Sakumo's Lightning Kunai

Even if it were only a little bit more—Diejian refined chakra within Katsuyu.

"Katsuyu. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I leave the recovery to you. I am betting all of my chakra on this."

"Diejian-sama... I understand. I will support you with everything I have."

The covering Katsuyu split-body detached, and Diejian stood up. Only a fist-sized Katsuyu remained clinging to Diejian's shoulder.

The two shadow clones Diejian had created leaped out from within Katsuyu. The back-to-back clones scanned their surroundings before dispelling themselves before the enemy could strike. The situation the shadow clones witnessed was transmitted back to the original Diejian.

"Kakuzu is in front, and there are two behind... I'll take out the two in the back in one go."

Diejian leaped, activating the Multi-Shadow Clone Technique in mid-air. Over a hundred shadow clones appeared above Katsuyu. The clones facing Kakuzu activated the Water Severing Wave, deflecting Kakuzu's tentacle attacks while simultaneously charging forward to interfere even as they vanished. Katsuyu also toyed with Kakuzu using the powerful acid released from its main body—the Tongue Tooth Sticky Acid Technique. The tentacle-wielding masks released by Kakuzu each used elemental jutsu to intercept the countless Katsuyu and Diejian's shadow clones.

(Just a little bit is fine. Just buy me a little bit of time...)

Most of the shadow clones rushed toward the area beneath the two ninjas. The clones descending from above Katsuyu with the force of a Raging Wave looked like an avalanche. However, the two ninjas seemed to have anticipated this and countered with Water Style, causing Diejian's shadow clones to vanish in an instant. But—that was a feint. Near the feet of the Takigakure ninjas, a split-body of Katsuyu had already closed in. In the split second the enemies' attention shifted to the Katsuyu below, Diejian unleashed his original ninjutsu.

"Earth Style: Earth Sand Collapse Technique!"

Above the two ninjas, massive amounts of earth and sand suddenly appeared, blotting out the sunlight. Diejian intended to let the earth and sand collapse in one fell swoop from that position, burying and crushing the enemies alive.

"This scale is too massive!"

"Go, ahhhhhhh!!"

Diejian shouted. But the enemy ninjas were seasoned veterans—one activated an Earth Style technique, causing the surrounding ground to rise into a dome shape, protecting himself from Diejian's attack. The other ninja, seemingly unable to use Earth Style, did not take a defensive stance against Diejian's desperate attack, but instead countered with a heart of steel.

"Water Style: Great Waterfall Technique!"

It was a high-level ninjutsu that summoned a massive volume of water—a tsunami—flooding the entire area. The power of the resulting tsunami was so great that it even uprooted the surrounding soil. It swallowed the small Katsuyu at his feet and intercepted the layer of earth and sand approaching from the sky. They were evenly matched—the techniques repelled each other.

(I'm sorry, Katsuyu!)

While apologizing to the swallowed Katsuyu, Diejian formed hand seals.

"Ruoohhhhh!!"

The enemy ninja let out a roar, slowly sliding his arms. This movement linked with the tsunami, pulling the earth and sand Diejian had created away from the heads of the Takigakure ninjas.

Just as the Water Style user thought he had completely caught it—

"--!"

The figure of Diejian suddenly appearing before his eyes made the Water Style user gasp. Mixed in with the smaller water dragon bullets, Diejian's shadow clone had bypassed the layers of earth and water. Diejian's shadow clone, gripping a kunai and shouting with a terrifying expression—but, at the distance where he was one step away from piercing the enemy's eye, the shadow clone vanished into smoke.

The ninja, dripping with cold sweat, couldn't help but relax his shoulders as the momentary tension dissipated. That was exactly the target.

"Gahhhhh!!"

In an instant, the Water Style user was pierced through the abdomen by Diejian, who had leaped from his feet, and let out a scream.

When the shadow clone performed the Earth Sand Collapse Technique, Diejian had used the Earth Style: Earth Submarine Technique to dive into the sand, and as soon as the sand hit the ground, he had immediately dived into the earth.

