Is this the power of Uchiha's inheritance?

"Careful, he is Kakuzu, a rogue ninja from Takigakure. He specializes in the Five Great Ninjutsu Styles, and his strength is comparable to the Five Kage."

As a veteran of the Anbu, Kakashi recognized Kakuzu's identity at a glance and warned them with a solemn expression.

Kakuzu had once attempted to assassinate the First Hokage. Later, for reasons unknown, he betrayed Takigakure and became a dangerous S-Rank Rogue Ninja. Over the decades, he had carved out a fearsome reputation in the Ninja World and remained active in its gray areas to this day.

"Kakuzu?"

Itachi had also heard of Kakuzu. Knowing that this man was a terrifying rogue ninja, he tightened his grip on the kunai in his hand.

Youhu didn't feel any pressure from Kakuzu, but to fit in, he also put on a solemn expression, frowned, and said, "Captain Kakashi, should we attack?"

Kakashi shook his head. He didn't want to complicate matters. "Wait for now. Don't act rashly."

Unlike the tense atmosphere of the Kakashi Squad, Kakuzu leisurely took a bounty handbook from his robes. After flipping to the page for Kakashi, he read out in a measured tone:

"Kakashi Hatake, Konoha Anbu Jonin. Bounty: fifteen million Ryo."

"Itachi Uchiha, Konoha Anbu Chunin, son of the Uchiha Clan Head. Bounty: ten million Ryo."

At this point, Kakuzu looked at the last member of the squad, Youhu, frowned, and said, "An unknown Anbu ninja... surely worth at least one hundred thousand Ryo."

"It seems the reward for this mission will be quite bountiful—a total of twenty-five million one hundred thousand Ryo."

"..."

Having had his identity exposed at a glance, Kakashi's expression was somewhat awkward.

Youhu was right; it made little difference whether he wore this mask or not. Kakuzu had easily seen through his identity and even recited his bounty from the black market.

Still, they were incredibly unlucky on this mission. How did they run into the rogue ninja Kakuzu, and why were they being treated as prey?

"I'm actually worth ten million Ryo..."

Itachi was somewhat shocked by the amount of his bounty, but upon reflection, it made sense.

He had shone brilliantly during the Chunin Exams, becoming the top performer in the Joint Chunin Exams. As one of the village's rare genius ninjas, it was perfectly normal for him to be secretly targeted by enemy villages.

"Is my price only one hundred thousand Ryo?"

Youhu's expression turned incredibly ugly. He said to Kakashi, "Captain Kakashi, we must kill this man. He actually dared to insult me by saying I'm only worth one hundred thousand Ryo."

"Is the bounty amount really the issue right now..."

Kakashi could never keep up with Youhu's train of thought, but Youhu was right. Since Kakuzu had already marked them as prey, they had no choice but to go all out and kill him.

A mature ninja does not entrust their life to the mercy of an enemy.

"Ninja Art: Shadow Clone Technique!"

After forming the hand seals and summoning his Shadow Clone, Kakashi and the clone lunged toward Kakuzu together.

Although Kakashi had dabbled in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu, his true specialty remained close-quarters taijutsu. With the assistance of his Sharingan, he could easily perceive every move the enemy made.

Itachi also activated his Sharingan, keeping his distance from Kakuzu while throwing shuriken.

His footsteps were light and elegant, like a butterfly dancing in the wind. Moving with fluid grace across the battlefield, he utilized the steel wires attached to his shuriken to weave a spider-web-like net of wire throughout the forest.

However, before they could land an attack on Kakuzu, Kakuzu struck first. He formed hand seals with both hands and shouted, "Wind Style: Pressure Damage!"

Instantly, a Wind Style mask monster appeared behind Kakuzu, spewing a howling gale from its mouth.

The roaring gale forced Kakashi and his Shadow Clone to retreat continuously. The steel wire trap Itachi had constructed was uprooted, tumbling along with a great tree onto the road beside them.

Is this the true strength of Kakuzu? An elite jonin closest to the Five Kage... just how much of a gap is there between me and a powerhouse of this caliber?

Under the force of the gale, even Kakashi's expression became distorted, and his heart felt incredibly bitter.

During his career executing missions in the Anbu, Kakashi had no shortage of experiences fighting powerhouses of this level. But whether it was facing the escaping Orochimaru or the Kakuzu before him, he had no strength to fight back.

Even the previous repulsion of Obito was entirely the merit of Yamato and Youhu.

Itachi's face was grim. He was contemplating what tactics could turn the situation around; it was his first time encountering an enemy so proficient in Wind Style ninjutsu.

There was only one person who could remain unaffected by the Wind Style, and that was Youhu.

The moment Wind Style: Pressure Damage ceased, Youhu surged forward, flickering instantly in front of Kakuzu. He swung his long sword fiercely at Kakuzu, and while Kakuzu attempted to dodge the strike, Youhu completed the hand seals for a Fire Style technique.

"Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"

Flames erupted from Youhu's mouth, pouring out continuously like a flamethrower, covering an extremely wide area.

"Water Style: Water Curtain Wall!"

Kakuzu formed hand seals with both hands, and another mask monster emerged behind him, spitting out a powerful stream of water that blocked Youhu's flames.

Seeing this, Youhu increased his chakra output, causing the fire to burn even more fiercely.

For a moment, the flames and the water stream collided, kicking up endless clouds of steam.

Under the heat of the flames, the temperature of the steam rose higher and higher, reaching a point where it became difficult to breathe. Youhu and Kakuzu were forced to cease their ninjutsu and retreat a few steps.

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"

Seeing this, Kakashi, who was standing to the side, hurriedly cast a ninjutsu to blow away the steam, allowing the surrounding visibility to gradually clear.

As the steam dissipated, Kakashi and Itachi were astonished to see that the Long Sword in Youhu's hand had already pierced Kakuzu's heart. Kakuzu wore a look of disbelief, clutching his chest.

"So this is the famous Kakuzu. His strength is nothing special."

Youhu pulled out his Long Sword and flickered to Kakashi's side, complaining, "Captain Kakashi, you said this guy was very strong. I actually thought I was going to die, but I didn't expect him to be so weak."

"I just used a simple Fire Style and an Illusion Technique on him, and he was already finished."

"..."

Kakashi stared at Youhu in disbelief; he didn't know how to describe his current mood.

Is it possible that it's not that Kakuzu is weak, but that your performance is just too exaggerated?

He had seen Kakuzu use Wind Style and Water Style, and he had also seen the Third Hokage use Wind Style and Water Style. In terms of the scale of the ninjutsu and the speed of hand seals, Kakuzu was on par with the Third Hokage.

These were large-scale ninjutsu capable of changing the course of a battle during the Ninja World War.

For Youhu to be able to go toe-to-toe with such an enemy in terms of ninjutsu attacks meant that Youhu's strength was already considered an absolute top performer among Jonin.

Where on earth did Youhu get such a massive amount of chakra and such precise chakra control?

Could this be the power of the Uchiha Inheritance?

"Is this the Uchiha Madara's Inheritance?"

Itachi suddenly felt a pang of regret—regret that he hadn't stepped into that room one step ahead of Youhu.

In just a few short hours, he had watched Youhu transform from an Uchiha ninja approaching Jonin level into a powerhouse capable of defeating an Elite Jonin like Kakuzu.

He felt immense envy in his heart. If he had this kind of power...

Shock aside, Kakashi did not forget the intelligence reports regarding Kakuzu. He warned, "Don't let your guard down. According to the intelligence, Kakuzu likely has more than one life. He can still continue to fight."

Before his voice had even faded, Kakuzu had already climbed up from the ground. After staring at Youhu for a few seconds, he shouted toward the forest:

"Orochimaru, what are you still standing there for? Come out and deal with these brats! Once you finish them off, the bounty goes to me and the Sharingan goes to you. Haven't you always wanted the Sharingan?"