The riverbank went quiet in an instant. Only the rushing water and Fu's muffled sobs remained.
Hidan shouldered his scythe and strolled over to his partner. "Hey, Kakuzu, you moved too fast. I haven't had my fun yet!"
Kakuzu glanced at him, then looked at Fu. The girl sat frozen on the ground, trembling as she held Kōga's dead body.
"Mission objective: captured."
He stepped toward her. As the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki, Fu had been overly protected by Takigakure. She was so naive that she barely reacted to the deadly crisis.
Then, countless black, slimy tentacles burst from Kakuzu's sleeves...the Earth Grudge Fear.
They swarmed Fu and wrapped tightly around her whole body.
Kakuzu's cold voice cut through the air. "…Success."
"Tch. Boring." Hidan curled his lip as he watched Fu get completely bound in layers of black tentacles. The mission had ended too easily. He was deeply disappointed.
But then, it was as if Lord Jashin had heard his thoughts.
"Guh… Arghhh!"
A roar exploded from the writhing mass of black tentacles.
"Hm?" Kakuzu's eyes narrowed. The tentacles binding Fu began to bulge violently, the prisoner inside struggling frantically.
Rip! Dark red chakra surged from the gaps between the tentacles like a volcanic eruption!
An inhuman roar shook the riverbank. The shockwave sent sand and stones flying everywhere. The black tentacles snapped apart, shattering into pieces that scattered in all directions.
"Oho?" Facing the violent blast, Hidan dropped his lazy expression and opened his eyes wide.
As the dust cleared a little, the figure in the center of the dark red chakra became clear. Fu was completely wrapped in bubbling, solid chakra. Most terrifying of all...six tails made purely of chakra swayed wildly behind her. Each flick made the heart pound.
Partial Tailed Beast Transformation. Six tails… she was on the verge of a full rampage.
"Is this… a Tailed Beast rampage?" Kakuzu's voice finally turned serious. He quickly stepped back and started to take off his Akatsuki cloak. He was ready to go all out.
"Hahahaha!" Hidan was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing with excitement. He stared at the dangerous figure, a fierce gleam in his eyes.
"Great! This is more like it! Now this is a worthy offering for Lord Jashin! Kakuzu, let me handle her!"
Kakuzu glanced at the eager Hidan and calmly assessed the situation. "Don't get careless, Hidan. A rampaging Jinchuriki's destructive power is on another level."
Hidan ignored the warning. His eyes were locked on the figure radiating violent chakra. "Lord Jashin will love this sacrifice!"
Laughing crazily, he brandished his three-bladed scythe and prepared to charge forward.
Just then, the battlefield shifted. Without any warning, the ground shook violently. The sandy earth beneath Kakuzu's feet and the rocky beach next to Hidan exploded at the same time!
Countless sharp wooden spikes burst from the ground, shooting upward much faster than ordinary ninjutsu.
"Wood Release: Cutting Technique!"
"What?!" Kakuzu's eyes went wide.
His years of combat experience gave him an instinctive warning of danger, but this ambush came too fast and too stealthy. He couldn't react in time. He never expected anyone else to be nearby.
Squelch! A wooden spike shot up from the shadows under his feet and pierced clean through his left chest... the spot where his original heart was.
"Ugh!" Kakuzu's body jolted violently as he coughed up a spray of blood.
But this was only the start.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Several muffled thuds echoed from inside his body in quick succession.
The spike that stabbed his chest had splintered the moment it entered, splitting into thinner, sharper spikes that shot out wildly in all directions from within him!
"Argh!" Even someone as cold as Kakuzu couldn't help but cry out in pain. He felt it clearly, the three remaining hearts stored inside his body had been completely shredded in an instant by the blooming wooden spikes.
The icy touch of death had never felt so close.
If Kakuzu took such a heavy blow, Hidan... who was weaker to begin with suffered even more. His attention had been completely on the rampaging Fu, leaving him totally defenseless against the attack from below.
A wooden spike burst from the rubble, thrusting upward and piercing hard into his stomach. The sheer force lifted his whole body off the ground.
"Huh...?" The wild laugh on Hidan's face froze. He looked down, staring in disbelief at the blood-soaked wooden tip sticking out of his belly.
Crack! The spike exploded violently inside him.
Countless sharp wooden branches... like a cruel torture device, burst out from the wound and tore apart his internal organs.
His body was instantly mangled, spraying blood and shredded flesh onto the ground.
"Damn… it… that hurts so much!" Hidan's eyes bulged. His body convulsed as he hung pinned in mid-air by the wooden spike, unable to move.
In just one exchange, two S-rank rogue ninjas of the Akatsuki were torn apart by a sudden, devastating Wood Release ambush.
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