"Hmph, trying to run?"
Even though they hadn't yet closed in on the carriage, Kakuzu clearly heard Uchiha Kagami's order. His bloodlust flared in an instant.
All that money—just rolling away!
And then there were the two brats wearing Konoha headbands. Especially the black-haired one, with the Uchiha clan crest plain as day on his shoulder—he might fetch an even higher price!
The thought struck Kakuzu like lightning: a live Uchiha, and a little girl at that? If he could capture her alive, the bidding war from the underground would be insane. That's a mountain of ryo just waiting to be claimed.
Not to mention, with that little Uchiha's looks... if he "trained" her properly, she'd be the perfect rare commodity. A living, breathing, customizable masterpiece. No client would ever say no to something like that. If this went to auction, he'd make a fortune!
[Affection from Kakuzu +1]
Having sorted out his priorities, Kakuzu's gaze toward Uchiha Kaien softened ever so slightly—but the eerie green glow in his eyes only grew more intense, like a predator sizing up its prey.
"Fire Style!"
As Kakuzu began weaving hand signs, something under the skin on his shoulder writhed unnaturally. Then, suddenly—a jet-black masked creature burst forth, its mouth already brimming with dangerous, fire-natured chakra.
Boom!
A wave of fire surged forward like a tsunami, rushing straight toward Kagami and the others, threatening to incinerate everything in its path.
"Trouble..."
Faced with such a wide-scale jutsu, Kagami had no choice but to counter with a large-scale technique of his own—otherwise, the flames would sweep past him and endanger those behind.
"Fire Style: Majestic Flame Annihilation!"
Kagami rapidly molded a vast amount of fire chakra and unleashed it in a blazing stream.
As the flame left his lips, it expanded with terrifying speed, forming a sea of fire to meet Kakuzu's inferno head-on.
Bang!
The two massive fire-style jutsu collided mid-air, crackling and roaring as they battled for dominance. The surrounding temperature spiked several degrees in an instant.
...
Meanwhile, Uchiha Kaien and Namikaze Minato were escorting the client to safety.
Once they reached a relatively safe spot, Kaien pretended to feed a military ration pill to his phantom beast. Under his control, the creature's size rapidly increased until it stood over a meter tall—now resembling a sleek, black panther.
"Secret Technique: Beast Transformation."
"Protect the client for me."
"What the—Kaien, this is...?"
Minato stared in surprise. That ordinary-looking cat had transformed into a full-fledged ninja beast with remarkable chakra. The sudden transformation was shocking!
"Something like the Inuzuka clan's secret techniques," Kaien replied casually, covering up the fact that this was actually a power he'd created through his trait.
The newly transformed beast—its battle power unlocked—did look unexpectedly cool.
"Let's go back and help Kagami-sensei," Kaien said, but not because he intended for Minato to throw his life away.
They were both operating at jonin-level combat strength now. Their support could make a real difference.
And with his in-depth knowledge of Kakuzu, Kaien knew they had a major advantage. With the intel gap on their side, they could narrow the power disparity.
"Right, we should be able to back up Sensei," Minato agreed. Abandoning a superior officer in the middle of battle? That wasn't the kind of shinobi the Will of Fire produced.
During their mission so far, aside from basic training, he and Kaien had poured serious time into developing jutsu.
And with Kaien's help, they had finally completed their no-hand-sign jutsu.
Sure, Kaien had shortened the original name—"Blazing Spiraling Compressed Rotating Explosion Hurricane Sphere"—to something simpler: Rasengan. But even with the simplified name, it remained an incredibly powerful technique.
...
Kakuzu gritted his teeth. His fire jutsu and Kagami's were still locked in a stalemate. He released a second masked creature from his shoulder—this one wind-natured.
"Wind Style: Pressure Damage."
The wind mask worked in tandem with the fire one, and the already raging sea of flames grew even more fearsome. The combined technique was enough to scorch the heavens.
The pressure on Kagami increased dramatically. With no choice, he poured more chakra into his technique, hoping the carriage had gotten far enough away so that when he dodged, the clients wouldn't be caught in the blast.
...
"Water Style: Wild Water Wave!"
Just in time, Kaien arrived at Kagami's side, launching a water-style jutsu to intercept the oncoming inferno. The two elements collided and canceled each other out just enough to prevent total disaster.
"Kaien! Didn't I tell you to stay with Minato and protect the client?"
Kagami was visibly upset. If anything happened to this kid, he'd never be able to face their family again.
"I've got my summoning beast guarding the client," Kaien said firmly. "I've got the Sharingan too. I can help, Kagami-sensei!"
"This kind of fight... the ordinary Sharingan might not be enough," Kagami said, his expression grim.
Last time, he'd used his Mangekyō Sharingan to destroy Kakuzu's heart with genjutsu. Yet the guy was still up and kicking—meaning Kakuzu had likely improved his resistance to illusions. Catching him off-guard with genjutsu again wasn't likely to succeed.
"If it's just one more brat, the outcome won't change. Fifty million ryo. You're not escaping this time!"
Kakuzu's killing intent intensified. Last time, that bounty had slipped through his fingers. This time, he wouldn't let it happen again.
And this time, there were unexpected bonuses.
...
As Kakuzu focused, he suddenly felt a presence beside him. Namikaze Minato had silently closed the gap, lightning-style chakra coursing through his body to increase his speed to terrifying levels—so fast that even Kakuzu failed to react in time.
"Rasengan!"
The glowing sphere of chakra in Minato's palm slammed into one of Kakuzu's masked creatures. The force of the spinning sphere tore through it, reducing it to fragments with a screech.
The moment his strike landed, Minato retreated swiftly.
Hesitating against an opponent like Kakuzu was a death sentence.
Kakuzu, briefly stunned, quickly recovered and hardened both arms into black iron before swinging a punch toward Minato.
Kagami and Kaien reacted in unison.
"Genjutsu: Mangekyō Sharingan!"
"Genjutsu: Sharingan!"
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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