Naruto: Starting with Tsunade

Chapter 298 Kakuzu vs. the Third Hokage

Hiruzen Sarutobi, with his superior strength, dodged the attack immediately. However, his guards were not so lucky; some of them knelt down on the spot, leaving only two guards with him.

"Buzzing..."

It was a sound like the flapping of insect wings coming from the sky. The guard spotted the enemy, raised his arm and flicked his wrist, sending several kunai flying into the sky.

"In the heavens!"

The dark figure flashed past swiftly, easily dodging the sword in its hand, and then descended from the sky, landing right in front of Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others, stirring up snow mist that filled the surroundings.

Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others stared intently as the snow-covered figure slowly emerged from the snow-covered gauze. It was over 1.8 meters tall, completely wrapped up, obscuring its face, but judging from its build, it was a man.

"Lord Hokage, please be careful."

A guard blocked Hiruzen Sarutobi's path, raising his sword to confront his enemy: "Who are you?!"

"Dead people don't need to know so much."

The enemy was Kakuzu, who was ordered by Madara Uchiha to come and intercept Hiruzen Sarutobi.

It's not about killing him, but about severely injuring him.

The attack just now used the Seven-Tails' power to spray down scales with a sleeping effect, using the cover of snow.

Hiruzen Sarutobi narrowed his eyes as he observed the enemy.

At this moment, the guards beside him decisively launched an attack.

They served as both Hiruzen Sarutobi's guards and bait to test the enemy's abilities.

The guards coordinated perfectly, with one launching the main attack and the other feinting, attacking from both sides.

Kakuzu understood that those chosen by Hiruzen Sarutobi as his bodyguards were all relatively skilled ninjas, and the best way to achieve a quick victory was to use surprise tactics.

He deliberately created an opening, allowing the two men to stab him with weapons.

"We succeeded."

The guard's face lit up with joy, but he quickly sensed something was amiss.

Wasn't it a little too easy to succeed? By the time they realized what was happening, it was already too late.

"It's a pity."

Kakuzu's arms hardened, and taking advantage of the two men's momentary lapse in attention, he separated his hands, thrusting his palms vertically into their chests like a shovel, the blade moving in and out, leaving trails of blood.

"How is that possible!"

"It clearly hit its target."

Their hearts were pierced and they coughed up blood. Each uttered a last word before they died.

Kakuzu benefits from his unique body structure; unless attacked in the heart, attacks on other parts of his body are basically harmless.

His body can split at will, so being stabbed is nothing to him.

These two guards were quite strong, but they were instantly killed. They suffered from a lack of intelligence.

Wh-what!

There wasn't even any blood...

What kind of body structure is this?!

Kakuzu's unusual nature was such that even the well-informed Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't recognize what was going on.

He was on high alert, his hands on his shoulders and collar, and with a flick of his wrist, his clothes fluttered, revealing the tight-fitting clothes underneath. He entered a fighting stance, his body completely exposed.

After all, he was a Kage-level opponent, so even the proud and arrogant Kakuzu dared not be careless and put away his contemptuous gaze.

As a gust of cold wind blew by, like a whistle, the two attacked simultaneously.

Hiruzen Sarutobi quickly formed hand seals, and a brown earth dragon emerged from the ground, opening its mouth and releasing several brown earth bullets from within, filled with white light.

Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet

In the blink of an eye, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was standing nearby, was not idle either. He straightened his body, made the Tiger Seal with both hands, and breathed out a ball of flame that attached to the earth bullet, forming a fire bullet.

The opponent's capabilities are not yet clear. Before we can crack their abilities, it's best to test them with ranged attacks first, just to be on the safe side.

He immediately unleashed a combination of ninjutsu, and Kakuzu dared not be negligent. He pressed his hands to the ground, building an earthen wall to block the fireballs.

"Bang bang bang..."

The fireballs struck the surface of the earthen wall with tremendous force, indicating that their power was only average.

"That's really impressive..."

The eyes of the non-human Kakuzu overflowed with greed.

It is said that the Third Hokage was proficient in the five elemental jutsu, and this heart is worth five of them.

On the other side of the earthen wall, Hiruzen Sarutobi, seeing his ninjutsu blocked by the wall, remained calm and instead exploited the weakness in the opponent's ninjutsu.

With the earthen wall blocking his view, Kakuzu's vision was obstructed. Taking advantage of this, Hiruzen Sarutobi formed a cross hand seal and summoned a shadow clone.

