Kakuzu knelt in the muddy wasteland, his body trembling violently beyond his control.
The berserk wind blades that Kamui had reflected back at him intact had sliced straight through the Earth Grudge Fear body he had been so proud of from within.
With a dull explosion, the masked monster on his back representing the Wind Release attribute blew apart on the spot.
Countless thick black threads lost their vitality and flopped limply into the murky standing water, unable even to struggle.
The mask fragments mixed with dark red filthy blood, looking especially miserable beneath the rain.
In just a few breaths, three of the five hearts he had accumulated over the years had been destroyed by the harmless-looking boy before him.
A pained growl rose from Kakuzu's throat, and undisguised shock finally appeared in his green eyes.
What kind of rookie was this? This utterly unreasonable combat power was far beyond anything someone his age should possess.
Not only had he mastered that bizarre Wood Release capable of crushing Kakuzu with ease, but he could even instantly cast an unfathomable space-time ocular technique without hand seals.
Kakuzu rapidly weighed the pros and cons in his mind, while the instincts he had developed over nearly a century of life screamed warnings at him.
He couldn't win.
If he kept wasting time in this mud pit, his barely preserved old life would definitely end here today.
High bounties, organizational missions—before his own life, they were all worthless scraps of paper.
Money could be earned again. If his life was gone, then everything was gone.
Without the slightest hesitation, Kakuzu decisively bit through his tongue, using the sharp pain to forcibly squeeze out the last remnants of chakra in his body.
He controlled the remaining black threads on his back and drove them