Kakuzu took a deep breath.
He raised both hands, and the charred tendrils began to grow back.
Black threads extended from the edges of the wound. Within just a few breaths, only a shallow scar remained.
At the center of the scar, something bulged faintly beneath the skin, like a flattened face.
Kiyohara raised a brow slightly.
There was now a face on Kakuzu's chest.
Calling it a face wasn't quite accurate. It was more like the outline of facial features.
Its eyes were tightly shut, and its lips were pressed together. It was clearly just decoration.
'So he transplanted Hashirama cells.'
Kiyohara thought to himself.
Generally speaking, anyone who transplanted Hashirama cells would grow an extra set of Hashirama's facial features somewhere on their body.
"Heh. So you noticed after all?"
Kakuzu sensed Kiyohara's gaze, lowered his head to glance at the "face" on his own chest, then looked up again, the corner of his mouth twitching.
"Hashirama cells."
Kakuzu even took the initiative to explain.
"The First Hokage's power really is formidable. It's a shame I never managed to obtain his heart."
There was a trace of regret in Kakuzu's voice as he spoke.
He seemed genuinely sorry that he had never been able to transplant Senju Hashirama's heart.
Just transplanting a small amount of Hashirama cells had already caused his chakra reserves to surge greatly.
And he hadn't even fully integrated them yet.
If he could obtain Senju Hashirama's heart, there was no doubt it would bring Kakuzu an enormous boost.
Hearing Kakuzu's words, Kiyohara couldn't help but smile.
No, seriously? Was he dreaming?
Kakuzu wanted Senju Hashirama's heart?
Even Uchiha Madara had only managed to bite off a small piece of Hashirama's flesh by faking his death. And Kakuzu wanted Hashirama's heart?
"In theory, your technique really can steal anyone's heart. Unfortunately, you don't have the strength for it."
Kiyohara shook his head.
That could be considered one of Earth Grudge Fear's useless aspects.
It wasn't very useful in high-end battles. But without absorbing the hearts of powerful people, it couldn't help him fight high-end battles either.
And whether it could even handle an Ōtsutsuki heart was still unknown.
The Ōtsutsuki weren't human. They were aliens with horns growing from their heads.
"Hmph. In the past, maybe it really was impossible. But your heart seems pretty good too."
Kakuzu smiled.
A large number of black tendrils spread from his body again. The eight thick bundles of black threads rose once more, slowly swaying behind him like eight swimming black snakes.
The next moment, all eight black lines shot toward Kiyohara at once.
They instantly wrapped around Kiyohara, their barbed surfaces piercing into his clothes as they tried to stab into his skin.
Seeing this, Kakuzu felt a surge of joy.
Once his Earth Grudge Fear tendrils caught Kiyohara, they would surely create plenty of opportunities.
But Kiyohara did not act as Kakuzu wished. He grabbed the black threads wrapped around him and yanked hard.
The force of that pull exceeded Kakuzu's expectations.
The black threads were torn off Kiyohara's body, and even Kakuzu, who was connected at the source, was affected.
Part of the black threads were ripped straight from Kakuzu's shoulder, taking a large chunk of flesh and broken black tendrils with them.
Blood instantly sprayed from Kakuzu's shoulder. He gave a muffled grunt and staggered two steps back.
He lowered his head and could see the pale bone and dark red muscle beneath his shoulder.
"Hard to imagine that this is strength a human can possess."
Kakuzu was shocked inwardly.
He hurriedly controlled the Lightning Release mask monster on his back to open its mouth. A beam of blue lightning shot from its mouth, swelling in midair into a twisting lightning spear.
The spear was as thick as an arm, its surface crackling with countless small arcs of electricity as it shot straight toward Kiyohara.
Lightning Release: False Darkness!
Kiyohara raised his right hand.
Black lightning gathered in his palm, finally taking the form of a black panther.
Lightning Release: Black Panther!
The black panther leaped from his palm, its body stretching into a straight line as it pounced toward the lightning spear.
Blue arcs and black lightning intertwined. Shattered stones on the ground were lifted by static electricity, hovering in the air before being crushed into powder by the following shockwave.
The mouth formed from black lightning opened, revealing an even deeper darkness within, and bit down on the middle of the lightning spear.
Boom!
The lightning spear snapped in half.
Immediately after, Kiyohara's black lightning continued forward without losing momentum.
Kakuzu's expression changed.
He dodged sideways, but the black lightning panther was too fast and struck him directly.
Black arcs crawled from his shoulder across his entire left arm.
