Kakuzu hadn't expected his masked tentacle creature to be dispatched so easily. A flicker of confusion crossed his eyes before he quickly hardened his resolve.
It seemed like he had no choice but to fight. Otherwise, he wasn't leaving here alive.
With that realization, Kakuzu's entire demeanor shifted. He no longer attempted to evade, his tentacles ceased their restless writhing, and his gaze locked onto Zixu with a cold intensity.
"How about this?" Zixu stepped forward with a smirk. "Hand over the secret jutsu of Jiongu (Earth Grudge Fear), and I'll spare your life. Sounds like a fair deal, doesn't it?"
Kakuzu instinctively took a step back, maintaining a careful distance. He didn't respond, only letting out a cold snort. The last remaining mask on his back slithered under his skin, reappearing on his chest. Its mouth gaped open, expelling a concentrated blast of wind.
A massive Fūton: Atsugai (Wind Release: Pressure Damage) surged toward Zixu, the intense wind pressure whipping his hair into disarray. Without hesitation, he activated Hachimon (Eight Gates), his muscles tightening with explosive power. One punch shattered the wind sphere midair, and without missing a beat, he lunged straight at Kakuzu.
Seeing Kakuzu directly attack him, Zixu didn't bother with more words. "You're my enemy, right? You want to kill me, right? Then it's simple—only one of us is walking away from this." His eyes sharpened. "Let's cut the talking and get down to business."
Kakuzu sneered, his voice laced with disdain. "Then let me show you the difference that experience makes." His hands formed seals as his tentacles lashed forward in unison.
It should have been the beginning of a brutal clash, but before Kakuzu could react, he felt an excruciating pain in his chest. His eyes widened in shock—Zixu had vanished.
No, he hadn't vanished.
A towering shadow loomed over him, blotting out the sun.
Zixu had shifted into his combat form, and in his hands was a kanabō—a massive iron club. Without hesitation, he swung it down with devastating force, the weapon coated in Busōshoku Haki (Armament Haki).
The club smashed into Kakuzu's chest like a high-speed train, sending him flying. Blood spewed from his mouth as his body hurtled through the air, his tentacle-infested flesh tearing apart on impact.
For the first time, his usually unreadable eyes were wide open—because they were rolling back in shock.
His chest was crushed inward. If not for the network of black threads holding his body together, he might have been reduced to nothing but a head. Even though his torso was shattered, the writhing mass of Jiongu stitches stubbornly attempted to pull him back together.
Zixu, towering over him, easily plucked the unconscious Kakuzu up by two fingers. He tilted his head, contemplating. "Not the best condition for an interrogation." Shrugging, he reverted to his normal form, gripping Kakuzu's hair and nailing him to a nearby tree stump.
Slap!
A heavy hand struck Kakuzu's cheek, but he remained unconscious.
Slap! Slap!
Still no response.
Annoyed, Zixu considered yanking off an arm. Maybe that would wake him up.
"Cough… cough!" Kakuzu finally stirred, coughing up bits of blackened flesh and bloodied tentacles. His glare burned with hatred, and even in his crippled state, the remaining tendrils on his body lashed out in defiance.
"You're beyond saving," Zixu muttered. He casually ripped off Kakuzu's arms and legs, tossing them aside.
To prevent any troublesome regeneration, he quickly performed a Fūin Jutsu (Sealing Technique), locking down the severed limbs.
"Hand over Jiongu, and maybe—" Zixu began, but his hands never stopped working, sealing Kakuzu's wounds to keep him from bleeding out too fast. There was no moral dilemma in what he was doing. Kakuzu was a warmonger, a mercenary who had left countless corpses in his wake. The civilians he'd butchered, the shinobi whose hearts he'd stolen to prolong his wretched existence—Zixu felt nothing for him.
"Heh… Bah." Kakuzu spat blood at him. Even in this state, he was unyielding. "Spare my life? Don't insult me."
His limbs may have been torn off, but that didn't mean he had given up. Wounds like these could be stitched back together. He still had a chance.
Right now, he was acting tough not just to defy Zixu, but to convince himself he could still win.
"I can make sure you die quickly," Zixu said flatly. There was no way Kakuzu was walking away from this. In fact, Zixu intended to wipe out Akatsuki as soon as possible. Letting them grow stronger was like feeding a tiger that would eventually bite back.
Kakuzu scoffed. "You think… I'm afraid of death?" His voice wavered slightly, but he still forced a smirk. If he was going to die, he wasn't giving Zixu a damn thing.
Zixu didn't bother responding. He had anticipated this. Without a word, he pulled on a gas mask, layered several gloves over his hands, and took out a scroll.
Kakuzu frowned. "What… are you doing?"
His confusion turned to horror when Zixu unsealed something indescribable—an object so vile it seemed to condense all the world's filth into one existence.
Then, to his absolute dread, Zixu stepped forward…
And tried to force it into his mouth.
"You—DON'T COME NEAR ME!!!"
Kakuzu thrashed wildly, his remaining tentacles whipping through the air in a desperate attempt to break free. But he couldn't stop it. He could only watch as the unspeakable horror drew closer and closer…
---
Meanwhile, Hidan had regained his senses. His usually reckless mind had pieced together one simple fact—this wasn't a fight he wanted to be in.
"Tch, that bastard Kakuzu ran off somewhere," Hidan muttered, clicking his tongue. "And the Two-Tails got taken. Tch."
He grabbed his Sanbōchō no Karasu (Triple-Bladed Scythe) from the ground, slinging it over his shoulder. Without looking back, he started walking toward the rendezvous point he had set with Kakuzu.
He wasn't worried.
Kakuzu might not be immortal like him, but the old bastard's escape skills were top-notch. There was no way he'd actually die here.
And if he did?
Meh. Not his problem. The Akatsuki wasn't a family—it was a business. They all had their own goals. If someone died, that just meant they were too weak to survive.
He didn't care about revenge. That wasn't his thing.
Unknowingly, his decision to leave had just saved his life.
Back at the battlefield, Zixu casually pulled off his gas mask and gloves, shaking his head as he examined the scroll in his hands.
Beside him, Kakuzu lay dead, his final heart crushed beyond repair.
Oddly enough, the old shinobi's face held a look of relief.
No one knew exactly what Zixu had done to him before he died.
Tossing the Jiongu scroll in his hands, Zixu thought for a moment before slicing off a piece of Kakuzu's dried tentacle, sealing it inside the scroll.
Just to be extra careful, he gathered all of Kakuzu's remains, piled them together, and incinerated them with a massive Katon: Gōka Mekkyaku (Fire Release: Majestic Destroyer Flame).
There would be nothing left.
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