Kakuzu's voice no longer held any of its previous arrogance.
"You bastard..."
Uchiha Yao gave Kakuzu no chance to catch his breath.
In the next instant, Uchiha Yao left behind a faint afterimage where he stood.
Too fast!
So fast that even Orochimaru, watching from the side, could only catch a blurred outline.
Kakuzu's battle-honed instincts screamed a warning.
The lightning-attribute masked monster on his back suddenly opened its mouth, and a blinding Lightning Light swept toward his own body like a long whip!
He covered the area around himself with attacks, forcing his enemy to retreat.
This was a tactic that had never failed him against speed-type ninja.
But this time, he had miscalculated.
Uchiha Yao's figure appeared in none of the positions he had predicted.
"Above you."
Uchiha Yao's voice rang out directly above Kakuzu's head.
Kakuzu abruptly looked up.
Uchiha Yao had somehow appeared directly above him, his body parallel to the ground.
Uchiha Yao raised his right hand high, a mass of intensely dazzling blue-white lightning gathering in his palm.
Chirp chirp chirp—!
Crackle—!
Without giving Kakuzu any time to react.
That hand wreathed in lightning became a blade that tore through the night sky and crashed down.
Boom!
A huge, blackened hole was blasted through Kakuzu's back.
The lightning-attribute mask that Kakuzu had just used to release its jutsu was also utterly crushed by the lightning.
"Arghhh—!"
A belated, heart-rending scream finally erupted from Kakuzu's throat.
One heart had been destroyed just like that!
"First heart."
Uchiha Yao drifted lightly down some distance away.
As he watched Kakuzu writhe in pain on the ground and prepared to step forward to claim his second heart—
"Shadow Snake Hand!"
Several vicious venomous snakes burst from the ground, lunging from different angles at Uchiha Yao's limbs.
Orochimaru, who