Chapter 176: Li Yao Takes Action, One Kick, One Heart
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three monster-masked hearts flew out from Kakuzu's back, transforming into three monsters made of condensed black matter.
Having already suffered once and lost a precious Wind-style heart, Kakuzu wouldn't make the same mistake again. He went all out immediately—no more probing.
"Earth Style: Earth Spear Gun Technique!"
Kakuzu clapped his hands together. Instantly, enormous sharp spikes erupted from the ground and shot toward the airborne Yuzu .
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh... These giant spikes were incredibly fast.
Yuzu had to fully concentrate and weave left and right to narrowly dodge the attacks.
In a flash, the ground turned into a reddish-brown hill bristling with sharp spikes.
"Fire Style: Head of Agony!"
Just after dodging the rock spike attack, before she could even react, the red monster rode the rising earth spikes and closed in on Yuzu , opening its mouth to spew a sea of flames at her.
"Water Style: Water Formation Wall!"
Once again, Yuzu used Water Style to block the fire. Luckily, her chakra reserves were monstrous. The normally modest Water Formation Wall, under her control, became like a heavenly river pouring down to block the flames.
However, her water chakra nature was not as strong as Kakuzu's fire. His flames were intensely hot and quickly evaporated a massive cloud of steam that surrounded Yuzu .
At this point, she hadn't yet realized the incoming danger.
"Lightning Style: False Darkness!"
As the flames faded, on the other side, the lightning-natured monster opened its mouth and launched a dense blue-white lightning bolt.
Yuzu still lacked battle experience.
Against typical jonin, her overwhelming chakra and explosive Paper Style attacks allowed her to brute-force her way through.
But against a Kage-level enemy, her lack of combat intuition became a fatal flaw.
So far, everything had gone according to Kakuzu's plan.
Yuzu simply didn't have time to react. Even though her sensory skills were sharp and she realized the attack was coming, being surrounded by steam prevented her from dodging the lightning, which moved nearly at the speed of light.
"Zzzzztt!"
Yuzu was instantly electrocuted, her whole body paralyzed.
"Your heart is mine!"
Kakuzu, having quietly moved atop one of the spikes, launched his thread-linked, black-gray hand at Yuzu 's chest.
Facing the full might of a Kage-level opponent, Yuzu was still lacking. Her chakra reserves, once her pride, were something Kakuzu had in abundance too.
Defeat was inevitable, but to be taken down this easily still left Yuzu bitter, especially after she had presented herself so confidently in front of Li Yao earlier.
This is it?
"What's going on?"
"Why isn't this girl afraid?"
Just as his hand was about to reach her chest, Kakuzu didn't see a hint of fear on her face. This anomaly made him tense up. Instinctively, he looked toward Li Yao—only to find that Li Yao had vanished without a trace.
"Where did he go?"
That thought had barely surfaced when a gust of wind suddenly roared in front of him. A seemingly ordinary foot, packed with terrifying force, pierced through the air and smashed toward his abdomen.
"So fast!"
It was too late to dodge, but fortunately, Kakuzu's Earth Style: Earth Spear technique could instantly harden his skin without hand seals.
Once hardened, the Earth Spear technique granted Kakuzu near-immunity to all physical attacks.
Even an explosion equivalent to twenty thousand paper bombs at close range hadn't injured him before.
So, even though this surprise attack was fast and strong, Kakuzu didn't believe he'd be harmed.
However, when Li Yao's foot landed, the sheer force immediately shattered the hardened defense, driving deep into Kakuzu's body.
Bang!
Pfft!
Kakuzu's body instantly curled into a V shape like a shrimp, eyes bulging, mouth wide as he spat blood. His body was launched backward like a cannonball.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
He smashed through three giant earth spikes and finally crashed into the earthen hill he had created. The entire structure shattered, and the surrounding hundred meters of ground cracked like broken glass. Only then did the force of Li Yao's kick come to a halt.
Boom... Debris rolled out in all directions. The ground looked like a mountain had fallen into a tranquil lake, sending up a mushroom-cloud of dust.
