Chapter 198: Exchanged Opponents
The speed at which Kakuzu cast his ninjutsu was already extremely fast.
However, the girl, in her Sakura Rush state, was even faster!
The mere fraction of a second, less than a second, that it took to form the hand seals was already enough for her to react.
An Earth Style ninjutsu? Through her chakra perception, Haruno Sakura instantly realized Kakuzu's intention, and the image of his astonishingly defensive Mud Wall flashed through her mind.
"He's an expert in Earth Style... I can't let him cast his jutsu!" This thought had just subconsciously flashed through Sakura's mind, and her body had already reacted!
Her figure instantly disappeared from the spot.
Using the Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals to move in front of Kakuzu, the Monstrous Strength Technique was immediately activated!
"Nin-taijutsu: Wing Chun Hidden Leg!"
The girl's figure suddenly appeared above an ice shuriken, her straight little leg sweeping towards Kakuzu's chest!
However, Kakuzu's reaction was not slow either.
No, it should be said, he seemed to have expected it!
"So it really is the ice blocks..." His peripheral vision had been on the ice shuriken the whole time. Noticing a slender figure suddenly flash to his side, the mentally prepared Kakuzu was not surprised.
He unhesitatingly stopped the ninjutsu in his hands and turned to meet Haruno Sakura's sweeping heavy kick with his hand!
—Did he not learn the lesson of Hidan being smashed to pieces with a single punch?
With a hint of doubt, Sakura's foot collided with Kakuzu's palm.
Smack! The strange sensation made Sakura's brow furrow deeply. In the instant of the head-on collision, Kakuzu's palm and arm were kicked into pieces, revealing countless fine, dark threads surging under his skin!
Haruno Sakura was horrified to discover that the other party was just a monster wearing human skin.
The thick power of the Monstrous Strength Technique had not landed on a solid target at all. Those black, thin threads were merely kicked and scattered by her, not taking any force at all. The elusive sensation immediately made her feel extremely uncomfortable!
These soft and resilient, black, thread-like tentacles—even the taijutsu attacks of the Monstrous Strength Technique were helpless against them.
Could it be that Kakuzu was truly immune to taijutsu?
No, he should only be immune to blunt strikes... Yūgao, who was observing the battle from behind, immediately realized that a bladed weapon was the way to deal with him!
In the instant Haruno Sakura's attack missed, the second wave of attacks from Yūgao and Shino was launched at the same time as Kakuzu's counterattack—
"Earth Style - Earth Flow Spears!"
"Genjutsu - Paralysis Jutsu!"
"Kenjutsu - Iaijutsu!"
The paralysis genjutsu, coupled with Yūgao's sharp sword assault, was a specialty of Squad 14. Even against a Jonin-level opponent, this move could often achieve success.
As expected of the elite of the Anbu. The timing of Yūgao and Shino's attack was chosen very well, right at the moment when Kakuzu had just withstood Sakura's Monstrous Strength and was about to launch a ninjutsu counterattack—a moment that would be extremely uncomfortable for the opponent.
However, this time, their perfectly timed coordination did not work.
Shino's genjutsu attack had no effect on Kakuzu at all. The latter just shook his head and endured the genjutsu, not even interrupting the Earth Flow Spears in his hands.
And the iaijutsu that Yūgao had been brewing in her hand, powerful enough to cut through iron and sever steel, was not unleashed on Kakuzu—
Just as Yūgao was charging at full speed, a sudden change occurred!
A figure charged over from the side of the battlefield, brandishing a scythe to intercept Yūgao. It was Hidan, who had been smashed into a pulp by Haruno Sakura's punch!
Yes, Hidan's special ability was immortality... He would not die no matter what injuries he sustained, and on the contrary, he would heal quickly!
So, after taking a full-powered punch from the girl, not only had he not died, but he had recovered from his injuries in an extremely short period of time.
Haruno Sakura, who had not seen Naruto Shippuden, did not know that Hidan possessed such an ability. And Yūgao and Shino, who lacked intelligence on the Akatsuki, were even more surprised that Hidan, who had clearly been killed, could still rush at Yūgao so full of life!
Looking at the suddenly appearing figure.
Yūgao was stunned.
Her charging steps came to a hard stop. While her heart was filled with horror, the movements of the鬼-masked female Anbu's hands did not show the slightest hesitation. Her right hand gripped the hilt of her sword tightly, and the light of her iaijutsu sword erupted, meeting Hidan's attack!
