"Coming… way too fucking fast!"
These words were squeezed out from between Kakuzu's teeth.
He thought he was cautious enough, careful enough, but never expected Ryosuke to be even faster than he imagined.
Originally it was just carrying out a mission, Kakuzu had no intention of throwing his life in.
Clang!
From the samurai and ninja behind him came the sound of weapons falling to the ground.
Quite a few of them had legs trembling, let alone swinging their blades at Ryosuke, even gripping them tightly or standing firm was incomparably difficult.
On the other side, Zabuza and Terumi Mei let out a breath of relief, but their faces weren't good either.
They had that terrible feeling of being kids who had made a mess, were desperately trying to clean it up, only for their parents to suddenly push open the door and catch them red-handed.
The problem was solved, but they also didn't have to fight to the death anymore.
But that old face that had mixed in the ninja world for over twenty years was now completely disgraced before Ryosuke.
Meanwhile Oda Ieyasu was staring blankly at the straw doll in his hands. On the doll's chest, stimulated by a golden ripple, a small heart slowly thumped.
"Hold it tight. Once this is over, I'll help you switch Hideyoshi's heart back."
Hearing this, Oda Ieyasu sharply raised his head. Ryosuke gave him a smile, and gently patted his arm.
A strand of pure Ripple power was transmitted over, the blazing hot life-wave ripple repairing Oda Ieyasu's body that had been poisoned.
Oda Ieyasu looked at the son at his side, the straw doll in his arms, and again felt the Ripple flowing within his body. A daimyo who had long been accustomed to political darkness actually felt his nose turn slightly sour.
He slowly lowered his head and solemnly said, "Then I'll leave it to you, Ryosuke."
Under everyone's gaze, Ryosuke walked to the very front. After rushing with stop-time, his uneven breathing gradually calmed. He looked at the enemies before him.
Kakuzu stepped back half a pace, his gaze sweeping quickly, searching for a convenient path to retreat.
On the battlefield only Hidan still kept his optimism.
As if sensing his companion's unease, Hidan stepped forward, using his body to block Ryosuke's gaze from Kakuzu. His scythe spun in a circle, then rested on his shoulder.
On his face was a sunny youthful smile, "Kakuzu bro, don't worry, we immortal brothers are invincible! We bear the sin called life in this world, Lord Evil God will bless us!"
Kakuzu's mouth opened. Judging by the shape of it, what he said was, "Idiot."
But in this moment, having an idiot willingly rush to the very front, for Kakuzu was no different than an opportunity to escape.
Kakuzu didn't hesitate for even half a second, turned and ran.
"Run, brother, carry the sin, live on for me!"
Hidan laughed unrestrained and charged at Ryosuke.
His scythe had dulled from the continuous battles.
His body too, burned before, was now ragged and broken.
"But Ryosuke, my will is immortal! Lord Evil God..."
Ryosuke gave Hidan a single glance and activated stop-time.
He kicked aside the frozen Hidan, and moved first to kill Kakuzu.
Just earlier, Hayato Kamihara had whispered to Ryosuke Hidan's information. Ryosuke was more than familiar with dealing with Evil God cultists.
They had curse-killing ability, and could be somewhat immortal, but aside from those two abilities, Evil God cultists' overall combat power was not strong.
Ryosuke needed to take down Kakuzu first.
This nearly hundred-year-old man, whether in tactical thinking, ninjutsu ability, or escape methods, was far superior to Hidan.
Ryosuke could not allow him the chance to flee.
"Everyone here is an adult."
Ryosuke appeared behind Kakuzu, who still held a running posture. Star Platinum manifested, staring coldly at him.
"From the moment you chose to accept the commission and make a move against me, you should have been prepared, dying without regret, right?"
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Four consecutive punches.
Star Platinum shattered Kakuzu's head and three of the hearts hidden within his body, like smashing watermelons.
Three?
From Konan's memory disc the info said Kakuzu's Earth Grudge Fear technique was a bit like "Bluetooth transfer."
Through Earth Grudge Fear's modifications, all his memories and techniques were stored inside the hearts.
The rest of the organs, the brain, were filled with countless black threads. To look human, he just stretched a skin mask over it.
Kakuzu in total had five hearts. One broken, he could throw it away, then modularly install a new one.
The new heart, once "paired via Bluetooth," would have the same memories and consciousness as the others.
If the five hearts weren't all destroyed together, Kakuzu could revive any time with full HP.
Ryosuke calculated.
The dummy carrying the straw doll, one heart.
Just now smashed three hearts.
Still missing one.
'Where?'
Finding the last heart wasn't hard. Once Ryosuke released stop-time, he could summon Hermit Purple to locate it.
But it had to be fast, not giving Kakuzu the chance to dig up another heart, replenish, then escape.
Ryosuke thought for a moment, had a plan.
Time began to flow again.
Hidan was suddenly blown away, slamming into the wall, bones shattering with an awful crack.
Kakuzu's body burst apart on a massive scale, countless Earth Grudge Fear black threads, like crazed iron worms, twisted and tangled, producing a high-frequency screech nearly inaudible to human ears. Just hearing a sliver of it nearly made one retch.
Hidden among the crowd, the mask-wearing Kakuzu suddenly trembled. His last heart pounded wildly. He stared fixedly at Ryosuke, and in his mind only one thought remained...
'Ghost!'
The guy before him wasn't human at all.
As a heart-man Kakuzu could clearly sense that three hearts had been crushed with absolutely no time difference, simultaneously.
Ryosuke was like a ghost, appearing suddenly, finishing the slaughter.
Kakuzu's mind was storming, this terrifying pressure was almost comparable to Senju Hashirama back then.
Kakuzu thought, lifted his eyes, and locked gazes with Ryosuke.
The gaze lasted very short, only an instant, before Ryosuke shifted his eyes away.
For someone else, it might seem like Ryosuke's gaze had just swept casually.
But nearly hundred-year-old Kakuzu had qualities the young did not.
Caution.
'Why did he look at me?'
'Did he discover me?!'
'If Ryosuke discovered me, why didn't he strike?'
'What is he waiting for? Could it be…'
Kakuzu noticed Ryosuke's breathing was stabilizing, and suddenly realized.
Time.
'That previous ghost-like eerie strike from Ryosuke must have had massive consumption. He's waiting for himself to recover, then unleash that move again, to completely erase me!'
From the moment Ryosuke ended stop-time, to summoning Hermit Purple to lock on target, then to locking gazes with Kakuzu, and thinking all that in a flash, though complicated, in reality only a single second passed.
Kakuzu hesitated no longer, spread both arms, and shouted, "Everyone, gather around me!"
Ninjas, samurai, rushed madly over. They stripped off clothes, puffed their chests.
"Take mine! Take mine!"
Countless Earth Grudge Fear black threads swept across, Kakuzu had no luxury to choose, four hearts fell into his hands, threads piercing instantly completed pairing.
Kakuzu restored again to his peak.
He raised his hand, wind, fire, and lightning Earth Grudge Fear masks merged into one arm, three monster mouths simultaneously spewing ninjutsu.
"Composite Ninjutsu: Earth Grudge Fear, Final Shot!"
"Hu..."
Ryosuke let out an even breath, about to meet Kakuzu's attack.
Suddenly, his body froze.
On a rooftop in the distance, Yamanaka Inoichi formed a heart shape with his hands, locking Ryosuke inside.
"Mind Transfer Technique."
Hidan, who had crashed through the wall, lunged out again, leaping behind Ryosuke, scythe about to swing down and chop off Ryosuke's head.
"See it, Ryosuke!"
"This is the friendship combo technique of us three! So..."
"Go to your death in peace!"
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