Konoha: I have a clone in One Piece.

Chapter 88 Subduing Kakuzu

The air seemed to suddenly become still.

At that moment, Kakuzu felt as if he had been struck hard by a heavy hammer, and his mind went completely blank.

He couldn't understand!

His kunai, imbued with incredibly sharp wind-style ninjutsu, could easily cut through even the hardest rocks.

Moreover, he put all his strength into his thrusts, demonstrating both speed and power.

But Suzuki held it in his hand with his bare hands, and it seemed so effortless.

Kakuzu stared blankly at the kunai held in Suzuki's hand, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he hadn't loosened his grip on it.

However, Suzuki did not hesitate and coldly swung the Raikage-Kiba in his other hand.

His slashes were incredibly fast and powerful, accompanied by crackling lightning on the Thunder Blade-Tooth, as he unleashed dozens of strikes in an instant.

Before Kakuzu could react, all four of his masks were shattered in an instant!

Suzuki knew that the masks on Kakuzu's body all originated from the power of Earth Grudge Fear. There were five of these masks on Kakuzu, and each mask represented one of Kakuzu's lives.

Furthermore, each of these masks possesses its own ninjutsu attribute, and the five masks also grant Kakuzu five different chakra attributes.

However, he deliberately only shattered the four masks of fire, earth, wind, and water, sparing Kakuzu's life. Otherwise, he could have easily killed Kakuzu while he was stunned.

Then, Suzuki slightly raised his right leg and kicked down hard at Kakuzu in front of him.

"Bang!"

Kakuzu was instantly kicked and involuntarily released his grip on the kunai, his body flying backward.

"etc."

Kakuzu finally came to his senses, feeling the strong airflow as he was being kicked away, and seemed to be preparing to say something to Suzuki.

However, before his body even hit the ground, Suzuki was beside him in the blink of an eye, looking expressionlessly at the panicked Kakuzu, and kicked him upwards again.

Kakuzu's body flew up again!

Suddenly, a silvery-white streak of light attacked a figure in mid-air at an incredible speed.

Each time the figure was about to fall, it was knocked back into the air.

At this moment, Kakuzu was like a living punching bag, being mercilessly beaten by Suzuki.

After being kicked dozens of times, the silvery-white light fell back to the ground.

Suzuki stood calmly in place for a moment, then a figure suddenly crashed down from the sky to the ground.

"Bang!"

A large amount of dust and smoke was stirred up, and a large crater was punched into the ground.

A smile appeared on Suzuki's face. He casually waved his Thunder Blade - Kiba to disperse the dust, then looked at Kakuzu, who was lying in the pit with a bruised and swollen face.

Suzuki smiled gently and said:

"Alright, Mr. Kakuzu."

"Stop playing dead. A ninja of your caliber shouldn't be on the verge of death after taking this little bit of damage."

"Besides, I specially kept a mask for you, because I know your abilities."

Upon hearing Suzuki's words, Kakuzu, who had been lying in the pit with his eyes closed like a corpse, suddenly opened his eyes.

He felt intense pain all over his body, and with great effort, he propped himself up and slowly sat up.

Kakuzu looked at the only lightning-attribute mask he had on his body, then at Suzuki, who was walking towards him, holding the lightning sword Kiba and radiating lightning. He felt a deep sense of melancholy.

Although it's unclear how Suzuki learned about the power of Earth Grudge Fear, that doesn't matter anymore.

During the battle just now, he realized that Suzuki was very skilled in lightning-attribute magic, so he knew that he couldn't pose any threat to Suzuki with just the mask he was wearing.

Moreover, given Suzuki's speed—so fast that he even mistook it for some kind of teleportation-type ninjutsu—he probably wouldn't even be able to escape.

It was like a memory before death: the figure of Hashirama Senju that he had once seen from afar, and the comrades in the village that he had personally killed.

Scenes gradually surfaced in Kakuzu's mind, finally settling on the mountain of money accumulated over decades.

"So, I'm finally going to die."

However, Kakuzu's face did not show fear of death, but rather a trace of sorrow.

He looked at Suzuki, who was getting closer and closer, and said firmly:

"I lost, brat."

"Kill me!"

Seeing Kakuzu's determined gaze, Suzuki smiled gently.

He then sheathed his Thunder Blade - Fang, slowly approached Kakuzu, and extended his hand to him:

"Get up, Mr. Kakuzu, stop looking like you're begging to die."

"It hasn't come to that yet. I've already said it before, I just want to beat you up."

"I'll have to hire you later."

Upon hearing Suzuki's words, Kakuzu's face showed astonishment.

Isn't this kid going to kill him? It seems so, he did say before that he was going to beat him up.

Was it really just a beating?

Suzuki ignored Kakuzu's astonishment and grabbed his hand to pull him up.

Then, with a gentle smile, he said:

"You can stand up now, Mr. Kakuzu."

"By the way, my name is Suzuki, and I'll be your employer from now on."

Feeling his body being pulled up, Kakuzu swayed slightly, then forced himself to stand up straight.

He breathed a sigh of relief as he looked at Suzuki, who still showed no murderous intent towards him.

Who wants to die when they can live?

Moreover, bowing down to someone who is clearly stronger than him is not a humiliating thing.

However, looking at Suzuki's gentle expression beside him, Kakuzu still had some doubts:

"You really won't kill me? You're going to hire me?"

Suzuki smiled slightly and nodded, speaking slowly:

"Yes, Mr. Kakuzu."

"You are a rare strongman in the ninja world, and I've heard that your professional ethics are also quite good."

"Besides, I'm relatively wealthy, so I hope you can do things for me in the future."

Upon hearing that Suzuki was not going to kill him and was even planning to hire him, Kakuzu instantly forgot his memory of dying temporarily and suddenly felt that the beating he had taken had not been in vain.

He looked at Suzuki and said seriously:

"Okay, I'll do things for you from now on."

However, there are some principles he simply cannot break.

Kakuzu then immediately began asking:

"Could I ask what my commission rate is?"

Seeing Kakuzu's eager expression, Suzuki smiled gently and quickly replied:

"Five million taels a month, I suppose."

"After that, I will give you five kilograms of gold every month. You can save it or exchange it for silver if you want."

"If you do a good job, I'll give you a raise on your commission."

"At the end of the year, you will also receive an extra bonus based on your performance over the past year."

Kakuzu's eyes lit up when he heard that there would be five million taels of silver every month.

Upon hearing that it was a long-term job, and that good performance would even earn more, Kakuzu felt immense respect for Suzuki.

With such a stable and good job, and such a wealthy and generous employer, he felt he could work there for at least a hundred years!

Kakuzu looked at Suzuki with an unprecedented seriousness and an unwavering resolve he had never shown before, even when facing death.

"Don't worry, Lord Suzuki!"

"I will definitely work hard!"

"No matter what difficulties you face, just leave them to me, and I'll solve them for you!"

Seeing Kakuzu standing ramrod straight despite his serious injuries, Suzuki was not surprised by his sudden change in attitude.

After all, this rogue ninja from Takigakure, an old man nearing seventy, had only money left as his lifelong belief.

Suzuki looked at Kakuzu and said gently:

"Yes, Mr. Kakuzu, then I'll be troubling you from now on."

"You're too kind, Lord Suzuki!" Kakuzu replied earnestly.

Suzuki nodded slightly, then said calmly:

"Let's go and meet the owner of this place."

"OK!"

(End of this chapter)