"What terrifying taijutsu!"
When Kakuzu and Hidan finally came to a halt, Kakuzu was shocked to discover that one of his masks had actually shattered.
With just a single blow—using nothing but taijutsu—he had lost one of his lives.
Since when did Konoha possess such a formidable young martial artist?
The secret ninjutsu he cultivated, Jiongu (Earth Grudge Fear), allowed him to acquire chakra of various natures by stealing the hearts of others.
He could hold up to five hearts—each corresponding to a different elemental affinity—enabling him to utilize ninjutsu of almost every nature.
At the same time, each heart represented a life.
Unless every single mask representing a heart was destroyed, he could not be killed.
Moreover, as long as a single heart remained, he could replenish his supply and restore his state of having five lives.
Yet, a mere roundhouse kick had cost him one of those lives.
His opponent's mastery of taijutsu was truly frightening.
"Damn it! I'm going to kill him—kill him! How dare he ruin my ritual and blaspheme Lord Jashin!"
Hidan, who had been used as a human shield, howled in rage.
Although his body was riddled with fractures and his internal organs had been ruptured, he acted as if nothing was wrong.
The power bestowed upon him by Jashin allowed him to survive even if his head were severed; if reattached to his body, it would heal on its own before long.
"Let's go!"
Without hesitation, Kakuzu grabbed Hidan and fled into the depths of the forest.
"Why are we running? Let's go back and kill that guy together—I want to use him for the ritual!"
Hidan, his body reduced to a mass of mangled flesh, screamed and shouted as Kakuzu hauled him along.
Kakuzu merely glanced at him and spat, "Idiot!"
If it had been just that young reinforcement, he might well have tried his luck again for the sake of the 35 million ryō bounty.
While the opponent's taijutsu was certainly formidable, his own specialty lay elsewhere— not in taijutsu, but in devastating elemental ninjutsu and even more powerful composite techniques.
If they were to truly go all out, he didn't think he would lose to that youth.
However, just after landing, he sensed a number of ninjas with significant chakra levels rushing toward his location.
They were undoubtedly reinforcements from Konoha.
Under these circumstances, attempting to press the attack to claim that 35-million-ryō bounty would be too risky.
The main issue was that Hidan's weakness had already been exposed; continuing the fight would make it easy for the enemy to counter him.
He loved money, certainly, but he wasn't a fool.
So, he made the decisive choice to retreat, taking Hidan with him.
"They ran off. Oh well—their skills weren't much to speak of anyway." Sensing the energy signatures of Kakuzu and Hidan rapidly receding, Goku didn't pay it much mind.
He had only stepped in because he saw an injustice being committed; since they were no longer intent on killing and had chosen to flee, he wasn't about to chase them down just to finish them off.
Besides, their brief clash suggested their strength was nothing special— it hadn't really sparked his fighting spirit.
Of course, it was possible they hadn't gone all out.
The old man who sold grilled fish had said that a ninja's greatest asset was ninjutsu, yet neither of those two had used any ninjutsu during the fight.
He wondered if their immortality and rituals counted as ninjutsu; they certainly seemed unique.
After all, if he had been stabbed that many times, he wouldn't have walked away completely unscathed.
Still, he merely found those traits interesting.
After all, a single Kamehameha would obliterate their entire bodies—rendering any immortality useless.
If they somehow survived that, he could just seal them away with the Evil Containment Wave, then fly his spaceship off the planet and toss them into deep space.
That was a trick he'd learned from Bai Yuekui.
The very night they scared off the Mana Civilization's expeditionary force, Bai Yuekui had discussed with him how to permanently finish off the Lord of Light and Shadow's spiritual entity.
She had ultimately suggested tossing the rice cooker containing the sealed entity straight into the sun to see what would happen.
So, the two of them took Goku's ship, the Ape God, to the edge of the sun, where Goku hurled the rice cooker into the solar inferno with all his might.
It turned out that even a spiritual entity would be utterly incinerated upon entering the sun.
"Mister, you don't look so good..."
Turning to look at Asuma lying on the ground, Goku realized the man was on the verge of death.
With injuries that severe, even his healing magic wouldn't be enough to save him.
His healing magic was fine for minor wounds, but for serious injuries, it could only offer temporary relief;
it was completely ineffective against a dying state.
Fortunately, he quickly came up with a solution. He took a Senzu Bean out of the box and flicked it straight into the mouth of the dying Asuma.
Asuma, whose consciousness was already fading, instinctively swallowed the bean.
Gulp!
A strange sound emanated from Asuma's body; his eyes widened sharply, and then—in a sudden, agile burst of energy—he sprang up from the ground.
Clenching his hands in disbelief, he touched his face; realizing he wasn't dreaming, he murmured:
"Incredible... simply incredible. I'm completely healed!"
Not only had his severe, life-threatening injuries vanished, but his chakra—which had been nearly depleted—was fully restored.
What was that thing he had just eaten? It was nothing short of a miraculous, life-saving elixir.
"Asuma Sarutobi of Konoha Village thanks you for saving my life!"
Asuma turned and bowed deeply to Goku, his face filled with gratitude.
The boy before him had not only helped drive off Kakuzu and Hidan of the Akatsuki organization but had also saved his life with that incredibly precious, miraculous medicine.
He had spared Kurenai—his childhood sweetheart—from losing her partner, and saved his unborn child from losing a father.
How could he not be grateful?
"Asuma-sensei!"
Just then, Shikamaru—limping along—and Izumo and Kotetsu—having finally caught their breath—hurried over.
Seeing Asuma completely unharmed, they stood there, dumbfounded.
"Konoha... are you a ninja from Konoha?"
Upon hearing this, Goku's eyes lit up.
"That's perfect! I'm heading to Konoha right now—could you take me along?"
He knew Konoha was to the north, but he didn't know its exact location.
If he veered even slightly off course, he might miss the village entirely and end up flying off to who-knows-where.
So, to be safe, following these Konoha ninja to the village was the most reliable option.
"Oh, right—hello there! My name is Son Goku." "
"Mr. Goku, taking you to Konoha is certainly fine; in fact, I've been wanting to treat you to a meal to thank you for saving my life."
Seeing Goku's innocent smile, Asuma hesitated only briefly before agreeing.
With the Akatsuki currently hunting down Tailed Beasts, Konoha was on high alert; bringing such a powerful ninja back to the village might seem ill-advised.
However, recalling that this guileless youth had just repelled the Akatsuki and saved their lives—and knowing that Konoha's location was hardly a secret—he decided to agree.
Still, out of the caution ingrained in an elite Jonin, he instinctively probed:
"May I ask if you are visiting Konoha to commission a mission?"
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