The shadow clone, possessing the consciousness of its original form, leaped up and swiftly climbed to the top of the earthen wall like a monkey, facing the enemy directly and drawing their fire.

His true form, however, burrowed underground, waiting for an opportunity.

Kakuzu looked up, disliking the way the other looked down at him; it reminded him of that man.

He clasped his hands together, and blue light burst forth from his body, lightning generated, and converged into a beam of light that surged forth.

Thunder escape · False darkness.

Wind Release is effective against Lightning Release ninjutsu.

Seeing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi quickly used a Wind Release ninjutsu that countered it.

He quickly formed hand seals, took a deep breath of stale air, his chest bulging like a giant toad, and exhaled the massive amount of wind-attribute chakra gathered in his mouth and abdomen, which spiraled out and swirled together.

Wind Release: Cyclone.

The lightning bolt collided with the wind tornado, offering only a symbolic resistance before being overwhelmed by the restrained wind tornado, which surged towards its target with unstoppable momentum.

Faced with the fierce wind and rain that swept in, Kakuzu had nowhere to avoid it. He bent his knees slightly, rooted himself to the ground, and remained as immovable as a mountain.

Immediately afterwards, he clasped his hands together, his entire body turning black as if covered in a thick layer of armor, and as if blades and winds swept over him, he was completely unharmed.

As the snow mist whipped up by the wind dissipated, it revealed a dark shadow. Hiruzen Sarutobi narrowed his eyes, lost in thought.

Kakuzu's move just now, the technique that hardened his entire body, reminded her of her disciple's ninjutsu—Earth Release: Earth Spear.

Through the test just now, Hiruzen Sarutobi has mastered the two ninjutsu that Kakuzu is good at: Earth Release and Lightning Release.

Jonin typically learn two or more escape techniques.

Although Hiruzen Sarutobi wanted to continue testing and probing the limits, he couldn't use ninjutsu continuously because the shadow clone didn't have enough chakra. So he changed his strategy and decided to use taijutsu to fight it.

Hiruzen Sarutobi leaped into the snow, his hands swung behind him, and sped away like the wind.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's actions were exactly what Kakuzu wanted, as he was least afraid of hand-to-hand combat.

He dashed forward, and when the two made contact at a certain distance, he pushed off the ground with his right foot and spun around in mid-air, delivering a powerful spinning kick.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was startled and ducked down to avoid the leg whip coming from across the street.

When Kakuzu landed, he turned and swung his leg.

Hiruzen Sarutobi retreated and dodged.

Kakuzu pressed his advantage, swinging his arm and throwing a punch.

Hiruzen Sarutobi parries with his arm raised.

Kakuzu changed his fists to feet, raising his knees and kicking straight down.

Hiruzen Sarutobi pressed his hand down with his palm, then pressed down on the spring kick, grabbed the calf, spun around a few times, and flung it away.

Riding the wave of his victory, Hiruzen Sarutobi charged forward, intending to launch another fierce attack before his opponent could get up. However, an unexpected turn of events occurred. A hand flew out midway, and before he could dodge, it was choked.

With his throat choked, Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a painful whimper, desperately trying to break free.

"Go to hell."

Kakuzu began to withdraw his strength, and the hand connected by the black thread pulled Hiruzen Sarutobi in front of him.

Although Madara Uchiha had given orders that Hiruzen Sarutobi only needed to be beaten half to death, he wouldn't be blamed if anything went wrong.

He had long coveted Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart.

Without any hesitation, he raised his palm forward and shoveled straight at the heart, advancing and then exiting.

Kakuzu frowned; this was not the sensation of flesh.

Soon, as if in response to him, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had been penetrated, turned into white smoke.

Damn it, I was careless...

Kakuzu seemed to have noticed something and suddenly turned his head, but it was too late. Hiruzen Sarutobi's main body was already standing beside him and had completed the hand seals.

This distance made it difficult to dodge, so Kakuzu quickly formed hand seals and used Earth Release: Earth Spear to harden his body.

Hiruzen Sarutobi anticipated his prediction and used Lightning Release ninjutsu. Lightning burst from his body, converging into a lightning spear, which shot out and pierced Kakuzu's heart in a single strike.

Lightning Release: Lightning Spear.

Kakuzu, who was hit directly, lay on the ground.

Hiruzen Sarutobi breathed a sigh of relief, but just as he relaxed his guard, he suddenly realized that the enemy, who had been lifeless, had come back to life and stood up again.

(End of this chapter)