Muu's chest heaved up and down as he tightened his knuckles, his breathing became shallow as two ominous masks detached from his shoulders with a slick tearing sound of his skin, as they hovered in the front of him like specters.
"Today is the day we decide this battle," Muu said, his voice with forced resolve. "At long last."
Across him, Kakuzu's dark eyes glinted as he didn't bother unveiling his masks or his black tendrils, nor did he shift his stance into a defensive guard. To an elite mercenary who had traded blows with legendary figures like Hashirama, a 10 year old standing before him was less a threat and more a curious anomaly. Kakuzu felt an unfamiliar spark of amusement... a rare warmth distinct from the cold gratification he get from bounty hunting.
"Come at me, then," Kakuzu murmured, his tone inviting almost as if Muu was his kin.
Muu didn't hesitate with a subtle flick of his wrist, he dispatched his Fire Mask, sending it hurtling through the air in a blur of motion while he simultaneously darted around to flush Kakuzu out from the opposite flank. It was a classic pincer maneuver designed to split an opponent's attention.
Kakuzu didn't even move as the masked creature closed in, he pivoted slightly and delivered a brutal kick into its midsection, sending the construct spinning backward like a discarded ragdoll. Just as Kakuzu was dealing with fire mask, Muu appeared in his blind spot, his fingers rapidly flashing through hand seals.
"Ram → Dog → Rat → Snake → Tiger."
A dense rock like structure erupted over Muu's hand, hardening into a heavy gauntlet.
"Earth Release: Fist Rock Technique."
Muu drove the weighted punch toward the side of Kakuzu's liver with everything he had. Kakuzu saw the trajectory clear as day in slow motion. He could have stepped aside, allowed the momentum to carry the boy past him, or ended the fight right there with a counter-strike. Instead, he stood his ground like a teacher he wanted to be, testing a fledgling student.
Kakuzu's bare hand shot out, wrapping around the massive stone fist. The impact kicked up a small cloud of dust, but Kakuzu didn't yield an inch. With a casual squeeze, pressure rippled through the fist rock as spider web like fractures spread across the rock's surface before it shattered into worthless pebbles.
Before Kakuzu could close his grip around Muu's exposed wrist, the boy snapped his arm back and leapt backward, putting safe distance between them.
"Pretty good strategy," Kakuzu mused, brushing dust off his palm. "Albeit a basic one. Attacking from a blind spot is a classic but if the strike lacks the swiftness to kill or deal lethal damage, all you've really done is hand your opponent an opening."
Muu landed lightly on the grass, his posture defensive. "Always be careful when jumping into the unknown," Kakuzu continued, watching the boy's footwork. "You have the instincts of a killer. Tell me... do you want to reconsider being my student?"
Kakuzu couldn't remember the last time he had felt this peculiar, uncharacteristic eagerness over anything that wasn't a dense stack of high-denomination ryo bills. He wanted to explore this feeling at any cost.
"Shut up! You talk too much!" Muu snapped, his frustration boiling over. "And why are you so damn adamant about taking me as a student anyway?"
Muu kept his voice loud to cover and distract the subtle movement of his feet. As he shouted, he routed his chakra into the earth beneath Kakuzu's boots, instantly liquefying the solid ground into a churning river of mud as the ground collapsed inward, and the sudden current swept Kakuzu off his feet, carrying him down the makeshift stream.
Kakuzu didn't resist and allowed the churn of the mud to sweep him along, curious to see how the sequence would play out.
Muu was already weaving the next set of seals, his fingers a blur of motion.
"Ram → Horse → Dragon."
The mud beneath Kakuzu coalesced, rearing up into a dragon-like maw that opened wide and unleashed a volley of hardened earth spikes. Desperate to maximize the lethality, Muu commanded his recovered Fire Mask to unleash its most potent flame technique. Streams of searing fire washed over the flying mud projectiles, baking them mid-flight into superheated, ceramic-hard lances.
Yet as the flames cleared, Muu's heart sank as the fiery combo lacked real power. The heart of that particular mask simply wasn't strong enough to produce the catastrophic heat required for a high-tier combined release.
Muu clicked his tongue in irritation, but before he could reassess, the ground behind him ruptured. Kakuzu emerged from the ground unbothered and uninjured.
"Your masks have become useless," Kakuzu offered calmly, his voice right at Muu's ear. "You keep harvesting the hearts of the weak. High-grade techniques require high-grade chakra sources."
His instincts kicked in as he flipped forward through the air, scrambling to keep the terrifying shinobi within his field of vision rather than leaving his back exposed. He hit the ground hard, his knees trembling under the weight of exhaustion and chakra depletion as he already used few B-rank jutsus.
"Just kill me and be done with it," Muu spat out.
"I fully intended to," Kakuzu replied, staring off into the distance. "When I first heard rumors that some brat was running around using my signature Earth Grudge Fear, I set out to take your head. But that friend of yours... the one with the clay bird... always managed to pull you out of the fire maybe it was your caution that saved you till now."
Kakuzu closed his eyes briefly as the silence stretched. Generations had passed since he had walked alongside giants like Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha. They had built legacies, founded hidden villages, shaped history, and ultimately rotted in the ground. He was the last man standing, the true immortal one.
He looked down at Muu. "I want to experience this weird feeling I've never had before," Kakuzu said plainly, as though discussing the weather. "So, I'm just going to kidnap you and force you to be my apprentice, if you don't oblige."
Muu collapsed onto one knee, his body spent. His mind raced back to his home, to his companions. "Fuu... I'm sorry," he thought bitterly. "Your brother was too weak."
He stared at the ground, awaiting the inevitable grab. But as his desperate mind searched for any leverage, as a improbable realization struck him.
"Kakuzu-san," Muu blurted out, raising his head as if making a proposal. "What if you could get rich... while teaching me?"
~~
A/N: Upto 20 Advance chapters available @ patreon.com/aizenDuchiha0