Chapitre 23: Chapter 23
If he attempted to save him, he too would be caught in the wave of those intense flames. The jutsu Naruto had released was not normal. It was beyond any fire jutsu he had seen. Its flames were so hot that he could feel them smothering his skin even when he was a bit of a distance away from them. Right now, he could only curse his luck. He was not expecting the brat to throw a big jutsu like that. But he knew that it would take more than that to kill Hidan.
The said man was consumed by the majestic flames that covered a wide distance. His pitiful screams and curses could be heard for a moment. Before they finally died down but the flames still continued to burn. Naruto simply stood still as he waited. The debris and flames finally died down and Hidan was revealed. He was pure black with burns all over his body. His mouth was wide open and eyes wide. Perhaps it had been because of the pain caused by the intense flames. Those majestic flames could turn anyone into ash. The pain must have been too much for him to handle. If those flames could turn someone into flash, how much pain did they inflict to the foul mouthed shinobi?
It was obvious that a part of his outer skin had been burned beyond repair. He was left naked with his scythe on the ground after having let it go. He could not have continued holding it after it had caught the flames. It had been like heat itself. It would have burned through his skin should he have continued holding it. His legs were shaking but he was still alive, very much alive, despite his pitiful condition.
Kakuzu cursed. He did not think that those flames would do that damage to Hidan. But he was not dead. He just was not sure if he could continue to fight in that state. He was brought out of his thoughts when Naruto started to charge towards Hidan with his blade in hand.
''Shit,'' he cursed and moved to intercept the blond before he could reach his foul mouthed partner. He appeared in front of the blond, but before he could do anything, someone else appeared.
''You are in the way,'' Sasuke said with his Sharingan blazing dimly. He swung his right foot in the air and it connected with Kakuzu's face. The man had not been expecting to suddenly appear. The kick sent the S-rank criminal flying away from Naruto. This cleared the way for Naruto to continue with his match towards Hidan.
'How impatient,' Naruto thought. The only reason Sasuke felt the need to get involved was because he wanted him to finish things quickly. If they finished things quickly, they could go after Itachi before he comes to them. Naruto shook his head. He had told his fellow Uchiha that Itachi would come to them. 'I guess it can't be helped,' he thought.
''Amaterasu,'' the jet black flames ignited around Hidan. At that time, he seemed to have recovered from his earlier pain as his mouth was no longer gaping. Naruto also heard a curse from the man as the flames ignited on the man. There were no flames than that burned that this one. Amaterasu was the strongest Katon jutsu. And so, it was another torture for the Akatsuki member. Naruto did not care how much pain the man felt. If possible, he would make him feel a lot more pain than he was already feeling.
Naruto moved quickly towards Hidan. Kakuzu sensed what was going to happen. ''Hidan look out!'' before Hidan could even take note of those words; Naruto's blade had already separated his head from his neck. Hidan's head fell on the ground along with his body. The flames still continued to burn while Hidan released pained curses. The blond ignored them though.
Naruto looked at Sasuke, ''Throw me a kunai,'' he said. The Uchiha was still standing, guarding, Kakuzu so that he could not make a move to interrupt his little work out with Hidan. Sasuke threw a kunai at Naruto without a word said.
The blond then caught it and drove it through Hidan's jaw. It was a brutal act, but none of the man cringed. ''This should keep him quite,'' Naruto said before kicking Hidan's head away from him. He kicked it a distance away from the clearing. Someone would find him some other day. That is unless Zetsu finds the head and consumes it. No that was impossible. Forgetting that all, the black flames would consume it slowly.
Naruto then turned to face Kakuzu. He walked away from the rest of Hidan's body. He looked the other way as Zetsu spoke. ''You could have used Tsukuyomi the first time he looked into your eyes. Or you use Amaterasu from the beginning,'' he paused for a moment grinning. ''If I did not know any better, I would say that you did not do it because you wanted to test how long his body would last after what you put it through.''
''...But you don't know me better. So I had other reasons of prolonging this little play,'' Naruto said walking towards Kakuzu, his next opponent.
Sasuke seeing that Naruto was done with Hidan, jumped away from the way. The blond was now going to deal with Kakuzu; all he could do was watch and wish for him to finish it quickly. He wanted this done quickly so he could go after his brother and deal with him. If he knew where the man was, he would have left already instead of waiting for Naruto. But he knew that even if he begged, Naruto would not tell him where Itachi was.
Kakuzu still had Yugito with him, but things were not looking any better for him. Two Sharingan users were a bit too much, even though it seemed that only one wanted to fight. But it is obvious that the other would intervene at any moment should there be a need for that. He could not run now. He could never make it away from the two. Naruto was fast, and so was Sasuke. He just had to stand and fight. But he could not fight while protecting Yugito.
He cursed. He was in a tight spot.
''Now then,'' Naruto stated looking straight at Kakuzu. ''It is time for the main dance,'' he said.
'Hmm?' there was blood dripping down on his footwear. He held out his right hand and allowed the blood the fall on his hand; it was his own blood. There was no mistake about it. And it was coming from his mouth. He had not fought for that long. Looking at his blood, his vision was a little blurry. But he could see, just not the way he normally sees things. Perhaps it was because of his use of an S-rank jutsu. His body always acted that way whenever he used an S-ranked jutsu.
''Shit,'' Zetsu cursed silently. He did not think that Naruto's body would be giving up at this time. The blond had said that his ''problem'' was unpredictable. Well at least Naruto was still standing. He would have to finish things off quickly with Kakuzu before using more chakra than he has already. If he could do that, it would not create a problem that would need to be solved quickly.
Kakuzu smiled as he saw Naruto bleeding from his mouth. He does not know what actually happened to him. But it looks like that idiot managed to do some damage after all. He did not actually see what happened, but it was to his advantage that the blond seemed hurt. Still looking straight at the blonds' face, he could have frowned. It was just blank, like he was not worried about anything. Since when was it healthy for someone to bleed from their mouth? Bleeding from the mouth meant that one was hurt internally. That was never a good thing. But yet the blond did not look at all concerned about his health. Perhaps it was nothing serious.