"Ah..."
Yuzu , now able to move again, stared wide-eyed at the dust rising below.
"That was... way too powerful!!"
She was utterly stunned. Just one kick—Li Yao needed only one kick to cause such devastation.
The ground crumbled like a fragile biscuit under his foot.
"I didn't expect Uncle's taijutsu to be this terrifying!" Yuzu looked at Li Yao, her eyes sparkling with admiration.
In midair, a large clay bird formed under Li Yao's feet, lifting him up.
Below, the dust cleared. In the massive crater, Kakuzu slumped against a pile of rubble, blood pouring uncontrollably from his mouth.
The three black chakra monsters landed beside him. Two stood guard, eyes locked on Li Yao above. The third dove into Kakuzu's body to replace the heart that had been destroyed by Li Yao's kick.
"Not bad power!"
Li Yao was satisfied with his attack. Though not on par with Might Guy's Eight Gates unleashed, the fact that he destroyed one of Kakuzu's hearts with a single kick was decent.
Feeling the rampaging energy in his body, Li Yao shook his head and sighed.
"As expected, this is a world that values bloodlines."
After fusing with White Zetsu's Wood Style cells, the physical limiters on Li Yao's body had disappeared. With all his chakra pathways destroyed, his body naturally evolved over the past three years.
He didn't even need Tsunade's explosive chakra-enhanced strength. Just raw physical power from his own body was enough to crush a mountain and shatter the earth.
At this moment, Li Yao had no weak points—not even in genjutsu or physical combat. He was a truly all-around shinobi.
"Kid, name yourself."
Kakuzu stood back up, activating his strongest form: Earth Grudge Fear. The fire and lightning masks settled on his shoulders, black threads connecting his entire body. His joints cracked open, revealing dense black lines.
He realized that, after the First Hokage, he had encountered another formidable enemy.
"Just a nobody, no need to remember."
Li Yao smiled nonchalantly, shaking his arms and cracking his neck. "Come to think of it, I've never had a good, honest fight against a Kage-level opponent. I hope you can let me feel the thrill of battle."
Until now, any enemy he faced was either instantly killed or had to be handled by his clones because his main body couldn't risk it.
Yuzu and Kakuzu's brief fight had piqued his interest.
Now, with his current body, even serious injuries didn't scare him. He could play around with Kakuzu a bit.
"Damn brat, you'll regret this!"
Li Yao's casual, mocking attitude completely enraged Kakuzu. "Even the First Hokage wasn't this arrogant in front of me, you little brat!!"
"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet!"
"Lightning Style: False Darkness!"
Without further words, the chakra attribute masks on Kakuzu's shoulders unleashed a combo jutsu.
"Water Lightning Dragon Technique."
A massive water-lightning dragon the size of a train surged toward Li Yao, crackling with wild energy.
In response, Li Yao clapped his hands together.
"Water Lightning Dragon Technique."
Water surged. Lightning flashed. In an instant, a water-lightning dragon even larger than Kakuzu's opened its mouth and dove downward.
Boom!
Water droplets the size of barrels exploded, and wild blue-white lightning lit up the sky. The two dragons clashed, and naturally, the smaller one was obliterated.
Boom!
Kakuzu's eyes widened as he jumped back, narrowly dodging the descending dragon.
"How is this possible?"
Kakuzu was in disbelief. Not only did this guy possess overwhelming taijutsu, but his ninjutsu talent was also terrifying—his combined jutsu was even more powerful than Kakuzu's own.
"Who... is he really?"
For the first time, Kakuzu stopped referring to Li Yao as "brat." His strength reminded Kakuzu of the same helpless feeling he once had facing the First Hokage.
"No! There is only one First Hokage!"
Kakuzu quickly shook his head and refocused. Now was not the time to lose morale.
"Water Style: Hidden Mist Technique!"
He clapped his hands, summoning a thick mist that quickly engulfed a five-kilometer radius.
To be fair, Kakuzu's chakra reserves were monstrous too. With three hearts, his reserves were nearly on par with Yuzu .
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