Tiger Talisman Scramble

"Water Style: Water Dome!"

"Lightning Style: False Darkness!"

The high-pressure water cannon demolished the houses already charred to cinders, followed closely by the Lightning Spear, which swept across the area like a scythe. The lightning borrowed the momentum of the water, appearing as if it could pierce through anything in its path.

"A combined Water and Lightning ninjutsu...?"

"B, fall back. Let me handle this."

When it came to Lightning Style and raw durability, the Third Raikage was the only person A feared besides his own father. Seeing the lightning spears sweeping indiscriminately, wrapped in the force of the water cannons, A immediately concentrated his lightning chakra throughout his entire body.

"Strongest Lightning Armor!"

A's hair stood on end like a Super Saiyan, his body encased in a lightning shroud as he charged headlong into Kakuzu's combined ninjutsu.

--Crack-pop!

In the blink of an eye, A's body collided with the spreading lightning spears, triggering a violent explosion that erupted in a blinding flash of light.

"What?!"

The Lightning Spear was shattered by A's physical body. Even Kakuzu, who had lived for decades, had never witnessed such a feat. It was too late to attempt a Earth Style defense; he felt as if his body had been run through, and he was sent flying over a hundred meters away.

"Is this the 'strongman' who once fought the First Hokage? I'd say he's nothing special!"

A pulled back his fist, intending to turn his attention back to the scroll being contested by Kirigakure, when his keen senses suddenly detected an attack from behind.

--Swish!

A habitually used his elbow, reinforced by the Strongest Lightning Armor, to deflect the strike, but the moment he saw his attacker, he regretted it.

Biting into his arm was none other than Samehada, covered in sharp spikes. Though its fangs couldn't pierce A's armor, the mere act of pulling his arm away resulted in a massive amount of chakra being drained.

"Thanks for helping us take down that tentacle freak, but... the scroll belongs to us, Kirigakure!"

Suikazan Fuguki stood before A like a mountain. Having devoured a vast amount of chakra, Samehada had swollen to an astonishing size. Seeing this, Killer B immediately activated his Tailed Beast Cloak and lunged at Suikazan Fuguki with an elbow strike.

But... the result was predictable. Samehada nimbly turned to the rear, absorbing all of Killer B's Tailed Beast chakra before flicking its tongue out, as if a dog had just finished a delicious meal.

"With the power of Samehada, you cannot win. Give up... Pfft!"

Before Suikazan Fuguki could finish his sentence, a black tentacle-fist erupted from the ground and pierced his heart. To everyone's astonishment, Kakuzu, who had supposedly fallen, stood up once more and ripped Suikazan Fuguki's heart clean out of his chest.

"How is this possible?!"

Not only was Raiga Kurosuki shocked to see his comrade die right before his eyes, but the A and B Duo wore expressions of equal disbelief. "How is he fine after being hit by my lightning jutsu?!"

"How is this guy still standing after taking Big Brother's lightning? What kind of monster is he? Bakayaro! Konoyaro!"

"To think you cost me one of my hearts... then I shall take this Water Style heart as compensation...!"

Suikazan Fuguki's heart, along with the connected blood vessels, was ripped out by Kakuzu. In his final moments, his eyes were filled with utter disbelief, as if he were screaming, "Big Brother! I wasn't the one who elbowed you! Why are you ambushing me?!"

Of course, Kakuzu would never admit that he couldn't keep up with A in his Lightning Armor or Killer B, whose sensory abilities were off the charts in his Tailed Beast form.

He had simply seen his own water-attribute heart get knocked away by the elbow strike and naturally chose to replace it with the heart of a Water Style master like Suikazan Fuguki.

"I am immortal. Trying to kill me is nothing but a delusion..."

"You god-playing freak!"

Holding onto the philosophy of "no matter how many times you live, I'll elbow you to death just as many times," A addressed Raiga Kurosuki, who was dragging Suikazan Fuguki's corpse to safety:

"Hey! You, member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen! Your teammate is dead. You can't go back empty-handed, can you?!"

"How about we take this guy down for you, in exchange for you helping us, Kumogakure, seize the scroll?"

Though A appeared to be a hot-headed, brainless brute, he was actually quite shrewd. Seeing the constipated expression on Raiga Kurosuki's face, he guessed that the comrade he had traveled with was dead, and he wouldn't be able to explain it upon his return.

He might even be suspected as the culprit. In such a situation, the scroll became secondary; clearing his own name was the top priority.

"Tch... damn it!"

Though he didn't particularly want to cooperate with Kumogakure, as A had pointed out, Raiga Kurosuki had no other choice.

Thus, he raised Kiba high, merging the blades into a lightning-charged form, and swung them to unleash two massive bolts of electricity toward Kakuzu.

On one side was A, sprinting and elbowing like a blue bolt of lightning; on the other was Killer B, cloaked in his Tailed Beast shroud, wielding seven short blades with unpredictable, blinding speed; and finally, the lightning controlled by Raiga Kurosuki. For a moment, Kakuzu stopped thinking...

--Rumble!

By the time he regained his senses, his eight massive Earth Grudge Fear tentacles had been brutally severed by Killer B, his body had been sent flying into the air by A's relentless elbow strikes, and he was finally being baptized by Raiga Kurosuki's falling lightning.

"Beat the tentacle freak up with Big Brother and the swordsman from the Mist, yo, yo!"

Killer B wiggled his octopus-tailed backside, dancing wildly in front of the massive crater.

But the next moment, a hand gripped the edge of the pit, and Kakuzu slowly crawled out.

"This guy..."

Seeing this, everyone present began to believe in Kakuzu's "immortality," as it was hard to imagine anyone surviving such an onslaught.

"That was almost the end of me..."

Crawling out of the pit, Kakuzu felt a lingering sense of fear. He was down to his last heart; for the first time in many years, he felt a genuine sense of crisis.

"This won't do..."

Although the Tiger Talisman was worth a hundred million ryo, it was mere pocket change compared to the wealth Gato had offered him; for now, preserving his own life was far more important.

"You want this thing, right?! Then come and take it!"

Kakuzu had just intended to toss the Tiger Talisman into the air and use the chaos of everyone scrambling for it to escape... no, to make a "tactical withdrawal," but the moment he raised the talisman, A rushed forward impatiently.

"Damn it!"

Kakuzu instinctively held the Tiger Talisman in front of him as a shield, only to be struck head-on by A's Lariat.

The Tiger Talisman shattered violently, erupting in a blinding white light. By the time the radiance faded, Kakuzu's figure had vanished, leaving only the two halves of the broken Tiger Talisman on the ground.

"Dammit! The talisman!"

A picked up the shattered Tiger Talisman, momentarily at a loss for what to do. Since Kakuzu's presence had already vanished without a trace, he slammed a heavy punch into the ground to vent his frustration before pulling Killer B away to retreat, leaving Raiga Kurosuki standing alone, bewildered as he stared at the corpse of Suikazan Fuguki.