To put it plainly, the Lightning Release: Lariat was an exceptionally devastating technique. Once a direct hit landed, it was almost universally fatal, unless the victim had immediate reinforcement from a high-caliber medical ninja.
Even Sasuke, after awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan, had been struck by this very move and was left on the absolute brink of death. At the time, Karin's healing alone wasn't enough; it was only because Jūgo was there to perform a cellular transfer that Sasuke survived at all.
Consequently, having seized the perfect window to deliver a ferocious, full-power blow directly to Kakuzu, Killer B naturally assumed the mercenary was finished. Furthermore, since Yugito was visibly in terrible shape, his immediate priority was to check on his comrade.
"Yo~ yeah! Yugito, what's the deal with you?" Killer B asked, stepping up to her side.
Yugito knew B inside out. As a fellow Jinchūriki, she was well aware that B was indisputably the strongest shinobi in Kumogakure beneath the Raikage himself, anchoring the village's absolute pinnacle of military might. By extension, his Lariat was a definitive finishing move.
She, too, believed that Kakuzu could not possibly have survived, regardless of his claims about possessing an immortal body.
In truth, her mind was simply too spent to recall Kakuzu's earlier boast about immortality; the severe trauma of her injuries had left her thoughts completely scattered.
This testament to Kakuzu's survival highlighted just how masterfully he managed his personal intelligence. Having roamed the shinobi world for decades, he had kept the mechanics of his abilities completely tightly wrapped. The vast majority of the ninja world had absolutely no idea that this man possessed multiple lives.
"Did you come all the way from the Valley?" Yugito managed to ask.
B rarely lived within the village proper, choosing instead to reside in isolation at the Valley of Clouds and Lightning. Even though he had long mastered his status as a Perfect Jinchūriki, he remained there most of the time under the strict orders of his brother, the Fourth Raikage, focusing entirely on honing his strength and further deepening his synchronization with the Eight-Tails, Gyūki.
Of course, he also frequently slipped out to hold impromptu rap concerts, even if they always ended in spectacular failure and resulted in him being dragged back by the Raikage for a severe thrashing.
"That's right." B paused his eccentric rhyming, his expression turning serious. "From the Valley, I spotted explosions and a massive fire engulfing the village, so I hurried over to investigate. I never expected to cross paths with you mid-battle. What exactly happened here?"
"I don't have the full picture either," Yugito explained, grimacing. "Just like you, I arrived at the village gates right after the chaos broke out, only to find two operatives from the Yorozuya forcing their way through the perimeter. I attempted to intercept them but failed. I pursued them to this location, where they left one man behind to hold the line. I was engaging him just now, that guy is exceptionally powerful."
"So, the upheaval inside the village was orchestrated by those two?" B's brow furrowed.
"What's wrong?" Yugito asked.
"One of them already escaped, and it's likely too late to track him down now. If I had known, I should have left the one here alive to secure intel on what they're actually planning," B muttered darkly.
Pausing for a brief moment, he waved his hand dismissively. "Forget it. Let's go inspect what's left of that guy."
With that, B led Yugito toward the shattered cliff face. However, as the two Jinchūriki approached the impact site, their expressions shifted.
"What is that?" B muttered, surprised.
Before them lay nothing but a shattered porcelain mask.
Where was the corpse?
The total absence of a body meant he wasn't dead. It was functionally impossible for an outside party to have extracted him under their noses, which meant this man had taken a maximum-output, point-blank Lightning Release: Lariat head-on and survived to walk away.
What kind of monstrous physical resilience is that?
In all his years as a shinobi, B had never witnessed such a phenomenon. A profound shock settled deep into his chest.
Yugito's expression contorted as memory suddenly flooded back, forcing a bitter curse from her lips. "Damn it! It's my fault... I completely forgot. The bastard explicitly claimed he had an immortal body. Dammit!"
Killer B stared at her, utterly bewildered.
You managed to forget a vital detail like that?!
If you had mentioned that five minutes ago, would I have stood around rapping with you? I would have beaten him into actual paste first!
However, looking at the severe burns covering her body and considering that she had never experienced a full-scale shinobi war, B found it understandable. Facing an elite mercenary of that caliber while lacking raw battlefield experience, it was perfectly normal for her to be completely overwhelmed and dazed by the assault.
Ultimately, B chose not to press the matter.