His left arm instantly lost all feeling, and Kakuzu spat out a mouthful of blood.
"!"
Kakuzu gritted his teeth and raised his right arm.
The Wind Release mask monster opened its mouth, spitting out a high-pressure wind sphere.
Wind Release: Pressure Wind!
The high-pressure sphere spun rapidly through the air, sweeping up broken stone and scorched earth to form a gray-white vortex.
Golden ribs once again emerged around Kiyohara, enveloping his entire body.
The airflow was split in half, diverting past both sides of Kiyohara and carving two deep trenches into the ground behind him.
Kakuzu's pupils contracted slightly.
Susanoo!
A massive golden skeletal hand extended from the ribcage and smashed toward Kakuzu.
Kakuzu's body reacted faster than his mind.
He kicked off the ground, launching himself to the left.
Almost at the same instant, the golden skeletal hand clenched into a fist and struck the spot where he had just been standing.
Boom!
The ground looked as if it had been struck by a meteor. It caved downward around the fist mark, cracks spreading outward as shattered stones were blasted into the air.
The shockwave, wrapped in dust, slammed into Kakuzu's back. He used that force to shoot forward several more meters, his heart pounding with lingering fear.
If he had been even a step slower, Kakuzu estimated that half his body would have been gone.
"Good reaction."
Kiyohara said calmly.
Gold Dust flowed out from the gourd at his waist. In the blink of an eye, it gathered into a golden torrent and surged toward Kakuzu like a collapsing sky.
Magnet Release: Gold Dust Imperial Burial!
Kakuzu's pupils shrank to pinpoints.
He turned and ran, his legs stomping deep footprints into the ground, but the gold Dust was even faster.
The golden grains spread from his heels, climbing up his body and dragging him down like quicksand.
Rumble, rumble, rumble.
Kakuzu was directly buried beneath it.
Deep below the gold Dust, Kakuzu was unwilling to accept this.
He had lived for decades, from an elite of Takigakure to a rogue ninja, from attempting to assassinate the First Hokage to becoming a man with a bounty worth tens of millions.
But now, he had been suppressed so easily by Kiyohara.
Konan hovered dozens of meters up in the air, looking down at the battlefield below.
Her paper wings flapped gently behind her. A few paper fragments at the edges, curled by the heat wave, broke off from the tips of the wings, spun a few times in the air, and were blown away by the wind.
Kakuzu had lost too quickly.
From the start of the fight until now, only a few minutes had passed.
This man, known within Akatsuki as someone who had lived in the same era as Uchiha Madara, had lasted less than three minutes in front of Kiyohara.
And Kiyohara hadn't even used Sage Mode.
Konan remembered what Nagato had once said.
He had said Kiyohara was dangerous, not because of his current strength, but because of the speed at which he grew.
Every time they met, he would be stronger than the last time. No one knew exactly how much stronger, but the difference could always be felt.
Like a tree. It didn't move while you watched it, but the moment you turned away, it had already grown taller.
Konan took a deep breath, suppressed those thoughts, and continued watching.
Buried beneath the gold Dust, Kakuzu raised the Wind, Fire, and Lightning mask monsters from his shoulders and back. They crawled along his arm and finally merged together on his right arm.
The three masks crowded together. One faced forward, one left, and one right. Their mouths opened at the same time, revealing pitch-black hollows within.
Fine beads of sweat seeped from Kakuzu's forehead.
Charging three mask monsters at once meant he had to output three different chakra natures at the same time, while also making them converge at one point without canceling each other out.
He had practiced this technique for a long time, but had never used it in actual combat, because the risk was too high.
But now…
To escape this place and defeat Kiyohara, this was his only choice.
Earth Grudge Fear: Final Shot!
Boom!
Chakra surged from three hearts at the same time, flowing through the black tendrils into the mouths of the three mask monsters.
Between the three masks, a beam of chakra condensed and tore through the sea of gold Dust.
Whether gold Dust, trees, or rocks, everything along its path was shredded by the terrifying force.
Kiyohara looked at the beam rushing straight toward him.
He refined Storm Release chakra, condensing it in the air into a flowing bolt of lightning.
It was like a river made of electric arcs, flowing through midair.
Storm Release: Demon Dragon Storm!
Boom!
In the sky, Konan only felt an invisible pressure explode from the point of impact, like a giant unseen hand pushing her backward.
The paper wings behind her flapped violently. Paper fragments along the edges were shaken loose and scattered in all directions. By the time she steadied herself, she had already been pushed back several dozen meters.