Naruto wiped the blood off his mouth. But it still continued to leak out forcing him to spit it out. Surprisingly, his body was not at all in that much of pain. He was feeling a slight headache. But it did not seem to be anything serious. He could still go on with this dance. His body had not yet given up on him. It still wanted to continue serving him. He would make good use of it. But this was not necessary the end. It just meant that his body was telling him that his medicine was struggling to hold off the virus inside his body.
It mattered not anyway. He could have it fixed.
He looked at Kakuzu with his impassive expression kept. ''Put the woman down so we can begin with this dance. I will not move after her neither will those who I am with...that is until each of your hearts are no longer okay,'' Naruto stated, loud enough for Kakuzu to hear him.
The man scoffed. ''I don't see shinobi keeping their word. I have lived long enough know that shinobi are liars. I have lived so far with this principle; never take the word of a shinobi,'' he stated. ''But I don't have much of a choice. If I run, you will eventually catch me. If I stay and fight, there is a good chance that I can kill both of you brats and deliver the Jinchuriki. Well since you are a Jinchuriki, I am not supposed to kill you.''
''Do you think you can defeat me?'' Naruto asked quietly, looking straight at the man who has been alive for many years. He has been alive ever since the days of Madara and Hashirama. Those were many years, and yet the man was alive and well.
''That Sharingan might prove to be a nuisance, but...'' he trailed off when he saw Naruto raise his hand.
''Yugito there managed to switch off the lights in two of your hearts. That leaves you with three hearts, correct?'' Zetsu had observed everything that had happened during the capturing of Yugito and had informed him of it. He wanted the man to know that he already knew of his condition so not to give him false hope. He could have hope with his own sheer arrogance.
Kakuzu's eyes widened slightly at hearing the blonds' words. How could he have known that? He had not even got the chance to replace the hearts he lost during the fight with the Two-tails Jinchuriki. After the battle, he and Hidan had only chosen to return to base because they were told not to waste time upon getting hold of their target. He was not expecting something like this to happen. This also meant that the blond knew of his ability. It was not good at all.
''How do you know that?'' he asked out of curiosity other than anything else.
''I have my eyes everywhere,'' Naruto replied. ''Now put the woman down so we can begin. We have spoken enough. I might lose my patience and lay waste to this ground.''
Kakuzu did not have any choice at all. Hidan was incapacitated for now. He could not get his head and try to sew him back together. There were also the black flames that were consuming his body. Those were not normal flames, and if they continued like that, there would be nothing left of Hidan's body. So all in all, his partner was dead. Those black flames could not be extinguished. Once you were caught in them, it was all over unless you cut that part of your body off.
Finally giving in, Kakuzu disappeared from his spot to a distance away. He placed Yugito's unconscious body on the ground. If he was going to leave with her, then he would have to get through the two Sharingan users first. It was a bothersome task, but he would have to endure. Another blur and Kakuzu was back close to Naruto.
The blond Uchiha did not say anything. He simply disappeared in a burst of speed. The speed was surprisingly fast. Sasuke had his Sharingan activated, keeping track. He could never forget, Naruto was extremely fast even when they were genins. He could go with Kakashi in a taijutsu battle, and at that time, he was not even using his Sharingan, He was merely using pure taijutsu. So the speed Naruto showcased was not surprise to him he had seen something like it before. He too was pretty fast. But Naruto was faster. It was because from young age Naruto had trained physically to increase his speed. He was only obsessed with ninjutsu and taijutsu.
Kakuzu got into a stance, as Naruto sped towards him. He held out both his hands together, readying himself for anything the blond might throw at him. His opponent appeared in front of him with his right fist poised to hit his face. He saw it all the way and moved faster, helped by his experience in battle, to dodge the punch aimed at his head. He felt the wind pass with the fist as it missed its target. He felt relieved that it did not hit him, had it done that, he would have been sent flying away.
Naruto did not stop with one punch only; he swung his left hand attempting a left hook at the Akatsuki member. This time, Kakuzu did not dodge the punch; he simply blocked it with his right hand. He then attempted to head butt the blond but Naruto leaned back to avoid the attempt to smack him on the head. He stood in a position that would need one to be flexible.
His position seemed to be what Kakuzu wanted as the man quickly spun around and raised his right foot. He sent it crashing towards Naruto. The back of his foot was going straight at the blonds' chest. Still in his bended position, Naruto held out both his hands to catch Kakuzu's kick. Once he caught it, he seemed that he was losing his balance. But he did not let go of Kakuzu's leg.
While on the momentum of going down because of the force of Kakuzu's attempted kick, Naruto swiftly positioned his feet to allow him to turn around along with his opponent. He managed to drag the man along with him. This of course made it easy for him to spin around. Kakuzu had not been expecting the blond to actually have the power to do something like this. Naruto released him and he flew away backwards. Once the momentum no longer carried him, he got his balance and flipped once before landing gracefully on the ground.
He was forced into defense again as Naruto appeared spinning in front of him. The blond attempted a spinning kick that would hit his temple, but Kakuzu was far more experienced for something like that to hit him. He brought out both his hands attempted to block the kick; a mistake on his part. He was underestimating Naruto's physical prowess. Many people did that, but Naruto's body had been trained physically from a young age. His younger days were spent being taught Taijutsu before he got to ninjutsu.
The kick had much more power than Kakuzu had anticipated; hence he was pushed back and caused to lose his balance. He was like falling down with his back but Naruto reacted quicker and got down to the ground. He spun around and attempted to leg sweep. But when his foot his hit Kakuzu, it felt like he had hit a rock, hence the standstill. The kick colliding with Kakuzu's feet caused the ground under the man's feet to shatter.
