside of the mouth was a bottomless darkness, as if it connected to another world. A figure also wearing a black cloak with red clouds slowly walked out of the bottomless mouth. It was Mui, the former lord of Hozuki Castle and Kakuzu's current partner. He covered his mouth and nose, seemingly uncomfortable with the environment inside "Satori's" mouth. His gaze first swept over Kakuzu to confirm he was safe, then he looked at Hiruko in the air and frowned.
"Kakuzu, Lord Nagato said we should act together," Mui said. "That guy isn't so easy to deal with. Why didn't you wait for me?"
"Hmph! 'Kage' has always been mysterious and does things on a whim. He hasn't even officially joined the 'Akatsuki.' Who knows how long it would take to find him?"
"Besides, even if you didn't come, I could still kill him…"
Kakuzu's words abruptly stopped, and he immediately corrected himself. "I could still take him with me!"