Kakuzu changed again. With a roar, three masked monsters of different shapes emerged from his body one after another.
In the blink of an eye, the battle went from two against one to four against two.
"Fire Release: Searing Migraine!"
"Wind Release: Pressure Damage!"
With masks of several different natures, he could use Ninjutsu simultaneously. That meant he could launch combination attacks that multiplied their power several times over.
The wind fed the fire, and flames swept over everything in a terrifying onslaught.
Blaze Wind Wild Wave!
In the distant woods, Deva Path Pain stood on a branch, watching Kakuzu's performance with great satisfaction.
"He's stronger than I expected. Good."
Then he began to worry about Konan. Dance of the Shikigami could neutralize ordinary physical attacks, but against Fire Release on such a massive scale, it was hard to say.
Pain looked up at the fine drizzle falling from the sky.
Paper soaked with rainwater would not burn so easily in Fire Release.
That guy's Water Release shouldn't be too bad, right?
An ordinary Water Release technique could not stop such a powerful combination Ninjutsu.
Just then, he saw a waterfall descend from the sky amid the sea of flames, holding them firmly at bay.
"Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!"
Rumble...
A tremendous torrent of water surged forth in wave after wave.
Water and fire collided, producing vast clouds of white vapor that enveloped the surroundings in an instant.
Konan then noticed that Aoki Tsuki was gone. She immediately flew into the air as well, waiting for an opportunity to act.
Crack...
The familiar sound of a mask breaking rang out again.
"What!?"
Kakuzu realized he had lost contact with his lightning-nature mask. "He can pinpoint its location in the thick mist... Could this guy be a sensory ninja too!?"
He hurriedly moved the remaining wind-nature and fire-nature masked monsters to his side, the three of them standing in a triangle.
That way, no matter which direction his opponent appeared from, they could spot him immediately.
The white mist soon cleared. Aoki Tsuki stood in a clearing not far away, while Konan flew in midair, ready to support him.
"These two look like a nuisance."
Kakuzu controlled the wind-nature and fire-nature masks, merging them together. Wind could scatter paper, and fire could burn it.
The merged monster was perfect for dealing with Konan.
"Are you going to deal with me yourself?"
Aoki Tsuki immediately understood Kakuzu's plan. Destroying two of his hearts had probably put him on guard.
With Konan there to help hold back the two masks, he was somewhat confident about facing Kakuzu in his current state.
"Here I go!"
He took one step and suddenly appeared right in front of Kakuzu, swinging his blade down in a diagonal slash.
"So fast! This guy..."
Startled by the sudden attack, Kakuzu instinctively leaned back to dodge.
At the same time, countless threads coiled toward the oncoming blade, trying to stop it.
Pfft...
The blade opened a large gash across his chest, and blood poured out.
There was no need to panic over a small wound like this.
Kakuzu controlled a black thread, which wriggled along the wound and stitched the torn skin and muscle back together.
He then sent all the black threads in his body out to counterattack.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
Countless threads shot toward Aoki Tsuki. Facing the thousands upon thousands of threads, he gripped his sword with both hands and slashed down the middle.
"Rainstorm Breathing: Lightning Burial!"
Rumble...
Thunder cracked over the flat ground. Dazzling lightning burst from beneath the blade and spread rapidly in every direction, instantly wiping out every black thread in its path.
A deep sword mark was left in the ground, but the attack had missed its target.
"It missed!?"
Aoki Tsuki looked down. At some point, a black thread had quietly emerged from underground and taken the opportunity to wrap around his right leg.
It had tugged at the crucial moment, throwing his attack off course.
Across from him, Kakuzu looked at his right arm, severed at the shoulder, his face full of lingering fear. "I was nearly split in two just now. He's clearly strong, yet he ambushed me... What a sneaky bastard."
Losing an arm was no problem. The black threads reattached it the next second.
He clenched his fist and found it completely unaffected.
Aoki Tsuki swung his sword and severed the black thread around his leg. He was not discouraged; Kakuzu could no longer be considered a normal person.
It would have been strange if a few slashes had left him unable to move.
He formed a seal with his left hand, and Chakra spread through the rainwater beneath his feet. With him at the center, the water on the ground and the rain falling from the sky began to rotate slowly.
"Marsh Rain Breathing: Moon Shadow!"
Using exceptional Chakra control, he infused the surrounding rainwater with Chakra, making the droplets within a certain range heavy and viscous, like a quagmire.
As he swung his sword, a transparent, crescent-shaped blade suddenly expanded and stretched into a gigantic arc.
Kakuzu was just about to dodge when he found his movements had slowed.
"Something's wrong. There's a problem with this water. Its viscosity and density have increased..."
Sensing danger, Kakuzu hurriedly controlled Earth Grudge Fear's black threads to shield himself.
Pfft!!
Kakuzu felt as though his body had nearly been split in two. His arm was severed again, and broken black threads littered the ground.
Worst of all, a wave of mental force accompanied the attack, leaving him dizzy, with crescent-shaped blades slashing at him everywhere he looked.
Anyone else would have been dead long ago, but his body was that of a zombie. New black threads spread out from inside him, and after some simple stitching, he stood up again.
How could anyone not despair when facing a monster that would not die?
Elsewhere, Konan was fighting a battle of attrition against the monster formed from the wind and fire masks.
She was still far from as sharp and decisive as she would be later, and she lacked experience. The masked monster's exceptionally powerful combination Ninjutsu kept her firmly suppressed.
She did not dare turn into paper to evade its attacks. Its Wind Release was simply too strong; it could scatter her and then burn her with powerful Fire Release.
