Under the chilling rain, the two sides faced off, neither moving first, merely staring at each other.
Danzo lifted his hand to grasp the short sword behind him, a solemn expression on his face.
Although the opponent stood still, the sharp killing intent was completely undisguised, sweeping directly over them.
Aside from Danzo, the foreheads of the other three were covered in cold sweat, their hands instinctively tightening on their sword hilts, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.
The killing intent honed by Kakuzu over decades of battles was not something they could withstand.
"Konoha's Danzo Shimura, isn't that right?"
Just then, Kakuzu stepped forward two paces, his eerie green pupils locking onto Danzo, and he spoke in a deep voice.
"It is this old man. You are..."
Danzo paused, his eyes narrowing into slits, and after a moment of thought, he spoke.
"The rogue ninja from Takigakure Village, Kakuzu?"
He had inadvertently seen Kakuzu's information and photo when he was reviewing rogue ninja files a while ago, which left him with some impression, allowing him to recognize the other party so quickly upon seeing him.
"Oh, you know me?"
Kakuzu was a bit surprised. The two had never met, yet the other party recognized him at first glance. Had he become that famous now?
"Are you here for me today?"
Danzo did not answer Kakuzu's question, but spoke to himself. This almost dismissive attitude annoyed Kakuzu, instantly making him lose interest in further conversation.
"You..."
Seeing Kakuzu suddenly fall silent, Danzo opened his mouth, just about to say something more, when he saw the former suddenly disappear from his original spot with an Instantaneous Body Technique, reappearing right in front of them, his Kunai slashing towards them!
"Hmph!"
"Protect Lord Danzo!"
Seeing this, Danzo let out a cold snort, and the three people around him immediately understood, drawing their weapons in unison. Two went forward to meet the enemy, while the remaining one stood to Danzo's left and right, holding his sword guardedly, responsible for close protection.
"Overestimating yourselves."
Seeing only two people move, a hint of disdain appeared in Kakuzu's eyes. His empty left hand swept across his waist, and two Shuriken appeared in his palm, clasped between his fingers. Then, with a twist of his wrist, he flung them out with force.
The two opponents, in turn, raised their swords and slashed at the flying Shuriken.
"Clang!"
Two metallic clangs sounded successively. The two men, who had just deflected the Shuriken and were about to attack Kakuzu, suddenly paused, a look of horror on their faces.
The two Shuriken were now sparkling with electric arcs, and fine currents climbed up their bodies through their weapons. The next moment, a sensation of numbness spread throughout their bodies, leaving them standing in place, holding their long swords, unable to move.
Although they regained movement after a single breath, for Kakuzu, that was already completely sufficient.
He rushed in front of the two, then suddenly raised his leg to sweep at the guy wearing the monkey mask on the left. Although he had regained control of his body, it was too late to dodge. He could only hastily block with his arms in front of him, protecting himself.
"Bang!"
When the two collided, the monkey-faced Root member hadn't even exerted force when he felt a huge force from the opponent's leg, directly kicking him several meters away before he crashed to the ground, trembling his arms trying to stand up, but only managing to crawl up with difficulty, staring at the battlefield here, gasping for breath. It seemed Kakuzu's whip kick just now had injured him quite badly.
Meanwhile, on this side, another Root member wearing a cat-faced mask saw his companion get knocked away and immediately analyzed that the opponent's taijutsu proficiency was superior to his own. As the opponent turned, he immediately pulled out four Shuriken from his body and threw them at the opponent, then quickly retreated, his hands beginning to form hand signs.
"Water Release: Water Whip!"
This was a country where it rained all year, so there was naturally no shortage of water. There were countless small puddles on the surrounding ground, washed out by the heavy rain. Under the control of Chakra, a large amount of water gathered in the air, forming a water whip as thick as an adult's arm, which the cat-faced Root member held in his hand. Aiming at Kakuzu in front, he swung it fiercely!
"Water Release?"
Kakuzu swung the Kunai in his hand twice to deflect the Shuriken in the air. Watching the opponent swing a water whip over ten meters long at him, he formed a hand sign with both hands and charged directly forward. To the opponent's astonished gaze, he directly grabbed the flying water whip with his bare hands!
"What?!"
The cat-faced Root member's eyes under his mask widened instantly upon seeing this. Before he could make his next move, he saw the opponent grab the water whip and pull it backward. A huge force came through the water whip, and he instantly flew into the air, heading towards Kakuzu.
"Damn it!"
The cat-faced Root member realized he had flown over. Looking at Kakuzu, who was within reach, a ferocious expression appeared on his masked face. He pulled out two Kunai with Exploding Tags from his Pregnant, just about to use them to blast the opponent away. But just as he was about to throw them, suddenly, his pupils widened instantly, then became blank. The Kunai with Exploding Tags he was about to throw slipped from his fingers and fell to the ground.
Kakuzu's gaze shifted slightly. He looked into the distance, then retracted his gaze, and thrust the Kunai in his hand directly into the opponent's chest!
"Thud!"
The sound of a sharp blade entering flesh rang out, and the intense pain instantly brought the cat-faced Root member back to his senses. Looking at Kakuzu in front of him and the Kunai stuck in his chest, he immediately struggled, but felt the power within him constantly draining away. After a few breaths, he stopped struggling, lowered his head, and lost his life.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Ball!"
"Hmm?"
Kakuzu dropped the corpse and turned to look at the other side. The monkey-faced Root member who had fallen earlier had already stood up, his hands in a hand sign. A fourth golden-yellow lightning ball, crackling with electric arcs, shot towards him in the rain!
However, there was no emotional fluctuation on Kakuzu's face regarding these. Instead, his back began to writhe, and then, to the horrified gazes of several people, a black shadow broke through Kakuzu's clothes and burst out from his body. Its face was covered by a blue mask. He opened his mouth, and a violent storm spewed out, transforming into a high-pressure wind ball, pushing forward furiously.
Not only did it scatter all the lightning balls that flew close, but it also carried the raindrops, swirling them into a Uzumaki in the air that rolled back towards the monkey-faced Root member.
"What?!"
Seeing this, the monkey-faced Root member immediately panicked. Directly taking the hit would be suicide, but the attack's range made it impossible to even dodge.
"Water Release: Water Wall!"
The surrounding water gathered and condensed into a water wall, protecting him from behind. Danzo from a distance and Hawk Mask Root next to him also changed their expressions upon seeing this. They were just about to move to save the other party, but at this moment, a sudden change occurred!
"Water Release: Hidden Mist Jutsu!"