Screech~~~
A piercing sound of friction rang out.
Qingming's long knife sliced across Kakuzu's throat, leaving a faint white mark.
Seeing this, Qingming frowned slightly and thought, "What a pity!"
He had not developed lightning-based chakra; otherwise, due to the elemental weakness of earth against lightning, it would have had a much better effect than wind chakra.
As a result, he was unable to break through Kakuzu's defenses.
Fortunately, maintaining a technique of this level consumed a significant amount of chakra, and even Kakuzu could not sustain it indefinitely.
With this in mind, Qingming began to exert himself fully, wielding his long knife with a fierce momentum as he launched a series of attacks against Kakuzu.
For a moment, Kakuzu found himself unable to retaliate, forced to defend passively.
Even so, his expression remained unchanged, his piercing green eyes fixated on Qingming.
Not one to hold back, Qingming activated the hypnotic effect of his Sharingan, momentarily clouding Kakuzu's mind.
Seizing the opportunity, Qingming lunged forward, aiming for Kakuzu's eyes with a thrust of his knife.
Though the Earth Release: Earth Spear technique could harden his body like iron, there were still vulnerable parts of the human body that were difficult to defend.
For instance, the eyes; even with the Earth Spear active, a direct stab would still inflict injury.
Sensing the impending danger, Kakuzu snapped out of his stupor just in time, and with a flash of cold light, he instinctively raised his right hand to block.
Clang~
Qingming's knife struck Kakuzu's palm, forcing him back several steps until he crashed into a large tree, causing leaves to fall, yet he remained uninjured.
At this moment, Kakuzu had a clear understanding of the situation and swiftly brought his fingers together, attempting to grab Qingming's knife.
But Qingming's reaction was lightning-fast!
Almost as soon as Kakuzu moved, Qingming withdrew his knife and executed a horizontal slash toward Kakuzu's carotid artery.
Even with the Earth Release: Earth Spear defending him, a blow of such force would still cause pain if it landed.
Moreover, defending against such an attack would expend even more chakra.
Thus, in order to conserve chakra and minimize pain, he quickly ducked to avoid Qingming's strike.
However, while he avoided the attack, the large tree behind him was not so fortunate.
Qingming's long knife, imbued with wind chakra, could easily pierce through stone, let alone a tree!
When the blade struck the trunk, it sliced through as effortlessly as a hot knife through butter, causing the tree to topple.
Crash~
As the trunk fell, Qingming hastily retreated to create distance.
In contrast, Kakuzu braved the damage, dodging only in small, localized movements without leaving the area where the tree was falling.
Though this choice led to greater chakra expenditure, it also provided him with an opportunity to counterattack.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Suddenly, a ferocious blaze erupted, instantly incinerating branches and leaves in its path as it surged toward Qingming.
Although Qingming could not initially see the hand seals Kakuzu formed due to the tree's obstruction, he reacted as soon as the flames approached.
His hands swiftly formed the seals for "Tiger—Snake—Rat—Snake—Tiger," conjuring a water wall that suddenly appeared to block the flames.
Indeed, this was the technique known as Water Release: Water Barrier!
After more than a week of practice, his Water Release: Water Barrier had improved from level 1 (119/200) to level 3 (294/1000).
Thus, he was able to execute it in time and block Kakuzu's fire attack.
As the water wall and flames collided, a sizzling sound erupted, and a thick cloud of steam rose, obscuring the surroundings in a white mist.
However, Qingming did not overly concern himself with this.
Such steam was fleeting and would not impair his Sharingan's vision.
But soon he realized something was amiss.
Despite the fire and water wall having dissipated, the surrounding fog did not lessen; visibility dropped even further.
Qingming sensed chakra from the water within the mist.
Clearly, Kakuzu had taken the opportunity to perform the technique—Water Release: Hidden Mist Technique!
Though he had no recollection of Kakuzu using this technique in his previous life.
But as an old veteran who had lived for decades, it was no surprise that he had mastered such a widely spread ninjutsu.
In fact, it was likely he had learned not only this technique but many others, unknown to Qingming.
Thus, playing mind games with him would not suffice; he needed to break the stalemate with absolute power.
With this thought, Qingming formed hand seals and gathered a vast amount of chakra to unleash the technique—Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!
In an instant, the skies darkened, and a violent tornado materialized, stirring the mist into disarray.
When the storm subsided, the area lay in ruins, now open and exposed.
Qingming scanned his surroundings but found no trace of Kakuzu.
At that moment, two hands suddenly erupted from the ground, reaching for his ankles.
Without hesitation, Qingming slashed down with his long knife, instantly severing the two arms.
However, the next moment, from the stumps of those severed arms, a multitude of black tendrils resembling veins surged forth.
These tendrils flailed in the air, seemingly searching for something.
Then, countless black tendrils shot up from the ground, intertwining with the ones in the air.
They quickly fused together, ultimately forming a single entity.
Even though he had mentally prepared himself, Qingming couldn't help but feel a shiver run down his spine at the sight.
He leaped back, intending to distance himself from the tendrils.
Yet Kakuzu was relentless; reconnecting his hands, he immediately manipulated them to reach out towards Qingming.
Without a moment's pause, Qingming formed seals and unleashed the technique—Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!
Boom~
A massive fireball appeared, hurtling straight toward the two hands.
However, those hands displayed an unexpectedly agile response, evading Qingming's attack with a swift maneuver.
Qingming retreated once more, altering his hand seals mid-motion to cast the technique—Wind Release: Wind Blade!
Whoosh~
A transparent wind blade shot out, cutting through the air at an incredible speed, grazing the two hands.
Rip~
It sounded as if fabric was being torn apart.
The hands were sliced cleanly in half by the wind blade.
Thanks to the extraordinary perceptive abilities of his Sharingan, Qingming could see that the hands had already attempted to dodge at the moment the wind blade approached.
Yet, they were ultimately a fraction too slow.
However, this was to be expected.
The Wind Release: Wind Blade was a technique known for its rapid attack speed, and coupled with Qingming's Sharingan predictions, it was hardly surprising that he struck true.
What shocked him, however, was the subsequent reaction of the severed hands.
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