"An immortal body... the Yorozuya truly is a collection of absolute freaks. To think a person like that exists," B muttered, highly intrigued. Bending down, he scooped up a fragment of the shattered mask and tossed it to Yugito. "See if you can catch a scent. With injuries that severe, he couldn't have made it far."
Evidently, despite Kumogakure's continuous efforts to target the Yorozuya, their intelligence network regarding the organization remained severely outdated.
Within the entire structure of the Yorozuya... those who could claim true functional immortality numbered at least three or four. In fact, save for Jūzō, every prominent member possessed some form of existential cheat code.
Orochimaru was fundamentally unkillable; even after Itachi sealed him away within the Totsuka Sword, he eventually slipped back into existence completely unfazed. Sasori operated on the same principle; as long as his core of living flesh remained undamaged, he possessed an immortal vessel. And Diarmuid went entirely without saying...
Yugito caught the fragment of the mask, her features shifting slightly as she channeled Matatabi's chakra into her olfactory senses, taking a deep draft of the scent clinging to the porcelain.
Having locked the scent profile into her memory, Yugito closed her eyes, attempting to trace its vector through the surrounding air currents.
After a protracted silence, she opened her eyes, her expression exceptionally grim as she shook her head. "I've lost him. There's no trace."
Kakuzu had survived for so long in the brutal shinobi world by adhering to one absolute golden rule: absolute caution.
A man who had survived an assassination attempt on Hashirama and lived to tell the tale could never be simple. Furthermore, since crossing paths with Diarmuid, Kakuzu's overall combat capabilities had received a comprehensive, multi-faceted upgrade, elevating his power far beyond his historical parameters.
Even if he had been forced to face Killer B and a heavily injured Yugito simultaneously, Kakuzu was fully capable of trading blows. However, as for whether he could actually win... realistically speaking, he probably couldn't.
When Kakuzu had blindsided Yugito earlier, he had immediately deduced that her sense of smell was extraordinarily sharp, a sensory jutsu amplified by her Tailed Beast chakra.
Therefore, the moment he broke into a retreat, how could he possibly overlook that variable? There was no way he would leave a lingering scent trail on the shattered mask.
Furthermore, B's sudden Lariat had dealt a massive blow, instantly obliterating one of his hearts and costing him a full life.
Yet, despite losing an asset, Kakuzu harbored absolutely no desire to retaliate. Even though he felt he had enough reserves to continue the engagement, his mind remained perfectly cold and analytical. The moment he had been launched through the air, his brain was already processing multiple contingencies.
As a seasoned veteran of countless engagements, he understood perfectly that the moment an unexpected variable manifests on a battlefield, be it a shift in terrain or the arrival of enemy reinforcements, it fundamentally alters the paradigm of the clash.
Every crisis carries a hidden window of opportunity; the only question is whether you possess the clarity to seize it.
And right now, he had seized it perfectly.
Had Killer B not intervened, Kakuzu might have eventually neutralized Yugito, but it would have drawn out the encounter into a messy, prolonged affair.
Furthermore, Kakuzu's mind was meticulous. From the exact moment he volunteered to anchor the rear, his tactical calculus had already factored in the high probability of Kumogakure reinforcements arriving. It was entirely logical; after all, the entire reason they were extracting themselves was based on that exact deduction.
Therefore, encountering reinforcements was a baseline certainty.
Because of this, Kakuzu had mapped out multiple operational details from the start. Had the reinforcement been anyone other than Killer B, Kakuzu still would have utilized the disruption to engineer his escape. Even if he had anticipated the ambush, he would have intentionally chosen to 'take the hit,' using the kinetic displacement to open up distance. The split-second his attacker relaxed their guard, assuming the target was neutralized by a fatal blow, would provide the perfect window to slip away entirely.
Indeed, the old fox Kakuzu had calculated this from the very beginning.
The only true deviation from his plan was that he genuinely hadn't perceived Killer B's approach. He hadn't faked taking the hit; he had legitimately had an entire life torn from him.
Fortunately, he possessed a surplus of lives. Otherwise, this venture might have truly been his last.
…
Meanwhile, within a pre-established safehouse prepared long before the operation commenced, Jūzō set the scroll for the Heavenly Transfer Technique firmly onto a wooden table.
The location wasn't a standard safehouse; it was merely a secluded cave hidden deep within a desolate wilderness, masked by a concealment barrier that rendered it invisible to ordinary eyes.
