Sorry, I Lied

Night deepened.

The moisture gathering nearby suddenly brought a fine drizzle to a small patch of the area, dampening the dry stone-brick pavement.

Yet the battle in the street showed no sign of stopping.

Within the battle zone, Sahara Mizu, under attack from both sides, darted agilely beneath the two men's blades like a butterfly flitting through flowers, moving at an astonishing speed.

Those brilliant azure eyes, bright as stars, continually flashed through Kakuzu's field of vision like streaks of light.

Faint murmurs mingled with the wind.

Even after all his long years, having seen countless people who called themselves geniuses, Kakuzu could not help but sigh inwardly at this moment.

This deal had really been a loss.

If he had let this brat grow a little longer, he might have been worth ten million, perhaps even twenty million.

Bad intelligence had not only placed him in danger, but also forced him to destroy an unfinished money tree for nothing—and at such a laughable increase in price.

Compared to having to fight this young man in front of him now, or the danger of facing Konoha's full-scale pursuit at any moment, the huge sum of money he had inexplicably lost was even harder for him to accept.

"Clang—!"

Kunai and blades collided, the piercing sound drilling through their eardrums and stabbing deep into their minds.

That strange note made their movements slow by a beat—

Hm?

Why had he slowed by a beat?

Almost the instant that thought arose, Kakuzu caught sight from the corner of his eye of the kunai in Sahara Mizu's other hand stabbing viciously into his waist and abdomen.

Oh, so it was a sound-based genjutsu.

"Pfft."

At the moment Kakuzu reached that conclusion, the entire kunai plunged into his kidney.

However, Sahara Mizu seemed to notice something surprising. He swiftly leaped backward, withdrawing from the close-quarters battle.

At the same time, he looked at Kakuzu warily.

If it had been an ordinary person, having their kidney blown out would have left them unable even to stand. They would likely have cried out in agony and curled up on the ground, unable to move.

But Kakuzu remained standing there.

The huge wound in his waist and abdomen was rapidly stitched together by black threads until it was completely sealed.

"I thought you were some kind of special clone."

"But it turns out you have an immortal body?"

A perfectly measured trace of gravity appeared in Sahara Mizu's gaze.

"For someone as strong as you, how much would it take to make you break into a deathtrap like Konoha?"

"Fifty million? A hundred million?"

Hearing Sahara Mizu deliberately call out a much higher price, Kakuzu's brow visibly twitched, though he tried his best to suppress his anger and keep his tone calm.

"The one who should be surprised is me."

"A young man with abilities as outstanding as yours is actually unknown in the Ninja World."

"Has the village that the God of Shinobi created with such painstaking effort also gradually decayed like any ordinary thing?"

"What a pity."

"What an arrogant fellow." Sahara Mizu looked at him with those azure eyes, his smile carrying a hint of mockery. "You're just a rat who has gained a little reputation underground, yet you speak as though you knew the First Hokage."

Oh, now that was something he could talk about!

Kakuzu casually curled his lips, his deep eyes seeming to cross through the long passage of time as he sighed in a weathered tone.

"Hashirama Senju?"

"Come to think of it, he was the first Konoha Ninja I ever fought."

Yet Sahara Mizu had barely replied before he immediately broke Kakuzu's composure. "Back then, when you fought the First Hokage, did you also bring a fifth-gear electric vibrator with a purple mood setting and ram it into his ass?"

"If that was the case, then maybe you really did have some skill to escape alive from that man's hands."

"What kind of nonsense is that?!"

Kakuzu's yellowed face seemed to turn purple from holding back his anger.

What followed was a string of things like "professional spirit," "assassin sage," "the customer who pays is God," "love your work," and "I'm not some pervert," all of which were completely incomprehensible.

"..."

"Heh."

Seemingly having finally calmed down and realized that his opponent was trying to stall for time with words, both Kakuzus looked toward Sahara Mizu, their expressions growing colder.

"Could it be that, even now, you still imagine someone will come to save you?"

"The only reliable thing in this world is money."

"As for you, you've already been betrayed by certain people in your village."

"That is what a village is."

However, Sahara Mizu showed no sign of wavering because of his words. He shook his head with a faintly sentimental look and said calmly,

"I'm not like you. I've never believed in that sort of thing."

"I'm waiting for someone else."

By now, he had stalled for long enough.

"Is that so?"

Kakuzu let out a low sneer.

Behind him, the final tangled mass of Earth Grudge Fear, woven and clumped together like a ball of yarn, silently slipped underground with its heart hidden from sight.