Naruto had not been expecting something like that to occur. He was forced into defense when Kakuzu got his balance and went down towards him - the blond was still on the ground. He drove his right hand towards Naruto's gut. He had a grin on his face thinking that he had got him. But Naruto was not out, yet, he managed form a hasty defense with his hands. With nothing to balance himself with, and along with Kakuzu's punch, Naruto was forced to hit the ground with his back.
The Akatsuki member attempted to take advantage of it by jumping into midair. He then fell down attempting to stomp on Naruto with both his feel. But Naruto was not about to be hit, he quickly grabbed his Gunbai and placed it in front of him. So when Kakuzu's feet looked to hit him, they hit his Gunbai shielding him from any damage. But still, the force of the attack compelled his body to burrow into the ground, but without any injuries nonetheless.
Kakuzu jumped away from Naruto when he noticed that he was dangerously close to being caught in a genjutsu as the blonds' eyes almost locked with his. It was dangerous thing to stare into the Sharingan in a battle. 'I should be careful next time,' he thought.
Naruto got up and dusted his armor before placing his Gunbai on his back again. ''I see, you hardened you skin just when I was about to make contact with you. That is why you stood your ground and were able to get the advantage for a moment,'' the blond stated looking straight at Kakuzu.
''You are highly observant for a brat,'' the man stated with a small smile. ''So the rumors are quite true about you. Your taijutsu is impressive. I thought by now I would have landed a meaningful hit,'' the man seemed to sigh at his words.
He then looked at Sasuke was watching along with Zetsu. It did not seem like he was not going to get involved anytime soon. So far the blond was handling himself well and had already incapacitated Hidan. Well the man was an idiot and would have probably held him back anyway. But in a case like this, his immortality was truly useful. He had three hearts left and potentially three enemies to fight. This was not good at all.
''Don't worry about them. Focus on me or you might or you might lose a heart easily,'' Naruto stated charging towards the Akatsuki member.
Kakuzu cursed again. He was left with the earth, water and Lightning hearts. The other two had been destroyed by Yugito after she had transformed into the Two-tails. The blond was reminding him each time that he had three hearts left. Why could he not just keep his mouth shut and allow him to focus on the battle?
The man got ready for Naruto as he neared him. The blond reached him within seconds and threw his right punch straight at him. Seeing the punch, Kakuzu brought out both his hands to form a shield to block the punch. Naruto's powerful punch caught up with his defense. 'Damn, he really does hit hard,' Kakuzu thought silently. There was much more power behind Naruto's strikes. He could have never thought that the blond could produce that much power. Well, they had been warned by Tobi about the blond.
Naruto seeing that his attempt for a punch his opponent was blocked, he spun around and attempted to kick him on his temple. But Kakuzu ducked under the kick, dodging it. He ducked under by quickly getting on his knees. Since Naruto was still carried by the momentum of his attempted kick, he reacted quickly in trying to gut the blond, but Naruto was even quicker. He caught the punch with his left hand, he barely held it though.
To compensate for this, he held a single hand seal as if he was preparing to release a jutsu at a close range. Kakuzu widened his eyes knowing that should Naruto release a jutsu, he would be caught within its range. He quickly leaped away from the blond, so to make a distance between them. He was surprised when Naruto did nothing.
''I was not going to release a jutsu,'' Naruto said confirming Kakuzu's thoughts. ''I just wanted to see if you were brave enough to take a jutsu head and you were dangerously close to me.''
Sasuke sweat dropped at this. Naruto's right hand was free, if he wanted Kakuzu to go away from him, he could have just punched him. He had the speed and reflexes to achieve that feat. And who would take a jutsu head on if they could avoid it? A jutsu could kill. Standing up to take it would be like standing in the path of a spear. The thing was sharp and when thrown like a projectile, it could pierce through your flesh, and probably kill you if it does not wound you fatally.
Kakuzu could not actually believe he fell for a cheap trick like that. But not many shinobi did tricks like that. He did not think that the blond could do such a thing. But in all truth, he was very ''close'' to the blond. A single mistake and he would have gotten a hit on the blond. Naruto knew that, probably why he did the trick to get him away. Despite it being a cheap trick, it did its job.
Kakuzu did not want to throw in his masks at this time, he wanted to preserve them. He did not want any of them destroyed while he was still had another Uchiha to go through. But Naruto was the bigger threat. As far as Intel in Akatsuki there was, Sasuke did not have the Mangekyou Sharingan. All logic pointed that Naruto was the dangerous one. So he was sort of glad he was going through the blond first. After that, he could then go after Sasuke. The other one seemed to be weak. But you could never know.
''I think it's your turn to dance for me,'' Naruto said inviting Kakuzu to attack him. He had been the one to engage their previous encounters, so it was now his opponents turn to come at him.
''Naruto, hurry it up!'' Sasuke said rather loudly. His Sharingan was still activated. He wanted the blond to hurry it and finish his fight. But the blond did not seem to be in a hurry for anything. If anything, he seemed to like savoring the battle. He did not rush things; instead, he took things slowly.
Naruto looked at Sasuke shaking his head. ''Don't rush me, ''child'','' Naruto stated sternly. It was the first time he had ever called Sasuke a child. But he was acting like one, hence he called him one. By the look the Uchiha gave him, Naruto knew Sasuke was not listening to him. Again, he shook his head. ''What an impatient child, hurrying things-''
Kakuzu decided to take advantage of the fact that Naruto had taken his eyes off him. It was a basic shinobi rule; never take your eyes of your opponent. But Naruto had done just that. He would use the chance to get an upper hand on the battle which seems to be now on even ground. He rushed towards Naruto with a kunai in hand. He held a weapon firmly with his right hand.
''Hmm?'' Naruto turned around to face the incoming Kakuzu. The man was coming pretty fast towards him, but he still had his Sharingan and very good reflexes. He quickly brought out his blade and held it firmly in front of him. He parried Kakuzu's kunai with the sword of Kusanagi.
