First Battle of the Squad! The Oppressive Power of a Shadow-Level Expert!

Hidan looked up at Uchiha Ci, his face filled with shock and disbelief.

Has he forgotten the bond between us? he thought.

This is a four-hundred-meter cliff!

And he's just going to throw me off?

Before Hidan could react, Uchiha Ci's gaze hardened.

He flew up and kicked Hidan directly in the backside, sending him tumbling over the cliff edge!

"You bastard, Uchiha Ci, I'll **** you! ****!! Beep beep! Beep beep!"

Hidan yelled curses, a long string of censored words trailing behind him as he fell.

Soon, all sound of him vanished.

Uchiha Ci turned back, meeting Terumi Mei's bewildered yet shocked gaze.

He then turned to face Kakuzu, a brilliant smile on his face.

"Mr. Kakuzu, you see, the person is gone now."

"Your mission is complete."

"Actually, I brought this brat here specifically to kill him here."

"Since our objectives align, I don't mind lending a small hand."

Uchiha Ci paused, spreading his hands.

"See?"

"We have no past grievances, no recent enmity. Since this is settled, why don't you pretend you never saw us, and we'll go our separate ways?"

Kakuzu was also stunned by Uchiha Ci's audacious move.

The moment Hidan fell off the cliff, his pair of eerie green eyes widened, and he stared blankly for a long while before looking at Uchiha Ci.

What is this guy's deal?

What kind of grudge does he have with that kid?

That kick was too decisive!

But soon, after hearing Uchiha Ci's words, Kakuzu's expression darkened, clouds gathering on his face.

"Who asked you to meddle?" Kakuzu gritted his teeth, his eyes turning cold as he glared at Uchiha Ci.

"My mission was to bring that brat back alive!"

"What?!"

Hearing this, Uchiha Ci frowned slightly, a hint of ruthlessness flashing in his eyes.

However, on the surface, he appeared to be trembling and deathly pale.

Shivering, he waved his hands frantically in explanation.

"I, I really didn't know about this, sir. Look, he's dead..."

However, enraged by the unexpected loss of a large sum of money, Kakuzu couldn't listen to Uchiha Ci any further.

He raised his right hand, his eyes gleaming with bone-chilling coldness, his palm open.

"Then you die!"

As the words fell!

The stitched seams on Kakuzu's hand began to split open, and numerous fine Earth Grudge Fear threads emerged.

Then, he twisted his waist and pulled back, suddenly flinging his hand forward!

Swish!

His right hand instantly elongated, tearing through the air and crossing over ten meters in an instant to strike Uchiha Ci.

This was the Secret Technique: Earth Grudge Fear!

It was a hidden life force, a restless, pitch-black tentacle.

The tentacle was composed of countless fine threads, so dense they could even stitch together a person's blood vessels and meridians.

As the palm smashed towards him, Uchiha Ci's eyes widened with envy. If he had such an ability, he wouldn't need to buy ridiculously expensive ninja tool threads anymore.

However, looking at the incoming palm and the tough tendril connecting to it, Uchiha Ci narrowed his eyes.

When it came to playing with threads, the Uchiha were the true masters!

He flicked his wrist, producing a handful of kunai. Silently, his Sharingan activated, turning his black eyes into a sea of crimson.

"What are you waiting for!"

Beside him, Terumi Mei saw Uchiha Ci standing still and frowned. She twisted her foot and threw the water blade she had already formed.

Shink!

Lava Style · Lava Globs Jutsu! Terumi Mei touched her fingers together, forming the Ram seal and taking a deep breath.

Then, her pink lips parted slightly!

Lava Style, resembling molten rock with terrifying temperatures capable of dissolving even Susanoo, was spewed from Terumi Mei's mouth!

"Hm? What is this!?"

Kakuzu's pupils constricted. Seeing what Terumi Mei spat out, he instinctively felt a sense of dread.

He immediately separated some of his Earth Grudge Fear tentacles to block it, preventing the Lava Style from destroying his outstretched hand.

The lava landed on the tentacles, utterly destroying them and melting them away!

Sizzle, sizzle—

The scene was like hot oil poured onto cheese, with smoke and steam rising!

He retracted his hand, Kakuzu narrowed his eyes, his gaze becoming slightly more serious. He glanced at Uchiha Ci and Terumi Mei, as if re-evaluating them, and nodded.

"Sharingan, and a Lava Style kekkei genkai. Not bad. You might be able to recoup some of my losses."

"I will do my best to preserve the integrity of your corpses."

"So, rest in peace."

As soon as he spoke, a line of text immediately appeared before Uchiha Ci.

[Kakuzu feels you're worth a little something.]

Hearing Kakuzu's dismissive words, Terumi Mei's face turned icy.

She immediately retorted coldly:

"Your tentacles are useless against me!"

"If you continue, I will kill you!"

Kakuzu shook his head slightly, his calm, eerie green eyes looking impassively at the two.

He twisted his neck, and a bulge rippled beneath his black robe.

Then, he asked indifferently:

"And how will you deal with this move, madam?"

With that, Kakuzu pulled open his black robe with both hands, revealing the blue-patterned bird-head mask on his chest.

The mask opened its dark, gaping maw, and all the surrounding grass, trees, insects, and stones were sucked into it, concentrating into a swirling mass of wind that let out a strange cry!

Bang!

It shot out with a piercing shriek!

Wind Style · Gale Force!

This ninjutsu, hailed as the strongest Wind Style in the standard form across the shinobi world, revealed its power before the two of them!

Under the cutting power of the Wind Style · Gale Force's wind bullet, the river of lava spewed by Terumi Mei, was pushed back and pierced through!

After blasting through the lava, it then narrowly grazed Terumi Mei's ear and shot five hundred meters away!

It slammed heavily into the mountain opposite!

Boom!

A tempest raged!

Huge rocks fell, The screams and wails of the Land of Hot Water refugees immediately erupted from below.

The clamor instantly ignited the silent night!

Terumi Mei's eyes widened, her expression stiff, her mind blank. Blood from her eardrums, ruptured by the sonic boom that had just grazed her, was slowly trickling down.

"Ah, I almost killed them outright. Too weak, let's try a different approach?"

Kakuzu exhaled, frowning slightly in apparent difficulty.

He clapped his hands together.

The mask on his chest crawled up his shoulders, replaced by another, a yellow-striped dog-head mask.

He slowly walked towards the two of them, Stomp, stomp,

his feet crushing dust, gravel, Lava Style earth clods, and the girl's proud heart, stirring up a sky-obscuring gray mist.

The next moment—

Dense Earth Grudge Fear tentacles erupted from behind Kakuzu, forming eight massive black lines!

Like eight pitch-black Snake Lances!

Kakuzu's indifferent, icy voice slowly descended as he spoke the name of the technique:

"Secret Technique: Earth Grudge Fear Mode!"

A bead of sweat trickled down Terumi Mei's forehead.

She looked up in terror.

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