The wind, fire, and lightning masks attacked at once, spitting wind bullets, fireballs, and lightning in a torrential barrage.
Kokugetsu lifted both hands and unfurled the Absorption Seal. A thin, translucent veil appeared.
It looked fragile, but every attack that struck it lost its force, converted to pure chakra and swallowed away.
"So that's a ninjutsu absorption ability?" Kakuzu's pupils dilated.
"Ever heard of Dark Release?
"This is my long-hidden kekkei genkai. Any ninjutsu is nothing to me," Kokugetsu said, voice suddenly rising with unhidden pride.
"Dark Release? First I've heard of it."
"But I don't believe your absorption is infinite.
"Take my finisher. Try not to be blown to paste." Kakuzu grinned, barked the words, and the three masks surged to his right arm, forming a cannon. Wind, lightning, and fire chakra pooled, power building to a terrifying pitch.
It was a triple-nature strike that outmuscled combo and even compound techniques. Few in the world could stand against it.
Earth Grudge Fear: Final Shot.
A beam banded in pale blue, white-blue, and crimson-blue blasted forth, like a compact Tailed Beast Bomb, fit to split mountains and redraw the land.
It slammed into the translucent veil and was erased. Under a massive pull, the beam twisted out of shape and vanished.
"Thanks for the top-up. You just paid back all the chakra I spent.
"You're right—my ability has a ceiling. Your finisher didn't reach it," Kokugetsu said lightly.
Kakuzu staggered back, disbelief written on his face.
"Any other fresh tricks to entertain me? If not, it's my turn."
"You…"
"Don't underestimate me. Your ability doesn't work on taijutsu, does it?"
Kakuzu blinked, then laughed in fury. Experience and a fighter's mind reasserted themselves; backed to a wall, his will steadied.
"And so what?
"Taijutsu doesn't mean you win."
"I think I can beat you barehanded," Kokugetsu said, head tilted, tone airy.
"You really know how to make a man mad.
"Let's see whose taijutsu is better!"
He recalled the three masks, stamped hard—earth dented, dirt burst—and rocketed forward like a shell.
Kokugetsu stomped once and met him even faster, both fists coming up.
Finally took the bait. Worth the effort of using a technique best triggered from absolute stillness.
Earth Release: Earth Spear.
Kakuzu's eyes lit. His fists blackened, power enough to smash a high wall.
Clang—boom.
A jade-white small fist met a pitch-black large one. Air bucked and tore, a wild gust ripping out to every side, flinging up ash and grit.
It wasn't chakra collision. It was raw strength against strength.
In less than a heartbeat of stalemate, Kakuzu flew, shock and unwillingness plain in his eyes.
"With ninjutsu buffing you, your strength is decent. But my strongest suit is taijutsu," Kokugetsu said as if noting the weather.
Kakuzu dragged himself up, bedraggled, staring at Kokugetsu's knuckles—only faintly red. His scalp prickled.
His Earth Spear hadn't fully peaked, but at that speed and power, the other's hand should be more than "slightly rosy," shouldn't it?
"What kind of monster are you?"
Then it hit him—the mismatch from first to now.
"No. You're not Kageyama Kokugetsu. You're a hidden Konoha powerhouse."
"Is there a chance the first one you skewered was my clone?"
"You run missions with a shadow clone?" Kakuzu snorted. "You're really dedicated."
"If a clone can do it, why tire the original?
"Results are what count."
Kokugetsu vanished. Lightning filled both hands, the high cry of a thousand birds rising as he drove in.
"Bad. That lightning jutsu pierces even Earth Spear. Stop it!"
A storm of black threads erupted, snakes from a pit. Kokugetsu's left-hand lightning speared through them—lines on his shins, thighs, and waist snapped apart—and he drove on, irresistible.
His right-hand lightning punched through Kakuzu's left chest. The birdsong rang in Kakuzu's ears.
Kokugetsu hopped back. "That trick of yours needs work. Don't live on old habits. Aim for zero gap, zero stall between revivals.
"If I'd stacked three more lethal hits, you'd really be dead.
"You should thank me."
"Damn you! This is a death match. Take it seriously!"
"I am. I'm just not feeling any pressure."
It was like having his pride ground into the dirt. Even Kakuzu's veteran composure snapped. Black lines poured off him as he charged like a madman.
Kokugetsu brought his hands together. Kakuzu tensed—and nothing happened.
"Mocking me, are you? I'll kill you!"
His right fist fired like a bullet and blew through Kokugetsu's heart.
"Dead?" he muttered, incredulous.
"Nope."
A blade slid in from behind, out through his left chest, freezing him in place.
Kakuzu came to like a man waking. "I… fell for such a basic genjutsu. Damn it."
"Don't be so hard on yourself. You lost your cool for a moment. Pick it back up," Kokugetsu said with a smile.
"I don't need your comfort!"
Kakuzu whirled and flicked a cable of black lines.
It lanced through Kokugetsu's heart again.
"Another illusion?" He wheeled, guarding his back.
"Not this time."
Kokugetsu's body flashed to lightning and raced along the thread. Numbness blasted through Kakuzu; his hair stood on end, limbs locked.
Earth Release: Rising Earth Spears.
Kokugetsu burst from the ground, clapped his hands, and a sharp earthen lance thrust up, skewering another heart.
"Looks like I may die here after all. So be it. I've lived long enough." Kakuzu snapped the spear, straightened, and spoke slowly.
"Assassination, taijutsu, genjutsu, ninjutsu—one of each. That's plenty.
"Hey. You're strong. How about working for me?"
Kakuzu froze, wrong-footed by the sudden turn.
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