Kakuzu attempted to pierce Naruto again with the Kunai after it was being blocked. He tried two times again, but each time Naruto blocked his attempts. Getting tired of it, Naruto then swung his blade towards his opponent. Kakuzu tried blocking the swing with his kunai, but Naruto's blade cut through it. The sword never slowed down as it came towards his head. He managed to move back slightly to avoid being cut across his face. After that, he jumped back to create some space between him and the blond.
''You are an old man. You should know that you cannot bring a knife in a sword fight,'' Naruto stated, giving the Akatsuki member a bit of a lesson.
Kakuzu seemed to shrug in response. He was not going to take lessons from the blond. It was also not the right time to respond to such a thing. It was still amusing that the blond just called a kunai a knife though. But he was not going to show the amusing part of Naruto's words. He still had to deliver Yugito to the leader to have her bijuu extracted from her. It was good that neither of Naruto's companions had seemed to move for her. In fact, none had even looked at her. It was like they did not even care about her.
So he felt obliged to question. ''You don't seem to be too bothered by the Jinchuriki. Your eyes have never been at her; are you perhaps not even concerned for her?''
''If not concerned, you would request that we postpone this little party because you can't dance freely. Is that not so?'' Naruto stated knowing that the man would suggest something like that. They have only been doing warm ups only.
Kakuzu remained silent for a moment, but before he could respond. ''No, that will not happen. You are not leaving this place. Perhaps, I might even get a chance to test my new jutsu with you; you make quite a fine specimen.''
Kakuzu did not like being referred to as a specimen. That was damning to being called something like that. But he was experienced in this kind of things. He would not lose his cool over the words of his opponent. It did not look like the blond had said those words just to rile him up though. It looked like he was just expressing his thoughts. He seemed to do that very much often. Never mind that, he had to take the blond down.
''It is time to get this dance to the main floor, wouldn't you say, Kakuzu?'' Naruto stated as his orange Susano'o came to life for a moment. But it quickly disappeared again as it appeared. The blond stayed impassive as if he had just deactivated it. He seemed not to be concerned about it.
Kakuzu did not pay much mind to it. He lunged towards Naruto in great speed trying to engage the blond in another taijutsu battle. As soon as he reached the blond, he swung his right foot towards the blond, with as much power as he could, Naruto did the same and the two kicks collided in midair. They held each other on a standstill as they attempted to dominate the other. Naruto was first to retrieve his leg back followed soon by his opponent.
After that, they exchanged a few blows, but neither got any hit on the opponent. The battle lasted for a short period of time before, Kakuzu leaped away from the blond. He wanted to increase the numbers. He just hoped that his mask did the job for him. It would be a tragedy if he lost another heart without delivering much damage to the blond while there were still two more enemies to kill before delivering his catch to the leader.
From his back, a black being with a mask came out. He released Suiton mask - the mask had his water release heart. The mask disappeared in a black blur. But Naruto seemed not to mind it. In fact he only narrowed his eyes at it once, before looking back at him.
Kakuzu took around Kunai before throwing it towards Naruto. He did hand seals, ''Ninpoo: Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!'' he yelled as the kunai multiplied in numbers. They became a lot more and rushed towards Naruto looking to pierce through his armor.
'Diversion,' Naruto thought gripping his Gunbai. 'Well then, I should go with it and see what is planned.' He wanted to use a barrier to block the projectiles but his eyes noticed something with the Kunais. They had explosives in them. He decided to change tactics and swung the Gunbai in front of him. It released a powerful gust of wind that sped towards the kunais. Just as the Kunai were about to hit with the gusts of wind released by Naruto, the explosive tags ignited and started a chain of explosion.
Naruto jumped back slightly to avoid being caught within the explosion. The sight of the explosion would have been beautiful if it was his Susano'o making the fireworks. The level of fireworks the explosive tags had made was not enough to satisfy him. He could make explosives that could shake the very ground they stood in.
He was quickly forced to turn around as a water gun was flying towards him. Since he was holding his Gunbai, he decided to make use of it. The water gun drew closer to him and was about to collide with him. He held his Gunbai in front of him, ''Gunbai Barrier,'' he uttered as he channeled chakra throughout the weapon. An orange barrier formed in front of him, shielding him from the water jutsu flying towards him. He was not given time to settle though.
Kakuzu came from behind him quickly. His barrier only protected him from the front, not from behind. He guessed that was what the man had been planning to do. If he bring his Gunbai to his back and stop the barrier, the water jutsu would hit him. But if he holds on to his barrier, Kakuzu would hit him hard. Either way he was screwed. But, 'I am a little hot, I guess I can let the water cool me down,' he thought. He swiftly dropped his barrier and spun around with his Gunbai to block a flying kick from his opponent.
The mask increased the pressure on the water bullet, no perhaps did another jutsu. The water increased speed and power. They hit Naruto on his back hard and sent him flying away before Kakuzu could kick him. When the water stopped carrying him, Naruto flipped several times before hitting the ground with his feet.
''I got a little bit excited about the fireworks and forgot about your strategy,'' Naruto stated putting back his Gunbai on its resting place.
Sasuke shook his head. Naruto was fooling around; they would not go to Itachi soon. He sighed, perhaps he was being impatient. Naruto wanted to have some fun, it was best to allow him to enjoy himself as much as he could. It looked like there was also nothing he could do to get the blond to hurry things with his ''dance'' with Kakuzu.
Kakuzu refused to comment. Both he and his mask charged towards Naruto. They would tag team now and see how the blond would do against two. So far, he had fared well against one, it was now best to see how he would fair against two. This would also give him the advantage he would need to land a meaningful hit at the blond. His last water jutsu seemed to have been just shrugged off like it was nothing. It did nothing but shower the blond.
Seeing the two coming, Naruto held a hand seal. He gathered chakra before releasing his jutsu. ''Katon: Ryuen Houka no Jutsu,'' he said before releasing fire dragon heads that charged towards Kakuzu. He was targeting the real thing instead of the mask. Kakuzu interested him more than the mask.
