"Since that's the case, then please endure it for a moment and accept this Earth Grudge Fear!"
White Zetsu said with a beaming smile.
"Damn it… so this was your real objective all along!
Steal my Earth Grudge Fear so you can challenge Iron Fist again… hahahaha! Looks like you've never truly gotten over your defeat at the hands of a hero back then!
But that's only natural.
Among the Three Legends of the Warring States… Garp was the undisputed number one, while you…. were nothing more than the dead last of the three.
Not only did you lose to Garp, in the end, you even lost to Hashirama…"
Under Black Zetsu's control, Kakuzu forced out those broken, intermittent words with extreme difficulty.
But before he could finish speaking, pitch-black rods had already torn through the air.
With a sickening puchi sound, black rods pierced through every part of his body except his head and the single remaining heart, brutally nailing him to the mountainside.
"Hey, hey, hey, Lord Madara! Be angry if you want, but don't forget I'm still inside this guy's body!
At a time like this, stabbing him with black rods is basically the same as stabbing me!
Could you at least give me a heads-up next time, so I can leave his body before you start poking holes in it?"
As Kakuzu screamed in agony, Black Zetsu's depressed, stifled, grievance-filled voice slowly echoed out as well.
"Who are you calling dead last?"
Infuriated by that single phrase, dead last, Madara looked as if he had been ignited by gunpowder, completely ignoring Black Zetsu's resentment.
"Who else but you?
At best, you can only bully small fry like me. But when you truly face someone on your own level, a real hero of the shinobi world, a God of Shinobi… you can only ever be the dead… last!"
Perhaps knowing that his death was inevitable, Kakuzu no longer felt any fear toward Madara.
"Do you want to die that bad?"
Madara's eyes turned icy, and a terrifying killing intent spilled straight out of his Rinnegan.
Given his status, composure, and life experience, it was almost impossible for him to truly lose his temper, let alone show such a lapse in control.
And yet, Kakuzu's words had struck the deepest reverse scale in his heart.
A place even Black Zetsu and White Zetsu dared not touch lightly.
The Three Legends of the Warring States, Madara ranked third.
In a certain sense, Madara really was the dead last.
That was precisely why he loathed hearing anyone mention the so-called "Three Legends of the Warring States."
Every time those words reached his ears, it was as if a voice kept whispering to him over and over again. 'Madara, you are the last of the three, the dead last among the Three Legends.'
"No matter how hard you struggle, no matter how many times you challenge Garp, even if you awaken the Rinnegan, under that man's fists, it all amounts to nothing."
Kakuzu's face twisted into a thick sneer.
"Do you know why?
Because back when I was ordered to assassinate the God of Shinobi, I accidentally overheard a conversation between him and the Second Hokage.
The strength of the hero of the shinobi world is not affected by age.
In other words, no matter how many years pass, as long as that man isn't dead of old age, you… will never have a chance to defeat him. You… will forever be the dead last."
The moment Kakuzu finished speaking, Madara personally gripped a black rod and drove it straight into his throat.
Fortunately, Kakuzu's bodily structure was different, otherwise, having his throat pierced like that would have killed him on the spot, and his last remaining heart would have shattered.
"I have to say, a trash so insignificant it's less than a grain of sand actually managed to anger me."
Madara took a deep breath.
When he raised his head again, the fury had completely vanished from his aged face, replaced instead by a smile that made Kakuzu, Black Zetsu, and White Zetsu all feel a chill down their spines.
"To earn praise like that from you, what an honor it truly is.
Though Kakuzu was terrified to the bone by Madara's current expression, the thought that he was about to die made it all meaningless anyway.
"Black Zetsu, after transferring the Earth Grudge Fear into my body, do not leave Kakuzu's body for the time being."
Madara forcibly suppressed the raging flames of anger in his heart.
"Yes!"
The moment Black Zetsu responded, Kakuzu's horrified voice rang out as well.
"What are you planning to do?"
"I want you to watch with your own eyes how I defeat Garp. Before that… I will keep you alive."
Madara stared straight into Kakuzu's eyes, his smile gradually turning feral.
"Afterward, I'll take my time and properly 'prepare' you."
With that, he closed his eyes, no longer sparing Kakuzu another glance, nor saying another word.
"You… ah!"
Just as Kakuzu tried to speak, he realized that not only had he lost control over his body, even his will had fallen into darkness.
Clearly, Black Zetsu was afraid that if Kakuzu were allowed to keep talking, he'd end up getting stabbed by black rods all over again.
Unable to move, unable to speak, his consciousness sinking away, Kakuzu felt absolutely nothing as the Earth Grudge Fear within his body, and his last remaining heart, began transferring into Madara's body.
When the final strand of Earth Grudge Fear completely left Kakuzu, along with the heart fully merging into Madara's body, the wrinkles on Madara's aged face began smoothing out one by one.
His previously hunched frame straightened once more, standing tall like an ancient pine. The decayed, withered aura clinging to him vanished at a shocking speed.
"This boiling, hot-blooded sensation… this is what a real body feels like!"
As Madara sensed his aging body rejuvenate like dead wood meeting spring once again, especially with chakra far more abundant than before surging endlessly within him.
He could no longer suppress the excitement in his heart and threw his head back, laughing wildly toward the sky.
...
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