Four of Kakuzu's five hearts had been shattered, which meant he had only one life left.
In the original story, Kakuzu had been forcibly dumbed down. Several of his hearts were destroyed in succession, yet he never replenished them, and in the end, Naruto's Rasenshuriken blew him to pieces.
It was nothing but plot-induced death.
Of course, it could also be explained that the Kakuzu of the original story had been overflowing with confidence and hadn't taken Konoha's ninjas seriously, so he had not been eager to replenish his hearts.
But the situation now was completely different from the original story.
Facing Uchiha Mai, Kakuzu was like a level-sixty warrior trying to solo a level-ninety world boss with several hundred potions in his bag.
His attacks were little more than scratches, his defense was as thin as paper, and any random slash could send his health below the danger line. He had to time the cooldown on his health potions and keep chugging them just to barely cling to life.
His hearts were Kakuzu's health potions.
With only one heart remaining, not only had Kakuzu's offensive variety been severely weakened, but more importantly, given the gap in strength between them, a few more slashes could very well kill him.
And Uchiha Mai's assault had not stopped. His long blade whirled like a dragon, every strike aimed straight at Kakuzu's vital points, as though he had forgotten that he had previously said he wanted to recruit Kakuzu—and that Kakuzu had only one heart left.
"Pfft!"
Kakuzu's chest was pierced again, and a crack appeared in his last remaining heart.
At that moment, the fear of death completely enveloped Kakuzu's heart. His breathing, calm for decades, suddenly turned ragged.
Veins bulged on his neck, cold sweat seeped from his forehead, his chest