Seeing that he could not dodge the jutsu, Kakuzu stopped on his tracks and went through hand seals before slamming them to the ground. ''Doton: Doryuuheki no Jutsu!'' he yelled as a wall sprouted off from the ground and surrounded him. Naruto's Katon jutsu hit his wall but failed to prevail. His wall stood still after the assault. He was just glad that Naruto had not thrown a stronger jutsu. If he had done that, his defense would not have held up.
Naruto was forced to jump away from his sport as the mask fired a water jutsu towards him. The jutsu was a small water dragon. It was not able to make a bigger one for the lack of a water source. After dodging the water dragon, the blond landed a few feet away from the path of the jutsu. He then went through his own hand seals. ''Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu,'' he said, releasing some intense flames that roared towards the mask.
The mask then released its own jutsu to stop Naruto's own. It released a large stream of water from its mouth. The water then collided with Naruto's breath of flames. The blond did not let go of his jutsu, he still kept it trying to see which would prevail.
Kakuzu was right on his tail while still on that. He appeared sideways near him and kicked him. Naruto had been unable to react quickly to the kick because his attention was somewhere else. The kick sent him flying away, but he quickly recovered and flipped several times before landing on the ground. Just then, he was forced to bring out his hands to block a kick from Kakuzu. He attempt was not powerful enough to break through his defense.
Kakuzu tried again to kick Naruto, but the blond blocked his attempt. Kakuzu witnessed something with the blond; he was bleeding from his mouth again. That could not have been caused by his kick, could it? He jumped away from the blond, allowing his mask to attack the blond. The mask came right from behind in an attempt to hit him, Naruto growing tired of it, he spun around swiftly and his Gunbai in hand. The mask was not expecting him to react so quickly. He batted the mask away from him with the face of his Gunbai.
He shook his head for a moment. It was giving him some troubles, but it was nothing he could not handle.
He strapped it again, on his back. Without pausing to do anything, he rushed towards the mask. While on the way, he went through hand seals, ''Futon: Furyudan no Jutsu,'' he said releasing a glaring dragon that charged towards the mask. The target then attempted to speed away for the path of the jutsu to avoid being hit. But Naruto controlled his jutsu well and it continued to move towards the mask. On the way it hit some trees chopping them down, but it never stopped on its path to devour the target.
Kakuzu realized that even if his mask did a water dragon, it would not be enough to stop the water dragon. Naruto's wind was strong, he could feel it. He had no choice but to intervene. He was not going to lose his mask that cheaply. He dashed towards Naruto forming a set of hand seals, ''Raiton: Gian!'' he yelled with his mouth wide open. He short a laser beam of electricity towards the blond was still occupied with controlling his wind jutsu.
Naruto narrowed his eyes at Kakuzu without losing focus on his wind jutsu. False darkness was really fast and often made it difficult for one to dodge. But it was not impossible. He let go of his jutsu and jumped up before flipping while still in flight. When he was about to land on the ground, Kakuzu was right at him. The man had not stopped charging at him after releasing his lightning jutsu. He was able to get to the blond before he could balance himself correctly.
Kakuzu delivered a hard kick to the gut on the blond. Naruto had thought the kick would not do anything damage to him because of his armor. But he was proved wrong when he actually felt the hit. It hurt really bad and forced more blood out of his mouth. The attacker had a smirk on his face. It appears that he had gotten him. He had hardened his body before attacking knowing that a normal kick would not do much damage because of the armor the blond was wearing. With that, he had to improvise. Hardening his body would give him much more power, but also slow him down. But that was not a problem because of Naruto's position.
While the blond was still dazed from his kick, he spun around and delivered another kick to the blond on the temple. Naruto winced at the hit. His head was already giving him troubles. The kick picked up Naruto from the ground and sent him crashing towards the trees without balance. While was still being carried by the momentum, the mask appeared behind him and short and water dragon straight at him. The jutsu hit him dead on and sent him back towards Kakuzu who seemed to have been waiting for him. He was not able to get his balance in time. Kakuzu smacked him on the back with a hard kick, but before he could be sent flying, the man grabbed him by his leg and spun around with him before sending him flying away.
The mask appeared above him and short and water bullet at him that was to send him crashing down the ground. Kakuzu also added to the attack by going through hand seals. ''Doton: Doryudan no Jutsu!'' he yelled as the two jutsus sped towards Naruto; one from upwards, and one from the side. Bothe jutsus seemed to hit him dead on and before sending him crashing towards the ground. Debris picked up from the crash and after it died down, Naruto was seen standing still with an orange rib cage surrounding him.
It was painful as hell, keeping even a small portion of his Susano'o standing. But he had to endure, he was even thinking of releasing a complete Susano'o. But at this stage, it might kill him. It did not matter anyway. He walked slowly towards Kakuzu and his clone. He deactivated his Susano'o. Kakuzu seemed to curse his luck at seeing Naruto's defense.
''You have played enough,'' Naruto stated looking straight at the mask. Kakuzu did not understand what the blond meant. Naruto closed his right eye and pointed at the mask. ''Amaterasu,'' the mask then became engulfed in black flames. It was not all that clear because the thing's body was also pure black except for its mask. Naruto then began to walk slowly towards the mask to finish it up. But Kakuzu had other ideas; he attempted to delay the blond by running towards him.
Again, ''Amaterasu,'' Naruto said setting Kakuzu's right arm ablaze with black flames. The man suppressed a shriek. The flames were indestructible. He had only one choice in the matter, cut off his arm. While he was still busy with those kinds of thoughts, Naruto went towards the mask with his blade in hand. He moved swiftly and cut it in half before its mask shattered signaling its death.
Kakuzu released his black threads because he now only had one arm. He could not fight on the same ground as the blond. And so far he had the upper hand on the blond. With just one use of those cursed eyes abilities, his mask was gone and he was left with only a single hand. Those eyes were indeed troublesome. But he could still win the battle. He charged towards Naruto with his threads rushing before him. They looked ahead to pierce the blond. But Naruto brought out his gunbai to block the threads. Still he was pushed back by the threads.
Kakuzu retrieved his threads before sending them towards Naruto. This time they were rushing towards Naruto in some insane speeds. Had it not been for his gunbai and armor, the threads would have left the blond with holes on his body. As he did the first time, Naruto used his gunbai as a shield. But the speed and power of the threads this time force him back along with his Gunbai.
''This could prove troublesome,'' Naruto stated knowing that he could not effectively hit Kakuzu while those threads were still around. He had no way of cutting them off. He could force Kakuzu to cut them off by setting them ablaze with Amaterasu. But he decided not to.
A one armed Kakuzu cursed himself and his luck. But things went bad as he thought they were. Naruto's Susano'o suddenly came to life. This time it was big and standing on its feet. Naruto was standing behind it with an impassive blood covered face. Again, Kakuzu cursed as he extended his black threads. He was not going to release another mask again. It would also be killed again. And now he only had two hearts remaining. This was not going good for him at all. How could he go against a Susano'o? 'It has to have some kind of weakness,' he thought.
The Susano'o took some giant steps towards him as both its hands got hold of black blades. It quickly swung its blade towards him, but he dodged the swing. The blade crashed into the ground creating a crater. Before Kakuzu could do anything else, the other blade was right at him again. He brought out his threads to shield him. But the force of the attack was too powerful. It sent him flying away and he crashed into the trees. But he was not hurt. His skin was hardened and the threads added more protection to his body.
The Susano'o then fused its blades before swinging it. It released a wave of energy that sped towards Kakuzu like an energy blade. The man quickly jumped up to avoid being cut in half by the attack. It was no doubt powerful. Some of his threads went so lucky as they got cut. He observed the technique as it continued to march on forward. The way it was going was the place he had placed Yugito's unconscious Body but he was not seeing her anywhere. He figured they must have taken her out of the way. He sighed in relief when he saw the technique Naruto release cut through a number of trees before finally dying down.
The technique was repeated again. This time it was a lot faster than before. He quickly hardened himself to the limit and covered his entire body with his threads. The beam then hit him around his waist level. But his body was dealt no harm though. The technique merely cut his threads in half. When it reached his body, its power was already reduced and there was a fact that he had hardened his skin to avoid being cut in half.
His eyes widened though, when suddenly the giant Susanoo's right arm was at him. It was formed into a large fist that slammed him down the ground. He was picked up again by the Susano'o. He was then hurled down the ground and crashed down like a bullet and formed a large crater. But the Susano'o did not stop there. Another fist pummeled him down while he was still on the ground. Still his body held on. But when the Susano'o joined both its hands together and formed one big fist, he could no longer hold on to his technique.
Kakuzu felt as though every bone in body had been crushed. The pain he felt was unlike anything. It was like he had been hammered. Regardless how you look at it, it seemed that way, literally.
The Susano'o then picked him up and was about to crush him when it suddenly dispersed, allowing his body to hit the ground. His legs were shaking, he was badly hurt and he was bleeding from his mouth. Had he not hardened his body, he would have been broken.
The Susano'o had disappeared because Naruto was on his knees. He was coughing up a lot of blood. His Susano'o acted like before he had his Eternal Mangekyou. But it hurt a lot more. The strain on his body was causing it to fail. His EMS was also no longer active. The eyes were just the normal Sharingan. He was losing power more quickly than he thought he would. But the damage to Kakuzu was already done by his Susano'o.
''Does this happen every time?'' Sasuke asked looking at Naruto. He was a bit concerned for the blond. He did not look healthy at all. It could not be good if he was not healthy.
Zetsu remained quiet and simply watched. Although this may not kill Naruto, it would weaken him greatly. He was not about to have that under his watch.
By some strong will, Naruto stood up even though every part of his body was screaming for him to stand down. Kakuzu was still down. He had time to test his jutsu. In his current condition, he could not quite make the jutsu on his own. He created a clone and formed a Rasengan on his right palm. The clone then began adding wind chakra into the Rasengan giving it another shape. Soon a screeching yell from the jutsu echoed throughout the clearing. The jutsu Naruto had now was making the noise as its four blades spun around furiously.
The clone disappeared in a puff of smoke. Then Naruto took a few steps towards Kakuzu who was attempting to stand up. He knew from the screech the jutsu Naruto had was no ordinary jutsu. It could seriously do him bad. Naruto was about to throw the jutsu when it suddenly disappeared. He could no longer maintain that kind of power. Kakuzu felt relieved seeing this happen.
Naruto created three clones and gave them much of his remaining chakra. He was only left with chakra to allow him to live. This of course, caused his eyes to return to normal. The clones formed the jutsu again before two of the holding the jutsu charged at Kakuzu. The man thought the jutsu would not be thrown at him.
But he was shocked when the clones suddenly threw the jutsu at him. In doing so, they all disappeared in a puff of smoke. The jutsu sped at him in fast speeds not giving him time to dodge. In a last ditch attempt to shield himself, he brought his remaining threads in front of him. But that proved futile as the jutsu consumed him before exploding.
''B-beautiful,'' Naruto said seeing the marvelous work of his jutsu. ''I should ha-'' he was cut off when he felt some pain from his back. Something had pieced him from his back where his armor did not reach. He looked down to his chest and saw a wooded stake sticking out. It must have been Zetsu. His vision became blurry and he could faintly hear Sasuke screaming something. But he could not quite make it. Darkness consumed him as one memory flashed through his mind.
Flashback
A tired Naruto slumped down into the ground. He was tired, very tired. His body was full of cuts and bruises and he was bleeding from his mouth. It had been one of his training sessions with Madara. The man was a slave worker. He worked him hard each time they came into this place. Each time he would be beaten until he could take no more. It was painful to his body but he always endured for power, the power to protect himself.
They were currently inside a powerful genjutsu created by Madara. The genjutsu was an example of the infinite Tsukuyomi. But Madara was only able to do the technique because of the Gedo Mazo. He was using its power to make the genjutsu. In this world, Madara controlled everything, he was god. In this world, he took the form of his glory days. He also fought and moved like in his glory days.
But, there was once a time that he was able to control some of the things in the world. But if Madara noticed, he would quickly cut him off the control. The fact that he could take share of management of the things in the world had surprised Madara. The man had commented that his eyes were special and very powerful if they could manipulate the genjutsu. The man also stated that it could be also because they were related and the fact that Naruto had Senju DNA which helped in controlling the demonic statue.
He liked viewing a certain memory, Madara's battle with Hashirama. The fight was epic and so much fun to watch. The first Hokage was one strong man. He deserved the title of the God of shinobi. He certainly had the power to make it so happen. What the man could do was beyond what he could ever think. He thought Madara had been scary strong when he was in his prime, but Hashirama was a monster. The Kyuubi alone should have been enough to take him down. But his Mokuton was too powerful. No wonder Madara craved the power.
To achieve the power of the Sage of six paths did not specifically require Hashirama's cells. It only needed Senju DNA. But the Shodai's cells were just far superior to any other. There was also the fact that having his cells one would gain use of his precious Mokuton. The Kekkei Genkai was special and all mighty powerful. There was few who could actually stop it. But it also carried the danger that it could consume you. He was glad that acquiring Senju DNA for him had been made in a way that those cells would not consume him if he were to weaken.
''You are still not doing enough,'' Madara stated staring straight at Naruto.
Naruto rose up and looked at his grandfather with an impassive stare. What did he expect from him? He was already giving it his all. He was still just a child to begin with. Shaking his head slightly, he decided to ignore the words because no matter what he would say, it would not be satisfactory to Madara. The man would still maintain his point that he was not doing enough.
''Tell me about the days before Shinobi villages were formed,'' Naruto stated looking straight at Madara. They were done for the day, it was best that they talked about something else.
Madara grunted and snapped his fingers to change the scenery. ''Before the Shinobi villages were founded, clans existed solely and lived off on their own. They fought each other continuously for dominance. Over the years, there were two clans that stood above all other; Uchiha and Senju.
''Before I was even born, both clans hated each other. They were always in constant battle with one another. Their rivalry continued for generations after generations. These clans could never dominate each other. It was always bloodshed each time they met.''
''So one could say that you grew up in a world torn up in battles like a war. Each clan was in constant war with the other,'' Naruto said after Madara had spoken. He could tell that Madara did not want to speak about this subject. If he wanted, he could have said something little more detailed than what he had said.
Madara nodded, ''Precisely that,'' he said. ''There was no peace with the clans. They were always fighting. As you put it, it was like a world of never ending war. But a few clans were able to live peacefully unlike the rest. An example would be like your grandmothers clan, the Uzumaki clan.''
''You have told me that they were a lot more peaceful and refrained from fighting,'' Naruto stated knowing that his other side of heritage did not like fighting. They were very much a peaceful clan. Even though they were related to the Senju they never did bother much with fighting. The Senju only became peaceful when Hashirama took the charge as leader of the clan. When that man was leader, the clan was unstoppable just like the Uchiha clan was when Madara took over as leader.
''Your childhood was much affected,'' that much was obvious, but Madara said nothing. ''Growing up in such a world had to influence your mindset and goal. In such a world, a peaceful person would love to bring peace in the battle obsessed world. That is what Hashirama wanted and what you wanted.''
''It did not matter if you are a child or not during those days. We were trained to fight for the pride of our clan. In each clan, we fought for our survival. Without fighting, it was just pitiful death,'' Madara stated remising his younger days.
''You and Hashirama were friends from childhood; you were highly competitive with him. But when both of you became clan heads you were just rivals. You had your own ideals on changing the world. Hashirama had his own ideals. He believed that people would be able to work together and then understand each other. That was the difference between you and him.''
''Hashirama may have been powerful but he was naive and a fool. People cannot simply understand each other. It is impossible. As long as there are winners, there will be losers. In turn, someone will always hate someone. Someone will always be plotting for revenge against someone,'' Madara stated. It was clear that he detested Hashirama's ideals. But at the same time, he respected the man for his power.
''So, that brought the birth of Eye of the Moon plan. Because the shinobi could not understand each other, you devised the plan to project them into a world where they cannot fight against each other. You would be in control of the world,'' Naruto eyed Madara impassively. The plan was a good one. And it had taken his grandfather quite some time to prepare for it. He even got old before he could even plan it. That is why he brought the traitor Obito.
''Why do you ask this? Are you interested in changing the world?'' Madara asked in a blank tone. But Naruto could detect a hint of curiosity. The man was curious on his answer. He would give it to him.
''No,'' he gave a firm answer. ''I have little interest in things that do not concern me. Perhaps if I was the supreme ruler of the Elemental Nations I would wish for it to be the way I wanted. But I am not. So I have no interested in changing it.''
Madara seemed to be thinking about what Naruto had said for a moment before, he seemed to shrug. 'You are only saying this now Naruto, but when you grow...' he thought silently as he cancelled his genjutsu.
''I will be resting for a few days. This genjutsu puts a strain in my body and mind,'' Madara stated looking straight at Naruto.
''That is what always happens when you use that Genjutsu,'' Naruto stated. ''I am going to the training ground. I want to test a few jutsus and what I have learned so far in the real world,'' Naruto answered as he turned away from Madara. He walked away silently, without much in his mind. All he wanted for that time, he just wanted to test his jutsu.
