So that's what he calls "having crossed blades"…Ruri looked at Kakuzu with clear disdain. This guy really knew how to decorate his own résumé.
Kakuzu had his past exposed, but he didn't feel even a hint of shame. Being captured alive depended entirely on who captured you — and when it's someone like the First Hokage, losing was the most natural thing in the world.
Mitsuki's gaze turned cold as he looked at Kakuzu.
"The number of Konoha shinobi who died at your hands should be quite high. Looking at you now, it's clear the First Hokage made a mistake by letting you go."
Kakuzu snorted.
"Speaking ill of former Hokage — aren't you a Konoha shinobi? Should you really be saying that?"
"The First Hokage saw your skills and didn't want a small village to lose its fighting strength. But when you returned, you killed the village's upper management, stole its Forbidden Jutsu, and fled."
Kakuzu's expression froze. This guy knew way too much. Still, after living so many years, those ancient, dusty memories no longer influenced him.
"Hmph. They betrayed me first. Them dying to my hands was just natural consequence."
In this false, deceitful world, the only thing that never betrayed him was money.
"Well, you're not wrong," Mitsuki said lightly.
"?"
Kakuzu thought this kid would start lecturing him with righteous indignation, but he hadn't expected the boy to agree.
But it wasn't strange.
To be fair, if Konoha sent Mitsuki on a mission impossible to complete, and after barely surviving he returned only to be blamed and punished — he wouldn't surrender quietly either.
Mitsuki began to walk toward Kakuzu, speaking calmly.
"I sympathize with what happened to you. But since you've already attacked me, I assume you're prepared to be killed."
Seeing Mitsuki approach, Kakuzu rechecked the locations of every Flying Thunder God kunai, and countless Earth Grudge Fear tendrils surged out from all over his body.
Facing this monster-like opponent, Mitsuki didn't change his pace.He slowly drew Kirigiri.
"Ruri."
"Eh?"
Ruri straightened up at the sudden call.
"It's getting late. If we want to return to the village early, I'll need to finish this. Is that alright?"
"Do as you like."
Ruri was still embarrassed from earlier when Mitsuki had saved her. Even though she could rewind time and revive if killed, pain was still pain…Thinking of Mitsuki blocking the attack in front of her, her cheeks grew a little red.
"You arrogant brat—die!"
Kakuzu roared as several massive Earth Grudge Fear tendrils shot forward, thick like giant pythons, crashing toward Mitsuki.
BOOM—!
The ground Mitsuki had been standing on shattered, collapsing into rubble—but Mitsuki himself was nowhere to be seen.
Kakuzu scanned every kunai location he had memorized.
Suddenly, the sharp cry of a thousand birds rang out behind him.
"Aa—"
Mitsuki erupted with full power Chidori, slicing apart one of Kakuzu's hearts in a single stroke.
Kakuzu trembled, immediately leaping back while forming hand seals at high speed and slamming his hands to the ground.
"Earth Release: Ant-Lion Technique!"
The ground beneath Mitsuki softened like a swamp and began spiraling inward, trying to suck him in.
Seeing Mitsuki held by his Earth Release, Kakuzu didn't hesitate and continued forming seals.
"Rock Pillar Spears!"
Earth-nature chakra flooded the terrain, spawning huge stone spikes that shot toward Mitsuki.
Just as Mitsuki was about to be skewered, he vanished without a trace.
Kakuzu had anticipated this.The spears continued erupting, spreading outward in every direction.
He assumed that Mitsuki had somehow marked him with a space–time coordinate.
And indeed — Mitsuki had used the Shadow Manipulation to place a Flying Thunder God marker under Kakuzu's foot.
Someone once said that being marked by Flying Thunder God was like having the word "death" written on you.
It described Kakuzu's situation perfectly.
Mitsuki appeared beside a kunai Kakuzu had knocked aside earlier.
He formed a single-handed Rasenshuriken, then used Flying Thunder God to teleport it directly in front of Kakuzu's face.
Raising two fingers, Mitsuki detonated it instantly.
The massive blue storm expanded in an instant, violent winds forming countless microscopic blades that shredded Kakuzu's body.
Even with his spear hardening, Kakuzu couldn't withstand the nature transformation pushed to its extreme. Blood poured from him as his body was torn apart.
When the storm dissipated, Kakuzu's corpse fell from the air to the ground.
Ruri thought, This time he's definitely dead.
But she still didn't move closer until Mitsuki gestured her over.
"How is his body still holding together? He took a direct Rasenshuriken and the corpse didn't disintegrate?"
Using Six Eyes to observe the Earth Grudge Fear running through Kakuzu's body, Mitsuki explained:
"This is Takigakure's Forbidden Jutsu: Earth Grudge Fear. It's similar to the 'Samehada' from the Seven Ninja Swords—another form of living weapon. But Earth Grudge Fear is far more intimately fused with the user's body. It's almost like a Parasyte."
The explanation was simple enough that even Obito would understand.
Ruri asked, "What do we do with it? Bring it to the Third Hokage?"
But giving it to Hiruzen meant explaining how they encountered Kakuzu, which would mean admitting the two of them left the village in secret.
Hearing her question, Mitsuki shook his head lightly.
"No need. Creatures like this used to exist everywhere in the ancient shinobi world. Most were sealed away by the legendary Sage of Six Paths and various monks."
As he spoke, Mitsuki took out a scroll covered in black sealing script and began writing within the blank sections.
Ruri glanced over — Yes. Completely incomprehensible.
Without someone to teach it directly, sealing jutsu was indecipherable.
In a short while, Mitsuki filled the remaining space with complex formulas.
It was one of his prepared multipurpose sealing scrolls — he simply had to fill in the blank parts based on the type of entity being sealed.
He laid the scroll flat in front of Kakuzu's corpse and formed rapid hand seals.
Black sealing formulae spread outward, wrapping around the corpse instantly.
The Earth Grudge Fear tendrils hiding inside sensed danger and crawled out, writhing and attempting to escape.
"Such an ugly creature," Ruri said coldly.