Stalemate

Kakuzu moved quickly, taking advantage of the large amount of steam generated by the collision of Fire Release and Water Release, which obscured their vision, and immediately rushed forward, attempting to get close to Yichen.

Before Kakuzu arrived, he had analyzed Yichen's information and knew that Yichen was a ranged ninjutsu output type ninja, and that close combat was Yichen's weakness.

Although Kakuzu himself is considered a ranged ninja, his close combat skills are also quite strong; at least he's not as specialized as Yichen.

Kakuzu approached, he stretched out his hand towards where Yichen had been standing, and then a fist carrying more than a dozen black tentacles shot directly towards Yichen.

Earth Grudge Fear is indeed a miraculous thing; this method of launching a long-range, instantaneous attack is no less powerful than instantaneous ninjutsu.

However, Yichen was familiar with Earth Grudge Fear, so he took countermeasures immediately when his view was blocked.

Similarly, the Porcelain Release, which requires no Hand Seals, quickly formed a mud defense line in front of Yichen.

Mud is not known for its defensive capabilities, so it did not stop Kakuzu's punch. Kakuzu was hardened by Earth Release, and it easily broke through the mud's defenses.

However, Yichen's main body and clones had already left their original positions, while Yichen's three disciples had moved away from the battlefield the moment Yichen activated his ninjutsu.

To prevent any accidents from happening to his three disciples, Yichen also created an Earth Style Clone to watch over them.

The Earth Grudge Fear's continuous fist easily pierced through the mud, but little did it know that this was precisely Yichen's purpose. While Kakuzu's fist was still still, a large amount of mud immediately wrapped around the Earth Grudge Fear.

At the same time, beneath Kakuzu's body, the Kunai that had been blocked by the Earth Grudge Fear turned back into mud and began to entangle Kakuzu once more.

Kakuzu expect that Yichen's Kunai Rain, after being blocked, could be used again, and he inadvertently entered a circle of mud.

This is also an advantage of Yichen's ability to protect his own intelligence. If Kakuzu had known more about Porcelain Release, he certainly wouldn't have walked headlong into this not-so-small trap like he has now.

However, Kakuzu. Seeing that it was too late to use ninjutsu, he immediately released a large amount of Earth Grudge Fear to form a dynamic defensive line around his body, which directly blocked the mud.

At the same time, the fist that had attacked Yichen was withdrawn.

However, because his vision was obstructed and his attention was drawn to the large amount of mud around him, Kakuzu notice that the fist he retrieved was still covered in a lot of mud.

By the time Kakuzu realized something was wrong, it was too late. The mud, following Kakuzu back to his original form, immediately scurried up Kakuzu arm and into his body.

Although he didn't understand what the mud was going to do, Kakuzu knew he couldn't just let it run wild and do nothing.

As a result, a large number of Earth Grudge Fear formed inside Kakuzu's body, and these Earth Grudge Fear, carrying mud, directly penetrated Kakuzu's skin and came out of his body.

Faced with this self-destructive counterattack, the mud had nowhere to hide and was Kakuzu expelled from its body in an instant.

However, just as Kakuzu suddenly looked up ahead. Judging from his eyes, Kakuzu seemed to have sensed danger.

Kakuzu was about to make a move, a thick, long, rocky spear pierced through Earth Grudge Fear's defenses and precisely pierced his heart.

"Impossible?" Kakuzu cried out in pain. But it was too late to Shinya at this point. Kakuzu Hon controlled his Earth Grudge Fear and quickly replaced his heart.

Meanwhile, a few dozen meters directly in front of Kakuzu, separated by a patch of Earth Grudge Fear and a large amount of mud, Yichen's true form finally breathed a sigh of Yichen.

Of course, Yichen had planned and memorized everything from the beginning. Taking advantage of Kakuzu's obstructed vision and his own S-rank Ninjutsu, Mind's Eye, Yichen executed a tactic similar to exploiting an information gap.

However, Yichen's biggest calculation in all these actions was the mud that entered Kakuzu's body.

In fact, given Yichen's mastery of the Porcelain Mud, the small amount of mud that entered Kakuzu's body was completely ineffective against Kakuzu with an immortal body. Moreover, the presence of a large amount of Earth Grudge Fear further reduced Yichen's control over the mud.

