Ichi Kōtai no Jutsu ▻ Body Swap Technique
Mizuki appeared before Gatō and clamped a hand around his throat, lifting him as if he weighed nothing.
"Save me! Kill him! Hurry — save me!"
The samurai surged forward, blades flashing as they slashed at Mizuki. But he vanished with Gatō still in his grasp — leaving behind a carpet of explosive tags.
Boom!
The blast tore through them. Flesh and blood sprayed the air — dozens wiped out in an instant.
Gatō thrashed wildly, terror twisting his face.
"Spare me! Spare me! I have money — lots of money. Don't kill me. I'll give you fifty million ryō!"
Mizuki snorted, "Tch. Only that much? Not interested."
"E-eight… eighty million ryō!" Gatō blurted.
"Still not impressive." Mizuki set his free hand on Gatō's head and murmured, "Human Path…"
Kyūkon no Jutsu ▻ Absorption Soul Technique
Among the Six Paths of Pain, the Human Path could pry open memories — more efficient than even the Yamanaka clan's mind probe.
Information flooded Mizuki as he tore through Gatō's mind. He didn't care about the man's pathetic excuses; he cared about the money.
'Found it. No wonder this bastard's a tycoon in the shinobi world — he's sitting on an absurd fortune.'
Setting aside fixed assets, Gatō's cash alone exceeded three billion — nearly a hundred Asumas.
He didn't dare place it in any bank. Instead, he'd hidden it in a carefully chosen secret location. Besides himself, not even his wife knew where.
Now Mizuki did.
"Y-you… what did you do to me?" Gatō stammered.
Mizuki didn't answer. He simply tightened his grip — one sharp snap — and ended the man's life.
A scum who trafficked drugs and contraband, swallowed companies and even nations, and committed every kind of evil… killing him stirred not the slightest guilt.
With Hidan dealt with, Haku offered a quick thanks and slipped into the thick mist to help Zabuza.
The fog smothered the world. Even the Eternal Mangekyō and the Rinnegan couldn't pierce it — only wavering silhouettes drifted through the gray.
Kakuzu's strength was solidly Kage-level. Five lives. Ninjutsu of all five elements thrown out as casually as breathing. Zabuza and Haku couldn't get close; they were forced to rely on the mist and fight a drawn-out guerrilla battle. Yet to Kakuzu, it was little more than an annoyance.
Still, the fog cut both ways. His sight was crippled too, and he couldn't land a decisive blow.
"That useless Hidan." Kakuzu muttered, "Can't even deal with a brat. Fine — then I won't waste time."
The Fire Release mask and the Wind Release mask moved together, unleashing Fire Release: Intelligent Hard Work and Wind Release: Pressure Damage in perfect sync.
The techniques fused into one roaring storm.
Katon: Fūton: Enpū no Rappa ▻ Fire Release: Wind Release: Blazing Wind Wild Wave
A sea of flame erupted. The thick mist boiled away. Even when Zabuza poured in more chakra, his Hidden Mist Technique was chewed apart by the heat.
The fog scattered — and Kakuzu's vision returned.
Zabuza stood on the river's surface, hands flying through seals.
Ox → Monkey → Hare → Rat → Boar → Bird → Ox → Horse → Bird → Rat → Tiger…
"A Water Dragon Bullet Technique? Heh. Forty-four seals." Kakuzu's voice carried a lazy contempt, "Your casting speed is far too slow."
The Wind Release mask spat a compressed sphere of cutting wind and fired it at Zabuza. Zabuza slipped aside without breaking rhythm.
… Rat → Ox → Monkey → Bird → Yang Water → Rat → Boar → Bird
The forty-four seals clicked into place.
Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu ▻ Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique
Water spiraled up around him, gathering into a dragon that coiled overhead. At the same time, Haku appeared before Zabuza.
Hyōton: Tsubame Fubuki ▻ Ice Release: Swallow Snow Storm
Haku exhaled a flock of freezing ice birds. They dove into the water dragon and sealed it in an instant — turning it into an ice dragon.
Suiton: Hyōton: Hyōryū no Jutsu ▻ Water Release: Ice Release: Ice Dragon Technique
The ice dragon roared and surged toward Kakuzu, baring fangs and claws — moving with the agility of something alive.
The temperature dropped like a guillotine, as if the world had leapt from a tropical rainforest straight into Antarctic icefields. Where the dragon passed, even moisture in the air froze into tiny crystals. They drifted down like frost, scattering rainbow colors in the sunlight.
