Chapter 55: Hunter of Hunters (7)
Silence. In this dark night where not even a single bug dared to crawl by, here stood one man, Kakuzu, with his hands trembling from an uncontrollable anger.
His green eyes flashed murderously as the smoke, which was created from Akashi's shadow clone being dispelled, slowly ascended up in his view.
"...I admit," Kakuzu muttered darkly, "I surely didn't expect a shadow clone, of all possibilities."
Shadow clone. Of course Kakuzu would know what technique this was—a high-risk and low-return clone technique that is impractical during a fight, unless the opponent possessed dojutsus such as the infamous Sharingan and Byakugan. The fact that Hyuga shinobi of the Konoha squad could see through Akashi's Shadow Clone, meant that the latter's copied Shadow Clone technique was incomplete, being unable to replicate the specific details.
Nonetheless, unlike Akashi, Kakuzu never questioned—the nature of chakra itself. The memory-returning effect of the Shadow Clone technique was something that was unknown by many, due to the heavy-cost of Shadow Clone technique restricting its usage.
'Are you mocking me, Akashi?'
Therefore, Kakuzu could only reach such a conclusion, that Akashi already had the information of who and where he was—further fuelling his rage.
And he needed somewhere to vent, before he began his hunt.
"Don't you dare move... even a single step."
From afar, three Konoha shinobis tensed up as Kakuzu's blazing green eyes turned at them, who were hidden behind the bushes.
Hyuga shinobi slowly raised up his trembling hand, before forming a number 3. The spiky black and Dai looked at his hand while sweating profusely in nervousness.
"I've gotten myself quite an embarrassment just now, and to have a living to spread the news—what will my reputation become? It is directly linked to profits. Wealth dictates the world, and nothing is more valuable than money itself."
Hyuga shinobi folded his ring finger, forming number 2.
Kakuzu began his walk at the bushes, slowly but with an oppressing demeanour that terrified the Konoha squad to the core.
Hyuga shinobi folded his ring finger, forming number 1.
Crack—
Kakuzu's hands clenched then loosened repeatedly, generating the cracking sounds of the knuckles. His walk continued, and the Konoha squad could see the thin, black-like tendrils slowly revealing themselves out of Kakuzu's sleeves.
The spiky black took out a kunai and held it with his right hand, in a reverse grip. Dai clenched his fists hard, with his eyes showing determination.
Hyuga folded his middle finger, forming the number 0.
Swoosh!
Immediately after, the three Konoha shinobis revealed themselves from the bushes, jumping backward as the spiky black threw the kunai in his hand at Kakuzu.
"Formation C!!" Hyuga cried as the three of them were airborne, with his Byakugans in use.
Kakuzu effortlessly dodged the kunai thrown at him by tilting his head, before raising his left hand up at the spiky black.
The spiky black attempted to counter with a ninjutsu technique of his own, but all of a sudden, Kakuzu's left arm was ripped apart from his shoulder, with the black tendrils connected the severed limb to his body.
Kakuzu's detached left arm shot out to the spiky black and before the Konoha squad could react, pulled him back to Kakuzu, whose right hand's colour has considerably darkened.
"Earth Release: Iron Fist."
Kakuzu's darkened right hand then effortlessly penetrated through the spiky black's neck, severing the shinobi's head from his body in a single go.
"S***," Hyuga cursed in a trembling tone, before shouting at Dai,
"RUN!!!"
Dai, although feeling guilty for not having acted fast enough to save the spiky black, nonetheless turned around and began to dash away from Kakuzu as fast as possible.
But this was Hyuga's catch. Having realized that the enemy in front of them is none other than Kakuzu the Immortal, he decided that having all of them survive will be impossible. Since Dai has an unstable chakra control, Hyuga thought that if they were to run away at the same time, Dai would fall behind, causing Kakuzu to target Dai first.
However,
"Byakugan..."
Hyuga's eyes widened in panic as Kakuzu's voice was heard from his back all of a sudden,
"Believe it or not, it is the first time I've seen a pair of them," Kakuzu licked his lips, having temporarily forgotten his rage in front of a potential profit, "for some reason, all corpses of Hyuga that I've found in the past, had their—"
CLANG!