Flashback End
Life was a fragile thing. It would easily be lost. But it was not that easy to gain. There was much process that had to be done in order to bring life into the world. All it took was a single pierce to the heart to take away the life of someone. He thought he would experience something entirely different, but there was nothing. He just felt cold, perhaps it was because he knew he would come back to life soon. If not, he would have had the life story playing dimly within his mind.
A second later, his eyes became lifeless and his heart stopped pumping blood around his body. Zetsu did not allow him to fall down. He caught him, not minding the blood that was staining his cloth. He removed the spike that he had pierced the blond with.
''What did you do?'' Sasuke yelled charging towards Zetsu. He was somewhat infuriated. He and Naruto may not be that close, but they lived together and had a nice working relationship together. Naruto was like the only family he had. He could not deny that. To see him killed just like that did not settle well with him. In fact, that thing seemed to be working with Naruto. Why would it kill him?
Zetsu quickly held Naruto's body as shield to stop Sasuke from attacking him. He had not been told of what had just happened. And he was not planning on informing the raven haired of all things. Well, it might be true that neither he nor Naruto were expecting his body to react this way at this time, but the plan had already been set.
''Why did you just kill him? Weren't you working with him? And who are you anyway?''
''He is not dead,'' Zetsu stated. That was hard to believe, especially with what he had done. But yet he said it in a firm tone. It was not like denial or anything. That was just the best way he could put it for Sasuke.
''What the hell? How can you say that?'' he looked dead to him. Even Kakuzu was now dead after that impressive jutsu from Naruto. Naruto could not have been pierced through the chest and still be alive. Even with the condition he had been in, it was not hard to believe that he was dead. His eyes also did not lie to him.
''He is just sleeping; he will be awake soon,'' Zetsu stated staring straight at Sasuke. He wanted the Uchiha to calm down. If he did not, he would leave him here. ''Go and take the Jinchuriki so we can get out of here before Kumo shinobi come here. I will explain things later,'' he did not plan on doing so. He would say something about Itachi. That would get the teens attention and occupy his mind for a while.
Sasuke stared at Zetsu for a few moments before nodding. He knew that should Kumo shinobi find them here, they would make much noise and suspect them for trying to capture Yugito even though there are Akatsuki members at the scene. Kumo and Konoha did not have the best of relations. The relationship between the two villages was somewhat unstable. If one did wrong, the two villages would certainly lock horns.
He grudgingly walked towards Yugito's unconscious body and picked her up before placing her on his shoulder. He walked calmly towards Zetsu, ''What about him?'' he asked looking at Kakuzu's corpse.
''I will handle it,'' Zetsu said. He would just take the head and take it and cash in the bounty himself. If he involved Guren at this matter, it would cause much trouble. People would easily connect the dots. He Walked over to the body and cut off the head. He took out a scroll and sealed it within. He had come prepared knowing that something like this would happen. Hidan's bounty was not worth much. He would leave it alone.
''Let us go,'' Zetsu stated calmly while carrying Naruto's body and his gunbai over his shoulder.
''Where are we going and what of Itachi?''
''We are going back to the fire country. There is an old Uchiha hideout that is close to the border,'' he paused for a moment. ''I will direct Itachi there. We can't stand here anymore. Kumo shinobi led by the Raikage himself are already on their way.''
Sasuke nodded and they hopped on the trees as they made their gateway. Still he was curious, ''How do you know that? You have been here all this time.''
''I have a clone in Kumo. It was watching over for things for me,'' Zetsu replied not even looking at the Uchiha. He was concentrated on getting Sasuke to the hideout so he could move out. He did not want Naruto's body to become cold.
Sasuke nodded. He was not too sure how that would work though, but he was not going to question that. He looked at Naruto. He was dead. ''Are you going to explain things?''
''Not here; we have to get the hideout first.''
Sasuke only increased his pace. Naruto was already dead, no matter how he acted; he could not bring him back. He just wanted to understand what had happened. Naruto did not appear to have been shocked at the ''betrayal''. He still had his impassive expression when the lights went out. So there had to be something going on he did not know.
''Who are you? You did not answer when I asked you earlier,'' Sasuke asked curiously. He was obviously not human. Even a child could tell that.
''Naruto calls me his trusted companion. Karin calls me Naruto's friend,'' Zetsu responded. ''If you do not want to die, you will keep my existence a secret.''
Sasuke shrugged off the last words. They meant nothing to him. ''No wonder Naruto is the way he is. If you are what he calls a friend, he cannot possibly understand how we behave and blend in nicely amongst his age group or other humans for that matter.''
''Are you saying that because Naruto has no trusted friend amongst others, he cannot blend in with the others?''
Sasuke nodded. ''Have you seen how he acts around other people?''
''What is wrong with it?'' He saw no wrong in the way Naruto was. The blond was cool just the way he was. If he there was something else to his personality, then something would have been wrong.
Sasuke decided it was best to keep his mouth shut about the matter. He did not expect Zetsu to respond with that type of question. Well that lasted only for a moment. ''Since when has Naruto been in contact with Itachi?''
''I would not exactly say they were in contact,'' Zetsu responded keeping his eyes on the road ahead. ''They first talked after the Sound/Sand invasion, and only spoke recently when Naruto was outside of Konoha.''
Sasuke nodded. But he kept the questions going. ''You said you would direct him to where we are going. How will you do that? Do you know where he is now?''
''You are asking too many questions,'' Zetsu stated eyes narrowing at Sasuke. ''It's becoming annoying.''
That shut up the Uchiha. He no longer asked questions; instead he chose to keep going forward. He was not going to be told twice that he was annoying. He knew enough about how one felt when annoyed by multiple questions. In his younger days, he was also mostly annoyed by questions asked to him by annoying fan girls. Who knew if Zetsu reacted the same way as Naruto when annoyed? It was best not to find out.
He was still concerned about the issue with Naruto though. But he had too much in his head to have that give him a headache. The fact that he was going to meet his brother and fight him was already enough for him. It was best for him to remain quiet and sort out his thoughts.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone