Konoha: The thirty-year-old Uchiha lacks motivation.

Chapter 465 A Father-in-Law Who Opens His Heart

Deep in a secluded forest, a majestic and imposing Arhat stands, his hand outstretched as if performing an act of salvation.

As the gaze moves downward, a golden light flickers under the wooden figure's large palm.

humming—

With a crisp snapping sound, the light beneath the wooden dummy's palm dimmed completely. After it was moved aside, moonlight shone down, illuminating a broken body embedded in the earth.

"it's over."

Number Seven, standing atop the wooden figure, raised his hand expressionlessly, and a seed exuding an aura of decay silently sprouted in his palm.

"Hmm"

Kakuzu, whose consciousness was on the verge of collapse, stared at the man atop the wooden figure with eyes full of despair, blood continuously spilling from his mouth.

"How could I?"

At this moment, Kakuzu had transformed into his strongest form, the Emperor Sword, but compared to Android 7 in his second state, even his final form, which had once overpowered Madara Uchiha, was clearly no match.

All the Earth Grudge cards embedded in his body shattered, his golden heavy armor was covered with dense cracks, and countless scarlet blood flowed out from the cracks, gathering beneath Kakuzu and turning into a pool of despair.

His companion weapon, the Reawakening Sword, was also broken in two by the terrifying force of the immortal magic. The broken sword was stuck in the open ground a dozen meters away from him, and the clearly visible fist marks on the blade seemed to tell others how terrible the torment it had just endured was.

"Laodu, stop struggling, he doesn't want to kill you."

In his mind's eye, the weakened Chongming spoke up to dissuade Kakuzu from getting up again.

The Earth Grudge Mask on his body was completely destroyed; if the fight continued, he might really die.

"If they don't want my life, then they want my money!"

Since they're not going to kill anyone, then the only option is to steal their money.

Kakuzu, whose consciousness was already fading, was instantly jolted awake by Shigeaki's words. Seeing Number Seven slowly walking towards him, driven by the lure of money, he endured the pain in his body and slowly got up.

"You idiot!"

Chongming was immediately enraged. He could clearly sense that Hashirama Senju, who attacked him, had held back. Otherwise, he could have drained him dry with just Wood Release, so why bother crippling him instead of killing him?

"Um?"

Seeing Kakuzu stand up once again, a hint of displeasure flashed across Number Seven's usually indifferent face.

With his other free hand raised forward, a flash of green light appeared, and countless wooden branches instantly burst from the ground, binding the defenseless Kakuzu tightly and sending him upside down in front of Number Seven.

"I'm telling you, you have neither money nor your life!"

Kakuzu, who was completely drained of power by the Wood Release technique, gritted his teeth and said...

But Number Seven completely ignored him, looked him over, and then slammed his left hand down, implanting the seed into Kakuzu's heart.

"Aaaaaah!"

Kakuzu screamed repeatedly as he felt a tearing sensation in his chest. He could clearly sense countless roots spreading through his blood vessels, eventually coiling around his vital heart.

"Implantation successful."

After successfully planting the Divine Tree spores, a barely perceptible look of smugness appeared on Number Seven's expressionless face.

I will definitely be the first among all the clones to successfully reap the rewards.

"What did you do to me?"

Upon discovering that the tailed beast chakra within his body was being plundered by the roots at a visible rate by the roots in his heart, Kakuzu felt a pang of anxiety.

"."

However, when faced with Kakuzu's questioning, Number Seven remained completely unmoved.

In Number Seven's eyes, Kakuzu was merely soil for cultivating chakra fruits; once harvested, only death awaited him.

"You bastard, I..."

Unexpectedly, the other party ignored him time and time again. Kakuzu clenched his fists, preparing to fight back.

"Laodu, don't be impulsive. As long as we're alive, we can always make a comeback."

Having recognized the situation, Chongming continued to dissuade him, as Kakuzu was a human he got along with relatively well, and he didn't want to lose him like this.

"call"

In the end, Kakuzu chose to endure, temporarily giving up resistance, and pondering how to escape.

"Pat~"

Just then, because it was upside down, Kakuzu's already tattered backpack finally gave way, scattering countless trinkets all over the ground.

There were rusty kunai, frayed scrolls, and expired military rations.

"Clang~"

One of them happened to fall right in front of Kakuzu, who was hanging upside down.

It was an evil god-themed figure with extremely poor design and paint job, but based on its general appearance, one could still see some resemblance to the Seven-Tailed Knight.

It was the birthday toy that Kakuzu bought for his godson at a discount stall, spending a lot of money.

"Little Wing."

Looking at the toys he had carefully selected, Kakuzu's survival instinct instantly surged.

He will live on for the sake of his grandson's smile.

