Suddenly, more slender black tentacles emerged from the four severed hands, intertwining with each other and reuniting to form two complete hands once again.
Qingming had initially thought that those black tentacles could only reattach limbs.
However, it seemed they could do far more than that; they could even stitch back together severed hands.
By this logic, even if Kakuzu were to be dismembered, he would likely be able to recover.
What can one say?
He truly lived up to the reputation of being one of the infamous "immortal duo" from later generations. Such regenerative abilities rendered him practically unkillable.
At this moment, Qingming surmised that Kakuzu had likely fused with the strange artifact known as "Earth Grudge Fear." Although he still appeared human, the essence of his being had surely transformed.
"No wonder I felt something was off about his aura earlier; it turns out it was this!" Qingming thought to himself.
Just then, those two hands lunged toward him once more.
Seeing this, Qingming decided against retreating. He swiftly drew his long knife and unleashed his perfected Swordsmanship at Level 7 (0/0).
In an instant, he sliced the two hands into several pieces.
During this time, the black tentacles attempted to pierce into his body but were skillfully repelled by his masterful swordplay.
Realizing that his current tactics weren't effective against Qingming, Kakuzu stopped hiding. He suddenly emerged from the ground and tore off his black cloak.
His body was riddled with the scars of black stitching, making him look as if he had been cut into numerous pieces and then stitched back together.
The sight was truly horrifying.
Not only that, but there were also four bizarre masks fused to his back.
Qingming recognized that these were the attribute masks formed by Kakuzu's "Secret Technique: Heart Extraction," which drew on the hearts and chakra of others.
Each mask represented one of Kakuzu's lives. Unless all four masks and his own heart were destroyed, it would be impossible to kill him.
As Qingming pondered how to achieve that, Kakuzu turned to him, his emerald eyes fixated on Qingming, and asked, "You don't seem surprised by my transformation at all. Why is that?"
In response, Qingming merely smiled and said nothing.
"Not going to say anything?"
Kakuzu contemplated for a moment before muttering to himself, "Fine. Once I kill you, I'll have plenty of time to investigate."
"Yah!"
He suddenly let out a low shout, and the points where the masks fused with his body erupted, releasing a multitude of black tentacles.
These tentacles twisted and coiled, ultimately forming four towering black humanoid monsters around him.
Atop each of these creatures' heads was one of the attribute masks.
Qingming could distinctly feel the intense chakra emanating from these masks.
"Wind, Fire, Lightning, Water... So his base element is Earth?" Qingming mused internally.
At that moment, Kakuzu shook his body, severing the connection between the masked monsters and himself, allowing them to move with greater agility.
In this way, Qingming found himself facing what amounted to five attackers, all coordinating perfectly with complementary elemental powers.
"I can't let them take the initiative!"
In an instant, this thought crossed Qingming's mind.
He quickly raised his hand to form a seal and unleashed the ninjutsu—Wind Release: Wind Blade!
Whoosh~
A transparent wind blade shot out at incredible speed, targeting the lightning attribute monster.
Though it may seem lengthy in explanation, all of this transpired in the blink of an eye.
He aimed to take advantage of the fact that the enemy was not yet fully prepared, exploiting the elemental weaknesses to destroy one of the hearts.
Unfortunately, Kakuzu's extensive combat experience had him prepared. Having witnessed Qingming's Wind Blade before, he anticipated this move.
Thus, at the moment Qingming launched his attack, Kakuzu maneuvered the lightning attribute monster to dodge.
Qingming's wind blade missed its mark, and his expression darkened slightly.
However, Kakuzu's expression also soured.
"You clearly know quite a bit about me!" he exclaimed.
It was evident that Kakuzu had inferred some information from Qingming's direct attack on the masked monster rather than him.
Under normal circumstances, those who lacked understanding of Kakuzu's abilities would likely treat the masked monsters as mere summons.
They would have aimed their attacks at Kakuzu himself in an attempt to land a killing blow.
But Qingming?
He specifically targeted the masked monsters, even choosing the lightning attribute creature that was most vulnerable to wind release.
Thus, coupled with his reaction upon seeing the monsters appear, Kakuzu could deduce that Qingming's understanding of his abilities exceeded his expectations.
This realization sparked a flicker of unease in Kakuzu's heart.
However, he quickly suppressed that thought.
As a ninja with immense combat experience, he knew that in such situations, overthinking could easily lead to falling into an opponent's trap.
With this in mind, Kakuzu immediately commanded the four masked monsters to attack Qingming in unison.
Since these creatures could fly, they quickly surrounded Qingming.
Crackle~
The sound of electricity crackled in the air.
In the next moment, a bolt of lightning flashed as the lightning attribute monster opened its mouth and unleashed a sharp lightning spear.
Crackling~
The sound of thunder resonated as the bolt of lightning raced toward Qingming.
However, Qingming was well-prepared. He activated Body Flicker Technique and evaded the lightning release attack.
Just as his feet touched the ground, a series of water balls erupted from the mouth of the water attribute monster, launching at him like cannonballs.
With no choice but to evade, Qingming relied on the powerful insight of his Sharingan to narrowly escape the incoming projectiles.
Seeing this, Kakuzu immediately commanded the wind attribute monster to fly to Qingming's side, opening its mouth wide to unleash the B-rank ninjutsu—Wind Release: Pressure Damage!
In the next moment, a fierce gust of wind surged forth!
Qingming's Sharingan spun rapidly, allowing him to discern the wind pressure distribution in the air. He twisted his body, hiding in the area with the lowest wind release chakra density.
Ultimately, he used that momentum to land safely on the ground.
But that was not the end.
Although he had successfully avoided the first wave of attacks by using the lower density of wind release chakra, the power of "Wind Release: Pressure Damage" extended far beyond that.
As the raging winds slammed into the ground, they caused massive destruction, making it nearly impossible for him to stand firm. The subsequent damage quickly followed.
Numerous clumps of dirt and rock were hurled into the air and rained down upon Qingming. He dodged repeatedly until, after a few breaths, he finally escaped the attack radius of the jutsu.
At this moment, the forest, which he had previously cleared with "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough," was once again ravaged.
"Well done! You're the first ninja to escape my joint assault," Kakuzu's low voice suddenly echoed from afar.
Upon hearing this, Qingming felt a mix of exasperation and humor, thinking, "Isn't that a compliment you usually reserve for Kakashi? Why are you using it on me?"
That said, it was true that Kakuzu's combination attack was formidable.
Though he had evaded with relative ease, that was primarily due to his Sharingan, which allowed him to observe every movement around him, coupled with his own impressive abilities.
If it had been anyone else, they likely wouldn't have lasted long enough to withstand the onslaught of the wind attribute monster.
One should remember that the ninjutsu Kakuzu employed in that previous assault was not simple; the lowest learning difficulty among them was at least B-rank.
While the power of ninjutsu isn't directly tied to its difficulty, it is undeniable that higher difficulty ninjutsu generally packs greater power.
Combined with Kakuzu's massive chakra reserves, one can only imagine the potency of those attacks.
Yet, despite all that, Qingming had still managed to evade, earning a legitimate praise!
However, Qingming paid no heed to Kakuzu's compliment.
At this point, he just wanted to resolve this conflict and return to the battlefield as quickly as possible.
plz support me if you can.
patreon.com/Mano99
all the fanfic is 30 chapter a had and you will get 1 chapter everyday.