"Cough, cough, cough..."
On the distant battlefield, an even more incredible scene unfolded before Sunflower's eyes. Kakuzu, whose heart had just been shattered by Ren's kick, had flown out and crashed to the ground. After an embarrassed cough, he genuinely stirred and stood up again.
Only the bloody debris clinging to his body continued to fall away. Beneath his half-mask, a hint of unconcealed surprise etched his face.
From the early days of the Ninja Village establishment, when the Five Great Nations of the Ninja World began to form, Kakuzu had been active on the world stage. His actual age was even older than that of the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, who was considered the most senior active ninja in the world. In Kakuzu's long and extensive memory, he had never been so thoroughly beaten by a ninja so young, nor had one managed to shatter one of his hearts.
He reached out, touching the fresh indentation in his chest. His dark green eyes burned with an almost ghastly anger.
"Damn brat!"
"I'm going to kill you! I'll dig out your heart!" Kakuzu roared, enraged.
"Oh? Want my heart? Just you?"
A slightly cynical chuckle escaped the boy in the air. Ren stood before Kakuzu with the Sun Blade in his hand, a hint of sarcasm playing on his lips. "You don't actually think you've lived this long because of your own strength, do you?"
"Since you originally didn't dare to assassinate the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and chose to run away, then you should choose to continue living on now, even more so. Because I am not an existence you can provoke at will!"
Kakuzu froze for a few seconds. His eyes instantly filled with deeper anger, and a hidden trace in the depths of his pupils that no one had ever noticed before... fear!
"You... what do you know!" A slight tremble entered Kakuzu's voice. His clenched fists, knuckles turned white, betrayed the immense psychological fluctuations within him at that moment.
The dusty past... Those secrets he had kept hidden for years, secrets that no one else should know, were now effortlessly revealed by a young boy, tearing open the deepest scars in his heart.
That's right. He had once boasted of his mission to assassinate the First Hokage of Konoha. He was the only one who had survived that assassination. Not because he was the strongest, but because in that operation, he had stood the farthest from the battlefield. After projecting a kunai towards Hashirama, he had watched his companions, one by one, swiftly defeated by the Hokage.
He was afraid! He was terrified! So he chose to immediately abandon the assassination mission, turning to flee the battlefield! He was a coward who had given up his mission and abandoned his former companions due to his cowardice and fear of death! If this truth were to spread, it would be enough to brand him a perpetual shame in the ninja world!
The murderous aura radiating from Kakuzu suddenly intensified several times over, a fierce light appearing in his eyes as he glared fiercely at Ren.
"Coward! Cowardice! Greed! Stupidity!"
"Following me for greed for money is the stupidest mistake you've ever made in your life!"
Like a leisurely stroll through a garden, Ren walked towards Kakuzu. He looked at the greatly embarrassed Kakuzu, his tone as flat as if stating a simple fact. At this moment, he was simply standing on the ground, but his presence was overwhelmingly imposing!
"Heh heh... Are you lecturing me?"
Having just been beaten so thoroughly, and then having the secret deep in his heart exposed, and now hearing Ren's domineering tone, Kakuzu's face suddenly turned ashen. He cursed loudly: "You should know that when this old man was making a name in the ninja world, a brat like you wasn't even born yet!"
In the next second, his full strength exploded. Roaring, he shouted, "Tentacle Punch!"
Although one of his hearts had been broken by Ren's kick, due to the nature of Earth Grudge Fear, this had little effect on Kakuzu's overall combat effectiveness. At this time, he was determined to teach this ignorant boy a lesson! He would unleash the full power of Earth Grudge Fear!
The moment his voice fell, Kakuzu furiously launched his attack, suddenly punching Ren from the air! A sharp black shadow flashed through the air. Kakuzu's wrist had broken directly from the joint, and a large number of mysterious black tentacles emerged from the middle, extending into a heavy punch! Its power was no less than a Tsunade Punch, with extreme destructive force, capable of effortlessly leveling a wall.
"This is the legendary secret technique of Takigakure – Earth Grudge Fear's true power?"
Facing the fully extended, heavy punch that came from the air, formed by Kakuzu's Earth Grudge Fear, Ren's face was very calm, and his dark eyes were as quiet as a deep mountain and an autumn lake.
"It looks disgusting. To make yourself neither human nor inhumane..."
'Fortunately, the system released the quest,' Ren thought. 'You can directly recycle this kind of thing. Otherwise, even if I obtained this, I would never implant it in my body.'
Although Earth Grudge Fear could indeed provide a significant increase in strength, as Takigakure's treasure, using chakra to control the black, vein-like tentacles born from the body could create ninjutsu suitable for long-range attacks, primarily employing overwhelming tactics. Moreover, these black vascular tentacles could also capture the hearts of others, integrate them into the body along with their chakra, and even use different elemental chakra natures from different hearts, making Kakuzu an existence close to immortality.
Furthermore, this type of Earth Grudge Fear was extremely peculiar and very difficult to deal with. Even when separated from the main body, it could freely move its tentacles like a living creature, and its length and shape could be altered at will to adapt to any situation. In his complete form, Kakuzu would hide his remaining four hearts deep within the Earth Grudge Fear body, making it impossible for Ren to easily target them. It could be said that in his current state, Kakuzu had virtually no fatal weak points.
"Just this strength isn't enough to threaten me!"
A smile appeared on Ren's mouth, and then he whispered, "Eight Gates Formation, First Gate, Gate of Opening – Open!"
"Second Gate, Gate of Healing – Open!"
"Third Gate, Gate of Life – Open!"
"Fourth Gate, Gate of Pain – Open!"
After several low-pitched shouts, Ren directly opened the Eight Gates up to the Fourth Gate, the Gate of Pain. Violent green chakra burst from Ren's body in an instant, releasing extremely astonishing energy.
"Hoo! Hoo!"
The violent green chakra on Ren's body constantly ravaged the surrounding air. Clearly visible air currents blew in all directions. This kind of momentum was incredibly domineering, loud and terrifying. Ren's current lethality was already astonishing.
A flash of white light in his hand, and a dark brown leather glove appeared on his right hand.
Four-Star Ninja Tool – Violent Fist, Wind Element. Has a 300% critical hit chance and randomly triggers small wind ninjutsu.
After wearing this Violent Fist glove, it was enough to strengthen Ren's current power by more than three times, allowing his current combat power to advance once again to a truly terrifying realm!
"Bring it on!"
The moment his voice fell, Ren turned into a phantom, punching towards the attacking Earth Grudge Fear tentacles, meeting them head-on!
With a single punch, a gust of wind erupted. The violent airflow accompanying Ren's fist blasted out, instantly transforming into dense, small wind blades. These small, sharp wind blades, under Ren's control, condensed directly around his Violent Fist, completely enveloping it. In a flash, Ren's fist slammed into the opposing tentacle.
"Boom!!"
After a deafening explosion, a violent airflow swept away in all directions. Countless sand, gravel, and dust were raised high, and the terrifying aftermath was like a small explosion.
Ren's fist, with one punch, not only shattered Kakuzu's tentacles, but he also surged past the black lines, landing a punch directly on Kakuzu's body. The terrifying power attached to Ren's fist instantly slammed into Kakuzu's form!
Boom!
In the smoke, Kakuzu's body was sent flying from the battlefield like a kite with a broken string.