What Did You Say You Absolutely Have to Do?

Impossible!

As he watched the completely unscathed figure appear before him, Kakuzu, divided into four bodies, suddenly had that thought.

In that instant just now, his Ninjutsu had clearly struck the target!

How could this be...?

And what troubled him even more was—the Earth Release heart just now had belonged to an elite Jonin from Iwagakure. That guy's head had been worth at least twenty-two million ryo!

What a loss!

Uncle Kakuzu had suffered a massive loss this time!

Yet Sahara Mizu seemed completely unaware of his gaze as he slowly stepped through the battlefield, where lightning, water, and flames intertwined and wisps of mist continuously rose.

Kakuzu sharply noticed something.

The surrounding flames and lightning seemed to possess some kind of spirit, curving around Sahara Mizu's body to avoid him.

Even now, not a trace of dust or blood stained his body.

Even the Ninjutsu he had cast had become much weaker than usual under the drizzle's soaking, and was steadily fading away.

Kakuzu raised his head and looked at the small dark cloud that covered only the area around them.

Something was wrong.

Had even the rain from the beginning been a problem?

Since when?

"Water Release: Cutting Rain."

Sahara Mizu stepped back into the encirclement of the four Earth Grudge Fear clones, a gentle smile on his handsome face.

"A secret technique capable of weakening all Ninjutsu and chakra other than Water Release Ninjutsu."

"The colors of the masks on your clones should represent their corresponding chakra natures, right?"

"If I blow up this Water Release clone of yours, Mr. Kakuzu, do you have any other tricks?"

Kakuzu's face slowly emerged on the body of the Water Release Earth Grudge Fear standing in the center. His expression grew increasingly solemn, but there was not a trace of weakness in his voice.

"Even the First Hokage, who fought me back then, failed to keep me."

"And you, a mere Konoha Ninja, dare make such bold claims?"

Sahara Mizu's smile became even warmer.

"I'll give it a try."

The next moment, he suddenly stepped forward, splashing petal-like droplets of water.

As though that step had trampled on their nerves, the four Earth Grudge Fear clones scattered in four directions without prior coordination.

At the same time, they erupted with astonishing chakra reactions once more.

"Four Release: Strange Mask Encirclement Tactic!"

The four surging chakra blasts erupted with astonishing power even after being weakened by Water Release: Cutting Rain. Like four enormous dragons, they swept toward Sahara Mizu, plowing four deep trenches through the ground.

In the end, they converged in one place and exploded into a mushroom-shaped cloud of smoke that shot into the sky.

Yet the figure at the very center of the attack still neither dodged nor evaded.

"Did we get him?"

The mask emerging from the Water Release Earth Grudge Fear's body seemed to mutter involuntarily under some unseen rule.

The other three clones all looked toward him.

Then, an arm extended from the smoke.

It suddenly swung to the side.

In an instant, the smoke and dust dispersed.

Almost at the same moment that the tall figure appeared, Sahara Mizu had already taken another step forward.

When he appeared again, he was standing before the clone that had just spoken.

The howling wind was cast behind him, while the dust and flames in his path were scattered by his charge, turning into a misty funnel chasing after him.

He twisted his body and threw a punch.

"Boom—"

It was clearly a blow that looked neither swift nor particularly powerful, yet at the instant it struck home, it abruptly erupted with explosive force beyond anything an ordinary person could imagine.

A circular shockwave swept outward in every direction along the span between his elbow and wrist.

Beneath the fist buried deep in the center of the Water Release mask, dense spiderweb-like cracks spread outward in rings before the mask shattered completely.

He leaped backward and flipped over.

The three Earth Grudge Fear clones slammed down almost simultaneously on the spot where he had just stood.

The earth cracked apart.

Yet at this moment, a hint of retreat had already risen in Kakuzu's heart.

—Minus forty-seven million ryo!

Even if this job succeeded, it would only earn him one and a half million ryo, not even enough to recoup the cost of those two hearts!

Not to mention that speed just now...

Mr. Kakuzu was deeply wary.

The young man before him was a high-speed type like the Third Raikage—the kind of opponent he was worst at dealing with.

However.

Kakuzu looked at Sahara Mizu before him, and a smile involuntarily stretched across his mask.

"You think I'm the only opponent you have?"

Almost the instant his voice fell.

Several Root figures who had long been lying in ambush nearby seized the brief moment when Sahara Mizu retreated and paused, leaping down together from the surrounding rooftops.

