Chapter 177: Kakuzu, a True Man
"Hidden Mist?"
"Heh."
Looking at the thick mist that reduced visibility to less than a meter, Li Yao shook his head, the corner of his mouth lifting in a trace of mockery.
This type of vision-obscuring Hidden Mist Technique was utterly useless against his chakra sensory abilities.
Using the cover of the dense fog, Kakuzu silently approached from below, trying to use Earth Grudge Fear's black threads to attack Li Yao and seize his heart.
All of this was completely exposed under Li Yao's chakra perception.
Suddenly, Li Yao found it all a bit boring.
The excitement he had felt for battle just moments ago instantly vanished.
In ninjutsu, chakra volume, sensory perception, and taijutsu reactions, he completely surpassed Kakuzu.
In the face of overwhelming strength, things like combat experience, technique, or coordinated strategy were just illusions—none of it escaped Li Yao's notice.
This wasn't even a fight.
It was just one-sided abuse.
"Boring."
"Might as well study how Earth Grudge Fear actually extracts other people's hearts."
With a thought, Li Yao activated his Sensory Deprivation Technique.
Inside the fog, Kakuzu had already crept beneath Li Yao and was about to unleash his tendrils—only to suddenly find himself unable to control his body. Even the black threads inside him ceased to respond. Only his five hearts still beat.
"Wind Style: Tidal Blow!"
A fierce gust of wind formed around Li Yao and spread outward like ripples in water, instantly blowing away the dense fog within five kilometers.
Below, Kakuzu lay on the ground, his eyes fixed upward at Li Yao descending—but in truth, he could see nothing. His consciousness was trapped in an inner realm.
At either side of his body, two hearts wrapped in black threads continued to thump.
Without control over the black threads, the external hearts could no longer maintain the form of the black monsters and reverted to their original form—hearts wrapped in black cords.
"Genjutsu?"
"No, this isn't genjutsu!"
Though shocked by his lack of bodily sensation, Kakuzu quickly realized it wasn't an illusion technique, but something akin to a paralyzing jutsu—except this one had stripped him of all control over his body and threads.
Kakuzu could still sense the presence of his hearts, but no matter how he tried to command them to act, his body remained still. The black thread tendrils wrapped around the hearts only squirmed instinctively, no longer obeying his will.
Li Yao landed beside him and crouched down, picking up one of the still-thumping hearts wrapped in black thread.
The moment he touched it, he sensed the distinct chakra nature and structural transformation within the black threads.
He tried replicating the chakra, but no threads manifested in his hand.
"Flesh and blood... just as I thought."
Li Yao smiled faintly. The black threads weren't formed from pure chakra—they were made from Earth Grudge Fear chakra fused with flesh, which granted them some biological properties, like nerve conduction.
That was how Li Yao, using the Sensory Deprivation Technique, could strip Kakuzu's heart of its control over the black threads, turning him into a living vegetable.
In a way, Kakuzu was no longer human.
He had become a unique kind of chakra-based creature.
After converting his flesh into black thread, vital organs like the brain ceased to be fatal weak points—his hearts became the only true vulnerability.
In Li Yao's perception, Kakuzu's heart was quite special. Like a brain, it was dense with neural networks and stored massive amounts of chakra.
His soul also resided there.
To obtain the full Earth Grudge Fear technique, Li Yao needed to use his spiritual body to possess Kakuzu and access his memories through his soul.
Boom!
To be safe, Li Yao first created a shadow clone before using the Spirit Transformation Technique, detaching his spirit and merging with Kakuzu.
"This is... the Spirit Transformation Technique!"
The moment Li Yao's spirit possessed him, Kakuzu—well-versed in many arts—recognized what was happening. But recognition was all he could do. He had no way of stopping the intrusion.
The Spirit Transformation Technique allowed not only direct spiritual attacks or seizing control of the opponent's body, but also enabled the user to infiltrate the enemy's soul and explore their memories.
Now, Li Yao's translucent soul began to merge into Kakuzu's soul and delve into his memories.
Very soon, he arrived at the beginning of it all.
Year Three of Konoha. Three years after the First Hokage established the village and ended the Warring States period, the title of "God of Shinobi" was known throughout the ninja world.
In Takigakure, a young Kakuzu—strongest of his generation, most respected, and seen as a prime candidate for the Second Takikage—received a confidential order from the village elders.
"You are to assassinate the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju."
"Huh? Me?"
Kakuzu's mind blanked for a moment upon receiving the order. Though the strongest of his generation, he was still only jonin-level. To kill the First Hokage, who could tame Tailed Beasts like pets... Kakuzu was left speechless.
It wasn't until the elders said this was a test for the next Takikage that he agreed. "If you don't even have the courage to face the God of Shinobi, how can you lead Takigakure to become a great nation?"
At that time, Kakuzu still saw the village as his dream, his home—he couldn't resist such goading.
So, he resolutely set out to assassinate the God of Shinobi.
In truth, assassination was a joke. Against someone like Hashirama, whether it was done secretly or openly made no difference.
Maybe Hashirama saw Kakuzu's devotion to his village. Maybe he was just in the mood. Maybe he genuinely yearned for peace.
Whatever the case, he didn't kill Kakuzu. In fact, he didn't even use Wood Style—just taijutsu, and he played with him, allowing Kakuzu to fight with all his might before letting him leave in failure.
Kakuzu returned to Takigakure believing his mission—even in failure—had proven his courage and strength. Surviving a battle against the God of Shinobi meant he was qualified to lead the village to greatness.
But the truth?
The mission was just an excuse.
The village elders had no intention of letting him succeed. The real goal was to orchestrate his failure and use it as a pretext to suppress him, allowing them to elevate their own favored candidate.
Like in any village, once power fell into the hands of politicians, corruption followed.
The founding of the ninja villages created the first generation of political parasites—men who placed personal power above the village's well-being.
Kakuzu's reputation had become an obstacle to their ambitions. He had to go.
They never meant to kill him—just to ruin his name.
But to someone like Kakuzu, it was like a bright, idealistic youth being suddenly consumed by darkness. Faced with slander from the elders and the ugliness of villagers manipulated by their propaganda, he completely lost all sense of belonging.
One night, he broke into the village's forbidden archive and stole the Earth Grudge Fear scroll.
Kakuzu's talent was real. None of the previously approved candidates had succeeded in learning the technique.
But Kakuzu mastered it in mere minutes, transforming all his flesh into black Earth Grudge Fear threads.
Afterward, he assassinated every village elder, stole their hearts, and defected from Takigakure.
At that point in the memory, Li Yao exited.
"Kakuzu really was a man. At least he wasn't someone who throws a kunai from 800 meters and runs."
Li Yao could confirm that Kakuzu had indeed fought the First Hokage. Even though Hashirama hadn't taken it seriously and was only playing around, it was still a real battle—not the kind of "throw one kunai and run" nonsense spread online.
(END CHAPTER)
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