Facing the sudden attack from two Konoha Anbu, Kakuzu remained extremely calm.
Perhaps he had already anticipated this outcome. After all, Konoha would never negotiate with a bounty hunter over something like this.
Besides—even if Konoha were willing to negotiate, he wasn't!
Kakuzu had originally thought he had merely killed a Konoha ninja with a decent bounty. Only after making his move did he realize the man was actually from Sunagakure.
More importantly, this guy also had a respectable price listed on the bounty board.
At first, Kakuzu hadn't thought too much about it—such as why the man was dressed as a Konoha ninja and disguising himself as one.
Maybe it was simply because he was inside the Land of Fire and wanted to avoid trouble from Konoha.
But now Kakuzu understood.
This man had infiltrated Konoha as a spy, been exposed, and was being hunted by the Anbu. And by sheer coincidence, Kakuzu had run into him.
"If this guy holds some of Konoha's intelligence, I can just claim it's important information and sell it for a high price. So why would I sell him exclusively to Konoha?"
Kakuzu was extremely pragmatic. He only cared about money. The Five Great Nations meant nothing to him—otherwise he wouldn't have joined the Akatsuki.
Bringing his hands together, chakra surged within Kakuzu's body. In the next instant, scorching heat began to spread.
"Fire Release: Intelligent Hard Work!"
The powerful fire technique instantly melted the flying kunai and sealed off Natsuhiko and Kakashi's advance.
Faced with this, Natsuhiko quickly formed hand seals.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
A thick curtain of water erupted from Natsuhiko and blocked Kakuzu's flames.
However, Natsuhiko's Water Wall could not completely suppress Kakuzu's fire technique.
In an instant, massive amounts of steam spread outward, blanketing the entire area.
Seeing this, Natsuhiko immediately leapt upward and dashed to the side, using the cover of steam to avoid the flames while closing in on Kakuzu.
He knew very well how powerful Kakuzu was. A man who had lived that long possessed terrifying chakra reserves, chakra quality, and combat experience.
Natsuhiko didn't believe he and Kakashi could defeat him at all. The reason he attacked was simply to create a reasonable excuse to retreat.
After all, he was a Konoha Anbu ninja—and he had to think about his future. He couldn't afford to do anything disgraceful.
Try to seize the corpse first. If it doesn't work, retreat immediately.
Natsuhiko's plan was clear.
But Kakashi had no idea what he was thinking.
Protected by the Water Release, Kakashi also avoided the flames. The moment he noticed the steam rising, he accelerated to the side. Without planning it, he and Natsuhiko formed a pincer formation around Kakuzu.
While sprinting forward, the ninja blade strapped to his back slid from its sheath.
He slashed fiercely at Kakuzu.
Clang!
A sharp metallic collision echoed through the steam-filled forest.
Kakashi stared in surprise.
Kakuzu had blocked his blade with just one hand.
Just how hard was this man's body?
But he had no time to think.
Kakuzu exerted a slight push—
In the next instant, Kakashi felt a tremendous force strike him, and his body was sent flying backward almost uncontrollably.
Fortunately, he was a ninja who had survived long years on the battlefield.
His combat experience was more than sufficient.
Faced with this situation, Kakashi forcibly stabilized his body midair. Then, using the momentum, he leapt backward, aiming to land on a large tree.
Seeing Kakashi retreat, Kakuzu had no intention of letting him go.
But just as he stretched out his hand, out of the corner of his eye he noticed that the other one had already approached his "spoils of war."
"Hmph!"
Kakuzu snorted coldly and temporarily gave up on Kakashi. Turning instead toward Natsuhiko, his fist—wrapped in black threads—suddenly detached at the wrist and shot forward with terrifying force, smashing straight toward Natsuhiko!
Natsuhiko reacted quickly.
Even without a Sharingan to track the trajectory, years of "planting trees" in his body—specifically those early basic attribute fruits—had pushed his reaction speeds to superhuman levels.
In an instant, he shifted his body slightly. The terrifying, wind-splitting punch smashed into the ground instead.
Gravel exploded outward.
Taking advantage of the opening, Natsuhiko leapt aside, his ninja blade flashing like lightning as it sliced through the black threads.
With Natsuhiko covering him, Kakashi finally landed steadily atop a treetop. Glancing at the blade in his hand, he noticed a small chip in the edge, with cracks even extending toward the hilt.
"Is this guy's body enhanced with Earth Release?" Kakashi frowned. "I see—skilled in both Earth and Fire Release. Earth for defense, Fire for offense."
Kakashi truly lived up to his reputation as a genius. After only a brief exchange, he had already gleaned some of Kakuzu's abilities.
If Earth Release was being used for defense, then Kakashi was confident he could break through it.
His hands formed seals rapidly. Blue arcs of lightning gathered in his palm, and the sound of chirping birds began to echo sharply.
Lightning Release counters Earth Release.
And Kakashi possessed a Lightning Release technique with extremely high piercing power. He had no doubt he could shatter that defense.
Natsuhiko naturally noticed this too. He didn't even need sensory abilities to know—it was impossible to ignore the loud crackling of Chidori.
"So this is supposed to be an assassination technique? With that kind of noise, are you afraid no one will hear it?"
Natsuhiko shook his head inwardly.
In the future, when Kakashi ambushed Kakuzu, it had been completely silent. Kakuzu only heard the sound of Chidori after he had already been struck.
That could only mean that future Kakashi had continually refined and modified the technique. The current Kakashi clearly hadn't done so yet.
Still, the power of Chidori was undeniable. Natsuhiko decided to coordinate with him.
After all, Kakashi possessed Obito's Sharingan—his insight would not fail.
Locking onto a moving Kakuzu would be effortless, as long as Kakuzu's attention was diverted.
With that thought, Natsuhiko stopped retreating and instead stepped forward, closing the distance.
He was only at the level of a standard jōnin. Compared to a veteran Kage-level fighter like Kakuzu, the gap was enormous.
Fortunately, Kakuzu was not fighting at full strength.
That gave them a decent opportunity.
If they could make this guy suffer even a small loss, they would profit greatly!
"Naive."
Kakuzu had naturally heard the chirping of Chidori and immediately understood what was coming.
Suddenly, he felt that perhaps he had hit the jackpot.
That technique was Chidori—and the one using it was Hatake Kakashi, worth over ten million ryō in bounty!
But just as he prepared to target Kakashi, the other white-haired brat closed in again.
Kakuzu felt annoyed. It was obvious this kid intended to cooperate with Kakashi.
But how could this brat possibly break through his Earth Release defense?
Moments later, however, his expression changed slightly.
The brat suddenly leapt high into the air.
At the same time, Natsuhiko's ninja blade began spinning, compressed to the extreme with swirling Water Release chakra.
"Water Release: Water Blade Slash!"