Baiyun Is Dead

Anyo ran extremely fast, soon reaching the place where the two had just parted.

But after looking around, he could not immediately tell which direction they had gone. He sighed inwardly and formed hand seals: Spirit Transformation Technique.

A dark soul force drifted out of his body. The instant it emerged, he sensed an enormous surge of energy.

"That direction. Such violent energy fluctuations. Have they already started fighting?"

Anyo swiftly recalled his soul and raced in that direction.

He had just arrived when he saw Kakuzu forming hand seals. "Fire Release: Searing Migraine! Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

Kakuzu unleashed a wide-range combination ninjutsu. Fanned by fierce winds, the powerful flames incinerated everything before him. Then the black threads behind him suddenly surged, pouring from every part of his body. His body grew light and buoyant, while the mass of black threads behind him streamed straight into the flames like countless tentacles.

"Roar..."

The flames cleared, revealing a giant bull with octopus tentacles for tails. One of the two horns that had originally grown on its head had been severed. Countless black threads now bound its body, but with a tremendous roar, it quickly snapped them with its immense physical strength. A Tailed Beast Bomb had already formed at its mouth, and it blasted it straight toward Kakuzu.

The black tentacles behind Kakuzu scattered with a whoosh, dodging the attack. The Tailed Beast Bomb's tremendous destructive power blasted apart even the distant mountain peaks.

"They really are fighting." The sight made Anyo break out in a cold sweat. Suddenly, a figure made of black threads appeared beside him, a new mask clearly visible upon it.

"Is that...?" Anyo recognized it. "Isn't that the Lightning Release Mask? Looks like you succeeded."

Kakuzu was rather surprised that Anyo showed no fear at the sight of his appearance. "Yes, I succeeded. Turns out this fellow is a Jinchūriki. No wonder he had a powerful Lightning Release ninja guarding him. I've taken that ninja's heart, but this Jinchūriki discovered me, and now he's gone berserk."

Hearing this, Anyo replied swiftly, "If you succeeded, why are you still fighting? Hurry up and leave!"

Kakuzu said in a low voice, "I'd like to, but he's already locked onto two of my hearts. If I run now, those two hearts will probably be destroyed here."

Anyo understood what Kakuzu meant. He had come for a heart, only to gain one and immediately face losing two. No one would willingly accept that. But the Eight-Tails' fighting strength was nothing like the Seven-Tails'. Kakuzu could not defeat him anytime soon, and he was fighting on enemy territory, at that. Once the commotion grew too great, an entire village's ninja would come. Kumogakure was no small village like Takigakure. When that happened, even a hundred masks would not be enough to keep Kakuzu alive.

Anyo's thoughts raced. Gritting his teeth, he said, "Try taking me hostage."

"What good would taking you hostage do?" Kakuzu looked utterly puzzled.

Anyo quickly explained, "That Jinchūriki knows me. He even came to the academy as a teacher today. Try taking me hostage and telling him to stop."

Although Kakuzu doubted it would help, he did as told. After all, his other two clones were already in imminent danger.

"Stop, or I'll kill him." One of Kakuzu's clones emerged from behind a rock, holding a kunai to Anyo's throat.

"Fool, you fool! Let that student go!" Hearing the threat, the Eight-Tails forcibly halted his attack.

It actually worked. Kakuzu promptly cut a wound in Anyo's neck and threatened, "If you dare attack again, I'll kill him immediately."

With that, the masked figures made of black threads merged back into one person, who held Anyo hostage and raced out of Kumogakure.

Killer B released his Tailed Beast Transformation, returning to human form, and pursued them closely.

They encountered Kumogakure ninja along the way, but Kakuzu never lingered to fight. He simply dropped a wide-range ninjutsu and left without checking the results. The consequence, however, was that more and more ninja joined the pursuit.

Anyo reminded him, "Use Earth Release to clear a path, then go this way. I'm confident I can shake them off."

Kakuzu did not hesitate at his words. Earth Dragon Bullet, Earth Spear, Earth Thorn-he skillfully unleashed all manner of Earth Release techniques, making things miserable for the pursuing Cloud ninja.

"Just ahead. Once we're out of these woods, we'll be safe." Anyo pointed a short distance ahead, looking completely confident.

With the aid of Kakuzu's Wind Release, the two swiftly emerged from the woods, only to find several hundred Stone ninja gathered outside. All were surprised to see strangers appear.

But when their leader saw Anyo, he ground his teeth. "Baiyun, it's you."

Anyo smiled teasingly. "Oh, isn't this Kitsuchi, the one our Lord Raikage knocked flat with a single slap? What are you hiding here for?"

Hearing Anyo bring up his humiliation, Kitsuchi launched a wide-range Earth Release technique at the two without a second thought.

"Don't resist. Hide," Anyo warned Kakuzu. Neither dodged, and they disappeared without a trace beneath the enormous mass of earth.

"Hm? He died that easily?" Kitsuchi was somewhat puzzled. After all, he and Anyo had fought for ages last time without either gaining the upper hand.

Before he could finish thinking it through, the pursuing Cloud ninja also emerged from the woods. At the sight of the gathered Stone ninja, the atmosphere immediately turned strange.

Killer B ran out of the woods and was the first to break the silence, opening with his usual catchphrase. "Fools, you fools! Have you seen the student being held hostage?"

How dare he insult us! The Iwagakure ninja were poised to attack, but Kitsuchi raised a hand to stop them. "What hostage student? What's his name?"

"His name?" Killer B really did not know. Just then, the ninja who had recruited Anyo, who was also among the pursuers, stepped forward and called out, "His name is Baiyun. He's a student at our Ninja Academy."

"Well, well! So he really was one of you Kumogakure people." At those words, Kitsuchi found an outlet for the resentment he had harbored for days. He laughed loudly. "Baiyun is dead. I killed him."

"What?" The Cloud ninja flew into a rage. "As if destroying his village wasn't enough, you even killed the village's last hope! You bastards! I'll kill you dirt-digging hicks!"

"Kill them!"

Neither side wasted any more words, swiftly clashing in battle. Meanwhile, reinforcements from both villages, having received word in the rear, kept pouring in. The battle between Iwagakure and Kumogakure quickly reached a fever pitch, all because someone had killed a person who had never existed.

Hidden in the shadows, Kakuzu looked at Anyo beside him. "When did you use a clone?"

Anyo answered frankly, "When you took me hostage, of course. I'm not in the habit of putting my life in someone else's hands."

"Interesting." Kakuzu glanced at the battle between ninja villages that had already begun and suddenly found it utterly dull, far less interesting than the boy beside him. He could not help asking, "Where do you want to go next?"

Anyo named his next destination. "Sunagakure."

"Then let's go." Kakuzu took the lead.

Anyo asked, "What are you doing?"

Kakuzu replied as though it were only natural, "I've accepted your offer of employment."