I'm in Naruto, but the system says I'm in One Piece.

Kakuzu, who possesses the Earth Grudge Fear, is indeed very powerful.

Kakuzu was already an elite of Takigakure during the chaotic era. Later, he stole the secret technique "Earth Grudge Fear", which was regarded as a treasure by Takigakure, and used it to seize the hearts of the village's leaders for his own use.

Each heart he stole possessed a unique chakra nature. If the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was a ninjutsu expert, then Kakuzu, who could unleash the full power of each chakra nature, was also a master of the Five Elements ninjutsu on another level.

Therefore, if an ordinary Jonin were to encounter Kakuzu, there would only be one outcome.

If you don't know anything about Kakuzu, you'll be killed at first sight.

However, even if you know his background, if you are not strong enough, it is basically no different from not knowing the information at all.

As Kakuna performed his ninjutsu, the dense black threads behind him and the mask on his head made Hoshino Yu's eyes narrow slightly, and he thought to himself:

"That must be the Earth Grudge Fear, five hearts mean five lives..."

"The Sand Village patrol teams are probably all wiped out."

As he had predicted, the desert area within a hundred meters in the distance, along with the stone pillars eroded by the gale, was destroyed by Kakuzu's ninjutsu.

Several Sand Ninja patrolling the border between Kaze and Kazuya were killed instantly when they faced Kakuzu's "Fire Release: Head-Carving" technique, which was unleashed from the Heart of the Fire Release.

"As expected, art is an explosion," Hoshino Yu thought to himself with a smile.

The Sand Village patrol team was small, consisting of one Jonin and several Chunin.

Compared to the Land of Rain, the border patrols of the Land of Rivers are not as strict, which gives Kakuzu an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

"Heh, the Land of Wind? That's all there is to it." Kakuzu, seeing that the Sand Ninja had all been burned to death by his own Fire Release, walked towards the corpses. "The head of a Jonin should fetch a good price."

He moved nimbly, rummaging through the corpses of the Sand Ninja for a while, and after finding nothing of interest, he finally removed their heads.

At this moment, Hoshino Yu was observing from the shadows, and at the same time, he began to unleash his Observation Haki.

The commotion had attracted the attention of the Sand Ninja patrolling the area. He sensed at least thirty figures rapidly approaching them.

Of course, not all sensory ninjas have Hoshino Yu's wide-range sensory abilities, but with his decades of experience in the ninja world, Kakuzu was able to be surrounded in no time.

So after sealing the Sand Ninja's head into the scroll and taking in the dense, vascular tentacles of "Earth Grudge Fear" into his body, he quickly left the place.

However, Kakuzu did not leave towards the Land of Rivers, but sped towards the Land of Wind.

This also left Hoshino Yu somewhat puzzled.

"Hmm? Not leaving?"

"Or perhaps someone hired him to gather intelligence about the Land of Wind...?"

His thinking wasn't without reason; taking on bounties on the black market could earn him far more money than he would get from an A-level or even S-level mission in a regular village.

Some ninja heads are also very valuable. For example, the bounty on the head of the unborn Sarutobi Asuma was as high as 35 million taels of silver.

If you were to do low-level quests in Konoha, who knows how long it would take to accumulate that kind of money.

After a moment's thought, sensing that the Sand Ninja were getting closer and closer to where he was, Hoshino Yu immediately decided to hang behind Kakuzu and follow him.

Given the other party's seasoned experience, they will definitely be able to find the optimal route into the Land of Wind. My mission is also to investigate the recent movements of the Land of Wind.

To avoid being discovered by Kakuzu, he deliberately kept a distance of about two kilometers. Since the other party was not a sensory ninja, he would not be able to discover him easily.

In addition to being able to sense the extreme range of four or five kilometers around him, he also had a small white snake given to him by Orochimaru wrapped around his hand.

The double-layered sensing insurance is that it's unclear whether they can sense the White Zetsu performing the Mayfly Technique.

No sooner had the two left than Sunagakure ninjas appeared at the spot.

Looking at the vast expanse of charred sand before him, the leading Sand Village Jonin frowned, crouched down, inserted his fingers into the sand, and spoke to his companions behind him:

"Damn it! Notify the other teams! Unidentified ninjas have infiltrated!"

"The rest of you, follow me!"

"Yes," the other ninjas responded in unison.

Immediately afterwards, everyone disappeared from the spot.

Just then, from behind a distant rock pillar, a pair of golden snake eyes were staring at the spot they had left.

The owner of those snake-like eyes is none other than Orochimaru, Hoshino Yuuna's temporarily cold-faced but kind-hearted teacher.

Knowing the range of his disciple's perception, he followed far behind. His disciple excelled in every aspect, but he also had to ensure that no accidents would occur.

Only those geniuses who persevere to true maturity, rather than those who falter halfway through, deserve to be called geniuses.

"Kakuzu of Takigakure, huh? Thinking of profiting from the chaos of war, how boring." Orochimaru chuckled, watching the group depart. "But, Yu, what are you thinking?"

......

"What's that old bastard thinking? Isn't he planning to enter the Land of Wind?"

Sensing that Kakuzu, a kilometer away, was slowly moving north, Hoshino Yu was a little confused.

The Land of Wind is mostly boundless sea and desert. Apart from the narrow gate to Sunagakure Village at the border, other areas are almost untouched by people due to the rampant sandstorms and treacherous terrain. It would be too dangerous to sneak in.

The First Line of Sky is guarded between two steep sandstone cliffs, allowing only a sliver of light to pass through, hence its name. It is the only land fortress entrance to the outside world, and it is easy to defend and difficult to attack. It is guarded by Sand Village ninjas year-round.

Hoshino Yu only needs to figure out the movements of Sunagakure this time, which will inevitably lead him to the Land of Wind.

With the Third Kazekage, the strongest Kazekage of all time, in charge, and being the Land of Wind, which is also one of the Five Great Nations, any trouble they might cause is much more subtle than that of the Land of Rain.

"Aside from encountering patrolling Sand Ninja squads, we haven't seen any large items like supply wagons along this route..."

Looking at the endless desert before him, he also felt a bit overwhelmed.

There are oases within the Land of Wind, but those were taken from the Land of Fire back then.

The numerous wars and troubles that followed in the ninja world can be attributed to either Black Zetsu's machinations or Hashirama Senju's involvement.

The so-called distribution of tailed beasts and the reunification of several great nations were based on the absolute strength of Konoha, or rather, on the unparalleled strength of him and Madara Uchiha.

As soon as Hashirama died, the war began immediately, without any hesitation or delay.

If the ninja world had been unified earlier, there might not have been so many wars afterward.

After a moment's thought, Hoshino Yu was about to continue walking when he suddenly noticed something unusual happening around him.

It wasn't a ninja from Sunagakure; rather, the surroundings were filled with chakra fluctuations, and in some places, something was wriggling. It was as if someone had deliberately left it there.

Hoshino Yu's face showed a hint of helplessness, but at the same time, he was ready for battle.

"I was careless. A seasoned fox with decades of experience is definitely not someone a newbie like me can compare to."

As soon as he finished speaking, Kakuzu's figure suddenly appeared on a huge rock dozens of meters to his right.

"Kid, I felt something was off about you when I saw you during the day."

"Tell me, what is your purpose in following me? If I'm in a good mood, perhaps I can leave you with a whole corpse."