Teasing Kakuzu

Although somewhat surprised, Kakuzu did not have that much time to waste on Chentian. He still had money to make.

He immediately said, "Since you know my reputation, I'll be merciful enough to let you know why you're dying!"

As he spoke, Kakuzu's gaze at Chentian grew increasingly greedy, as if he were looking at stacks upon stacks of cash.

"Though you're still just a child, your head is worth a full hundred million! The same as the Kage of the Five Great Shinobi Villages!"

After saying that, Kakuzu looked at Chentian with interest, wanting to see how he would react upon learning this.

Just a child. Knowing he was about to die, he would surely cry miserably, right?

Yet Chentian's reaction completely exceeded his expectations, leaving him somewhat stunned instead.

"The same as the Kage of the Five Great Shinobi Villages? That's not bad."

Smacking his lips, Chentian knew he would have plenty of trouble in the future.

The Kage of the Five Great Shinobi Villages were powerful and famous. Basically, no one dared seek trouble with them.

But he was different. A six-year-old child like him was surely a prized target in the eyes of people like Kakuzu.

However, he was not concerned about the current danger, because he knew Kakuzu's abilities too well.

Although he only had the strength of a jonin, it was enough for him to drive Kakuzu back.

"You wouldn't leave even if I told you to, so come on!"

"Water Release—Water Dragon Bullet!"

As he spoke, Chentian's hands became a blur as he rapidly formed forty-four hand seals.

A water dragon more than ten meters long suddenly appeared, its crystal-clear body glinting with a hint of danger.

This move completely caught Kakuzu off guard. He had not expected a mere child to possess such formidable strength, much less act so decisively.

This Water Dragon Bullet had already surpassed the level of a jonin. Either this brat possessed an absurd amount of chakra, or his mastery over this ninjutsu was extraordinarily high.

The same ninjutsu was a completely different thing in the hands of an ordinary shinobi and in the hands of Uchiha Madara.

But he had no time to dwell on it now, because that massive creature was already charging at him without mercy.

"Water Release—Water Wall!"

"Earth Release—Earth-Style Wall!"

"Earth Release—Earth-Style Rampart!"

In the blink of an eye, Kakuzu unleashed three defensive ninjutsu in succession. If time had allowed, he would have used several more.

"Rumble...!"

At that moment, the water dragon slammed into the Water Wall. The wall did not even last a second before shattering.

However, the water dragon, originally more than ten meters long, had shrunk considerably and was now roughly ten meters in length.

"Rumble...!"

Immediately afterward, the water dragon did not hesitate at all and viciously crashed into the earthen wall of the Earth-Style Wall.

Looking at the Earth-Style Wall before him, Chentian curled his lips and muttered, "No dog head. Bad review."

The next moment, with a bang, another Chentian appeared where he stood, though this one looked somewhat dull-witted.

Meanwhile, Chentian's real body quietly slipped into the nearby woods.

Watching dust billow up as the Water Dragon Bullet struck the Earth-Style Wall, Chentian was certain Kakuzu would not spot him.

After breaking through the Earth-Style Wall, the Water Dragon Bullet was only about five meters long. When it met the Earth-Style Rampart, it blasted out a small crater before dissipating.

The Chentian standing in place stared blankly at the scene before him, as though pondering whether Kakuzu had already died.

The next instant, a dark shadow appeared behind Chentian, and countless black threads pierced into his body.

At the same time, Kakuzu's grating voice rang out. "Hahaha, brat, you may be strong, but you lack experience!"

Once the smoke cleared, Kakuzu was still standing where he had been, except one of the four masks on his body was gone.

Earlier, amid the swirling smoke, he had separated the earth-attribute mask after casting Earth-Style Wall and Earth-Style Rampart.

He had secretly controlled the earth-attribute mask to use Earth Release to move behind Chentian, creating the current situation.

But in the next moment, a sudden change occurred. Chentian, who had nearly been pierced into a sieve, suddenly turned into a puff of smoke and vanished from the spot.

"Rumble...!"

The instant the smoke appeared, the ground beneath the earth-attribute mask suddenly exploded. More than a thousand explosive tags detonated one after another.

When the explosions finally ceased, Kakuzu's earth-attribute mask had vanished without a trace.

"Ah—You dare destroy one of my hearts? Then compensate me with your heart!"

Realizing he had been played, Kakuzu trembled in heartache.

He had carefully selected those hearts one by one. They were not comparable to ordinary trash.

"Tailed Beast Bomb!"

But in the next instant, his voice was cut off, because a crimson sphere of energy came hurtling out of the forest behind him.

The moment he saw that energy sphere, Kakuzu was utterly horrified. He had lived for nearly a hundred years; this was not the first time he had seen such a thing.

Though it was not as large as the ones he had seen before, this little orb was unmistakably a Tailed Beast Bomb!

Unfortunately, he had no time to form hand seals. In his panic, the lightning-attribute mask within his body quietly fell away, transforming into a streak of lightning and vanishing.

"Rumble...!"

After he finished all that, the Tailed Beast Bomb had already reached him and crashed down viciously.

Like thunder on a clear day, a deafening boom echoed through the area, and a crater more than ten meters wide and three to four meters deep appeared on the ground.

In this deserted place, who knew how long it would take before someone discovered that crater?

More than five hundred meters from where the Tailed Beast Bomb exploded, a mass of black threads slowly crawled out and gradually formed into Kakuzu's shape.

After emerging, Kakuzu collapsed weakly to the ground, panting heavily as he said in broken gasps, "That brat is terrifying. No wonder he's worth the same as the Kage of the Five Great Shinobi Villages. He destroyed four of my hearts."

As he muttered, his face still bore lingering fear, and he could not help touching the places where the masks had been on his body.

Unfortunately, not a single mask remained.

"Looks like I need to replenish my hearts as soon as possible. I'll give up on that brat's bounty for now and see if there's another chance in the future."

After settling on his goal, Kakuzu headed toward a populated area. He needed to find suitable hearts.

While Kakuzu was still shaken, Chentian, the one responsible for it all, had already left the area and was heading toward the next city.

He had never expected to kill Kakuzu. Kakuzu was a genuine Kage-level powerhouse, while he himself was only a jonin.

If not for the imbalance in information, Chentian would have lasted no more than ten minutes against Kakuzu!

Being able to catch Kakuzu off guard this time was already no easy feat.

So after unleashing the Tailed Beast Bomb, Chentian left without looking back.

After all, he had no idea whether that move could truly cause Kakuzu trouble. In the original story, Kakuzu had even captured Tailed Beasts.

In truth, Kakuzu did have a way to evade the Tailed Beast Bomb. He had merely underestimated Chentian, which was why he ended up in such a sorry state.

But for the time being, none of that had anything to do with Chentian. Kakuzu would not catch up anytime soon anyway.

Humming a tune no one could understand, Chentian took small, light steps toward the next town.