Her own attacks were very limited.
Even when combined with Explosive Tags, Paper Shuriken had difficulty doing any substantial damage to the masked monster.
After driving Konan back again, the masked monster quickly split in two. The Wind Release masked monster turned and attacked Aoki Tsuki, while the Fire Release masked monster continued to keep Konan occupied.
"Wind Release: Pressure Damage!"
A massive tornado swept toward Aoki Tsuki, intending to force him back.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
He planted his sword in the ground, his hands flashing through seals. A water dragon reared skyward and charged at the tornado.
Rumble...
In the violent collision, the water dragon was shredded into a torrential downpour.
Aoki Tsuki used the Body Flicker Technique to seize the opening and close in on the Wind Release masked monster, splitting it in two with a single slash.
Konan seized the opportunity as well, creating more than a dozen Paper Clones that surrounded the Fire Release masked monster. Each clone concealed an Explosive Tag, and they all detonated at once.
Boom, boom, boom...
After several minutes of continuous bombardment, not even a fragment of the Fire Release masked monster could be found.
"Bastards, I'll kill you!"
The destruction of two masks in succession pained Kakuzu terribly. He also understood that this was the most dangerous moment yet, and he would have to fight for his life.
A mass of black threads attacked the two of them frantically.
The two exchanged a glance. Konan waved her hand, sending more than a dozen Explosive Tags flying toward Kakuzu.
"The same trick again? It's useless!"
Kakuzu's body turned black, a sign that he had activated the hardening technique Earth Spear. However, his body would stiffen for an instant at this point.
That fleeting opportunity was exactly what Aoki Tsuki had been waiting for.
The long hair down his back shot out like a giant blue serpent, instantly wrapping Kakuzu up like a dumpling.
The corner of Aoki Tsuki's mouth curled upward. He grabbed his hair and pulled hard, swinging Kakuzu up and smashing him into the ground beside him.
Konan hastily turned her head away.
It was unclear whether she was worried about muddy water splashing on her face or could not bear to watch such a savage, violent scene.
Bang!
A deep crater caved into the ground.
Pfft...
Blood poured from Kakuzu's mouth. He felt as though his internal organs had ruptured and his body was falling apart.
"Ugh... You bastard, you actually...!!"
Kakuzu had exhausted both his strength and Chakra, and not one of his masks remained. He no longer had the strength to speak with confidence.
Aoki Tsuki retracted his hair and appeared in front of Kakuzu in a flash.
He pressed the tip of his sword against Kakuzu's throat and said, "A pleasure to meet you, Senior Kakuzu."
Only then did Kakuzu take his first careful look at the young opponent before him. "You actually know my name. Who are you?"
"Who I am isn't important. What matters is the choice you make next. It will decide whether you live."
"What do you want?"
"We're inviting you to join Akatsuki," Konan said.
"Akatsuki? What do you do..."
"Create peace."
"Peace? Hmph!"
Kakuzu gave a derisive laugh, seemingly in disdain. "I'm not interested in that sort of thing. Get it over with."
Konan was immediately at a loss for words. This was her first time recruiting someone-well, recruiting a rogue ninja.
"May I say a few words for you?" Aoki Tsuki asked.
Konan was clearly not yet skilled at making her pitch, and her words held no appeal. Kakuzu was no mere underling who would bow down in submission at a display of might.
The strong had their own dignity.
Konan glanced at Aoki Tsuki and said nothing, giving her tacit consent.
Only then did Aoki Tsuki speak. "Senior Kakuzu, earning money alone is hard work, isn't it? And it's very inefficient. I have a suggestion you might want to hear."
"What are you trying to say?"
"As long as you join Akatsuki, the position of chief financial officer is yours. All the organization's money will be under your management. Right now, you can only hunt ordinary rogue ninja who aren't worth mentioning.
"Under Akatsuki's protection, you can hunt those high-value rogue ninja near the top of the bounty list. Each head is worth tens of millions of ryo.
"And you won't have to worry about the Five Great Nations hunting you down. Why not?"
Ninja with bounties of tens of millions of ryo all had backing. In the past, Kakuzu could only look on.
"Is Akatsuki an assassination organization too?" Kakuzu asked in puzzlement.
Konan nodded. "Here, you can do what you want without worrying about being punished. We place no restrictions on you."
Aoki Tsuki continued to embellish the pitch from the side. "With your abilities, a platform like Akatsuki would let you pursue your dreams more fully. You shouldn't be languishing in obscurity like you are now.
"We don't have much else in the Land of Rain, but we have plenty of rogue ninja. Whatever type of heart you want, we'll match you with one within twenty-four hours. How about it?"
"If everything you've said is true, I don't mind joining. But if..."
"I understand, I understand. If a single word is false, may I be struck by lightning." Aoki Tsuki pointed at the sky as he swore.
In any case, he was not a member of Akatsuki, so it did not matter to him.
But Kakuzu did not know that.
Under someone else's roof, one had no choice but to bow one's head.
Kakuzu had lived for so long, and he feared death more than anything. They had offered him a way out; refusing it now would be courting death.
"All right, I'll join you."
Aoki Tsuki turned to Konan. "All right, I'll leave the rest to you. I have something to do, so I'll be going first."
"Mm."
Their first time working together had gone fairly smoothly. Konan was in a good mood and gave a slight nod.
Aoki Tsuki vanished from their sight in a flash.
Immediately afterward, Deva Path Pain slowly walked over.
"This is..."
Kakuzu was stunned. He had never seen the Rinnegan before, but having lived so long, he still knew a thing or two.
"Akatsuki's leader, Pain," Konan replied.