Pain!

"Aaargh!"

Kakuzu let out a roar of agony, staring in disbelief at the katana that had pierced his defenses.

"My... heart!"

"I'm not done yet!"

Ye Chuan pulled out his sword without so much as looking at the wound in Kakuzu's chest, then swung back with another horizontal slash!

Kakuzu fought through the searing pain and tried to retreat, but Ye Chuan was too fast!

"Now that you're out, you're not going back in!"

The cloak on Kakuzu's back abruptly split open!

Four grotesque masks separated from it and hovered in the air, exposing Kakuzu's body, which resembled a stitched-together monster!

"Brat! I'll tear you to pieces!!"

Utterly enraged, Kakuzu entered his full combat form.

The four masked monsters roared simultaneously, unleashing powerful wind, fire, and lightning Ninjutsu upon Ye Chuan like a raging storm!

At the same time, countless black Earth Grudge Fear tendrils coiled toward Ye Chuan from every direction!

Faced with this world-shattering onslaught, Ye Chuan neither dodged nor evaded!

Armament Haki, full-body coating.

Pitch-black Haki instantly spread like a tide, covering his entire body and forming a layer of indestructible, invisible armor.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Wind blades, fireballs, lightning...

All manner of Ninjutsu slammed into Ye Chuan, only to vanish like clay oxen sinking into the sea, unable to force him back even a single step.

Although his Armament Haki could not make him completely immune to elemental damage, its formidable defense was enough to reduce the power of these Ninjutsu to a negligible level.

"This... how is this possible?! Ninjutsu doesn't work?!" Kakuzu was utterly stunned!

"I told you, I'm your opponent." Ye Chuan's voice was icy. "Against me, relying on Ninjutsu is useless."

He did not need to rack his brains setting traps to take them down one by one, as Shikamaru had in the original story.

Against an enemy like Kakuzu, the most effective method was to overwhelm every trick with sheer strength!

[Soru]! [Geppo]! [Slash]!

Ye Chuan became a streak of untraceable black lightning, darting at high speed through the onslaught of Ninjutsu and tendrils filling the air!

Every swing of the pitch-black katana in his hand carried the force to cut through anything!

Slash! Slash! Slash!

The Wind Release masked monster was cut in half at the waist!

The Fire Release masked monster was beheaded with a single stroke!

The Lightning Release masked monster, along with the tendrils Kakuzu had extended, was utterly shredded by ferocious sword energy!

In the blink of an eye, all four heart-bearing masked monsters that Kakuzu took such pride in had been destroyed by Ye Chuan in an utterly overwhelming display!

"No... impossible..."

Kakuzu looked at his own body, all he had left, his eyes filled with despair.

He had lived for nearly a hundred years, fought countless battles, and even faced the First Hokage in combat (though he had been thoroughly thrashed).

He had never imagined that he would die like this... at the hands of a boy so young!

"It's over."

Ye Chuan appeared before Kakuzu, the Wado Ichimonji raised high, a heart-stopping black gleam gathering along its edge.

Schlkk!

His blade rose and fell, cleanly cutting away Kakuzu's final heart along with his head!

[Detected that the host has killed Akatsuki member Kakuzu...]

[Overall assessment... Inheritance Experience gained: +2,000 points!]

[Current Inheritance Progress: 92.6%]

Ye Chuan flicked the blood from his blade and slowly sheathed it.

He turned to look at Hidan's remains, which were still cursing wildly nearby.

"So noisy." Ye Chuan frowned.

"This guy... really doesn't seem able to die."

Asuma and the others also looked at the still-lively Hidan with troubled expressions.

"Hmph! So what if you kill me?! Lord Jashin granted me an immortal body! You heretics will sooner or later..."

Schlkk! Schlkk! Schlkk!

Before Hidan could finish, Ye Chuan had already walked over, his blade flashing repeatedly as he carved Hidan's body into dozens of chunks of flesh with a master butcher's precision!

"..."

Hidan's head fell to the ground and blinked in disbelief, seemingly still unable to process what had happened.

"That should leave him helpless, right?" Ye Chuan asked, looking at the scattered pieces.

"In theory... as long as his consciousness and the curse remain, he isn't truly dead."

The sight made even Shikamaru's scalp prickle. He thought for a moment, then offered a suggestion.

"But we can deal with his pieces separately."

"My family has a restricted area in the forest. We can bury his head and the other major parts in separate deep pits, then seal them shut completely with Sealing Jutsu."

"That way, even if he's still conscious, he'll never get out."

"Good idea." Ye Chuan agreed. This method was much the same as in the original story.

He glanced at Hidan's head, which was still trying to curse on the ground, but felt a trace of regret.

Although he had chopped the man to pieces, Hidan was clearly still conscious. The system probably would not count this as a true kill, so naturally, he would not receive the corresponding Inheritance Experience.

An Akatsuki-member-level experience reward, wasted just like that...

"Then that's what we'll do." Asuma nodded.

He looked at his completely unharmed teammates, then at the remains of the two formidable Akatsuki members on the ground, his heart filled with profound shock at Ye Chuan's strength.

An Akatsuki hideout. The Magic Lantern Body Technique.

Several phantom figures in black cloaks patterned with red clouds stood silently atop the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path's enormous fingers.

At the center, the Six Paths of Pain, having just completed the sealing ritual for Isobu, the Three-Tails, indifferently opened those Rinnegan eyes with their countless ripples.

"The Three-Tails' sealing is complete."

Deva Path Pain's voice rang out without a trace of emotion.

"However, the operation to retrieve the Two-Tails failed, and Kakuzu is also... dead."

As the news spread, a slight stir ran through the phantoms of the other Akatsuki members present.

"What? Kakuzu's dead too?!"

Tobi, wearing an orange spiral mask, spoke in a comical voice, but his tone held a barely perceptible trace of gravity.

"What about that idiot Hidan? Doesn't he claim to be immortal?"

"Although Hidan isn't dead, according to Zetsu's intelligence, Konoha ninja completely dismembered him and sealed his parts separately. He can no longer fight," Black Zetsu said in his gloomy voice.

"It was a squad from Konoha. Their leader is named Asuma Sarutobi, but the truly troublesome one is a boy in the squad named Ye Chuan."

"Ye Chuan?" Deidara seemed to remember something. "That brat who instantly took out Itachi's and Kisame's Shapeshifting Clones? Hmm?"

"According to Zetsu's observations," Black Zetsu continued, "that boy named Ye Chuan is extremely powerful."

"He's proficient in a sword style we've never seen before, and possesses exceptionally keen perception. Almost all five of Kakuzu's hearts were destroyed by him alone."

"Heh heh heh, Konoha really does keep producing talent." Kisame Hoshigaki's phantom chuckled. "If he could kill Mr. Kakuzu, that brat probably isn't much weaker than Mr. Itachi, is he?"

Uchiha Itachi's phantom remained silent.

"Both the Two-Tails and the Nine-Tails are in Konoha..." Pain said indifferently. "It seems Konoha has become the greatest obstacle to our plan."

"No matter." He shifted his tone, his Rinnegan remaining utterly calm. "Continue the operations to capture the other Jinchūriki. As for Konoha..."

"I will go there myself." Pain's voice carried absolute confidence.

"The Nine-Tails must be retrieved. As for that Two-Tails Jinchūriki... I'll bring him back while I'm there."

"If that brat named Ye Chuan dares to stand in my way, I'll eliminate him as well."