Chapter 193: The Sannin Skirmish (7)
Chapter 193: The Sannin Skirmish (7)
"Let's stop this."
No.
"You are a strong Shinobi but the age of war is behind us. I understand that people will always fear me that is why I am doing everything I can to bring more peace."
Don't YOU say that!
"And... that drug of yours is pretty great. Gave you quite the boost but I can sense your lifespan is now lowered. Your cells are aching and your chakra reserve is a little out of your control. For now, you'll spend some time in prison until Tobirama works out the detail with Taki but really, only Madara and Tobirama call it a prison. We got the best mattress and the best food!" HE grins brightly and sticks out his thumb as if...
As if he did not just stop an attempt on his life.
This is the God of Shinobi.
The strongest there ever was.
The strongest there ever will be!
The one who broke away the cursed eyes of Uchiha.
The one who single-handedly bet his life... his entire strength for peace. This is not just one's strength in skills... but one's strength of character.
Kakuzu viewed the God of Shinobi silently. At the time, he is still very much a human. His back is cratered against a tree and his strength is dwindling.
He failed to assassinate Hashirama Senju.
He... failed his mission.
But Kakuzu took Hashirama for his word. That man has no reason to lie. As he said, the 'prison' was a room better than the standard chambers in most villages. And eventually, many kinks were straightened out before Kakuzu was handed back to Taki alongside Seven Tails.
It is right to assume that the 'rumor' of Hero Water played a large role in this as Taki's threat was just beneath the other four great villages.
But... the consequences of Kakuzu's mission did not come to an end just yet.
"What do you have to say for yourself? You brought disgrace to the village!"
Kakuzu silently observes the elders of the village. Despite being 'old', almost all the elders are hotheads... the side-effect of Hero Water. It is also the constant consumption of Hero Water for the village that allowed these 'academic' elders to gain the position of elders.
After all, elders should be experienced.
But no. Every Elder in Taki is the opposite. It's as if they only grow old but do not experience the passage of time itself.
"The war... is over," Kakuzu replies raspily, "And Hashirama was too strong. Against his strength, no tricks will prevail I'm afraid. At least, not a single trick from... shinobi like us."
"That's not what we are saying you fool!" One of the four elders berates him, "The moment you lost, why did you not commit suicide?! Now Konoha is aware that we possess something they don't! Who's stopping them from coming our way to satiate their greed?!"
Looking up and eyeing this Elder, Kakuzu questions with no small amount of sarcasm in his voice, "Do you think Hashirama Senju, who just gave a Tailed-Beast, needs to be greedy over something like Hero Water? Do not measure that man with your stick of unhindered stupidity."
Kakuzu's insult riles all four of them.
He doesn't know why he did it... no, he does.
In his life as a Shinobi, he believed in money over everything else.
But for once... for the first time, he believed in another man's strength, words, and character.
Obviously, Kakuzu was imprisoned once again. But this imprisonment did not last for long as the very same night, the defeated Assassin broke out of prison, assassinated all four of the elders who simply had nothing to live for, and escaped the village with their forbidden jutsu and... a large amount of Hero Water.
---
*Kabooom*
Although Kakuzu is shocked, his eyes peer over the tiny explosion seal inscribed on the senbon needle, this buffer of his mind has no effect on his body and chakra.
He is simply too used to this jutsu.
His body instinctively coats a layer of chakra over his skin that darkens and becomes as solid as the ground.
The explosion merely shocks him away physically before his back is knocked into the tree and he splinters past it, too, crashing into the ground and forming a small crater.
'That's some explosion. A work of a master, no doubt,' Kakuzu notes and quickly dodges another set of explosive senbon needles while looking around for Tsunade.
'There!' Kakuzu's senses are nothing to be scoffed at. His fists become darker and as hard as a boulder before meeting with Tsunade's punch head-on!
*Thud*
*Whoosh*
Her blonde hair threatens to whip out from the bands keeping them in check as their physical collision creates an effect far greater than two ordinary Shinobi should be capable of!
Yet, Tsunade's strength remains as monstrous as ever, and the focus of her chakra on the point of collision creates a force that cracks apart the Earth Nature chakra flow on Kakuzu's fist and sends him flying and crashing through the forest once again!
Not minding the blood pouring out from his mashed fist, Kakuzu narrows his eyes, "What monstrous strength... but... that Jutsu of yours does not affect me."
Tsunade quietly steps on a branch.
"No need to feign ignorance. Lightning Nature Chakra does break Earth Nature Chakra but... my body is different in ways your medical knowledge cannot even comprehend. Whatever that sliver of Lightning Release Jutsu intended to achieve... is a futile task."
It is true.
Tsunade used her [Lightning Release: Body Pathway Derangement] to confuse Kakuzu's body but seeing him stand and wave his left arm with a casual expression made her narrow her eyes.
'Most definitely a permanent body-altering jutsu. But... what are those four masks on his back?' Tsunade furrows her brows. Be it Kakuzu's Earth Chakra Mode that boosts his defenses without altering his speed, his physical composition, or his experience... he has proved to be trickier than straight berserkers like A's son.
'Even Kai's senbon bombs failed to rattle him. One good punch won't change anything either. Buying him off still remains the most convenient way,' she shakes her head internally.
