"Water Style: Water Dome!"
"Lightning Style: False Darkness!"
The high-pressure water cannon smashed through the houses, already burned to charred ruins. Right behind it, a Lightning Spear swept from near to far, unleashing bolts of lightning. The lightning rode the water's flow, as if it could pierce through anything.
"A combined Water and Lightning Release technique...?"
"B, fall back. I'll handle this."
When it came to Lightning Release and durability, A had never feared anyone but his father, the Third Raikage. Seeing the lightning-wrapped water cannon sweep indiscriminately through the area, A immediately concentrated Lightning Release Chakra throughout his body.
"Strongest Lightning Armor!"
A's hair stood on end like a Super Saiyan's as lightning cloaked his body. He charged straight at Kakuzu's combined technique.
—Crackle!
In the blink of an eye, A's body collided with the spreading Lightning Spear. A violent explosion erupted, accompanied by a blinding flash.
"What?!"
A had broken through the Lightning Spear with his bare body. Even Kakuzu, who had lived for decades, had never seen anything like it. It was too late to defend with Earth Release. He felt as though his body had been pierced through, and was sent flying a hundred meters away.
"So this is the powerful shinobi who once fought the First? You're not all that impressive!"
A lowered his fist and was just about to turn his attention to the struggle with Kirigakure over the talisman when his keen senses suddenly detected an attack from behind.
—Whoosh!
A instinctively blocked the attack with an elbow clad in Lightning Armor, but the moment he saw what was coming, he regretted it.
The thing clamped onto his arm was none other than Samehada, its body covered in spikes. Its sharp teeth couldn't pierce A's Lightning Armor, but even the short time it took him to pull his arm back was enough for it to absorb a huge amount of chakra.
"Thanks for helping us take down that tentacle freak, but... the talisman belongs to Kirigakure!"
Suikazan Fuguki stood before A like a mountain. Having devoured a huge amount of chakra, Samehada had swollen to an enormous size. Seeing this, Killer B immediately activated his Tailed Beast Cloak and drove an elbow into Suikazan Fuguki.
But... the result was predictable. Samehada swiftly turned around and absorbed all of Killer B's Tailed Beast Chakra. Then it stuck out its tongue, like a dog savoring an incredibly delicious meal.
"With Samehada's power, you can't possibly win. Give up... pfft!"
Before Suikazan Fuguki could finish speaking, a black tentacle fist suddenly burst out of the ground and pierced his heart. To everyone's astonishment, Kakuzu, who had already fallen, had gotten back to his feet and ripped out Suikazan Fuguki's entire heart.
"How is this possible?!"
Black Lightning, who had watched his comrade die right before his eyes, wasn't the only one shocked. A and B wore the same expression. "He took my Lightning Release and is still fine?!"
"He took Big Brother's Lightning Release and is still fine! What kind of monster is this, you idiot! You moron!"
"You made me lose a heart... so I'll take this Water Release heart...!"
Kakuzu pulled out Suikazan Fuguki's heart, along with the blood vessels attached to it. As he fell, Fuguki's eyes were full of disbelief, as if he were saying, "Big Brother! I wasn't the one who elbowed you just now! Why'd you sneak-attack me?!"
Of course, Kakuzu would never admit that he couldn't catch up to A with his Lightning Armor activated or Killer B with his absurdly sharp senses after transforming into a tailed beast.
He had simply seen his Water Release heart knocked flying by an elbow, and naturally chosen Suikazan Fuguki, a master of Water Release.
"I'm immortal. Killing me is nothing but wishful thinking on your part..."
"Quit your tricks, you creep!"
With the resolve that no matter how many times Kakuzu came back, he would elbow him to death every time, A spoke to Black Lightning, who was dragging Suikazan Fuguki's corpse to safety.
"Hey, you there—the Seven Ninja Swordsmen! Your teammate's dead. You can't just go back like this, can you?"
"How about we take this guy down for you, and you help Kumogakure get the talisman in return?"
A looked like a hotheaded, brainless brute, but he was actually shrewd. Seeing Black Lightning's constipated expression, he guessed that his comrade's death would leave him unable to explain himself when he returned.
He might even be suspected of being the culprit. Under the circumstances, fighting for the talisman wasn't Black Lightning's priority; clearing his name was far more important.
"Tch... damn it!"
Though he didn't want to work with Kumogakure, Black Lightning had no other choice, just as A had said.
So he raised Kiba, the Lightning Sword, and merged with it, transforming into lightning. Then he swung the sword and sent two massive bolts of lightning crashing toward Kakuzu.
A charged in like blue lightning, delivering elbow strikes; Killer B wore his Tailed Beast Cloak and wielded seven short swords with fluid, unpredictable movements, attacking at a speed too fast to follow; and Black Lightning controlled the bolts of lightning. For a moment, Kakuzu's mind went blank...
—Rumble!
By the time he came to, his eight massive Earth Grudge Fear tentacles had already been sliced off by Killer B. A's relentless elbow strikes sent his body flying into the air, where it was finally bathed in a downpour of lightning from Black Lightning.
"Pummeled that tentacle freak with Big Brother and that Mist shinobi swordsman, yo, yo!"
Killer B wiggled his octopus-tailed rear and danced wildly in front of the crater.
But the next moment, a hand grabbed the edge of the pit, and Kakuzu slowly climbed out.
"This guy..."
Seeing this, everyone present was starting to believe Kakuzu's claim of immortality. It was hard to imagine anyone surviving an attack like that.
"I nearly died..."
As Kakuzu climbed out of the pit, he felt a wave of lingering fear. He had only one heart left after the others were destroyed. It was the first time in all these years that he had felt truly threatened.
"No..."
The talisman was worth a hundred million ryō, but compared with the wealth Gato had offered him, that was a mere pittance. Right now, staying alive mattered more.
"You want this thing, right?! Then come and get it!"
Kakuzu was about to toss the Tiger Talisman into the air and escape while everyone scrambled for it... no, make a "tactical retreat." But the moment he raised the talisman, A charged at him without hesitation.
"Damn!"
Kakuzu instinctively held the Tiger Talisman in front of himself, and A's Lightning Oppression Horizontal Chop struck it head-on.
The Tiger Talisman suddenly shattered, releasing a dazzling white light. By the time the glow faded, Kakuzu had vanished, leaving only the two broken halves of the talisman on the ground.
"Damn it! The talisman!"
A picked up the broken talisman, unsure what to do. But Kakuzu's presence had disappeared without a trace. He slammed a fist into the ground in frustration, then dragged Killer B away to retreat, leaving only Black Lightning standing over Suikazan Fuguki's corpse, at a loss.