The entire dragon shimmered — brilliant, dazzling, beautiful.
"Damn — two artists." Mizuki breathed, eyes bright, "The visuals are insane… and the power's no joke either."
Even from hundreds of meters away, the cold bit into his skin. This kind of chill could freeze almost anything.
"This technique is… passable." Kakuzu said lightly.
The Fire Release mask opened its jaws and vomited flame. But the fire died before it could even reach the ice dragon, smothered by the sheer cold.
Kakuzu didn't flinch. Fire and wind combined again — Blazing Wind Wild Wave, once more.
Against such terrifying heat, the ice dragon finally began to yield. The air warmed. The surface crackled.
But it didn't melt at once. Ice Release was a Kekkei Genkai — its energy level far above ordinary nature transformations. Even a wind-fire combination wasn't enough to crush it immediately.
Still, no technique was limitless.
Kakuzu's masks didn't need seals. Wind and fire poured out in relentless waves — endless pressure, endless burn.
The ice dragon couldn't hold. It began to melt — yet the dragon didn't stop. The newly freed torrent kept charging, still carrying tremendous force.
The Water Release mask moved. A water dragon of similar size surged out to meet it.
The two collided — and canceled each other cleanly.
Standing on the river, Zabuza's expression remained carved from stone.
"Haku." He said, "Are you still holding back? He's not a good person. Your mercy isn't worth wasting on him."
Haku was too kind. Aside from his own father, he had never killed anyone. No matter the enemy, he always restrained himself.
"Zabuza-sama… he's too strong." Haku admitted, "We're not his match. You should go. I'll hold him off."
"You'll die."
Haku smiled faintly, "When I first met you, Zabuza-sama, I already knew. My greatest pursuit in this life… is to die for you."
Zabuza's voice stayed cold, "Then I'll grant your wish."
He turned and left — without hesitation.
Haku faced Kakuzu, resolve hardening.
"If you want to kill Zabuza-sama, you'll have to get past me. Until I die, you won't cross this wall."
River water surged up at his command and froze mid-rise. In moments, an ice wall more than a hundred meters long and over ten meters high erupted from the river.
Haku stood atop it, staring down at Kakuzu. Behind him, Zabuza's retreating figure vanished into the forest.
Beside Mizuki, Gaara's killing intent boiled.
"Why?" He rasped, "He's clearly not a match. He knows he'll die. So why stand in the way for someone named Zabuza?"
"Why?" Mizuki said calmly, "That's protection. That's love."
To Haku, Zabuza was everything.
His mother had been killed by his father and the villagers. His father had been killed by Haku himself. With everything torn away from him since childhood, he couldn't bear to lose Zabuza too. Even if it meant dying, he wanted Zabuza to live.
And though Zabuza treated him like a tool, Haku understood. Zabuza simply didn't know how to show it. The two of them had long depended on each other to survive.
Gaara's voice thickened with anger, "But Zabuza ran! Someone like that isn't worth loving — worth protecting!"
He thought of Yashamaru. He had loved him so much… so why had Yashamaru tried to assassinate him?
Even if his father had forced it — why hadn't he told Gaara the truth?
In that moment, he saw himself in Haku — and saw Yashamaru in Zabuza.
"Did he really run?" Mizuki's lips curved. He lifted a finger and pointed, "Look."
Gaara followed his gesture.
Zabuza — who had disappeared — was coming back.
The killing intent around Gaara faltered. Something heavy struck his chest.
"Zabuza-sama, you…"
"I raised you." Zabuza said, "You're my tool. I'm not going to watch you die. If we leave, we leave together."
Kakuzu let out a humorless sound, "Heh. Such boring emotions. Money is the only thing truly loyal. I'll kill the two of you first… then I'll kill those two over there watching. That white-haired one — if I'm not mistaken — is Mizuki, a Konoha missing-nin. His bounty at the exchange office is fifty million ryō. Even the leader couldn't catch him. Today, he dies by my hand."
It seemed Kakuzu had had enough. He went all out.
Zabuza and Haku were immediately driven back. The mask creatures hounded them relentlessly; they couldn't fight back at all.
Mizuki watched for a while, then decided it was time.
"If I step in now…" He mused, "It counts as saving their lives. Hopefully Zabuza won't be ungrateful."
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