"Your head is mine!"
A terrifying aura surged from Kakuzu as he suddenly raised his hand like a cannon aimed straight at Fugaku Uchiha.
In the next moment, an astonishing attack unfolded.
His arm shot forward like a blazing projectile, striking toward Fugaku who was dozens of meters away.
Between Kakuzu's hand and arm, numerous black, eerie tentacles writhed and connected them.
Pffft—
The ground was violently pierced as Kakuzu's hand deeply stabbed into the spot where Fugaku had stood.
But Fugaku had already dodged before Kakuzu's hand could reach him.
"Earth Grudge Fear!" Fugaku appeared over ten meters away, eyes fixed on the tentacle-linked hand.
Earth Grudge Fear is a forbidden jutsu that causes black tentacles to emerge from the user's body, enabling many unnatural feats—like detaching a hand and connecting it solely by tendrils.
Whoosh—
Kakuzu quickly retracted his extended hand, his gaze locking onto Fugaku.
The sudden assault had caught many prey off guard, impaling them before they could react.
Yet Fugaku dodged with ease, proving he was no weak opponent.
This was unsurprising—though the Uchiha clan had declined, they were once home to warriors like Madara Uchiha, who could rival the First Hokage.
As clan leader, Fugaku's strength was naturally formidable.
Whoosh!
With a powerful push off the ground, Kakuzu's large, muscular frame surged forward at high speed.
As he ran, his hands quickly formed seals.
"Earth Release: Earth Spear!"
His hands darkened as if soaked in black ink—this jutsu strengthens the skin with hardened earth, making it steel-like.
It greatly enhances defense and grants strong offensive power—a balanced, formidable technique.
"Sharingan Genjutsu!"
Recognizing the danger, Fugaku refused to face the assault head-on.
His eyes morphed into the iconic three-tomoe Sharingan, spinning rapidly.
Without needing hand seals, he cast a Sharingan genjutsu—powerful enough to trap even an Anbu-level shinobi like Kakuzu in its illusion.
Still, Kakuzu was a veteran at the Anbu level, and if given time, his strong will might break the genjutsu's grip.
No genjutsu, not even a Sharingan one, was truly unbeatable.
But Kakuzu had no intention of giving himself that time.
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"
With swift hand seals, a massive dragon formed from blazing flames, radiating intense heat, surged toward Kakuzu.
The scorched earth beneath it was blackened and cracked.
Boom!
The roaring fire dragon swallowed Kakuzu's illusion-trapped form, engulfing him as it spread forward.
Several dozen meters away, the dragon dissipated from exhaustion, revealing Kakuzu inside.
His specially treated fire-resistant cloak was tattered, but no burns marked his skin.
The Earth Release: Earth Spear's toughened defense had shielded him from the dragon's full force.
"Impressive power."
Breaking free from the genjutsu, Kakuzu examined his singed body with interest.
So this was the famed Sharingan genjutsu of the ninja world?
Even an Anbu-level shinobi like him was caught by it.
And the follow-up fire jutsu was no less powerful.
The same technique, wielded by different users, often varied greatly in strength.
He'd seen this fire style before, but never with such ferocity as from Fugaku Uchiha.
"Still, this alone can't hurt me!"
Hardened by Earth Release, his body felt like steel armor.
Every step cracked the earth beneath him as he charged fiercely toward Fugaku.
"Such strong defense!"
Fugaku furrowed his brows at Kakuzu's relentless advance.
To withstand such an assault without injury proved Kakuzu's mastery of the Earth Spear jutsu was profound.
After all, Kakuzu had lived since the era of the First Hokage—decades of honing and understanding countless techniques had clearly brought him to an extraordinary level.
His hands quickly wove more complex seals.
In an instant, afterimages blurred as his hands moved rapidly.
"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"
Whoosh—
Gathering chakra in his throat, Fugaku expelled a colossal fireball resembling a blazing meteor.
Its searing heat could instantly vaporize any moisture in a human body.
The earth scorched black, trees caught fire, and even the air seemed ablaze.
Great Fire Annihilation was one of the Uchiha clan's most devastating fire techniques, far stronger than the Great Dragon Fire.
"Ah—!"
Kakuzu was swallowed by the enormous fireball, screaming in agony as flames exploded outward, then fell eerily silent.
Even with his reinforced defense, the devastating fire jutsu had severely injured him.
Suddenly,
From the scorched earth near Fugaku, a figure burst forth, his hand shaped like a sharp spear aimed directly at Fugaku.
It was Kakuzu.
Though confident in his Earth Spear defense, Kakuzu knew better than to take Great Fire Annihilation head-on.
Before the blazing meteor hit, he'd summoned a shadow clone in his place and burrowed underground with his real body, closing in on Fugaku from below.
Pffft—
Kakuzu's spear-like black hand pierced through Fugaku's body.
Blood poured from the wound, and a savage smile crept across Kakuzu's face.
This prey was stronger than those before—but still, he had succeeded.
Thirty million ryo in the bank!
But the triumphant smile quickly twisted into shock.
The figure he'd pierced vanished in a puff of white smoke.
He was certain the pierced target wasn't a shadow clone—the sensation had been too real.
So why had the heavily wounded Fugaku suddenly disappeared?
"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"
Before Kakuzu could question this, another massive fireball, like a burning meteor, fell upon him, engulfing his entire body.
Caught off guard, he had no chance to evade.
Not far away, on a tree branch, Fugaku's eyes glowed deep crimson with a black, complex pattern spinning within.
It wasn't the familiar three-tomoe Sharingan, but a unique design featuring three tomoe surrounded by a ring and four black dots.
In truth, Kakuzu had long been trapped within Fugaku's Eternal Mangekyo Genjutsu without realizing it.
As for why the seemingly defeated Fugaku disappeared? It was no mystery.
Within this genjutsu, Fugaku possessed infinite life and chakra able to perform countless feats beyond normal limits.