Listening to Sahara Mizu's cryptic behavior, Kakuzu sighed, threads tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"Then I won't hold back!"

Almost the moment his voice fell.

The two Kakuzus surrounding Sahara Mizu from front and back shot forward at the same time, erupting with nearly twice the speed they had shown before.

"Earth Release: Earth Spear!"

"Water Release: Water Trumpet!"

The body charging head-on into Sahara Mizu's embrace with its powerful hardening technique seemed to leave him no room to dodge. Amid the struggle, he was forced to take the powerful Water Release blast squarely on his back.

At the same time, he used the force of that impact to surge forward sharply.

"Clang!"

The kunai slashed into Kakuzu's arm.

Yet Kakuzu could not even be bothered to make an extra defensive movement. Earth Grudge Fear threads wrapped around the kunai embedded in his arm and around Sahara Mizu's wrist, locking them tightly in place.

At the same time, his other hand seized Sahara Mizu's wrist.

He couldn't move?!

A look of astonishment seemed to flash across Sahara Mizu's face.

"Don't blame me for being underhanded, young man." Kakuzu looked at him calmly.

"If anyone is to blame, blame yourself for being so exceptional that I couldn't be certain of taking you down quickly."

As his words fell.

Three grotesquely shaped black woven bodies slowly rose from underground as if passing through water.

A mask of a different color was attached to each of their bodies.

And not only them.

Even the "clone" that had been fighting Sahara Mizu turned into the same form.

Sahara Mizu seemed to finally understand everything.

"Are you planning to die together with me?!"

The corners of Kakuzu's mouth, stitched together by Earth Grudge Fear, split apart. His smile became more savage than ever.

"The only one who will die is you!"

"Damn."

As Kakuzu grinned viciously, Sahara Mizu's expression gradually twisted with terror.

The four clones surrounding him opened their mouths at the same time.

Violent chakra reactions suddenly surged from the mouths of their masks.

Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!

Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!

Lightning Release: Lightning Dragon Bullet Technique!

Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!

The four Ninjutsu of different elements paired together and merged into one, ultimately erupting with power far greater than the sum of their parts. They directly swallowed both Sahara Mizu and Kakuzu, setting off a violent explosion that shattered every window within dozens of meters.

"Whoosh—"

Relying on the powerful defense granted by Earth Release, Kakuzu, with most of his clothes blown away, nimbly leaped out of the thick smoke.

He stood where he was and looked at Sahara Mizu, who had been swallowed by flames.

The young man's originally sturdy body was rapidly burned and dried by the combined assault of fire, water, and lightning, turning into a charred black skeleton.

His half-kneeling body remained frozen in the posture of his final moment before death. Both his clothes and skin had become fragments of cracked blackened ash.

"Trusting so-called companions leads to an end like this."

As if offering a warning, or perhaps speaking to himself, Kakuzu looked at the corpse amid the flames and shook his head slightly.

Just as he prepared to turn around.

The charred corpse at the center of the fire moved.

Kakuzu froze.

Using its dried skeleton, the burnt corpse slowly rose from its half-kneeling position to stand, then took a step forward.

One step.

Two steps.

That bizarre sight sent a chill through even the immortal Kakuzu's heart, and he instinctively stepped half a pace back.

He was immortal because of Earth Grudge Fear.

But what exactly was Sahara Mizu?!

Before Kakuzu could understand what was happening, the charred corpse's steps grew faster and faster. Its body burst from the crater wrapped in flames, eventually surpassing even the speed of sound and becoming a streak of black mist.

"Bang—"

It slammed into his chest.

Kakuzu's body instinctively moved to defend itself, and his entire torso was lifted into the air for an instant by the violent impact.

But his chest suddenly felt empty.

Their bodies crossed.

"Rumble!!!"

The black mist wrapped in a storm burst from the flames, sweeping up dust. After passing through Kakuzu, it tore out a straight, colorless vacuum tunnel. The bluestone bricks beneath their feet split in fish-scale patterns, and even the curtain of rain was smashed apart.

Only after stopping did Sahara Mizu, still bent low, raise his head. His slightly long black hair swayed in the wind, while his azure eyes shimmered with flowing light.

In his bloodstained hand was a dark-red heart still beating, clinging to black Earth Grudge Fear threads.

The young man turned around and looked at Kakuzu, whose expression remained blank even with his chest torn open. His voice was ninety percent insincere, even carrying a touch of airy delight.

"Sorry, I lied to you."

There really was another update last night. It was just posted a little late. But I just woke up after falling asleep on the table, so let me off this time.