"Hah!" The female ninja let out a high-pitched shout, her voice carrying a trace of hoarse sexiness, and her sharp sword slashed out!
A blow that condensed speed, power, and the will and determination to cut through everything. This was Yūgao's true ultimate technique.
In the ninja world, there was a type of person who specialized in swordsmanship. They might not be proficient in ninjutsu, or even know how to form hand seals, but this group of people had unparalleled sword skills. Their drawing speed was even faster than the speed of forming hand seals. Even the legendary "demigod," Hanzō, had been defeated by such a person!
And Yūgao was one of these warriors, a standout among swordsmen.
SWISH—!
The sword light traced a perfect arc in the air, like a silver-white crescent moon.
Yūgao swept across the sky, her figure like a clear breeze and flowing clouds, graceful and elegant.
The female ninja's fluttering long black hair, her beautifully slender figure, the mournful silver light of her iaijutsu, and the flower of blood that gushed from the enemy's body, the black silhouette left on the ground—this instant was frozen into the most beautiful scroll painting.
The sword light cut through the wind and broke through the air. The figures crossed paths.
Yūgao landed behind Hidan, completely unharmed.
The latter stood with difficulty, his neck already a river of blood.
An incomparably sharp blow had passed by Hidan and had directly cut off half of his neck!
Against an ordinary Jonin or elite Jonin, this incomparably powerful slash would have been enough to take their lives.
But Yūgao did not have the relaxed feeling of having successfully struck and instantly killed her enemy.
She turned her head and looked at Hidan, who was standing on the ground and clutching his neck, her expression as cold as ice.
—Having suffered such a fatal blow, Hidan was actually still standing as if nothing had happened. The wound on his neck was healing at a speed visible to the naked eye!
The bizarre scene left even Yūgao shocked.
Her full-powered blow had actually had no effect at all!
"Damn it, this person... is he a monster!" Yūgao grit her silver teeth and said hatefully.
She gripped the long sword in her hand tightly and, with a sudden exertion of force, wanted to charge up and give him another blow while the enemy was still recovering. But her steps were unsteady, and she couldn't exert any force. Her weakened body stopped her pursuit.
Even for Yūgao, who specialized in swordsmanship, after using such a peerlessly powerful blow, she would also fall into a short period of exhaustion!
In this state, let alone attacking on her own, even defending herself was very difficult.
At the same time, Shino, who was a bit flustered by the Earth Flow Spears, also realized that it was not wise to get involved in the battle between Sakura and Kakuzu. He couldn't keep up with the rhythm of those two. On the contrary, it was Yūgao's side that needed his help.
With a few quick leaps, the experienced Shino made a decision, disengaged from the battlefield of Sakura and Kakuzu, and rushed to the side of the briefly weakened Yūgao.
A kunai and a scythe collided, making a sharp sound. Shino's timely arrival had blocked Hidan's powerful blow for Yūgao.
Kicking Hidan back, Shino stood protectively in front of Yūgao, looking coldly at the composed Hidan who had landed not far away.
The three of them fell into a brief standoff.
"What's going on!" Shino's gloomy voice suddenly sounded. "Wasn't he killed by Tobi?"
"This guy is an immortal monster. I just cut off half his neck, and he could still recover in a few seconds!" Yūgao said, her voice suppressed and weak.
Her heavy breathing indicated to her captain that, at least for a short period of time, Shino should not expect much combat power from her.
"An immortal monster?" Shino frowned and let out a muffled grunt. "Hmph... now this is troublesome!"
The fact that he was nearly instantly killed by Yūgao's iaijutsu didn't mean much. Yūgao's swordsmanship was absurdly strong in a head-on duel to begin with. One couldn't misunderstand Hidan's taijutsu as being weak just because he was nearly instantly killed by the two girls of Squad 14 one after another.
In fact, Shino had just exchanged a blow with Hidan head-on, and he could feel that the other party's taijutsu was actually quite formidable, even a cut above his own!
An immortal body paired with formidable taijutsu—this was an extremely troublesome enemy.
And that wasn't even counting the secret techniques the other party might have mastered! A special person with an immortal body couldn't possibly not have one or two bizarre secret techniques...
Just now it had been three against one, a favorable situation where they were about to instantly kill Kakuzu. In an instant, the battle situation had taken a sharp turn for the worse!
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