The Battle

(That makes 80,000 words! You can recommend it now. (*^▽^*) I wonder what'll happen when the novel gets recommended.)

A few days later

Asuma woke up. He had managed to cling to life, but all his Chakra was gone. He was nothing more than an ordinary person now.

Even so, Asuma didn't show any signs of despair. He accepted the truth with optimism. After all, he had something more important than being a ninja to look forward to now.

His wife was carrying his child, after all.

Kakashi, Ino, Choji, and the others packed their bags and got ready to set out. There were some grudges that needed settling.

On the road to Konoha

Hidan and Kakuzu were looking for their next bounty target again. The Akatsuki Organization was lucky to have them, no doubt about it.

Whoever had recruited Hidan and Kakuzu was a genius. Josuke guessed that the two brothers had probably covered a lot of the Akatsuki Organization's expenses, only for Konan to squander every last bit of it.

And in the end, they hadn't even managed to kill one enraged kid.

What good was it to take someone's arm and nothing else?

Kakashi and the others had also set up an ambush along the two men's route. At the sight of Kakuzu and Hidan, they wanted nothing more than to grind the pair's bones to dust.

When enemies met, their eyes blazed with hatred. As soon as the two entered the prepared ambush, the operation began.

Shikamaru suddenly used two Shadow Imitation Techniques to catch Kakuzu and Hidan off guard and try to restrain them.

But the two men dodged with ease, splitting apart as they did.

Just then, Kakashi appeared behind Kakuzu and pierced his chest with Chidori. Kakuzu looked surprised, but then he broke free of Kakashi as if nothing had happened.

He kicked Kakashi away.

Then he took off his clothes.

Four monsters hidden beneath them were revealed. Not far away, Old Six Josuke arrived as promised.

The immortal duo, huh?

Of the two, the only one Josuke really had to fear was Hidan. That technique of his was downright unfair—practically concept-level. Even someone from the Six Paths would probably cripple themselves trying to deal with it.

Kakuzu was nothing special in that regard. He was powerful, but his abilities weren't broken. He only had five lives, after all—not even as good as Danzo's Sharingan.

At that moment, all four of Kakuzu's monsters were summoned, but one of them had collapsed for some reason.

Hidan charged at Kakashi, swinging his scythe over and over as he shouted about offering sacrifices to his evil god.

Just like in the original, when Hidan couldn't catch up to Kakashi, he went straight for Shikamaru. Shikamaru led him step by step toward the trap he had prepared.

On the main battlefield, they only had Kakuzu to deal with, but the three of them were still locked in a tough fight.

It was time for him to step in, Josuke realized. Kakuzu's clones seemed to have endless Chakra, and they were making things miserable for the three of them by unleashing combinations of Ninjutsu.

Kakuzu looked at the three of them with disdain. Their combined bounties only amounted to one and a half Asumas.

But even the smallest morsel was still meat. As long as he could eat it, that was enough.

Just then, a few Kunai flew toward Kakuzu. He gave them a disdainful glance. Was that all?

It seemed the people across from him had no other tricks. Did they think a few Kunai would hurt him?

He increased his Chakra output.

Kakashi, Ino, and Choji were hiding behind Kakashi's Earth Style: Earth Wall. Outside, the combined Ninjutsu unleashed by Kakuzu's four clones was pinning them down so badly they couldn't even lift their heads.

Kakashi's multiple Earth Style: Earth Walls had only one layer left.

Would it hold until Shikamaru's plan was put into action?

As expected, Shikamaru's plan succeeded. The scythe with Kakuzu's blood on it stabbed into Hidan, and Kakuzu was hurt as well.

Kakuzu cursed Hidan for being an idiot.

He hurriedly pulled one of his clones back into his body.

"Super Great Ball Rasengan!!!"

Josuke arrived.

He opened with a Super Great Ball Rasengan, driving it straight into Kakuzu's chest.

The Kunai that had just flown past had been thrown by Josuke. He had chosen Kakuzu as his target because the man had let his guard down, giving Josuke the chance to strike.

Kakuzu lost two clones in an instant, which enraged him. He hurriedly ordered his two remaining clones to defend him.

A combined Fire Release and Wind Release attack blasted toward Josuke. Unfazed, Josuke used the Flying Thunder God to teleport to a nearby branch—the one he had just leaped onto.

Kakuzu was furious. He had roamed the Shinobi World for so many years and had never suffered such a humiliating setback. He ordered the two clones to attack Josuke again.

Josuke wasn't worried about that move.

He formed Hand Seals.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"

A dragon made of water burst from Josuke's mouth and crashed into Kakuzu's clones.

The two attacks canceled each other out, filling the area with steam that shrouded everything around them.

Josuke seized the chance to flash over beside Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei."

Looking at his former student, Kakashi didn't know what to say. Josuke's abilities had improved again since they last met.

"Josuke!"

Kakashi wasn't the only one who was startled by Josuke's arrival. Ino was just as surprised, but now wasn't the time to catch up.

"How is Teacher Asuma?"

Josuke had been keeping Orochimaru's experiment in mind, so he asked.

"Thanks to your medicine, Teacher Asuma is fine. He's just lost his Chakra, but he can build it up again!"

So that was how it was. Josuke understood the side effects now. He'd explain them to Orochimaru and the others when he had the chance.

The steam gradually cleared, and Kakuzu could make out everyone on the field. He immediately used a fire clone to launch a Fire Release attack at them.

Luckily, Kakashi blocked it with an Earth Style: Earth Wall.

"Kakashi-sensei, what's our plan?"

Faced with such a formidable opponent, Josuke asked. In all the time that had passed, Kakuzu was the strongest enemy he had ever encountered.

He had skill and battle sense in spades.

He was a tough opponent. In a one-on-one fight, Josuke didn't know if he could trade blows with him and come out even. The only reason he had managed to take out one of Kakuzu's clones just now—

Was that Kakuzu had underestimated him, giving Josuke an opening.

But there was no guarantee he'd succeed next time.

Kakashi thought for a moment. His Kamui still needed a few seconds to recharge. If he could get Kakuzu close enough, he could use Kamui to twist Kakuzu's body apart.

Then he gave Josuke his instructions...

After hearing the plan, Josuke nodded. He activated Cursed Mark Stage Two, armor covering his body, and charged toward one of the fire-element mask monsters. The monster had never seen anything like that before.

Naturally, it was happy to see Josuke charging in to get himself killed.

It immediately unleashed Fire Release: Great Fireball!

The blast struck Josuke's armor, kicking up a huge cloud of dust that engulfed the area. Now!

(Find out what happens next time.)