"You damn brat ahhhhhhh!!"

The Water Style user roared, clutching Diejian tightly along with the kunai embedded in his abdomen. Perhaps anger had made him forget the pain; even with his abdomen pierced, he displayed strength that showed no concern for his wounds. Diejian was unable to move and took the enemy's knee strike head-on. His nose broke, his teeth shattered, and his ribs creaked—

"Diejian-sama!"

Katsuyu let out a cry of grief. While it desperately healed him, Diejian endured even more injuries. But it wasn't a one-sided beating. Diejian, refusing to be outdone by the enemy's fierce assault, recklessly twisted the embedded kunai, wreaking havoc inside the enemy's abdomen.

The unbearable Water Style user groaned, and the strength in the arms clutching Diejian weakened. Diejian retreated for a moment, putting distance between himself and the enemy. But he did not rest. He whipped his aching body into action, gathering strength in his waist and legs. He pressed the kunai against his waist, prepared to pierce the Water Style user's abdomen once more, and shouted—

"I won't let you get away with this!!"

"Gah!"

The Earth Style user, who had been hiding behind the earth wall, jumped out due to his comrade's crisis and kicked the running Diejian away. Diejian tumbled, spinning like a drill as he rolled across the ground, and stopped only after hitting a tree root.

"Are you okay?!"

"Do I look like I'm okay..."

The Earth Style user spoke to the Water Style user, lending him a shoulder to help him stand. The Earth Style user looked at the weak, bitterly smiling Water Style user with pity.

"Gaha..."

On the other hand, Diejian spat out blood-stained saliva, shattered teeth falling from his mouth, and stood up by bracing his trembling hands against the ground.

"Brat... just hurry up and die."

The Earth Style user, still carrying the Water Style user, threw a kunai. It pierced Diejian's abdomen—Diejian fell backward powerlessly, the back of his head striking the tree trunk. He didn't even attempt to break his fall, sliding down the trunk until he collapsed at the roots. The sorrowful voice of Katsuyu desperately calling out to Diejian echoed through the forest.

"Sorry, I'm late."

At that moment, the final ninja, whom Katsuyu had sensed was "on his way," arrived.

Diejian clicked his tongue amidst the blurred consciousness caused by the excruciating pain.

His will to fight had not vanished. However, his body would not move. Katsuyu was also desperately trying to heal him, but the wounds were deep. Healing would take time. Even so, Diejian couldn't help but want to laugh at the fact that he hadn't died yet despite such heavy injuries.

(Stand up, stand up!! I can still fight—I have to protect the village, protect Grandpa!)

But his strengthless waist and legs only trembled.

"I leave the healing to you."

It seems the last one is capable of medical ninjutsu. The Earth Style user carefully laid the Water Style user down on the ground, then urged the medic to begin treatment.

"Understood. Leave it to me."

"Mm."

The Earth Style user looked at the Water Style user with a worried expression. This meant he had moved out of the medical ninja's line of sight—the very next instant, the Earth Style user's consciousness was sealed away into darkness forever.

"Wh-why... you, you..."

A comrade had severed a comrade's head—witnessing this impossible sight, the Water Style user was stunned. He let out irregular, wheezing breaths, muttering "why" over and over again. Is it a genjutsu?—he thought, using his weakened body to check for chakra disturbances, but he found no abnormalities caused by genjutsu.

Thud— With a sound, the Earth Style user's body kicked up dust as it collapsed next to the prone Water Style user. Gurgle— The ground was stained red.

"Who knows why? Go look for the answer in the next world."

The medical ninja raised a kunai, intending to deliver the final blow to the dying Water Style user—.

"--Careless, Ina."

"My apologies. Thank you, Sakumo."

The tentacles closing in behind the medical ninja—the body possessed by Ina—were deflected by a white figure: Sakumo, using his kunai.

"I see...? So that's why the Water Style mask didn't return."

