"What are you still waiting for? Take Terada Yusuke to Bird Capital and hand over the mission! I'm not in the mood to babysit you!"
The three froze for a moment, then nodded belatedly and hurriedly carried Terada Yusuke as they sprinted toward Bird Capital!
"Fire Release: Searing Migraine!"
The Earth Grudge Fear fire-release mask monster abruptly opened its mouth and spewed forth an ocean-like sea of flames. The blaze rapidly spread, surging toward Uchiha Mo!
Scorching heat crashed into his face, and the temperature in the air soared. Mo's expression grew solemn. Facing a Kage Level expert head-on for the first time, he felt a pressure fundamentally different from the small fry he had encountered before.
He swiftly gathered a massive amount of chakra and erected a flaming protective barrier before himself.
"Scarlet Scorch: Burning Body Ring!"
"Boom—!"
Just as the attack was about to arrive, Mo lightly tapped off the ground and leaped backward into the air. The vast sea of flames immediately slammed into the flowing blood-flame barrier, and the tremendous impact sent him flying.
Yet under the protection of the Burning Body Ring, Mo suffered no damage from the Fire Release at all. Instead, he used the impact to smoothly escape the enemy's attack range.
Mo continued flying backward through the air. The blood flames dispersed as he gripped his ninja blade in reverse, both arms raised before him. His Sharingan spun rapidly.
"Here!" He abruptly turned around in midair.
The next moment, the wind-release mask monster suddenly burst from the smoke and appeared before Mo. It then opened its huge mouth and began drawing in air.
"Wind Release: Pressure Damage!"
"Scarlet Scorch: Scattering Fire Needles!"
Mo flicked his left hand, and a large number of flaming senbon instantly shot forth, reaching it before the wind-release mask monster could unleash its attack.
"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft..."
Several flaming senbon instantly pierced the wind-release mask monster's limbs and torso, while two or three stabbed directly into its throat!
"Hm?"
Kakuzu's green pupils narrowed as he noticed the detail. He hurriedly controlled the wind-release mask monster and stopped its wind-release chakra output.
In the very next instant, the flaming senbon violently exploded!
"Bang, bang, bang, bang...!"
Amid a string of dense explosions like firecrackers, the wind-release mask monster's body convulsed wildly before it dropped limply to the ground.
Kakuzu felt a chill of lingering fear. If he had not stopped the wind-release output in time, the explosion caused by wind and fire combining inside the wind-release mask monster would have reduced that heart to dust in an instant.
Mo flipped backward in the air and landed safely. Without time to regret anything, he glanced at the wind-release mask monster writhing on the ground, tapped off with his toes, and flew forward with his long blade held in reverse!
"Scarlet Scorch: Blood Blade!"
"Boom!"
Crimson flames rapidly spread across the gleaming blade. Unlike his previous chakra coating, the surface of the ninja blade was not engulfed in raging flames. Instead, the entire blade turned blood-red, like an energy blade.
Mo flicked his wrist, and a condensed crimson sword aura shot forth!
"Scarlet Scorch: Void-Severing Slash!"
The sword aura was incredibly fast, reaching the wind-release mask monster in the blink of an eye. But at that moment, a figure suddenly sprang from the ground in front of it!
"Earth Release: Earth Spear!"
Kakuzu let out a low shout, crossed his arms, and blocked the sword aura head-on.
"Sizzle—"
A teeth-grating sound of vaporization rose alongside the wisps of white smoke from Kakuzu's arms. He forcibly held his ground, his feet plowing two short trenches through the earth under the tremendous impact.
A moment later, the sword aura dissipated, yet only faint white marks remained on Kakuzu's hands.
Nearly all the hearts Kakuzu possessed had been stolen, but his earth-release heart was different—it was his own! Earth Release: Earth Spear was also a technique he had personally mastered. It could make the body as hard as diamond!
And while raising defense to its limit, it could also greatly increase the body's offensive power! Its sole flaw was that stiffened joints and increased body mass slightly reduced one's speed.
Mo rushed before Kakuzu with an indifferent expression. Taking advantage of the opening in his defense and his reduced speed after using Earth Spear, he fiercely slashed out with the ninja blade held in his right hand.
Kakuzu snorted, his tone filled with disdain.
"Kid, there is no ninjutsu capable of piercing Earth Release: Earth Spear head-on! Save yourself the trouble!"
The moment he finished speaking, the blood-red blade fiercely slashed into Kakuzu's abdomen!
"Sizzle—"
Just as the sensation of the blade cutting flesh reached his hand, before Mo could even react, a crisp explosion erupted.
"Bang!"
The ninja blade shattered...
The entire blade exploded into fragments, leaving only the hilt in Mo's hand intact.
Kakuzu snorted, dispelled Earth Spear, and abruptly reached out with his right hand toward Mo's head.
The tomoe in Mo's eyes spun. Reacting swiftly, he tapped off the ground and leaped back to evade.
But just as Kakuzu was about to grab empty air, the seams in his arm suddenly split open. Black tentacles writhed wildly, extending Kakuzu's reach.
"Smack!" A pair of powerful hands abruptly gripped Uchiha Mo's cheeks.
The corners of Kakuzu's mouth curled beneath his mask. "Got you!"
His other arm suddenly turned earthen brown, then blasted toward Uchiha Mo's chest.
"Kid, I'll be taking your heart!"
Rather than panicking at his words, Uchiha Mo's lips curled into a mocking smile.
