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

Kakuzu's voice wasn't loud, but its deep and hoarse tone carried by the wind into Hoshino Yu's ears, making every word clear.

Calling him a brat is fine; even if Hiruzen Sarutobi were here, he would still be called a brat.

After all, Kakuzu is quite old.

"No, not at all," Hoshino Yu said lazily, no longer bothering to hide it after realizing he'd been exposed. "Would you believe me if I said it was on the way, sir?"

However, although he appeared relaxed on the surface, he was secretly preparing for battle.

Kakuzu, that old bastard, may seem to be chatting with you on the surface, but secretly his "Earth Grudge" tentacles have already infiltrated underground, just waiting to deliver a fatal blow.

Although Hoshino Yu has the passive ability of elemental transformation, you can't just use all your trump cards in a fight.

If he could, he wanted to hide until he discovered where Uchiha Madara was alive, and then kill him before he could react.

The high temperature generated by tens of millions of volts is enough to burn the opponent to death in a surprise attack.

Between ninjas, the battle is essentially an intelligence war.

If there is enough intelligence, the probability of the subordinate overthrowing the superior is much higher.

As for the current information about Kakuzu, Hoshino Yu said that he knows it all.

It's normal for the other party to have some unexpected secret techniques and forbidden arts after living for so many years.

Other methods include the Five Elements Ninjutsu, but the most important one is that it has five hearts, or five lives, making it ineffective against ordinary physical attacks, such as sword strikes or slashes.

Only by destroying all the hearts can Kakuzu be completely defeated.

"Ha, on the way? That's not how you tell a lie."

Kakuzu, standing on the rock, kept his eyes fixed on Hoshino Yu's figure. He had witnessed Yu's unparalleled speed when he followed him during the day, but his tracking methods were still somewhat immature.

They are not even as good as some Jonin.

This is part of the information he currently has. Also, the opponent is very fast, so he needs to be wary of close-quarters combat.

Although he is not afraid of physical damage, careless people have all gone to keep company with the Sage of Six Paths.

"I'm not sure if they know my methods, but very few people in the ninja world do..."

After a moment's thought, Kakuzu made a decision.

If they hadn't discovered the other party, it would have been fine, but now that they've been detected, a fight is inevitable.

Hoshino Yu looked slightly helpless upon hearing what Kakuzu said.

"Um, sir? I really don't have any feelings for you."

"We're all here to gather intelligence in the Land of Wind. You can't say that every inch of this desert belongs to you, can you? It just happens to be on our way."

"As for during the day, it's normal to glance at someone unintentionally. I'm not blind, you can't stop me from looking at people, can you?"

"You sharp-tongued brat," a ruthless glint flashed in Kakuzu's eyes as he began forming hand seals, "I'll make sure you perish in this desert!"

"Wind Release: Pressure Damage!"

Kakuzu started with zero frames, and the Wind Release mask behind him instantly spat out a high-density compressed tornado, generating the destructive power of a super-heavy cannon that swept across the entire area where Hoshino Yu was!

"Tsk..."

Hoshino Yu frowned slightly, and as arcs of electricity appeared around his body, he flashed away, directly dodging the ninjutsu used by Kakuzu.

Kakuzu's chakra reserves are considerable, and his starting move is a Wind Release ninjutsu with an A-rank learning difficulty. With the addition of a large amount of chakra, the power of "Pressure Damage" is quite exaggerated.

"Fine, fine, you started this trouble first."

Hoshino Yu calmed himself down and dodged the wide-range Wind Release ninjutsu, then quickly formed hand seals!

"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation Arrow!"

As his chakra completed the Fire Release nature transformation, his throat bobbed slightly, his cheeks suddenly puffed out, and a torrent of flames immediately spewed out from his mouth!

Boom—

The clash between the two large-scale ninjutsu techniques triggered a violent explosion, causing the entire area where they were located to be churned up by the shockwave, with sand and stones flying everywhere!

Hoshino Yu didn't know whether his chakra reserves were high or low, or how many cards he had, and he didn't have a comparison to make, but because of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, he always felt that it was enough.

Therefore, after using "Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation Arrow", he increased the output of his own chakra, making the power of Great Fire Annihilation Arrow even greater!

Fire counters wind, and in this back-and-forth, the two were evenly matched in terms of ninjutsu alone.

"This brat's mastery of Fire Release ninjutsu..."

"No, while the hand seals are fast, the ninjutsu skill isn't particularly high; the main problem is the sheer amount of chakra!"

Kakuzu looked at the Fire Release ninjutsu that was fighting against his Wind Release and coming with great force, and couldn't help but mutter to himself.

However, he's not someone who can be easily manipulated.

"That old ghost who's lived for decades is really something. What do you mean by throwing a shuriken at Hashirama from 800 miles away back then? Just how strong must Hashirama have been?"

Hoshino Yu thought to himself that he was still under a little pressure.

As the clash of ninjutsu caused a violent explosion, Kakuzu leaped off the rock and stood in the desert, simultaneously inserting his hands into the ground, intending to use the tentacles on his body to perform an anesthetic on Hoshino Yuuki.

He knew that with the other party's speed, it wouldn't be easy to catch, but he was determined to give it a try.

More importantly, discovering what methods the other side uses is of paramount importance!

Hoshino Yu had already activated his full Observation Haki, and Kakuzu was about to make a move when he was keenly aware of it.

He leaped onto the surrounding rock pillars, simultaneously grabbing the small white snake coiled around his left wrist and quickly saying:

"Master, I've encountered Kakuzu, the rogue ninja from Takigakure!"

After saying that, he exerted force with his hand, and the little white snake turned into a wisp of smoke and disappeared.

After finishing this task, Hoshino Yu was ready to get serious with Kakuzu.

As for sending the little white snake back, it wasn't because they wanted Orochimaru to come and help; the main reason was that they didn't want to use certain techniques in a way that would be seen by others.

After taking the Kusanagi sword out of his inventory, his left hand flashed with lightning, slicing across the blade before disappearing from the spot with a loud bang.

The next second, he appeared behind Kakuzu and coldly said:

"Old man, how much is your head worth on the black market bounty list?"

Hearing the sound behind him, Kakuzu's pupils contracted sharply. He then turned around and swept his right leg out with a powerful gust of wind!

Immediately using the momentum, he spun around to dissipate the force, then flicked his toes and flew away to escape.

This sudden action behind him really startled him.

Before he could even regain his footing, Hoshino Yu's figure appeared behind him like a ghost in an instant, coldly saying:

Is it worth thirty-five million?

"You wretched brat!"

Kakuzu frowned, manipulating the tentacles of the Earth Grudge to wildly lash out around him, but each strike barely grazed the opponent's figure and missed.

Just then, a sound came from not far away, accompanied by a loud crackling of electric arcs.

Kakuzu suddenly turned his head and saw Hoshino Yu holding the Kusanagi sword, making a starting gesture for drawing his sword, with dazzling blue lightning surrounding his body!

"Lightning Release: First Form - Thunderclap Flash!"