Wriggling his tentacles, Kakuzu stepped closer, one step at a time.

Ina and Sakumo moved instantly, blocking Kakuzu's path as if to protect Diejian.

Behind Kakuzu, Katsuyu, who had shrunk in size due to repeated splitting, was being gripped by two tentacle masks. Seeing the sight of the slug being attacked by the tentacles, Ina, possessing the medical ninja, stiffened.

"Sa, Sakumo... Ina..."

"Lord Diejian, please do not speak. You will aggravate your wounds."

"A talking slug? First time I've seen one."

Katsuyu stopped Diejian from speaking in pain. Sakumo, while keeping a wary eye on Kakuzu, joked over his shoulder at Diejian.

"Didn't I tell you... to run away..."

"We did run. It's just that the place we ran to happened to get caught up in the battle."

"Call for the Lord..."

"If we did that, you would die, wouldn't you? How could we abandon a comrade and run away alone."

"I'm sorry, Diejian. If we had come to support you sooner, you wouldn't have been so severely wounded..."

"That tentacle mask is quite strong. Even with your shadow clone plus Ina and me, the three of us spent quite a bit of time on it. Though I didn't expect there to be so many."

Opening his blood-oozing eyes slightly, he saw that Sakumo and Ina—the possessed ninja's body—were also quite heavily injured. Both of them had been fighting as well. Even though he had told them to run, Diejian was overjoyed that they had come to help him. A glimmer of light flashed in the corner of Diejian's eyes.

"Hm... not a genjutsu... is it betrayal? No... is it a genjutsu after all?"

Kakuzu moved his tentacles, clearly on guard, distancing himself while increasing the number of tentacles.

"But the Senju brat is already at death's door. What do you intend to do?"

"We intend to kill you. To dare do this to Diejian..."

Killing intent flickered in Sakumo's eyes.

"Ho... I'm being looked down upon—"

Kakuzu twisted his neck, dodging the imminent kunai. The kunai was swallowed by the tentacles.

"Enough talk, you disgusting monster."

"--Go to hell, brat."

"You're the one who should go to hell."

The kunai Sakumo threw was deflected back by Kakuzu using his tentacles. Sakumo parried it head-on, simultaneously dodging the tentacle attacks with speed, and charged at Kakuzu. Ina ran in tandem with Sakumo, throwing kunai from the rear to deflect the tentacles closing in on Sakumo, providing support.

As expected of partners who worked together regularly, their coordination was seamless. After Sakumo broke through the tentacle attacks and closed in on Kakuzu, he raised his kunai to strike. However—.

Whoosh—. A massive fireball appeared directly to Sakumo's side. It was Kakuzu's Fire Style jutsu. Sakumo was helplessly engulfed by the fireball.

Before his eyes, Sakumo was easily reduced to charcoal—Diejian felt the world go black.

"Sa, Sakumo..."

Leaning against a tree, Diejian squeezed out a voice. Refusing to accept reality, he shook his head weakly.

"Hmph... because he was too cocky."

Diejian glared with a terrifying expression at Kakuzu, who wore a disgusting smile.

"So that was Fire Style. The ones binding that slug are Wind Style and Lightning Style, right?"

"...Eh?"

From the shade of the trees, Sakumo appeared, completely unscathed. Diejian was dumbfounded with surprise. "It was a shadow clone to observe the situation—" Sakumo said. He claimed to have learned it from Diejian's shadow clone.

"Ina, are you certain?"

"Yes, according to this ninja's memories, there should be no mistake. That tentacle technique is the secret ninjutsu of the Takigakure Style: Earth Grudge Fear. It is a forbidden technique that grants a reserve of life and the possibility of multiple nature transformations by stealing the hearts of others along with their meridian systems. The mask housing the Water nature transformation heart has already been killed by us. Kakuzu himself seems to have an affinity for Earth, so if that mask was Fire Style, the remaining ones must be Wind and Lightning—"

"Where is it... No, I see. You—you're from the Yamanaka Clan, aren't you."