The plan dictated that once Kabuto successfully completed his extraction, he would rendezvous here with them before they executed a collective withdrawal back to the Land of Rain.
However, Kabuto had yet to arrive, and Jūzō was rapidly losing his patience. The moment he set the scroll down, he pivoted, preparing to retrace his steps and reinforce Kakuzu.
Just as he stepped beyond the perimeter of the barrier, two figures materialized through the brush, hurrying toward the cave. It was Kabuto alongside his subordinate, the informant Hanare.
"Jūzō-senpai!" Kabuto's expression brightened with visible relief upon spotting him. The mission had evidently concluded successfully.
"You came at the perfect moment," Jūzō said flatly. "The Heavenly Transfer Technique scroll is inside. Grab it immediately, secure the assets, and return to Amegakure to deliver them to the boss."
Kabuto froze, instantly reading the underlying implication in his words. "Jūzō-senpai, you aren't withdrawing with us? Where is Kakuzu-senpai?"
"The old man ran into the Two-Tails Jinchūriki," Jūzō replied, his voice heavy. "He stayed behind to anchor the rear so I could secure the scroll. I'm heading back to extract him."
Kabuto went silent for a beat before stating calmly, "That is fundamentally an unwise choice, Jūzō-senpai."
Jūzō stared into Kabuto's eyes, maintaining a long, heavy silence before a rough laugh broke from his lips. "Of course it isn't a wise choice. But then again, I've never been accused of being the sharpest tool in the shed, have I? For a guy like me to make an unwise choice... it's perfectly in character, Kabuto."
With that, Jūzō clapped a heavy hand onto Kabuto's shoulder, stepping past him without a backward glance. His pace accelerated instantly, his form blurring as he vanished into the dense wilderness within a few short leaps.
Kabuto turned back, his gaze lingering on the empty forest where the swordsman had disappeared. His expression turned distinctly complex.
His analytical mind found it difficult to comprehend such irrational loyalty... yet, a strange, inexplicable part of him wished he could possess that same raw conviction.
"Chief... what... what should we do?" Hanare asked, her voice laced with confusion.
Weren't we supposed to return home together?Why are we the only two left?
Kabuto retracted his gaze, letting out a sharp sigh. "What else can we do? We proceed. Secure the Heavenly Transfer Technique and deliver the assets back to Diarmuid-sama."
"But... what about Kakuzu-sama and Jūzō-sama?" Hanare hesitated.
"What can I do about them? Do you truly believe I command the authority to dictate their movements? I lack the standing to interfere," Kabuto replied with a trace of helplessness. After a short pause, he continued, "If fortune favors them, perhaps Jūzō-senpai will successfully link up with Kakuzu-senpai and execute a clean extraction. If things take a turn for the worse, they might face capture, which remains an acceptable contingency, as Diarmuid-sama will undoubtedly orchestrate a rescue operation. The absolute worst-case scenario is that they fall in battle, but that is entirely beyond our capacity to alter. Do not waste time. Prepare for immediate withdrawal!"
On the other side of the sector, Kakuzu was making steady progress on his escape route. His features remained perfectly serene, as though losing two of his lives was a matter of total indifference.
In truth, from his perspective, it genuinely was a minor inconvenience. Once he returned to headquarters, he could simply harvest two fresh hearts with the appropriate elemental affinities to replenish his stock.
After running for roughly fifteen minutes, Kakuzu checked his pace, allowing his breathing to normalize. Closing his eyes, he unfurled his chakra sensory network, seamlessly blending it with his Observation Haki as the invisible pulse swept across the surrounding landscape.
"It seems they didn't pursue... Hm? Someone is approaching..." Kakuzu opened his eyes, a faint, amused smirk breaking across his features. "Ah... it's that idiot. I suppose he possesses a shred of conscience after all."
He remained stationary, waiting patiently. Two minutes later, Jūzō materialized through the brush, the massive Executioner's Blade slung over his shoulder as his eyes locked onto Kakuzu.
"You're actually still breathing, you old fossil?" Jūzō barked out immediately. "It looks like I wasted a trip. I won't have to scrape your remains off a rock after all."
"It sounds to me like you're seeking to die, brat," Kakuzu fired back instantly. "Did your minuscule brain completely forget that I possess an immortal body?"
———————
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over here ——— pa-tre-on.c-om/AlexandrusTL [remove the hyphen for normal access]