"Qingyun! Yoshihime! What are you two doing here? Those markers of mine were meant for the Anbu and the Jonin. You're no match for him!" The moment Minato Namikaze saw Qingyun and Yoshihime, he panicked and shouted a warning.
"Shut up." Kakuzu said nothing more, merely glaring at Minato.
"So you were deliberately waiting for Konoha reinforcements? You let us come here on purpose. Why?" Yoshihime naturally understood that Kakuzu had been luring reinforcements in.
"I like killing famous ninja and selling their heads for money. To me, money is the only thing that's real," Kakuzu said. "The target of my current contract is this red-haired girl, but that blond brat seems to be on the wanted list too."
"Only later did I learn he was a Konoha prodigy! So I deliberately ignored his markers, planning to lure in as many Konoha ninja as possible and kill them all."
"Killing people one by one is a hassle. This time, I plan to take care of them all at once. As for anyone on the wanted list, I'll take them in, and someone will pay me for them." Kakuzu spoke bluntly.
"In other words, whoever shows up, I'll kill!"
"Run! You're no match for him. He's already killed a whole squad of Chunin!" Minato was frantic. Captured and unable to move, all he could do was urge Qingyun and the others to flee.
Qingyun shook his head. "Minato, don't forget—we defeated a Chunin together right after graduating from the Ninja Academy."
"I'm not running. Rescuing you is my mission with Yoshihime."
"Yoshihime, I'll keep the man called Kakuzu occupied. You rescue Minato and Kushina." Qingyun had already briefed Yoshihime on the plan.
Kakuzu clapped his hands. "Not bad, not bad! The young really are impressive. Since you've got the courage to face me, I'll take pity on you and end this quickly!"
"Lightning Release: False Darkness!"
"Wind Style: Pressure Damage!"
Kakuzu was steady and experienced. He could tell there was something unusual about Qingyun.
"This Konoha brat knows my name, yet he isn't even panicking. I'd better kill him quickly!"
Pressure Damage was a gigantic gale, while False Darkness sent lightning racing along the ground. Qingyun had nowhere to dodge.
"Earth Style: Earth Wall!" Qingyun swiftly formed Hand Seals and raised an Earth Wall, barely managing to block Kakuzu's techniques.
"Earth Style: Earth Spear!" Kakuzu smashed through the Earth Wall with one punch, then charged toward Qingyun at incredible speed.
"Fire Style: Great Flame Technique!" The Sarutobi Clan's Great Flame Technique surged toward Kakuzu.
Kakuzu was quickly engulfed by the flames.
"Did we win?" Yoshihime asked.
"T-That's Qingyun! His techniques flow together so smoothly. Doesn't he ever run out of chakra?" Minato wondered aloud.
Qingyun warily scanned his surroundings. He had only destroyed one of Kakuzu's clones just now. A powerful ninja like Kakuzu would never be killed in one hit by his Fire Release.
Sure enough, Kakuzu's voice rang out again.
"Haha! Not bad! For a brat, you've done very well!"
"But you're still going to die!"
Kakuzu had used his real body to unleash those techniques. He had fired off three in succession and still hadn't managed to take Qingyun down. He knew Qingyun was in a class far beyond that of an ordinary prodigy.
"A prodigy like you is better off dead." Kakuzu showed no mercy and immediately used his secret technique.
"Secret Technique: Earth Grudge Fear!"
The stitched seams all over Kakuzu's body split open, and black threads quickly spilled out, making him look disgusting.
"Kid, you should feel lucky. Dying to this technique at such a young age means your time in the Shinobi World wasn't wasted." Kakuzu reached toward Qingyun. The black threads extended his arm as they darted toward Qingyun's neck at incredible speed.
Qingyun's Sharingan was active, and his senses were sharp. He had already read the trajectory of Kakuzu's attack.
"Chakra Enhanced Strength, Armament Haki!" Qingyun used Armament Haki Hardening and Tsunade's Chakra Enhanced Strength. Instead of being caught by the neck, he grabbed Kakuzu's arm.
"What?! How is that possible?! You actually kept up with my attack?!" Kakuzu could hardly believe it.
"Down you go!" Qingyun swung Kakuzu's arm up and slammed his entire body into the ground with a crash.
"What terrifying strength! How can such a small body have so much power? And his chakra control is incredible! Damn it!" Kakuzu wasn't seriously injured and quickly got back to his feet.
"Kid, is your teacher one of the Three Legendary Sannin—Tsunade? She's the only one in the entire Shinobi World with such terrifying strength!" Kakuzu said.
"And that black stuff—what is it? It seems harder than iron." Kakuzu couldn't make sense of Qingyun's Armament Haki.
"You don't need to know. You kidnapped my friends, and I'm going to deal with you." Qingyun calmly walked up to Kakuzu.
Yoshihime seized the opportunity to go free Minato and Kushina.
"You think it'll be that easy? You think this is all I can do, brat? Don't get cocky! I'll tear you apart!" Kakuzu attacked Qingyun again, but Qingyun easily deflected his blows.
"Ha! You let your guard down, brat!" Kakuzu chuckled. Qingyun sensed something was wrong. The hand he had deflected was only an ordinary hand—Kakuzu had already separated it from his wrist and arm.
"My real target is your heart!" Kakuzu sent the black threads hurtling toward Qingyun. Qingyun's expression changed in alarm.
Kakuzu thought that, despite the slight hassle, he had still defeated his opponent. Just as he was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he saw Qingyun's look of alarm turn into a smirk.
"Sorry, Senior Kakuzu. I was fooling you." Qingyun ignored the black threads and simply said, "Electric Discharge!"
High-voltage lightning burst from Qingyun's entire body. Before the black threads could touch him, the lightning's power had already paralyzed them.
Kakuzu's body suddenly became difficult to move.
"No Hand Seals, and you can make lightning appear around you? What kind of technique is this?! A Konoha ninja can use Lightning Release to this degree? Who are you? You look like nothing but a kid."
"Could you be the Raikage using a Transformation Technique?" Kakuzu couldn't make sense of it. He had never encountered anything like this before.
"No. If you insist on understanding it, then this is my Kekkei Genkai—the power of lightning." Qingyun knew Kakuzu simply couldn't accept his power just yet. But defeating Kakuzu was far from that simple.
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