"Sharp. But it's too late to notice now."

Ina—currently possessing the body of a middle-aged medical ninja—offered a faint smile. Kakuzu wore an expression as if he had swallowed a bitter bug, but a composed, mocking sneer quickly replaced it.

"Hmph... Even if your trump card is revealed... what can you possibly do!!"

He roared. Tentacles writhed and snaked forward, assaulting the trio.

"Ina, take Diejian and get out of here!"

"I have to fight, too."

"In your current state, you'll only be a target. You're recovering, aren't you? Trust Sakumo and hold on for now. I'll come to assist you shortly."

As he spoke, the hands of the ninja Ina was possessing trembled. Diejian surrendered his body to Ina's control.

★

Even so, Diejian's power is indispensable to defeat this guy. Ina and I don't have a decisive move...

While hiding in the shade of a tree to observe the situation, Sakumo heard the details from a small Katsuyu. He learned that she was Diejian's summoning creature and possessed the power to heal wounds.

Sakumo was superior to Ina and Diejian in close-quarters combat, but even so, he was no match for the veteran Kakuzu in terms of overall capability. He had no decisive long-range options; he would be gradually whittled down by the tentacles' reach, and even if he closed the distance, he would likely be killed by a ninjutsu released from a mask tentacle, just as his shadow clone had been destroyed earlier.

Then—

"I'll buy time until Diejian recovers."

Sakumo's strategy was set.

Sakumo would act as a decoy, Ina would use the Mind Body Switch Technique to distract Kakuzu, and in that opening, they would land Diejian's full-power technique. That should be enough to take down Kakuzu—that was Sakumo's plan.

Kakuzu made his move. He stirred his tentacles, aiming for Sakumo.

"I'm getting tired of those tentacles, too."

As he spoke, beads of sweat broke out on Sakumo's forehead. Running, crouching, or using the tentacles as stepping stones to leap and sprint across them, Sakumo focused solely on dodging. He wanted to close in and drive his blade home whenever an opening appeared, but the Fire Style Mask would always use a technique to keep him at bay.

Although Diejian's summon, Katsuyu, was being held by two of the masks, that conversely meant that Katsuyu was pinning those two masks down. He could only pray that Diejian would recover before the summoning's duration ended.

Sakumo swung his kunai, severing the tip of an approaching tentacle. However, a new one sprouted from the cut immediately, lashing out at him; Sakumo twisted his neck to evade the strike.

"Is cutting them useless..."

"It is."

Kakuzu flashed a repulsive grin at Sakumo, who had slid backward to land on his feet.

"Kept you waiting, Sakumo."

"What are you talking about? I just got here."

Ina, who had taken Diejian to a safe distance, had returned, and Sakumo greeted her with a joke. With his sweat-slicked forehead, it was hardly a composed expression.

"How is Diejian?"

"Seems he needs a little more time."

Ina glanced toward the thicket, and Sakumo nodded in agreement. Indeed, unless one paid close attention, it was difficult to sense Diejian's weakened chakra. Far from a full recovery, he wasn't even close to a minor one.

"But even so—he's my comrade. I can't bear to see him manipulated by the enemy."

"Ina, stand back."

Understanding the implication of those words, Sakumo stopped the medical ninja Ina was possessing with his hand, shielding her behind his own small frame.

"No, Diejian fought two others besides this guy. I have to fight, too. Besides—"

"One annoying person after another."

"—Understood. If we keep this up, we'll just be worn down. Let's gamble."

"Just like that Senju brat said, you should have run away while you could. It's about time I killed you all."

"Let's go!"

"Yeah."

Body Flicker Technique—pushing off the ground with force, Ina and Sakumo surged forward. Unlike when they were observing with shadow clones or conserving energy to buy time, this was a fight in earnest. Combined with Ina's coordination, Sakumo's movements were as agile as a beast's.

They slashed, severed, and cut down the tentacles closing in from all directions. Sakumo covered Ina's blind spots, leaving the parts he couldn't handle to her.