"Crack!"

The next second, a large foot stomped on the figurine, and the crisp sound of it breaking was clearly audible.

"Uh, what kind of garbage?"

Number Seven looked down in confusion at the figurine shattered into three pieces at his feet, then kicked it aside expressionlessly. He then reached out, grabbed Kakuzu's head, and began to absorb the endless stream of tailed beast chakra from the other's body.

This effectively stimulates the activity of the tailed beast chakra within Kakuzu's body, allowing the spores to bear fruit sooner.

Kakuzu, who was being violently drained of energy, had a blank mind. His green eyes beneath his mask stared blankly at the figure that had been shattered into three pieces, and the pent-up anger in his heart erupted.

"What! You! Did! To! Me!?"

hiss-

"what?"

Number Seven, who was absorbing the Seven-Tails' chakra, showed surprise for the first time on his usually indifferent face. Looking at Kakuzu, who had suddenly broken free of his Wood Release restraints and was reaching for his head with both hands, his eyes suddenly lost their luster.

"Thump!"

And so, the enraged Kakuzu took the initiative, pinning down Number Seven's bewildered head and shoving it forcefully into the damp earth.

"That was a discounted toy I bought from a traveling merchant in the whirlpool for 3000 taels of silver, how dare you..."

Blinded by rage, Kakuzu unleashed extraordinary power, grabbing Number Seven from the mud and unleashing a barrage of brutal punches that left him dazed and disoriented.

"Era ora ora."

"No, Lao Du, so you were acting against me all along?"

Watching Kakuzu's supermodel-like performance, Chongming in his sea of ​​consciousness began to doubt his own existence as a beast. When did this guy become so incredibly powerful?

"Give me ten times the compensation!"

Kakuzu, growing more and more energetic with each blow, concentrated all his strength in his right fist, aimed at Number Seven's large face, and shouted out his demands.

Just as Chongming was preparing to transform into a cheerleader, waving flags and shouting encouragement for the suddenly powerful Kakuzu,

A sudden change occurred.

"Tap~"

Just moments before, Number Seven had been completely defenseless, yet he effortlessly raised his hand and blocked Kakuzu's powerful punch. A look of disdain appeared on his unharmed face.

"Have you had enough?"

"Forehead"

Looking at the other person's nonchalant expression in disbelief, Kakuzu suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

"Oh."

Number Seven's lips curled up slightly, revealing a hint of humanity, and his fist, imbued with a strange, dark blue power, slammed hard into Kakuzu's lower abdomen.

A deliberate, deliberate punch!

"puff!"

The immense force penetrated his body, and even with the protection of his heavy armor, Kakuzu still vomited bitter bile. He was sent flying backward, crashing through several large trees that would take several people to encircle.

"Cough cough cough"

Kakuzu lay on the ground, bathed in blood. His green eyes had lost their former luster, and his aura had plummeted to freezing point. If it weren't for Chongming's strenuous efforts to channel chakra, he would have already passed away.

"Is this what evolution feels like?"

Number Seven didn't rush to punish the restless Kakuzu. Instead, he looked around with curiosity. His momentary lapse in concentration was simply because he was undergoing a transformation.

After absorbing the massive amount of tailed beast chakra, he seemed to have gained sentience. His mind was no longer solely focused on the mission; he also developed a greater thirst for the unknown.

"Your life is temporarily in your hands."

With his gaze fixed on the dying Kakuzu, Number Seven uttered a cryptic remark before turning to leave.

He learned from the failures of his previous test subjects and planted the spores in their vital areas. Unless Kagura could abandon his heart, his fruit would eventually bear fruit.

Right now, rather than torturing the other party to force the fruit to ripen, what he wants to do is understand this world and understand humanity.

Thus, we became human beings.

"Tap~"

Number Seven, who had just taken a step, suddenly looked up as if sensing something, and saw a scarlet figure flash by in the hazy moonlight.

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He instinctively raised his hands to defend himself, but another gray figure darted out from the dense forest. In a flash, a large hand was pressed against his chest.

"Hair-piercing palm strike!"

boom--

He had honed the "Breaking Palm" technique, a unique martial art he had mastered for many years under the influence of divine fire, to a level of consummate skill. The power it unleashed was in no way inferior to the monstrous strength of the Thousand Hands clan.

"Hmm!"

Number Seven, wincing slightly in pain, swiftly brought his raised hands down, the monstrous force emanating from his palms enough to kill any ordinary person who touched them.

However, just as he swung his sword, a crimson light flashed across the sky once more.

"A massive cut!"

Mako, transformed into Amazons, swung her arm blade and slammed it hard into the wide-open head of Number Seven, sending a spurt of blood flying.

