The blazing desert sun warped the air. Kakuzu's signature stitches writhed like poisonous snakes in the heat haze as he fixated on the man dozens of paces away.
Setsuna stood quietly, making no unnecessary movements. Even his breathing was so light it seemed to blend into the wind and sand.
"Since you destroyed one of my hearts, I'll take yours to replace it." Kakuzu's eyes were cold. His Fire Mask and Water Mask glowed simultaneously: "Fire Release: Searing Migraine (Katon: Zukokku)! Water Release: Water Formation Wall (Suiton: Suimaku Jō)!"
The high-temperature sea of fire collided with the high-pressure water cannon in mid-air, instantly generating a steam explosion that covered a hundred meters.
Through the cloud of mist, which was hot enough to melt steel, Kakuzu saw Setsuna's figure pierce straight through. A reddish halo enveloped his body due to the violently evaporating water.
"Lightning Release: False Darkness (Raiton: Gian)!" The Lightning Mask jutted out from Kakuzu's back, and ten million lightning spears wove into a net.
Setsuna suddenly changed direction. The shockwave generated by pushing off the air tore an opening in the lightning net.
He spun in mid-air, and his left leg chopped down like a battle-axe. Kakuzu's hastily erected Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall (Doton: Doryūheki) was cleaved in two, the aftershock creating a kilometer-long gash in the desert.
The threads of Earth Grudge Fear (Jiongu) seized the opportunity to wrap around Setsuna's ankle. A ruthless glint flashed in Kakuzu's single eye: "Compound Ninjutsu: Heaven's Punishment Blazing Explosion (Fukugō Ninpō: Tenbatsu Baku-en)!"
In an instant, the sky was torn open. Countless lightning spears rained down, and each flash of lightning exploded into a white-hot fireball the moment it hit the ground.
The desert melted into glass-like craters under the high temperatures. Waves of fire swept across hundreds of meters; even the air seemed to burn.
A group of Genin frantically fled, dodging the combat's aftershocks. Only after escaping several kilometers away did they dare to admire the battle.
"Too incredible! Is this the true power of Lord Setsuna?" An Iwa Genin stared blankly. If he had previously only abandoned his unrealistic thoughts because Setsuna's summoning was too strong, he was now in awe of Setsuna's own power.
"So strong!" Hoshigakure's Natsu was shaken. It wasn't just Setsuna; the assassin was terrifyingly strong, too—launching large-scale Ninjutsu with ease and even combining them. Compared to him, the Jōnin of the Hidden Star Village were practically indistinguishable from Genin.
Setsuna's figure darted through the thunder and fire. His speed surpassed what the eye could track. With every step he took, the sand beneath him erupted into a massive depression.
The instant the lightning struck, his fist was already slamming towards Kakuzu's face.
Kakuzu's pupils contracted. Earth Release: Hardening (Doton: Kōka) instantly covered his entire body, and the Water Mask lit up simultaneously: "Water Release: Water Encampment Wall (Suiton: Suijinheki)!"
A high-pressure water wall shot up, but Setsuna's punch didn't slow down in the slightest. It directly pierced the water curtain and slammed heavily into Kakuzu's chest.
The Earth Release armor cracked under the impact. Kakuzu's body was sent flying backward like a cannonball.
"What a monster. While he doesn't possess the despair-inducing strength of the First Hokage's Wood Release, this level of monstrous physical power might even surpass the First Hokage," Kakuzu coughed up dark blood while frantically repairing his damaged body with the Earth Grudge Fear threads.
"From the way you're talking, it sounds like I'm still quite a bit weaker than the First Hokage?" Setsuna asked.
"Haha, humans cannot imagine a power they haven't witnessed. You are certainly strong, but you are still far from Hashirama Senju," Kakuzu immediately turned into a "Hashirama fanboy."
Setsuna had no doubt about this. He was overwhelmingly powerful at the Kage-level, but Hashirama Senju had long surpassed that tier.
At the very least, he wouldn't be fully confident in subduing the Nine-Tails without fighting seriously, yet Hashirama subdued the Nine-Tails as if it were child's play.
"Even so, that still annoys me a bit," Setsuna kneaded his fist.
Watching Setsuna stride towards him, his speed constantly accelerating, Kakuzu clapped his hands on the ground: "Earth Release: Great Moving Core (Doton: Daichidōkaku)!"
The entire desert began to tremble. The ground swelled into rock mountains a hundred meters high, and countless sharp stone pillars erupted from underground, like the fangs of a giant beast.
Setsuna's figure weaved through the stone pillars, each dodge accompanied by an explosion of air.
Kakuzu didn't dare to pause for a moment, activating both Lightning and Water Release simultaneously: "Lightning Water Compound: Raging Thunder Prison (Raisui Fukugō: Bōryū Raigoku)!"
High-pressure water jets burst from underground, with high-voltage lightning coiling around every stream, forming a deadly electrical net that covered the battlefield.
