Grind is My Ninja Way

Crackle~

Boom~

Thump, thump~

Unconsciously, several minutes passed.

Lightning, wind blades, flames, and water balls appeared on the field in turn. Kakuzu controlled the four mask monsters, launching continuous attacks on Seimei.

However, Seimei dodged all of them with the help of the Sharingan's powerful insight.

Not only that, but whenever he had a chance, he would launch fierce counterattacks, causing some trouble for Kakuzu.

But this also allowed Kakuzu to gradually see through his strength.

Finally, after another round of attacks was dodged by Seimei, Kakuzu stopped wasting time and activated his strongest state - the Earth Grudge Fear Mode.

The black stitches all over his body suddenly burst, and a large number of black tentacles emerged from them, intertwining with each other, like giant tentacles, covering his entire body.

This wasn't the end!

Then, he opened his mouth, and countless black tentacles also appeared from his mouth.

These tentacles waved randomly in the air, looking extremely eerie.

Seeing this scene, Seimei knew that the opponent was about to get serious.

So, he immediately formed hand seals and performed the ninjutsu - Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique, attacking the Fire Release mask monster.

Unfortunately, although his 'Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique' had been promoted to lv3 (101/1000) during this time!

But because it originally required forty-four hand seals, even now, he still couldn't perform it in a short time.

Therefore, by the time he finished the hand seals and performed the ninjutsu, another mask monster had already blocked in front of the Fire Release mask monster.

Crackle~

A flash of lightning.

A dazzling lightning snake shot out from the mouth of this mask monster, wrapping around the water dragon condensed by Seimei.

The next moment, the sizzling lightning spread towards him along the water flow.

To avoid being electrocuted, Seimei could only interrupt the ninjutsu, push off the ground with his feet, and create distance.

At the same time, Kakuzu was relentless and continued to control the Lightning Release mask monster to attack him with Lightning Release ninjutsu.

For a time, Seimei was forced to dodge in a flustered manner.

And after this round of attacks, he found that two mask monsters had merged into Kakuzu's shoulders, one of which was the Fire Release mask monster he had wanted to attack before.

As for the other one, it was the Wind Release mask monster.

Kakuzu looked at him from afar, the tentacles around his body danced, and he flew up.

In mid-air, he completed the hand seals, consumed a massive amount of Chakra, and whispered towards Seimei: "It's over!"

As he spoke, the mask monsters on his shoulders suddenly opened their mouths and performed 'Fire Release: Searing Migraine' and 'Wind Release: Pressure Damage' respectively!

The two ninjutsu fused in the air, ultimately transforming into the 'Compound Ninjutsu: Blazing Wind Chaos'!

As the saying goes, fire borrows the power of wind, and wind aids the might of fire.

When these two ninjutsu merged, the power they unleashed was far more than just "one plus one equals two".

Its effect was no less powerful than some A-rank or even S-rank ninjutsu.

A raging flame descended from the sky, instantly illuminating the entire night sky.

Seimei below couldn't dodge and could only be engulfed by the sea of fire.

"No—"

A roar of unwillingness erupted from Seimei's mouth.

A water wall appeared in front of him, but it had no effect against the surging flames.

In the end, his body was swallowed by the flames.

Seeing this scene, Kakuzu's eternally unchanging face finally showed a relieved expression.

Honestly, Seimei's strength had exceeded his expectations. With a bounty of only seventeen million Ryo, his strength was comparable to some targets with bounties over thirty million Ryo.

Kakuzu felt like he had made a loss on this deal.

Just as he was thinking about whether he could get some compensation from the black market later, a harsh, scraping sound suddenly appeared behind him.

"What?"

Kakuzu was startled. He didn't turn his head to look but immediately controlled a large number of black tentacles to form a thick wall of flesh behind him.

However, even so, the sense of crisis in his heart didn't diminish much. The feeling of thorn in his back sent chills down his spine.

Without any hesitation, he swiftly formed hand seals and performed his strongest defensive ninjutsu - Earth Release: Earth Spear!

He had already sensed that the attack from behind was Wind Release. With the defensive power of 'Earth Release: Earth Spear', blocking one hit shouldn't be a problem.

However, just as he was thinking this, intense pain struck.

He felt the wall of flesh formed by numerous tentacles behind him being instantly torn apart by something, and then his body was enveloped by a surge of Chakra, making it difficult to move.

At the same time, a needle-like sensation spread throughout his body.

"Ah~~~"

Even Kakuzu couldn't help but cry out in the face of this pain, as if countless arrows were piercing his heart.

That's right, this was the attack of the 'Wind Release: Rasenshuriken'!

Rewinding back to a few seconds ago, the moment Seimei was engulfed by the sea of fire, he activated his Mangekyo Sharingan and then used his left eye's Dojutsu - Amenominaka!

Instantly, his entire being detached from the ninja world, as if he and the surrounding sea of fire were in two different space-times, avoiding all damage.

And this was the opportunity he had been waiting for.

As for his performance before being engulfed by the sea of fire, it was all just an act, aimed at making Kakuzu lower his guard.

It turned out that even someone as cautious as Kakuzu could have moments of carelessness.

Seeing him swallowed by the flames, Kakuzu instinctively relaxed a bit.

And it was during this moment of relaxation that he moved behind Kakuzu at his fastest speed, then deactivated 'Amenominaka', and performed the ninjutsu - Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!

Because the distance was too close, the opponent couldn't dodge and could only defend on the spot, and then... then he suffered the consequences!

'Wind Release: Rasenshuriken' was indeed worthy of being an S-rank forbidden technique.

Its power easily tore through the wall of flesh made of tentacles, which even the Kusanagi Sword had difficulty penetrating, and directly bombarded Kakuzu's body.

A flesh-and-blood body being hit by the 'Wind Release: Rasenshuriken', which could attack at the cellular level, the outcome could be imagined.

Seimei looked up at Kakuzu, who was enveloped in a massive amount of Wind Release Chakra, and quietly waited for the ninjutsu to end.

A few moments later, there was a "bang" sound, and Kakuzu fell from the sky, landing right at Seimei's feet.

Crack~ Crack~

Two crisp cracking sounds rang out.

The two masks on his shoulders shattered, and the black tentacles connected to them withered.

Not only these two masks, but Kakuzu's own heart was also severely damaged. After falling to the ground, it only lasted for less than a breath before completely stopping beating.

But at this moment, he was still not dead.

Seimei looked up at the two mask monsters rapidly approaching from the sea of fire. He didn't choose to stop them but let them merge into Kakuzu's body.

A moment later, Kakuzu's heart started beating again, and a glimmer of life returned to his eyes.

Unfortunately, with his Chakra pathways throughout his body destroyed, he couldn't do anything.

Just as Seimei had guessed before, once hit by the 'Wind Release: Rasenshuriken', even having five lives was useless.

However, with the help of the Mangekyo Sharingan, he did see that the black tentacles that had merged with him were repairing his body.

In other words, if left alone, he might be able to recover to a healthy state after some time.

Of course, it was also possible that he wouldn't be able to hold on and would die before that.

Seimei didn't know the specifics, nor did he want to know.

Shing~

The long katana was unsheathed.

Pierce~ Pierce~

Seimei thrust the katana twice, accurately piercing through Kakuzu's remaining mask and heart, completely ending his life.

(End of Chapter)