The one leading them had long snow-white hair and a red mole between his brows.

Hiruko's face was twisted with utterly ferocious killing intent.

"Die!!!"

Cold light flashed from his blade.

Yet neither Sahara Mizu nor Kakuzu looked toward the dozen or so figures suddenly leaping down from the rooftops. Instead, they looked at each other in unison.

This is the moment! x2

As if their minds had connected, the two abruptly retreated in precisely opposite directions.

They instantly leaped dozens of meters away.

"Hmm?!"

Hiruko's blade stabbed into the ground. Looking at Sahara Mizu and Kakuzu, who had suddenly retreated, he instinctively let out a questioning grunt.

"Wait, you bastard...!"

"Don't tell me?!"

But when he saw the direction Sahara Mizu had retreated in, a bad feeling immediately rose in his heart.

"Boom!"

Unfortunately, before his voice could fall, Sahara Mizu had already shot out like an arrow.

In the final instant, he only left Hiruko with a rather subtle look.

It was over.

He was definitely done for this time!

Meanwhile, the real Hiruko was running for his life!

Almost as soon as he saw Sahara Mizu crush a heart with that Space-Time Ninjutsu, Hiruko realized that he, the one responsible for carrying out this mission, had become a discarded pawn.

The reason was simple.

The intelligence Lord Danzo had given him had never mentioned such a terrifying technique.

Not only that, the unit Cloud Village had originally promised was nowhere to be found.

As for that mercenary ninja who had appeared from nowhere, he had apparently been killed on the spot under that terrifying technique—upon seeing the godlike ninja hired for thirty-five million ryo get taken out, Hiruko had immediately fled. He had not noticed at all that after Kakuzu died, those "clones" of his could still move.

Therefore, after leaving behind a Shadow Clone and ordering his directly subordinate Root squad to kill Sahara Mizu, Hiruko had begun his escape.

Now, he no longer hoped to complete the mission. He only hoped they could delay Sahara Mizu for a little longer.

"Damn Cloud Village!"

"Damn Danzo!"

"Damn Sahara Mizu!"

"Once my Chimera Technique is complete, I'll absolutely, absolutely..."

Hiruko's eyes glinted with hatred carved deep into his bones.

Yet just as he was about to escape the center of this storm.

A vague yet incomparably real sense of danger suddenly rose from the depths of Hiruko's heart.

It was the instinct he had tempered through countless brushes with death on the battlefield.

Immediately afterward, the chakra feedback and memories from his Shadow Clone's dispelling flooded into his body, so abruptly that it made him uneasy.

That clone was taken out so quickly?

Wait, the direction Sahara Mizu retreated in was...

The instant Hiruko saw the memories sent back by the Shadow Clone.

Almost instinctively, he suddenly turned around and looked toward the direction behind him from which the danger was coming.

Yet at the instant he turned, his backward gaze was completely covered by a large hand that had appeared out of nowhere.

Shadow blocked his vision.

"Bang—"

In an instant, unimaginable inertia and weight crashed down onto his head at an inconceivable speed, making Hiruko wonder whether his fragile neck bones would abruptly snap after this second passed.

His body was thrown into the air, his steps stumbled, and that inexplicable weight crushed him as he tumbled and scraped deeply across the ground, carving a trail that stretched more than ten meters.

The sonic boom produced by abruptly crossing an entire kilometer rang out far in the distance, yet it still split clouds and shattered stone, making the whole body tremble.

On Hiruko's back, the young man maintained a half-kneeling posture. One hand pressed down on the back of his head, the other held the wrist gripping his kunai, and even one foot pinned down his other elbow.

He could not move at all.

Hiruko's body trembled faintly.

Beside his ear, Sahara Mizu bent down. His voice was close, and his tone gentle as he asked:

"What did you say you absolutely had to do?"

(I suddenly thought of this image, so I posted it here ↑)

Thanks to readers Linshen Jianlu Lulu Lu, SCP Lujui, Elephant Eats Instant Noodles, joker Egg, xunixinf Kong, Four Bitter Melons, Qi Bu Ke Xiu, Occultator, and Mr. An Who Wishes to Remain Anonymous for their monthly votes!

It rained and got windy while I was sleeping during the day before yesterday. I left the window open, stayed up half the night, and caught a bit of a cold. I'll temporarily skip an update. I don't have any drafts saved up right now; I'll make it up later.