"Heh."
The next moment, a figure wreathed in dazzling lightning suddenly burst from the ground behind Kakuzu. A sharp lightning glow wrapped around his right arm as it thrust toward Kakuzu's heart!
"Chirp—!"
"What?!"
Kakuzu turned his head in terror, while his left arm swiftly swung back to block the attack from behind. But Chidori was famed for its extreme speed, while Earth Spear reduced the user's speed. With those factors combined with the advantage of a sneak attack, even if there was some disparity in their base abilities, there was no way he could rush back in time...
"Pfft!"
An arm wrapped in lightning violently pierced through Kakuzu's body. Blood splattered as the earthen brown color faded from Kakuzu's arm, and his body rapidly grew weak and limp.
Before the battle began, Mo's right arm had pierced through Kakuzu's heart from behind, while his left hand secretly made a hand gesture toward his Shadow Clone where Kakuzu could not see.
Afterward, the Shadow Clone had seemingly exploded into smoke and vanished, but it had actually remained underground using the Double Suicide Decapitation Technique, waiting for precisely this perfect opportunity!
Standing on the ground once more, Mo's calm gaze fell upon Kakuzu's collapsed body.
"Bang!"
After lasting for two days and exhausting its chakra through ninjutsu, the Shadow Clone finally ran out of chakra completely and exploded into smoke.
"Whoosh!"
Using the smoke as cover, the wind-release mask monster behind Kakuzu swept forward like a gale, trying to burrow into his back!
Mo's Sharingan spun as he instantly reacted. He raised his right palm, and fierce blood flames ignited at once, blasting directly toward the location of Kakuzu's wind-release heart!
Yet just as Mo was about to touch his target, a fireball suddenly flew in from the side.
Fire Release: Searing Migraine!
Mo's pupils shifted. He swiftly abandoned his attack and dodged aside as the fireball exploded where he had been standing.
"Bang!"
Amid the violent explosion, a tall figure was instantly blasted away. After landing and rolling twice, the figure smoothly rose to its feet and fled toward the horizon.
Mo turned his indifferent eyes toward the fire-release mask monster, with no intention of pursuing it.
He briefly glanced over the panel...
"It's fine. You're more valuable than him..."
The Earth Grudge Fear fire-release mask monster stared at Uchiha Mo, warily moving to the side. It was clearly looking for an opportunity to escape.
From the nature of Earth Grudge Fear's ability, as long as one possessed a heart with the corresponding chakra nature, the host could gain the corresponding ability.
But a Genin's heart and a Jonin's heart naturally could not possess the same strength, nor could a genius's heart and a mediocre person's heart possess the same potential.
Kakuzu's current set of hearts was the finest configuration he had amassed over nearly a century since the Warring States Period. Yet this battle had directly cost him three hearts—water release, lightning release, and earth release—including his own earth-release heart and his highest-quality lightning-release heart. His losses were catastrophic!
Therefore, even if he was fleeing for his life, Kakuzu would never easily abandon this mask monster carrying his fire-release heart.
"Roar!"
The fire-release mask monster let out a roar, then violently spewed another sea of flames!
Fire Release: Searing Migraine!
The flames rolled back toward him, while the mask monster directly turned around and began fleeing at top speed!
If Uchiha Mo used the same method as before to avoid this technique, the monster would inevitably put a considerable distance between them. It had clearly calculated precisely that, which was why it turned and ran without hesitation.
Mo looked at the fire-release mask monster fleeing wildly, completely unhurried. He raised both hands before his chest and formed a cross sign.
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
The next moment, an identical figure appeared at his side. Mo then leaped into the air as a layer of crimson flames suddenly gathered beneath his feet. At the same time, his Shadow Clone fiercely clenched its right fist, and dense blood flames likewise condensed around its right arm.
"Boom!"
With his exquisite Fire Control, the two streams of blood flame exploded beneath Mo's feet without harming him in the slightest. Mo's body, however, shot across the sea of flames under the force of the fierce blast, rocketing toward the fire-release mask monster!
"Bang!"
The Shadow Clone exploded where it stood, replenishing a small amount of chakra for Mo. By now, his chakra reserves were not great either. After all, his body was only ten years old and still growing.
But his remaining reserves were enough...
"Chidori."
"Chirp—!"
Accompanied by the sharp chorus of countless chirping birds, dazzling lightning abruptly erupted from Uchiha Mo's right hand. Then...
"Perfect time to test this."
As the words fell, Mo fiercely injected a large amount of exceptionally condensed fire-release chakra into Chidori!
"Crackle, crackle, crackle—chirp—!"
The lightning suddenly turned blood-red, and the surrounding air distorted from the intense heat.
"Scarlet Scorch: Chidori!"
A streak of crimson lightning tore through the air and violently passed through the massive fire-release mask monster!
"Boom!"
Uchiha Mo landed and rose to his feet, shaking his right arm. A clear blood-red mark appeared on the massive monster behind him. Then, with smoke rising and a sizzling sound, it split apart along that mark and collapsed.
"It should still be possible to improve it..."
Mo frowned as he looked at his right arm, somewhat dissatisfied.
Chidori and Rasengan were both versatile techniques. Whether it was the Curse Mark nearly sharing the same origin as Senjutsu, Senjutsu itself, or the power of the Six Paths, all could be applied to them. But those were powers beyond the basic chakra natures, whereas fire-release chakra theoretically could only affect lightning release through a Kekkei Genkai.
Before you continue