Chapter 175: A Legendary Figure Appears
In the blink of an eye, a week passed.
Li Yao had been waiting for Kumogakure shinobi to show up and provide him with test subjects. Instead, he ended up receiving a visit from a legendary figure.
"The 30 million ryō bounty is mine."
A man with green eyes and a mask covering his nose and mouth suddenly appeared behind Yuzu , who was eating sushi. His black hand stabbed straight into her back, aiming for her heart.
"Not good!"
The instant the black hand pierced Yuzu 's back, her body transformed into countless explosive tags. Li Yao, sitting across from her, also turned into a mass of tags.
The attacker immediately realized he had triggered a trap. He leapt backward, retreating as fast as he could.
But it was too late.
"Art is explosion."
Boom!
A massive explosion rocked the mountainside, shaking the ground for a kilometer in every direction.
A towering blaze engulfed the entire mid-slope of the mountain.
When the flames and smoke cleared, half the mountain was gone. The destructive force was obvious.
"Damn, he's still alive?"
Hovering on the back of a clay bird, Yuzu looked down at the charred crater. The power of twenty thousand explosive tags detonating in one spot was truly overwhelming. Yet… her gaze shifted toward the mountain's base.
There, a shirtless man stood, body crisscrossed with stitched scars, staring straight at them.
"No wonder they say he once fought the First Hokage head-on and survived."
Yuzu marveled. Li Yao had warned her that someone from legend, who had once clashed with the First Hokage, had come. She hadn't believed it—not that such a person could still be alive, but that someone could survive a direct confrontation with the man known as the God of Shinobi.
But now, seeing this man survive a close-range explosion from 20,000 explosive tags, she began to believe the legend.
Even if she'd never heard it before—until Li Yao mentioned it just now.
"Let's go meet this legendary figure."
Li Yao directed the clay bird to descend toward the mountain's base.
There, a man with five hearts waited to become his next research subject.
"Waste!"
"Such a waste!"
"That was all my money!"
Watching Li Yao and Yuzu approach from the sky, Kakuzu's five hearts pounded furiously.
Based on the explosion's scale and power—
He had quickly calculated that no fewer than 20,000 explosive tags had detonated just now.
And with the war recently ending, the price of tags hadn't dropped—it had risen.
From 2,000 ryō per tag to 3,000 ryō.
That meant 20,000 tags would cost 60 million ryō—twice the bounty on that girl's head.
Sixty million ryō… gone in a flash!
"That was my money!"
Kakuzu's heart ached as all five of them trembled.
Clearly, he had already mentally claimed ownership over the explosive tags that Li Yao and Yuzu possessed, not considering either of them a threat.
Of course, underestimating them didn't mean he would be careless during battle.
"Clay Explosion Release—he's from Iwagakure's demolition corps."
Kakuzu's eyes narrowed as he stared at Li Yao atop the clay bird. Clay-style was weak to Lightning Release—he would have to be wary of other techniques.
As for the girl, he could tell she was an Uzumaki—likely specialized in sealing techniques, but otherwise unknown.
Over the past year, every ninja who fought her had died. No intelligence had been recovered.
Kakuzu silently raised his guard.
"Uncle, let me play with him first."
When they were about 200 meters away, Yuzu turned and asked.
If Uncle fought, his genjutsu would instantly overwhelm their opponent, and that would be boring. She wanted to see how far her own power had grown—if she could fight a Kage-level opponent.
"Go ahead."
Li Yao nodded. With his current genjutsu, he could instantly control anything within 500 meters—no way Yuzu would get hurt.
Besides… he didn't only know genjutsu.
Wings of paper formed at Yuzu 's shoulder blades, lifting her as she flew toward Kakuzu.
"Paper Release: Flying Paper Explosive Tag Technique!"
Countless paper explosive tags shot toward Kakuzu like a Gatling gun.
"Paper… I see."
Kakuzu's eyes flashed with understanding—and regret. So the explosive tags were a form of specialized ninjutsu. He instantly felt like he'd lost a fortune.
Snap!