With a sound of a rope stretching out of its coil at a high speed, Kakuzu takes note of the brief look of falter in Tsunade's intent and stretches out his right hand which is connected to his forearm using a thick black bundle of tentacles. Seeing the fist zoom into her vision as if propelled by a jet no less, Tsunade steps aside and frowns.
Why would Kakuzu attack so simply?
The answer comes in the next moment as he reveals that the tentacles as just as much of his body as his hands! The black coiling cord turns and tries to coil around Tsunade's neck while a thin but sharp-pointed tentacle detaches from the bundle of cord and aims to pierce her neck right then and there.
But choosing to play with the more spartan tricks up her sleeves, Tsunade scoffs and clenches the cord and tentacle with both her hands and
*Rip*
Tearing Kakuzu's hand away quite literally as the man's body shudders for once, she flickers away and continues to hold Kakuzu's hand.
A stupid move in his opinion.
But with practiced ease, Tsunade unfurls an index-finger-long scroll and seals that hand into the scroll, leaving Kakuzu stunned.
'Another miniature sealing scroll?' Kakuzu stares at Tsunade numbly.
It's not about the price of these items but the fact that only...
Uzushiogakure is capable of producing these items!
'Did Uzu not isolate itself?' Kakuzu narrows his eyes and stares at Tsunade grimly.
Her ability to tear his body's strongest feature is truly a surprise but... a part of his body taken away, most likely for research, is unacceptable.
His right hand is now missing, only revealing a knot of black threads with a few ends wriggling out as if attesting to his annoyance by Tsunade's act of stealing anything the can and sealing it away for good.
"You can still stand down and get paid," Tsunade utters but she jumps away quickly as two coils of black threads tear out from the ground behind her and aim to stab her in the back. Sensing this all too easily, Tsunade continues to move as Kakuzu has already spread such a trap far around them like a spider's web.
A large bundle of thread gushes out from his right forearm that condenses into a shape of a fist as Kakuzu gives chase to Tsunade.
Unlike all the reports, her style of fighting is barely direct at all.
She is deceptive, cruel, and ruthless in her attacks. Each strike has a meaning and if not, she will evade the enemy without care.
This is NOT Tsunade Senju that came to popularity during the Second War.
How could Kakuzu and others know that Tsunade's earlier style of fighting was due to her always being physically strong?
But once she met with someone who could boast equal physical strength and even more ruthless tactics... she simply had to learn, grow, adapt, and improve.
*Crash*
*Thud*
*Boom*
Tsunade would launch a volley of explosive seals or Explosive Senbons. She would dodge. She would, at times, use Lightning Chakra Flow in her fist to break away Kakuzu's Earth Chakra Flow whenever his fist got close to her, and with titan strength, she would tear away any and every black thread that comes her way before sealing them at a pace that left Kakuzu numb.
And then it hits Kakuzu.
She is strong... too strong. And most likely, she is playing with him.
But why?
She took care of other teams efficiently so what made her refrain from taking him out? Not that it would be easy given the odd tricks up his metaphorical sleeves but still...
There has to be a reason.
Slowing down the frequency of his attacks, Kakuzu spreads his 'feelers' under the ground far and wide, casting an even bigger web.
He is no chakra sensor as in he cannot just use his senses to observe and feel chakra at a long distance. But he can spread the threads that form his body and shoot off his senses from the tips of the threads. So, as long as he can supply these threads, he can continue to sense chakra similar to actual chakra sensors.
And he finds the reason soon enough.
They are surrounded by a triangular formation by three elites.
'So, the moment I get serious on Kakuzu without my Mokuton or Sage Mode... we both will be attacked by them. Utsu and two other Jonins. Something happened and most likely our mission is exposed. Or, Taki planned to betray from the very beginning... not that I can blame them in this scenario.'
Her lips quirk up slightly as she decides to stop 'playing' around and unsheathes the tanto strapped on her back.
She is a good fist smasher, yes, and her taijutsu is quite great. But... taijutsu is a bad match against these threads, feelers, tentacles, or whatever. Kenjutsu, on the other hand, with her physical capabilities, might get her somewhere.
'And those masks... are filled with rotten chakra. I'm 80% sure it's Kinjutsu. Tch.'
She clicks her tongue internally.
Sensing the slight delay in Kakuzu's attack, she assumes quickly that he, too, understands that they are surrounded.
A classic three-way situation where everyone knows about the other two groups.
Charging her sword with Lightning Chakra since her sword is made out of chakra metal and is capable of inducing chakra without any issues, Tsunade presses her feet slightly against the branch and flickers away, leaving the branch broken and splintered.
The sudden burst in her speed catches Kakuzu by surprise but she is using one of her signature techniques Chakra Enhanced Impacts. Just this time, instead of her fists, she is using them expertly on the sole of her feet that grants her disastrous speed and her target is one of the three ends of the triangular formation surrounding them!
Although Kakuzu is a moment slower in reacting, he, too, picks another shinobi but his speed is visibly slower than Tsunade.
***
Alternate Title: A Man of Word; The Peacekeeper; The God Who Invokes Reverence; The Assassin Who Found Trust; Taki's Elders Be Like Old But Foolishly Bold!; Kakuzu Takes No Shit From No One!; Tsunade x Black Cat; Stealer or Sealer?
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