However, Kakuzu unaware of all this. In order to expel the mud from his body, Kakuzu not only diverted a great deal of his attention and failed to notice that Yichen was preparing a powerful attack, but also dispelled his Earth Style: Hardening Jutsu.

Yichen launched his attack precisely at the moment when Kakuzu's Hardening Jutsu dissipated.

Yichen's attack was still Porcelain Release, but it was Porcelain Release by Yichen's main body. Because the line of sight was blocked at this moment, only the main body's Mind's Eye could accurately capture the location of Kakuzu's heart.

Yichen's Porcelain Release, combined with the acceleration of the still-immature S-rank Ninjutsu: Almighty Push, allowed the long rock spear to pierce through the Earth Grudge Fear's obstruction and accurately strike Kakuzu's Earth Release heart.

Kakuzu's ranged attacks combine multiple attributes, which is a headache for Yichen. But what Yichen is most wary of is the Earth Release heart that Kakashi killed in the early part of the original work.

As a fellow ranged ninja, Yichen knew that a ninja who was highly skilled in using the Hardening Jutsu didn't even need to use other Defensive Ninjutsu when facing many attacks.

If Yichen cannot break through this Earth Release heart immediately, he will have to face a Kage Level opponent with no weaknesses in melee or ranged combat. In that case, Yichen will have to consider retreating now.

Now that Kakuzu lost his Earth Release heart, Yichen can finally go all out.

It's a long story. After Kakuzu's heart was destroyed, neither side was idle. Kakuzu quickly replaced his heart, while Yichen launched a new round of attacks.

"Earth Release - Earth Style: Mountain Earth Technique." This A-rank Earth Style Ninjutsu, which Yichen had longed for the most, was being used in actual combat for the first time.

Actually, Yichen only recently learned this ninjutsu, and he still has 32 Hand Seals, so he wouldn't normally have a chance to use it.

But the situation is different now. To prevent Yichen's mud from getting close, Kakuzu surrounded himself with Earth Grudge Fear. Now, not Kakuzu is Kakuzu's vision obstructed, but it also took him some time to replace his heart and adjust his tactics. Only then was Yichen able to successfully unleash his attack.

Although the Earth Style: Mountain Earth Technique is slow to execute, it is indeed suitable for this situation.

It's unclear Kakuzu's Earth Grudge Fear: Wild Dance counts as an Absolute Defense, but Yichen doesn't have a good way to Wind Release: Breakthrough. He just took advantage of Kakuzu's distraction to launch a single-target attack. Now, it's impossible to repeat that result. Through his Mind's Eye 'Yichen noticed that Kakuzu is now prepared to dodge within the Earth Grudge Fear at any time.

Kakuzu surprised that Yichen, having just unleashed a powerful attack, didn't come forward to check the results. Instead, he unleashed a powerful move. It was as if Yichen knew all along that even with his heart pierced, he wouldn't die.

Soon, two hemispherical mounds of earth, each about twenty meters in diameter, rose rapidly from the ground on either side of the Kakuzu, as if to crush the corner into a meat patty.

Kakuzu had just reduced the density of the Earth Grudge Fear, because he discovered that Yichen seemed to have a special way of judging the enemy's situation without relying on his eyes. He himself, however, needed to observe through the gaps Earth Grudge Fear.

As a result, we saw two hemispherical mounds of earth rising abruptly from the ground on either side.

This startled him greatly. Kakuzu Earth Grudge Fear still rushing in from the outer edge of the swirling grime and leaped up. At the same time, a large amount of Earth Grudge Fear, like pipes, supported Kakuzu.

In the end, by a narrow margin, Kakuzu escaped the attack of the Earth Style: Mountain Earth Technique; only a large number of Earth Grudge Fear were trapped by the Earth Style: Mountain Earth Technique.

Yichen wouldn't let Kakuzu adjust his tactics. Before Kakuzu could even regain his footing, the Mud Clone had already formed a large amount of mud and rushed towards him again.

However, Kakuzu's mindset had changed. He realized that his initial tactics had put him at a disadvantage. Despite having a masked clone, he hadn't used it, and instead, he had been harassed and overwhelmed by Yichen's clone. If it weren't for the mud created by Yichen's clone diverting his attention, he wouldn't have lost a heart.

