Kakuzu let out a roar of defiance.
Boom!
The Water Release mask exploded into countless fragments amid the blinding lightning!
His fourth heart was destroyed!
Thud!
Kakuzu's knees buckled, and he fell to the ground, gasping for breath, his face as pale as paper.
The black tendrils on his back had lost most of their vitality and drooped limply. Their heart-repair speed had slowed to almost nothing.
"Four... hearts... all gone..." He stared down at his trembling hands, his voice hoarse with bewilderment and disbelief.
Seventy years!
He had lived for seventy years!
He had fought the God of Shinobi, clawed his way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, hunted countless powerful opponents, and amassed staggering wealth and five lives...
And today, in this remote forest in the Land of Rivers, a Konoha brat who looked no older than twelve or thirteen had smashed four of his hearts in succession as easily as chopping vegetables?!
At that moment, hunter and prey had completely traded places.
Uchiha Makoto slowly walked up to him and stopped.
The last rays of the setting sun filtered through the trees, stretching his tall shadow over the kneeling Kakuzu.
His Four-Tomoe Sharingan slowly rotated as he gazed coldly down at the once-dreaded "immortal ninja."
"Five lives, and only one left."
Uchiha Makoto spoke, his voice perfectly calm. "Old man, the game's over."
Kakuzu jerked his head up. His green eyes were bloodshot, filled with humiliation, rage, and, buried deepest of all... a trace of fear!
No, how could he, Kakuzu, feel fear?!
He was a monster who had survived since the Warring States era!
"You've got to be kidding..."
He muttered hoarsely, as though speaking to Uchiha Makoto-or trying to convince himself.
"I've lived for seventy years... fought the First Hokage, survived being hunted