"To use Water Release of this magnitude in a desert is truly impressive," Setsuna sincerely sighed. Kakuzu might not have been particularly flashy in the future Akatsuki organization, but his fundamentals were undoubtedly terrifyingly solid.
"But, it's no use." Setsuna's body spun, and a swift, agile divine dragon shot into the sky: "Konoha Divine Dragon."
This time, he didn't stand outside the "Dragon" but concealed himself within its eye, driving the fierce winds directly toward the lethal electrical net.
Under the sweep of the strong winds, the thunder and water jets were sucked into the Divine Dragon, transforming it into a towering lightning water-spout that connected heaven and earth.
Sand Scorpions and giant ants hiding beneath the sand were swept high into the sky, where they dissipated under the heavy impact of the lightning storm before they could even scream.
Witnessing this terrifying sight, the crowd of candidates was too terrified to speak. They could only flee for their lives once again, not daring to stop for a second.
"Don't think I'm afraid of you!" Kakuzu's stitches writhed wildly. His three masked hearts and his original heart simultaneously pumped out Chakra: "Fire Earth Compound: Magma Hell (Kado Fukugō: Yōgan Jigoku)!"
The ground instantly melted. Sizzling magma erupted from the cracks. Fire waves mixed with rock, forming a destructive domain of molten lava.
Kakuzu stood in the center of the magma, with his Water Mask illuminated, creating a high-pressure water membrane around himself to resist the high temperature.
The Thunder Giant Dragon slammed down with a roar, violently colliding with the magma domain Kakuzu had created.
Boom!
Like a meteorite crashing down, the terrifying blast wave blew away sand and gravel for a thousand meters, as if triggering a localized sandstorm.
In the swirling sandstorm, a figure was violently blasted away.
This figure was naturally Kakuzu. His life flashed before his eyes, as if returning to the moment he assassinated the First Hokage: "Is this my end?"
"No, I must live..." A fierce longing for life surged in Kakuzu's eyes.
However, Setsuna's figure followed closely like a parasite clinging to bone, his right fist aimed straight for Kakuzu's heart.
Kakuzu's Water Release shield shattered like glass under the punch. The Fire Mask and Lightning Mask lit up simultaneously, attempting a final counterattack—but it was too late.
"It's over." Setsuna's fist pierced Kakuzu's chest. All four hearts were simultaneously pulverized by the impact.
The threads of Earth Grudge Fear drooped listlessly. The dying Rogue Ninja uttered his final words: "Your head... is worth a lot of money..."
Before the sentence was finished, his last remaining stitch turned to dust in the punch's wind.
Silence returned to the desert, with only the sizzling sound of cooling magma echoing.
"Thinking about money even in death. That certainly fits his character," Setsuna shook his head, feeling a flicker of curiosity.
Future Asuma was worth a bounty of 35 million Ryo. He wondered how much his own head would be worth in the black market exchange.
P.S. Regarding Setsuna's combat power, I'm primarily worried that some people might say I wrote the protagonist too weak, asking how he could be inferior to Hashirama Senju. So, I'll briefly explain my understanding here. In most cases, Ki (or Chakra) and physical strength are directly proportional, but there are a few exceptions. For example, Master Roshi's strength declined greatly due to old age, but his Ki continued to grow, having trained his Ki for over 300 years, allowing him to destroy the moon at full power. Then there's Piccolo, whose body regained youth, but whose Ki was stagnant due to being sealed for over 300 years, so he could only destroy a single town at full power. If we don't understand it this way, it's difficult to explain why Piccolo, who is stronger than Master Roshi, could only destroy a town while straining himself. (Although Piccolo the Second also demonstrated the ability to destroy the moon, that was the second generation Piccolo, and it was during the time he trained Gohan after fighting Raditz, where his combat power was estimated to be close to 1,000.)
As for why Master Roshi feared Piccolo, I think there are two possible explanations: one, although Roshi's Ki attack was large in volume and range, it lacked the quality needed to kill Piccolo; and two, Piccolo could dodge it. Piccolo's body was far stronger than Roshi's and he could easily kill Roshi after he expended his Ki. Of course, we can also just say that early Dragon Ball was a comedy manga, and we shouldn't dwell on these power-level issues.
If we absolutely must dwell on moon-level power, we can make this comparison: Toneri Ōtsutsuki cut the moon and then lost to Naruto. At that time, Naruto no longer had the Yang power granted by the Sage of Six Paths; he defeated Toneri relying only on his own power and the Nine-Tails'. It's not a stretch to say that his power in this state wasn't much stronger than Hashirama Senju's, so concluding that Hashirama Senju has near moon-destroying power shouldn't be a major issue.
In summary, the setting here is that Setsuna is in the First Tier below the "Super Kage" level. He can be considered "Super Kage" in some aspects, but overall, he is still inferior to Hashirama Senju.