Shenhu seized the opportunity to distance himself from Kakuzu and ran toward the unconscious man.

"Father-in-law!"

The horrific scene before him made Shenhuo's heart tighten. He had never seen Kakuzu in such a wretched state. All the exquisite carvings on his body were shattered, blood seeped out from the cracks in his heavy armor, and the red compound eyes on his visor had lost their luster.

If it weren't for his slightly heaving chest, he would have been ready to go home and have a meal.

"Thump!"

Unfortunately, he didn't have much time to be shocked. A figure swept past him and crashed heavily onto a protruding rock slab not far away.

"Mako! Are you alright?"

Seeing his wife defeated so quickly, Shenhuo immediately picked up Kakuzu's broken body and retreated.

"Another one?"

In the distance, Number Seven, whose clothes were only slightly dirty at the corner, twisted his slightly sore neck and looked at the guys who had suddenly caused the trouble with curious eyes.

"Isn't it a tailed beast?"

In particular, Mako, who exuded a violent aura, made him carefully examine her, only to find that the power she used to transform did not come from their target, and he lost interest.

"Who are you!?"

The couple, now back on the same side, warily watched Number Seven, who remained calm. Despite their relentless barrage of deadly attacks, he was completely unharmed. Just who was he?

"Cough cough cough Mako, you all run!"

Amidst the jolting and turbulence caused by the divine fire, Kakuzu slowly awoke. Looking at the couple who had come to his aid, a warmth welled up in his heart, but it quickly turned to anxiety.

"He is Hashirama Senju, you are no match for him."

"That ninja god?"

How could a couple traveling the world not know the title of the best in the world?

Even knowing they were about to face the strongest ninja in the world, the two gritted their teeth and stood in front of Kakuzu, their backs soon soaked with sweat from nervousness.

"You still have Xiaoyi, don't do anything foolish for my sake."

Seeing that the two remained unmoved, Kakuzu grew increasingly anxious. He forced himself to stand up, placed his hand on their shoulders, and earnestly tried to persuade them.

"Father, what nonsense are you talking about? How could we possibly abandon you!"

Mako turned around, and even through the mask, Kakuzu could feel the determination in her eyes.

"That's right, we're family."

Shenhu flashed what he thought was a cool smile and gave Kakuzu a thumbs-up.

"You two idiots."

Seeing this scene, Kakuzu felt a warmth emanating from the corpse. Since the passing of his family, he had never felt such intense familial love.

With the support of his family, Kakuzu felt a surge of energy returning to his body, and his driver inexplicably began to heat up, as if some mysterious power was about to break free.

"Then let me join you."

"Slap slap slap"

Suddenly, a crisp clapping sound rang out. The three looked towards the source of the sound in confusion, only to see that Number Seven, who had just been filled with murderous intent, was now clapping excitedly.

"Sparashi, this is so interesting! Is this what humans call family affection?"

Number Seven, who had evolved intelligence after absorbing a sufficient amount of tailed beast chakra, was very satisfied with the performance of the three.

Human emotions are exactly what he urgently needs to understand at this moment.

Kakuzu's family happened to teach him a lesson, from which he learned something. His emotions were satisfied, and he lost his murderous intent.

"What trick are you playing?"

Shenhuo frowned and reached for two scrolls behind his back, which contained countless spell seals of the Heavenly Prison Technique, enough to delay the opponent for a while.

"I'm very satisfied; you guys were given a second chance at life."

Number Seven lowered his hand, a faint smile appearing on his face. He nodded to the three of them, then leaped away.

"But you won't be so lucky next time we meet."

Fearing a surprise attack, the three remained vigilant until the first rays of dawn appeared in the distance. Only then did the exhausted Kakuzu and Mako cease their transformations.

"Father!"

Looking at Kakuzu, who was covered in blood, Mako burst into tears.

Shenhuo swiftly caught his swaying father-in-law and discovered that there wasn't a single uninjured spot on his body; the phrase "covered in wounds" would be an understatement.

"Cough cough. I'm not seriously injured; none of the injuries are fatal."

Kakuzu, still conscious, first offered words of comfort, then his gaze shifted downwards, landing on the roots spreading across his chest. A ruthless glint flashed in his eyes, and he raised his hand, stabbing fiercely into his heart.

"Pfft!"

"Father, what are you doing?!"

This sudden act of self-harm completely stunned the couple.

"Gah!"

However, that wasn't the end of it. After seeing Kakuzu pull a bloody heart out of his own chest, Mako's eyes rolled back and she fainted.

"Hey kid, hurry up and give me the Earth Grudge cards I left for you!"

"Um, Father-in-law, we came out in a hurry. Don't do anything yet, let me look for it for you~"

(End of this chapter)