His thoughts were lightning-fast. A veteran of countless battles, he had simplified most of his jutsu to a single hand sign. He clapped his hands together.
"Fire Release: Intelligent Hard Work!"
A wave of blazing fire surged from Kakuzu's mouth, sweeping across the sky like a sea of flames toward Yuzu and Li Yao.
As expected of a man who had once fought the First Hokage. His attack covered hundreds of meters in one blow.
Whether or not he could match the First Hokage today didn't matter. To regular ninja, he was undeniably Kage-level.
Boom boom boom… Yuzu 's paper bombs were triggered midair by the searing heat.
Flames surged in from every side.
"So powerful!"
Yuzu was shocked. To unleash such destructive force from a basic Fire Release jutsu… Kakuzu truly was a formidable shinobi.
Just this one attack proved it.
He really had once battled the First Hokage.
"Water Release: Surging Wave!"
Yuzu formed seals quickly, summoning a spiraling wave to block the incoming inferno.
Boom… The torrent of water exploded outward, instantly extinguishing the wave of fire.
High above, on the clay bird, Li Yao watched calmly. Without even forming hand seals, he could create a raging geyser of water five times stronger than the firestorm below.
Whoosh… The valley below was instantly drenched like a torrential downpour. The entire forest was flooded.
"They really have enormous chakra reserves."
Kakuzu frowned. These two had easily countered his Fire Release. That meant their chakra reserves were massive. Combined with their clay, paper, and water styles—they likely also knew Fire Release.
The clay-user probably knew Earth Release too.
Both were airborne. Their physical prowess was unknown.
Kakuzu quickly analyzed all the intel he had on Li Yao and Yuzu from just a brief exchange.
In this era, shinobi combat always started with gathering information.
"Split them up."
Kakuzu turned and fled. Fighting two unknowns at once wasn't wise.
"Paper Release: Exploding Bird Technique!"
After fending off Kakuzu's flames, Yuzu attacked again. She summoned countless paper birds, surrounding Kakuzu from every angle to avoid them being wiped out in one move.
Boom!
Boom!
Explosions erupted across the forest.
Kakuzu didn't launch another wide-area jutsu. Instead, he dodged the paper birds with taijutsu.
Yuzu flew after him, launching more explosive birds.
Just as she flew above a large tree, a monstrous figure made of black ink—wearing a fearsome mask—leapt from a branch, mouth wide open.
Snap!
In the distance, Kakuzu—who seemed to be fleeing—clapped his hands together.
"Wind Release: Pressure Damage!"
A concentrated high-pressure wind bullet shot from the masked monster's mouth, heading straight for the airborne Yuzu .
"Got her!"
Kakuzu's eyes flashed with anticipation.
But the moment the wind bullet pierced her… there was no blood. Only paper.
The illusion dispersed—and the paper flew straight toward the masked monster.
"Damn!"
Kakuzu's eyes narrowed. He had fallen into a trap again. And this time, he was too close to evade.
Boom boom boom… A fiery blast lit the sky.
Clatter!
When the smoke cleared, a shattered white mask fell to the forest floor.
Yuzu emerged from underground, regrew her paper wings, and rose into the sky—smiling confidently at the now serious Kakuzu.
Trying to ambush her?
Too naïve.
Kakuzu had detached a heart during the earlier explosion and hidden it behind a tree branch. It might've worked on others—but not Yuzu .
Her chakra sensing range wasn't wide, but it still had a one-kilometer diameter. There was no way Kakuzu could sneak up on her.
"The girl has chakra sensing ability."
Now Kakuzu realized what made her so dangerous.
At first, he thought his earlier trap had been discovered through some generic sensing skill. Chakra perception was extremely rare—few ninja villages had anyone capable of it.
Now he knew. No wonder her bounty was 30 million ryō.
Kakuzu silently took her more seriously.
(END CHAPTER)
Get 30% off on my Patreon and enjoy early access to new chapters.
You can also purchase the next 100 chapters of the novel directly from my Patreon page.
Hurry up! The promotion ends on January 2, 2026.
Read 30 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Kira1997