Chapter 42: The Team's First Battle! The Overwhelming Power of a Kage-Level Shinobi!
Hidan was shocked, looking up at Tsukasa in disbelief.
He thought to himself: Big brother, did you just throw our bond off a cliff?!
Down there is a four-hundred-meter drop!!
You're seriously just going to make me jump like this?!
Without waiting for Hidan's expression to change further, Tsukasa's eyes turned fierce, and he kicked Hidan's rear directly, sending him tumbling off the cliff's edge!
"Screw you, Tsukasa! I'll **** you! ****!! Censored sounds!"
Hidan clutched his backside, cursing with a long string of profanities as he fell, and soon there was no sound at all.
Tsukasa turned around, and facing Mei Terumi's confused but shocked expression, he turned to Kakuzu and smiled brightly.
"Kakuzu-san, look—the kid's gone now."
"Your mission is complete."
"Actually, I brought that brat here specifically to dispose of him right here."
"Since we share the same objective, I don't mind helping you out a bit."
Tsukasa paused, spreading his hands.
"See?"
"We have no conflict whatsoever. Since it's all settled, why don't you just pretend you never met us today and we all go our separate ways?"
Kakuzu was genuinely taken aback by Tsukasa's ruthless decisiveness.
The moment Hidan fell off the cliff, his deep green eyes widened involuntarily, and he stared at Tsukasa for a long moment.
What kind of person was this kid? What grudge did he have against that brat?
That kick was way too decisive, wasn't it?
But then, after processing Tsukasa's words, Kakuzu's expression darkened, anger clouding his features.
"Who told you to interfere in my business?" Kakuzu gritted his teeth, his eyes cold as he glared at Tsukasa with a chilling gaze.
"My mission was to bring that brat back alive!"
"What?!"
Hearing this, Tsukasa frowned slightly, a hint of alarm flickering in his eyes.
But internally, he was panicking, his confidence wavering.
He trembled slightly, waving his hands repeatedly to explain:
"I-I genuinely didn't know about that, sir. Look, the kid's already gone—"
However, Kakuzu, furious at having lost such a large bounty for seemingly no reason, wasn't listening.
He raised his right hand, his eyes flashing with bone-chilling coldness, and spread his palm flat.
"Then die!"
As he spoke, the stitches on Kakuzu's palm gradually opened, and fine black threads of Earth Grudge Fear emerged from within.
Then he twisted his waist, pulled back, and suddenly thrust his hand forward!
WHOOSH!
His right arm extended impossibly, piercing through the air! In an instant, it spanned over ten meters, shooting directly toward Tsukasa.
This was the forbidden technique: Earth Grudge Fear!
Dark tentacles that lurked beneath battlefields, waiting to strike.
The tentacles were composed of countless fine threads—so fine they could even suture human blood vessels together.
His palm smashed through the air, making Tsukasa almost envious. If he had such power, he wouldn't need to buy ridiculously expensive ninja wire anymore.
However, looking at the incoming palm and the resilient tentacles connecting it, Tsukasa's eyes narrowed slightly.
When it comes to manipulating wires, the Uchiha are the true masters!
He drew a kunai in a reverse grip, and silently, his black pupils shifted to crimson.
"What are you just standing there for?!"
Nearby, Mei Terumi saw Tsukasa seemingly frozen. Her brows furrowed as she pivoted on her foot and swung out the water blade she'd already formed in her hand.
SLASH!
The Water Release: Water Fang Blade arced outward, striking at the tentacles behind Kakuzu's extended palm.
The spiraling, high-pressure blade slashed through the tentacles, sending fine water droplets scattering everywhere.
Surprisingly, it only severed a few threads, which were quickly replaced by an endless stream of additional tentacles.
Watching her water blade revert to a simple kunai and fall uselessly, Mei Terumi's eyes narrowed:
"So tough—these tentacles have a resilience that even my Water Release: Water Fang Bullet can't cut through completely."
"I'll have to use that technique!"
She frowned and took a defensive stance in front of Tsukasa, planting her feet shoulder-width apart on the ground.
Then she formed hand seals—
Dog-Boar-Tiger-Ox-Rat !
"Lava Release: Melting Apparition Technique!"
Mei Terumi pressed her fingertips together in the Rooster seal and inhaled sharply.
Then her lips parted!
A torrent of Lava Release—resembling molten rock and possessing terrifying temperatures capable of melting even Susanoo—erupted from Mei Terumi's mouth!
"What the—?!" Kakuzu's pupils contracted sharply, and at the sight of what Mei Terumi had unleashed, his instincts screamed danger.
He immediately diverted a portion of his Earth Grudge tentacles to intercept it, preventing the lava from destroying his extended arm.
The molten material crashed into the tentacles with devastating force, instantly melting through all the threads that tried to block it!
SIZZLE, SIZZLE—
The scene resembled hot oil being poured over paper, with smoke and steam billowing upward!
Retracting his arm, Kakuzu narrowed his eyes slightly, a hint of genuine wariness entering his expression. He glanced between Tsukasa and Mei Terumi, nodding as if reassessing his evaluation.
"Sharingan, and a Lava Release Kekkei Genkai. Not bad—that should help me recover some of my losses."
"I'll do my best to keep your bodies intact."
"So die peacefully."
As soon as he finished speaking, a notification flashed before Tsukasa's eyes.
[Kakuzu has determined you're worth a significant bounty.]
Mei Terumi's expression turned cold at Kakuzu's dismissive words.
She immediately retorted:
"Your tentacles are useless against me!"
"If you keep pushing, I'll be the one to kill you!"
Kakuzu shook his head slightly, his calm green eyes gazing at the two with complete indifference.
He rolled his neck, something shifting beneath his black cloak, and then asked calmly:
"How will you counter this technique?"
With that, Kakuzu pulled his robe aside, revealing a blue-striped, bird-like mask positioned on his chest.
The mask's gaping black maw opened wide, sucking in all the surrounding vegetation, insects, and rocks, condensing them into a shrieking, compressed sphere of wind chakra!
BOOM!
A devastating blast erupted!
Wind Release: Pressure Damage!
This jutsu—arguably one of the most powerful conventional Wind Release techniques in the entire shinobi world—made its debut before the two-person team!
The cutting power of the Wind Release: Pressure Damage's wind bullet pushed against the river of molten lava from Mei Terumi's technique, forcing it backward and piercing straight through it!
The compressed wind sphere shot past Mei Terumi's ear with millimeters to spare, continuing for five hundred meters before crashing violently into the opposite mountain!
BOOM!
A catastrophic explosion!
Massive boulders rained down, and from below, the screams and panicked cries of Hot Water refugees echoed upward.
The commotion instantly shattered the silent night!
Mei Terumi's eyes widened, her expression frozen, her mind blank. Blood trickled from her eardrum, ruptured by the sonic boom.
"Ah, I almost killed you there. That was too much power. Let me try a different approach."
Kakuzu sighed, frowning in mild annoyance.
He brought his hands together, and the mask on his chest climbed up to his shoulder, replaced by another mask—this one with yellow stripes and a canine appearance.
He slowly approached the two.
Stomp. Stomp.
His feet crushed dust, gravel, molten earth, and the girl's pride, stirring up a gray cloud that filled the air.
The next moment—
A dense swarm of Earth Grudge tentacles erupted from Kakuzu's back, condensing into eight enormous black tendrils!
Like eight pitch-black serpentine spears!
Kakuzu's cold, indifferent voice fell like a death sentence as he named his technique:
"Secret Technique: Earth Grudge Fear Mode!"
Mei Terumi looked up in fear, cold sweat dripping from her forehead.
End of Chapter 42
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