In her field of vision, a blue-white lightning dragon and that beam were locked in a stalemate.
Kakuzu's right arm trembled violently.
He could feel his chakra draining at an astonishing speed.
Three hearts beat at once, pumping every bit of chakra they could squeeze out into that beam, but it was still being pushed back, forced backward by that lightning dragon.
Blood seeped from the corners of Kakuzu's mouth, his nostrils, and the corners of his eyes all at once. His chakra pathway system clearly couldn't withstand such consumption.
"Cough…"
He coughed up a mouthful of blood.
The blood fell onto the scorched earth by his feet, kicking up a small puff of dust.
"Stop! I'll give you Earth Grudge Fear!"
Kakuzu hurriedly shouted, afraid Kiyohara would keep going without restraint.
Seeing this, Kiyohara stopped feeding chakra into the Storm Release ninjutsu.
The lightning dragon formed from Storm Release chakra quickly disappeared from the air.
"…I'm done fighting."
Kakuzu also stopped releasing his technique.
His whole body hurt now, and one of his hearts had even been damaged from overloading too much.
After this, he would have to find a way to steal a corresponding heart again to restore his strength.
"I lost. You really are strong."
Kakuzu now understood why Kiyohara's name had shaken the shinobi world.
This level of power truly made people feel despair.
And from beginning to end, Kiyohara had not shown any real initiative in attacking.
If Kiyohara had taken the initiative to attack, Kakuzu probably would have lost even faster.
What frustrated Kakuzu was that he had clearly transplanted Hashirama cells and strengthened himself once, yet this was still the result.
If he hadn't followed "Uchiha Madara's" suggestion and transplanted the Hashirama cells, his loss would have been even uglier.
"Paper and pen."
Seeing Kakuzu admit defeat, Kiyohara threw over a blank scroll and a brush.
Kakuzu: "…"
He looked at the scroll that had landed accurately in his hand and, for a moment, didn't know what to say.
Then Kakuzu began writing.
Before long, he had written down the complete secret technique of Earth Grudge Fear and tossed it back to Kiyohara.
"Now recite it for me."
To be safe, Kiyohara intended to have Kakuzu recite it as well.
After all, this was not something he had personally extracted through genjutsu interrogation.
Kakuzu had now seen just how cautious Kiyohara was. He began reciting it.
Kiyohara confirmed that not a single word was wrong.
But after thinking about it, he still used genjutsu on Kakuzu.
"!"
Invisible eye power spread outward.
Caught off guard, Kakuzu was instantly hit by Kiyohara's Mangekyō genjutsu.
"Was it necessary to go that far?"
Mangekyō Kiyohara floated out from Kiyohara's body.
He had little interest in the outside world. Most of the time, he lay like a corpse inside the urn and rarely came out.
"He transplanted Hashirama cells. There may be variables."
Kiyohara shook his head.
On this point, Kakuzu was already different from the original.
No matter how cautious Kiyohara was, it was not excessive.
Hearing that, Mangekyō Kiyohara had nothing more to say.
After that, Kiyohara interrogated Kakuzu about Earth Grudge Fear once more, and also took the opportunity to extract information about some other ninjutsu.
Only after confirming there were no problems did Kiyohara release the genjutsu.
The emptiness in Kakuzu's eyes gradually cleared.
He immediately understood that Kiyohara had interrogated him with genjutsu.
Unfortunately, the situation was stronger than he was. He could only tuck his tail between his legs and pretend he didn't know.
Soon, Kakuzu supported himself against the ground and stood up, his bones cracking several times.
He looked thinner than before, because most of the black tendrils inside his body had been consumed during the battle.
"I'm leaving."
Kakuzu turned and walked toward the other end of the valley.
This clash with Kiyohara had sounded a warning bell for Kakuzu.
'A heart like that…'
At the same time, Kakuzu had begun to have certain ideas about Kiyohara's heart.
Rumors outside said that Kiyohara was proficient in all seven chakra natures and was one of the ninja in the world who had mastered the most ninjutsu.
If he obtained Kiyohara's heart, could it count as several hearts in one?
But very quickly, Kakuzu gave a bitter smile and shook his head.
Kiyohara had only used the basic form of Susanoo. What was Kakuzu supposed to use against him?
Having once fought Senju Hashirama, Kakuzu had also been fortunate enough to witness Uchiha Madara fighting in his youth.
That towering blue giant had left a deep impression on Kakuzu.
Before long, his figure grew fainter and fainter in the valley, finally disappearing from sight.