Sakumo and Ina moved up, down, left, and right, kicking off the ground, scaling trees, and weaving through the forest; they danced through the air to dodge the tentacles, gradually closing the distance to Kakuzu.

Using the Body Flicker Technique to leap aside and evade a massive tentacle strike, Sakumo threw a kunai at Kakuzu's main body. Kakuzu defended with his tentacles, but in that split second, Ina stepped forward, darting through the offensive and defensive web of tentacles to slip one step inside. Because he was occupied with Sakumo—his inner guard was now thin.

Ina gripped her blade tightly, closing in on Kakuzu.

"Same old trick."

The Fire Style Mask blocked Ina's path. But Ina shouted regardless, and as the Fire Style Mask's mouth opened—

"Earth Style: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique!"

The Fire Style Mask was dragged into the ground by Sakumo, who had emerged from beneath its feet. With only its head left above ground and unable to move, even Kakuzu could not hide his astonishment.

"Impossible, when did you—!"

"Who said there was only one Shadow Clone?"

That said, my chakra can only support two at most.

He kept his thoughts to himself. Sakumo was not foolish enough to provide the enemy with intelligence.

But Kakuzu was no fool either. He instantly retracted a portion of his tentacles, not to intercept the Shadow Clone, but to strike at Ina, who was currently weaving hand seals.

"Ina!"

Sakumo shouted.

A hole was punched through the shoulder of the ninja Ina was possessing. The medical ninja's body went limp, losing all strength like a punctured balloon.

"Did she faint from the pain?!"

Sakumo called out to Ina, but the medical ninja's body, entangled by the tentacles, hung limply and spun in the air.

"Heave-ho, fly away!"

The medical ninja's body was tossed aside, disappearing into the air.

"Ina!"

"Idiot!"

Sakumo let out a cry of anguish and turned toward the direction where the medical ninja had been thrown. Seizing this opening, Kakuzu swung his tentacles, uprooting trees to sweep both the Shadow Clone and the original Sakumo away.

"Ugh!"

Though he defended with his arms, the Shadow Clone vanished, and Sakumo was sent flying, snapping tree branches as he went. He finally touched the ground but could not fully negate the momentum; his feet sank into the soft soil, sliding back a considerable distance.

"You almost succeeded, I'll give you—"

"—I won't praise you, though."

A feminine tone emerged from Kakuzu's mouth.

Mind Body Switch Technique.

Before the medical ninja's body possessed by Ina was pierced by Kakuzu, the seal Ina had woven was the release seal for the Mind Body Switch Technique. Precisely because she was wary of the Yamanaka clan's secret arts, Ina had gambled that if she wove unfamiliar seals, the enemy would be on guard—this was her strategy.

Sakumo had known this as well, which was why he had played along with that clumsy performance.

It was a perfect success. The moment before Kakuzu's tentacles pierced her, Ina, having released the technique, returned her spirit to her own body. She used her specialty, stealth, to approach Kakuzu, using Sakumo as bait to cast the Mind Body Switch Technique.

"Sakumo, I've got him! Finish it quickly!"

"Right!"

Ina shouted, and Sakumo lunged forward. The Mind Body Switch Technique was difficult to control; if the opponent possessed a strong spirit and vast amounts of chakra, their resistance would be fierce, making it difficult to keep their mind under control. Kakuzu was far stronger than Ina and possessed a much larger pool of chakra. Even now, Kakuzu's spirit was struggling, attempting to break free from Ina's binding.

"The first one!"

Clutching a kunai wreathed in Lightning Style chakra, Sakumo leaped from the trees. Utilizing the force of gravity, his target was to pierce the Fire Style Mask.

"Oooooohhhhh!!"

With a roar, Sakumo closed in on the Fire Style Mask—

"It... is not the first."

"Gah—!"

Having escaped Ina's binding at the very last second, Kakuzu pierced through Sakumo's abdomen.