Once Kakuzu realized what was happening, he distanced himself from the mud while separating the remaining four hearts. Except for one Water Release heart that remained inside his body, the other three hearts left Kakuzu's body. Kakuzu create a four-on-two situation.

Seeing this, Yichen smiled slightly; this was the moment he had been waiting for. Yichen abandoned Kakuzu's main body and charged directly towards one of the masked clones.

The Mud Clone moved in sync with Yichen, quickly shifting its target and focusing its attack on the masked clone.

Because Kakuzu wanted to gain a superior attack position, his three masked clones were positioned some distance from his main body after separating. The Fire Release Wind Release masked clones were perhaps preparing to use Combination Ninjutsu, so they didn't separate, but the Lightning Release masked clone was left alone.

The masked clones were quite agile, and even Kakashi couldn't defeat them in a short time. Yichen naturally wouldn't be foolish enough to think he could take them down with his Taijutsu.

However, Yichen also had a unique skill: his Mud Clone manipulated a large amount of Kunai Rain to attack the lone Lightning Release masked clone, while Yichen's main body used the Light-Weight Rock Technique to fly directly towards the clone, attempting to close the distance between them.

Kakuzu, witnessing this scene, Hon felt something was amiss. He didn't understand what Yichen was trying to do; the intelligence clearly stated that Yichen was not skilled in close combat. However, after their previous exchange, Kakuzu didn't think Yichen would do anything foolish.

Therefore, Kakuzu was very careful this time and did not let Yichen have his way. On one hand, he controlled the two wind and fire mask clones together to use Combination Ninjutsu on Yichen's main body, and on the other hand, he controlled the Lightning Release mask clone to move away from Yichen's main body.

Yichen frowned. "Why Kakuzu suddenly become so hesitant?"

Unfortunately, Kakuzu became wary, and it seemed unlikely that he could use that Lightning Release mask clone effectively. Yichen was flying in the air and easily dodged the Combination Ninjutsu with a few turns.

Seeing this, Kakuzu frowned; flying ninjas were always a problem. Before coming to kill Yichen, Kakuzu's planned tactic was a sneak attack, to kill Yichen using Yichen techniques before he could take flight.

However, Kakuzu expect that Yichen's Mind's Eye senses had detected him in advance, and that Yichen also possessed the memories of the original work, recognizing his identity immediately. He then took decisive action.

Kakuzu quickly changed his strategy, focusing on dealing with Yichen's Mud Clone first. Intelligence reports indicated that Yichen Chakra were not large, making it impossible for him to create too many clones.

Soon, Namikaze and fire Combination Ninjutsu was formed, but this time Kakuzu aimed it at Yichen's Mud Clone.

Yichen realized he was in trouble. The Mud Clone's agility was far inferior to that of the main body. It was already quite difficult for it to manipulate mud to cause interference, let alone Combination Ninjutsu or defend against Combination Ninjutsu.

Left with no other choice, Yichen signaled to his Mud Clone to ignore the combined attack and directly manipulate the mud to attack the Lightning Release masked clone.

Kakuzu naturally noticed this as well, but he decided to take a gamble. He bet that Yichen wouldn't be able to destroy his Lightning Release clone before he could destroy Yichen's Mud Clone.

Therefore, the target of the Combination Ninjutsu remained unchanged, while Kakuzu's main body used Wind Release to support the Lightning Release masked clone.

Unfortunately, Yichen was incredibly agile in the air. The continuous Wind Release had left Kakashi in such a sorry state in the original Kakuzu manga had no effect on Yichen. Unlike when he dodged large-scale Combination Ninjutsu, Yichen Yichen didn't need to drastically adjust his route. He only needed to make minor adjustments to his route as he approached the Lightning Release clone at full speed to easily dodge it.

Finally, before the Combination Ninjutsu could strike his own Mud Clone, Yichen successfully approached Kakuzu's Lightning Release masked clone.

This masked clone stopped dodging and instead opened its mouth, preparing to unleash Lightning Release.

However, Yichen wouldn't let him have his way. With a wave of his hand, he activated the S-rank Ninjutsu "Universal Pull," directly pulling the light, ethereal masked clone over.

The masked clone was completely unprepared for Yichen's attack and was caught off guard. Not only was the Lightning Release it was unable to be used, but it was also precisely brought to the front of a wave of Porcelain Kunai attacks by Yichen.