"I never thought… this would be my end—dying here, at the hands of someone as young as you."
Kakuzu spoke his final words. His chakra was completely exhausted, and he had no other tricks left to use.
Death was inevitable.
To be fair, Kakuzu wasn't weak by any means. He'd lived for decades and was undeniably of Kage-level strength. If it weren't for encountering Aoshi, who possessed the Rinnegan, he wouldn't have died so humiliatingly.
Moments later, Aoshi reached out and ripped Kakuzu's soul from his body, having already finished extracting his memories.
This was the power of the Human Path. It allowed one to read another's thoughts—and extract their soul directly.
And once the soul was taken, death followed immediately.
After killing Kakuzu, Aoshi didn't return right away. Instead, he found a nearby cave to begin the process of turning Kakuzu into one of his puppets of the Six Paths.
Though he hadn't possessed the Rinnegan for long, he was already highly familiar with its capabilities. He had mastered the basic powers of all six paths—creating a new path puppet was no challenge.
Before long, Kakuzu's corpse rose once again. When his eyes opened, the usual jade-green irises were gone, replaced by Rinnegan identical to Aoshi's own.
This was one of the unmistakable signs of a body controlled by a Rinnegan user.
However, unlike Nagato's Pain from the original story, Aoshi's Six Path bodies were more similar to Obito's Jinchūriki Paths—retaining the original person's abilities rather than merely granting them one of the Six Path powers.
After all, unlike Nagato, who was immobile due to his injuries, Aoshi had no such limitations.
"From now on, you're my First Path—Kakuzu." As he spoke, Aoshi removed his sunglasses and placed them on Kakuzu's face.
The chakra receivers were embedded inside the body, making them hard to detect. But without concealing the Rinnegan, the eyes alone were far too eye-catching.
He'd simply buy a new pair of sunglasses later.
---
Meanwhile, deep in a mountain within the Land of Rivers…
A fearsome group of mountain bandits had taken control of the region, exploiting and terrorizing the nearby villages.
The villagers had once hired shinobi to eliminate them, but they all failed and were slaughtered. Worse still, as a warning, the bandits annihilated an entire village.
The rest of the surrounding settlements, terrified into submission, began offering food regularly just to stay alive.
Thus, the mountain bandits had become tyrants over a hundred-mile radius. No one dared to challenge them.
But today, a single figure in sunglasses strolled directly into the bandits' stronghold. It was none other than Puppet-Kakuzu, now under Aoshi's control.
"Who the hell are you?! You dare trespass into Black Mountain Fortress?!" The one shouting was a burly, savage-looking bandit lieutenant.
But Puppet-Kakuzu gave him only a single glance before launching black tendrils that instantly killed him.
Watching their leader die with eyes wide open, the other bandits screamed and fled in panic. But Kakuzu wasn't about to let them go.
He entered his Earth Grudge Fear mode, unleashing a barrage of black threads and slaughtering them all on the spot.
The commotion finally drew out the true leader of the mountain bandits—
A former Mist Village jonin named Mizukawa. He had defected during the Bloody Mist era and had been in hiding ever since.
The mountain's natural defenses, combined with Mizukawa's strength, allowed the bandits to rule uncontested. The shinobi hired by the villagers had only been Chūnin—no match for a jonin like him.
"You're… Kakuzu!" As a former Mist-nin, Mizukawa wasn't as ignorant as his underlings. He recognized Kakuzu immediately.
And because he recognized him, his expression changed at once. He knew Kakuzu's strength wasn't ordinary—and in a direct confrontation, he wouldn't stand a chance.
"I don't remember ever offending you… Maybe this is all a misunderstanding?"
In truth, Mizukawa was trying to back down subtly. His meaning: You already killed my men—let's not take this any further.
But his hopes were doomed from the start. Puppet-Kakuzu had come here for him specifically.
As a former Mist-nin, Mizukawa was well-versed in Water Release—a perfect replacement for the Water Heart Aoshi had destroyed.
Without hesitation, Pain-Kakuzu launched his tendrils, aiming straight for Mizukawa's heart.
But as a jonin, Mizukawa wasn't so easy to kill.
He used the Body Flicker Technique to dodge, formed hand seals quickly, and unleashed a massive water sphere. Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!
He knew Kakuzu wasn't someone to be taken lightly, so he didn't hold back—going straight for his strongest jutsu.
"Damn you, Kakuzu—die!"
But despite his furious declaration, his actions told a different story. The moment he unleashed his jutsu, Mizukawa turned and fled—without a moment's hesitation.
He may have been a jonin, standing at the pinnacle of shinobi rank.
But because he was a jonin, he knew better than most: the difference between elite jonin could be far greater than between a jonin and a genin.
He didn't believe he could defeat Kakuzu, but thought escape was possible. Unfortunately for him, things wouldn't go as planned.
Puppet-Kakuzu summoned his Fire Masked Beast, which cast a Fire Release jutsu to counter the massive water sphere.
Then, Kakuzu launched another tendril punch toward the fleeing Mizukawa.
This time, the strike hit—piercing Mizukawa cleanly.
Bang!
But what fell to the ground… was a wooden log.
Substitution Jutsu!
Mizukawa had been ready for an attack and used a decoy.
But just as he thought he could get away, a Masked Beast suddenly appeared in front of him and unleashed a devastating wind blast.
Wind Release: Pressure Damage!
It was the Wind Masked Beast, hidden until now. Caught completely off guard, Kawaike was struck directly and severely wounded.
"Damn it… what the hell is this technique?!" He couldn't understand the Earth Grudge Fear technique—but he wasn't going to go down without a fight.
"If that's how it is… then you're coming to hell with me!"
Knowing he couldn't escape in his condition, Kawaike's expression hardened. He intended to go down fighting, even if it meant taking Kakuzu with him.
When a jonin stops trying to survive and chooses to fight recklessly, even a Puppet body has to be cautious.
After all, a genin fresh out of the academy could easily kill dozens of regular people. A jonin's destructive capability was far more terrifying.
In just a few exchanges, the entire Black Mountain Fortress was reduced to rubble—nothing but ruins.
But Mizukawa's desire to drag Kakuzu down with him was doomed to fail. Not only was Kakuzu technically already dead…
Even in terms of sheer power, Mizukawa had no way of achieving mutual destruction. In the end, the defeated and enraged Mizukawa still fell—his heart torn out by Puppet-Kakuzu.