Konan descended from the sky.
The paper wings behind her broke apart into countless paper fragments and scattered with the wind.
She stood beside Kiyohara, her gaze landing on the scroll he had just obtained.
"Earth Grudge Fear?"
"Mm."
Kiyohara put the thing into a sealing scroll and patted the dust from his hands.
Konan looked at him, hesitating to speak.
That cool face of hers held a somewhat complicated expression.
"What is it?"
Kiyohara asked.
"Nothing."
Konan shook her head, paused, then added:
"I just feel… you're stronger than I imagined."
Kiyohara smiled.
"Of course. Otherwise, how could I be your Hokage?"
Konan's brows furrowed slightly, and she corrected him:
"You are not my Hokage."
Kiyohara didn't respond. He only looked at her.
Being stared at by him made Konan feel somewhat uncomfortable, and she turned her face away.
"Let's go."
She turned and walked toward the valley exit. After a few steps, she realized Kiyohara had not followed. She stopped and looked back.
"Aren't you leaving?"
Kiyohara stood where he was and reached out to her.
"I'll take you."
Konan looked at that hand and was silent for a while.
Then she walked over and stood beside him.
"No need to hold my waist."
Konan emphasized deliberately.
She suddenly realized, to her astonishment, that Kiyohara was the man she had had the most physical contact with.
Even Yahiko and Nagato combined had not had this much contact with her.
"Then how am I supposed to use Flying Thunder God?"
Kiyohara asked back.
Konan opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but felt that nothing she could say was quite right.
She bit her lower lip, hesitated for a moment, then still reached out and placed her hand on Kiyohara's arm.
Kiyohara's hand landed on her waist.
Konan's body stiffened slightly.
She could still feel the position of Kiyohara's five fingers, just touching the edge of her belt.
The space around them began distorting instantly.
In the next moment, the two of them were standing in an open area on Konoha's back mountain.
In the distance, the outline of the shrine maiden temple could be seen. Workers were busy on scaffolding, and the clanging sounds carried over from several hundred meters away.
"We're here."
"Let go."
Konan urged Kiyohara.
"Wait a second."
Kiyohara used his other hand to take a glass bottle from inside his clothes and handed it over.
Konan raised her head and accepted the bottle.
It wasn't large, just the right size to hold in her palm.
Even without removing the stopper, a faint medicinal fragrance drifted out.
"This is…"
"The first batch of medicine."
Kiyohara said.
"It can alleviate Nagato's symptoms, make him suffer less, and strengthen his vitality. It can't cure him completely, but the good thing is that it can let him avoid being stuck with those tubes all day for a short time."
Konan's fingers tightened around the glass bottle.
"Thank you."
Konan said solemnly.
"No need to thank me."
Kiyohara waved his hand.
"I naturally do what I promise."
Konan carefully tucked the glass bottle into her clothes, then raised her head and looked at Kiyohara.
Then she suddenly remembered something, and her brows furrowed slightly.
"Just now… you kept holding me just to take this out?"
Kiyohara thought for a moment, then nodded.
That was a lie.
He simply thought Konan smelled rather nice, so he had found an excuse to hold her a little longer.
"It was more convenient that way."
Konan looked at him, seeming like she wanted to say something, but in the end she only gave a soft snort.
"Next time, you can say so first."
She turned and walked down the mountain.
After a few steps, she stopped again.
"Thank you."
She said it without looking back, then began to hide herself in the shadows.
Only this time, as she concealed herself, Konan noticed that her heartbeat was a little faster than usual.
It had to be because of Flying Thunder God!
Every time they teleported, he had to hold her. Establishing a link after chakra passed through physical contact was simply one of the drawbacks of the Flying Thunder God Technique.
She had just been teleported too many times, and her body had grown accustomed to the sensation of space twisting. So her heartbeat speeding up was only an aftereffect of teleportation. It had nothing to do with anything else.
That was how Konan comforted herself.
...…
After returning from the border of the Land of Fire, Kiyohara's days returned to normal.
Every morning, he went to the Hokage building to handle government affairs. In the afternoon, he went to the training grounds to cultivate or teach his disciples. At night, he returned to Tsunade's home for dinner.
Occasionally, he went to the orphanage to check on the children. Occasionally, he went to Konoha Hospital to chat with Nohara Rin for a while. Occasionally, around dusk, he stopped by Yūhi Kurenai's home to sit for a bit.
The Yamanaka clan's secret techniques had also been completely mastered by Kiyohara.
When he fought Kakuzu last time, he had only known a few of them.