At this moment, Kakuzu stood ten meters away, completely motionless.
He had lived for nearly a century, and in that time, he had seen countless ways to die: being hacked to death by a blade, pierced by a kunai, blasted into scraps by ninjutsu, or crushed into a meat patty beneath a Tailed Beast's foot...
But seeing someone slowly drained dry by power they had created themselves, as Hyuga Yu was now, was a first for him.
His fingers tightened slightly inside his sleeves.
Not because he was afraid, but because he was hesitating.
Hyuga Yu's earlier words—Perhaps only you, Mr. Kakuzu, can pull me back from this peril—echoed in his mind. So was that heartfelt, or was this brat testing him?
Kakuzu understood the rules of power games all too well. He had seen too many people in high positions use "trust" as bait to test their subordinates' loyalty. If you acted, it meant you possessed the ability to threaten me. Then you were a threat, and had to die.
If you did not act, it meant you were loyal. But loyal people often died even faster.
What was more, the relationship between him and Hyuga Yu had never been about trust. It was about profit, the restraint imposed by Earth Grudge Fear, and the absolute suppression of Tenseigan chakra.
If Hyuga Yu died, the restraint on Earth Grudge Fear would vanish at its source, and he would regain his freedom.
Kakuzu narrowed his eyes and stared at Hyuga Yu's increasingly pale face.
Hyuga Yu's body began to tremble uncontrollably. Threads of blood seeped from his seven orifices, drawing several shocking red lines across his pallid face. His breathing became shallow and rapid, while the rise and fall of his chest grew smaller and smaller.
Kakuzu recalled something.
Decades