Hyuga swiftly turned around and slammed his palm onto Kakuzu's exposed torso, in order to launch a surprise attack and hope for his survival. However, instead of the successful blow, a clanging sound was heard, indicating that Kakuzu had some sort of defense to prevent the damage.
Kakuzu then grabbed Hyuga's exposed wrist, preventing the latter from getting away from him.
Dai, having seen this situation, stopped his run.
"HELP!!" Hyuga desperately cried, "Dai!! HELP ME—AHHHH!!!"
Dai's expression darkened. He gritted his teeth as Kakuzu instantly cut one of Hyuga's arms.
"Eyes are all I need," said Kakuzu.
"Hang on! I'll—" Dai lowered his stance, ready to battle Kakuzu for the sake of his teammate. However, he was then interrupted by the sudden appearance of...
"—Leader?!"
The Konoha squad's leader, who was missing a right leg and a left arm. The left side of his face was burned beyond restoration, and there was a huge bleeding hole on his stomach; it was a miracle that he managed to reach all the way here in that state.
Tap. The leader managed to take a single step forward to Dai. He then whispered,
"...Run."
before collapsing to the ground with a thud—dead.
"AHHHHH!!!"
As Dai was rendered petrified, Kakuzu cut off the other arm of Hyuga, earning yet another scream from him. The blood splattered onto Kakuzu's masked face, but he didn't seem to mind.
"Run?" Dai muttered, "In this situation?"
Then, a burst of energy sprouted out of Dai's figure, signaling that he has opened the Gate of Opening, the first gate of the Eight Gates that restrict one's flow of chakra.
But that was just the beginning.
Boom.
Gate of Healing.
Boom.
Gate of Life.
Boom.
Gate of Pain, and Gate of Limit—Dai has broken five gates within a period of time where Kakuzu was occupied with Hyuga.
There still remained the dread. Dai knew that his victory over Kakuzu was highly unlikely, however, didn't back down and glared at his foe.
"...How brave." Kakuzu commented as the limb-less Hyuga has fallen to the ground, unconscious, with the sears at the end of each severed limb to prevent any further blood loss.
"But courage isn't a suitable quality for a ninja." Facing Dai, who didn't answer to Kakuzu's words, Kakuzu stated, "When you see someone stronger, you run, and find a better opportunity to kill your enemy—"
He seemed to be reminiscing something as he said this, Dai noted.
"—not that I will allow you to do so."
__________
'The appearance of the "Immortal," followed by the short assessment of his approximate strength,'
I thought grimly as I stood back up after the short headache due to receiving the memory from the dispelled Shadow Clone.
'along with those ninjas who were trailing my clone from the back.'
'After all these improvements, was I still a prey?' I couldn't help but grimace, 'Was coming here a mistake?'
After the continuous exposures to the bounty hunters who chased me non-stop, and the incidence that brought me near death, I've gone impulsive. I should've thought more calmly, and thought of other possible decisions before coming here with the hopes of eradicating the entire bounty station.
The renowned bounty hunter who goes by the alias of 'Immortal.' Upon receiving my shadow clone's memory and acquiring the man's appearance, I immediately recognized the true identity of this man.
'Kakuzu, the S-ranked missing nin from the village hidden in the rainfall, Takigakure.'
I felt my heart beating fast. The chakra in my veins circulated vigorously, energizing me. My whole body was screaming at me right now, to run.
Fear, the defensive mechanism of humanity—such was the emotion that I was feeling at the current moment.
'But...'
My eye sharpened. I placed my left hand over my chest, and calmed myself down. Under no circumstance should I give away to the fear,
even if I currently am surrounded with numerous ninjas.
'Think, myself, of what strategy can guarantee myself the survival.'
I began to form rapid series of hand seals, before,
'Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire technique!'
spitting out the numerous balls of flames all around the inn room that I currently within, instantly scorching away the whole room.
Just when I did so,
""""Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder!""""
The intense beams of electricity broke through all walls of the room simultaneously around me, brightening up my surrounding in an instant.
Then, they struck.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone