Naruto slowly unwrapped the bandages covering his wrists, revealing tattooed seals on his wrists and part of his forearms. With a dry, hard look, he stared at his two opponents, who were waiting patiently, or at least one of them was.
"Ohhhhh? That look," Hidan said with an amused smile, tearing off his Akatsuki cloak to reveal his lacerated body, which, like Kakuzu's, had several stitches and wires holding it together, especially on the right side of his head. "Bad memories from years ago? Did the images of the old man and those two brats come to mind?" he asked provocatively, making the teenager freeze.
"..." Without saying anything, Naruto kept his gaze obscured by his bangs. "Ever since I saw you in Akatsuki... I had the desire, no... the goal to finish what you started so many years ago, Hidan." The blond's left eye remained blue, but its pupil became slitted under the influence of his host's dark chakra, which flowed through him in response to her jinchūriki's negative emotions. "You have no idea how much I hated seeing you in Akatsuki."
"Ha! Well, the hatred is mutual, you bastard. You left me in pieces... but I left you with something worse..." Smiling cruelly, Hidan knew how to strike at the Uzumaki's weak spot. "I remember their looks, their fear. I remember how that little blue-haired whore cried over the death of the dark-haired brat! It was a pleasure to cut her throat and watch her bleed out. Good memories, don't you think?"
"..." Kakuzu watched intently as his former partner tried to influence the tailed beast inside Naruto. If he lost control over the beast, it would be much easier to capture him. It was a good plan for the Akatsuki treasurer, who took an attacking stance alongside his partner to face the Uzumaki.
"..." With a long sigh, Naruto kept a cool head. He couldn't succumb to fury. Letting go of the pretense of being corrupted by the Bijū's corrosive chakra, he summoned a kunai from the seal on his wrist and held it firmly. "I can keep the first gate open, gain enough speed and strength to put up a good fight, but I shouldn't get too carried away with using the gates. If I attack directly with my bare fists, I not only risk Hidan getting my blood, but I'd also be vulnerable to Kakuzu's long-range techniques... I need to think things through." Tightening his grip on his weapon, the teenager took a deep breath and assumed an attacking stance.
Tightening his grip on the kunai, Naruto spun around and sent it flying toward the duo. The two were unfazed until the kunai suddenly multiplied into thousands in an instant. "Predictable," Kakuzu said boredly as he slammed his hands against the ground, raising a large wall of rock that protected them from the rain of weapons. But he stumbled when the ground shook, and looking behind him, he saw the Konoha shinobi emerge from beneath the earth with his right hand covered in electricity.
Only centimeters away from reaching the masked man from Taki, Naruto had to retreat when his arm was almost cut off by Hidan's scythe. With a dangerous smile, the silver-haired man launched himself into the attack. "From behind, Uzumaki! That's low!" With a speed that matched the teenager's, Hidan unleashed a barrage of cuts and blows that forced his opponent onto the defensive.
Skidding across the ground, Naruto moved away from Hidan, only to receive a hard blow to the face from one of Kakuzu's fists as his extended arm shot toward him. Stunned, the teenager blocked the masked man's blows, which, with his immense strength, made him stumble. "Damn it!" Naruto had to duck to avoid having his head cut off by Hidan's scythe as he joined the attack.
With the Akatsuki members attacking him with punches, swipes, and cuts, the blond shinobi worked at his maximum capacity, his Sharingan following every movement, especially Hidan's, prioritizing keeping his blood out of the man's hands. "You can't always defend yourself, brat." Kakuzu's words were accompanied by the sound of crackling electricity, making Naruto look up.
One of the Akatsuki treasurer's masks was flying in the sky above them, and from its mouth, it fired hundreds of electrical flashes that rained down on the shinobi below. Two of them didn't care in the slightest about being hit. "Ahg!" Naruto had to move from side to side to avoid the projectiles, but since there were too many, one struck him in the center of his back.
"I've got you, bitch!" Hidan didn't think twice. Using his scythe, he launched a cut that split the brat's body into two parts, which turned out to be nothing more than a piece of wood. "That old trick is garbage!" shouted the Jashin cultist mockingly. Then he heard the sound of something burning. Looking at the logs he had cut, he saw that they were covered in explosive tags. "Oh, son of a b—!" Without being able to finish the sentence, he was enveloped by the fireball of the explosion.
At a distance, among the trees, Naruto stood on a branch, watching as one of his opponents was caught in the explosion. With beads of sweat running down his forehead, he thought of ways and strategies to emerge victorious. "..." Unfortunately, a mask appeared behind him and shot out a large burst of flame. Barely escaping the attack, the shinobi was suspended in the air when a hand caught his ankle.
"You've gotten slow, brat," mocked Kakuzu, who was standing in the middle of the meadow with his arm extended several dozen meters, firmly gripping the teenager's ankle. He twisted his arm and brought it down, abruptly slamming the brat's body against the ground and leaving a crater.
"..." Growling, Naruto tried to stand up, but he only managed to roll away as Hidan's scythe blades nearly pierced him. Forming hand seals, the blond blew thousands of air bullets that hit the silver-haired man directly, sending him flying backward. As Naruto stood up, he saw a wall of fire coming toward him. With another hand seal, he inflated his chest and spat out a large stream of water, countering the fire technique and canceling it out. A large cloud of steam was left behind, with Naruto standing alone and motionless in the middle of it.
"It's pathetic... don't you think so, Kakuzu?"
However, on his right side stood an amused Hidan, who had several holes from the last attack he had received. But they were already closing as the silver-haired man's skin began to darken and the bone pattern became more prominent across his body. With a dark smile, the rogue shinobi let his scythe brush against the teenager's neck.
"He's much weaker than I remember; it seems his time in this world has softened him." On the left side stood Kakuzu, unharmed, with three of his masks orbiting very close to him, all aimed at the Uzumaki. The moment he made the slightest movement, they would all unleash their elemental attacks. "You've grown weak, Uzumaki," he growled gravely as the threads from his arms emerged and slowly approached his target, who remained motionless the entire time.
"..." Clenching his fists in fury, the blond lowered his head. Had he changed that much? A drop of sweat trickled down Naruto's forehead as he felt Hidan's scythe blade graze his neck and the metallic threads emerging from Kakuzu's body, which were only millimeters away from piercing him. "I guess this is the end of the road..." he growled with a forced smile, looking into the cold eyes of the Akatsuki treasurer, who simply shook his head.
"The Moon Eye Plan is underway... the hunt has begun," said the masked man calmly as he discreetly pulled something from one of his pockets.
"So you've already captured the other eight jinchūriki?" Naruto questioned, causing Hidan to smile mockingly.
[ If you want to read advance Chapters then go to Pat reon and support me there as I have already uploaded advance Chapters there.
PAT REON I'D:- Skythe ]