Kakuzu's death in battle was both unexpected and unsurprising!
Battles between ninja came down to intelligence. Even a ninja at the Super Kage Level would suffer if someone discovered his weaknesses.
Of course, ninja with Super Kage strength had room to recover from mistakes. Even if their intelligence leaked, they could still turn things around through their own strength.
Kakuzu was certainly strong. No matter how one looked at it, he counted as a Kage Level ninja.
Coupled with his bizarre Earth Grudge Fear ability, even ninja on his level might not be able to kill him if they did not know about his extra hearts.
But if someone learned all his secrets and had powerful ninja working together to fight him, then he could meet his downfall.
The trouble was that, with the Five Great Shinobi Villages united and sharing information, intelligence on Akatsuki's members was steadily being compiled.
This was hardly Kakuzu's first time taking action. He had killed many times to earn money in the past, and after joining Akatsuki, he had fought even more frequently to complete dangerous wartime missions.
Previously, the major shinobi villages had not taken things seriously. Besides, none of them had regarded Akatsuki as an enemy, considering it an ordinary ninja organization at most.
Organizations like that were not uncommon in the Shinobi World, so the Five Great Shinobi Villages could hardly be blamed for paying it little mind.
But things were different now. Akatsuki's objectives and ambitions were clear, and the Five Great Shinobi Villages had fully united and begun seriously considering ways to deal with them.
As a result, their intelligence became difficult to conceal.
And this was only the result of a simple exchange of intelligence between the Five Great Shinobi Villages. Their next plan was to force Takigakure