"Coming... really damn fast!"
Kakuzu squeezed these words out from between his teeth.
He thought he was being careful enough, conservative enough, but he didn't expect Linto to be even faster than he imagined.
He was just supposed to be doing a mission; Kakuzu had no intention of risking his life.
Clang.
Behind him, among the samurai and ninja, came the sound of weapons hitting the ground.
Many of them were shaking so badly that they couldn't even grip their swords tightly or stand still, let alone swing at Linto.
On the other side, Zabuza and Terumi Mei, while relieved, didn't look much better.
They felt like they had done something wrong as kids, were about to try and fix it, but their parents walked in and caught them in the act.
The problem was solved, so they didn't have to fight.
But they had completely lost face in front of Linto, after being in the ninja world for over twenty years.
Oda Iekazu was staring blankly at the scarecrow in his hand, which had a small heart in its chest, slowly beating under the stimulation of golden waves.
"Hold on tight. After this is over, I'll help you get Hideyoshi's heart back."
Hearing this, Oda Iekazu suddenly looked up. Linto smiled at him and patted his arm gently.
A strand of pure wave power was passed over, the hot, fervent life wave repairing Oda Iekazu's body, which had been tainted by the poison.
Oda Iekazu looked at his son beside him, the scarecrow in his arms, and felt the wave power inside his body. A Daimyo who had seen the dark side of politics actually felt a slight ache in his nose.
He slowly lowered his head and said seriously:
"Then I'll have to trouble you, Mr. Linto."
Linto walked to the front, under everyone's gaze. After rushing here using time stop, his uneven breathing gradually calmed down as he looked at the enemy in front of him.
Kakuzu took a half-step back, quickly scanning around for an easy escape route.
Only Hidan still seemed optimistic.
Sensing his companion's worry, Hidan stepped forward, using his body to block Linto's gaze from Kakuzu. He swung his scythe around, rested it on his shoulder, and gave a youthful, cheerful smile:
"Don't worry, Kakuzu, my man! We're the immortal bros, we're invincible! We carry the world's sins called 'life', and Lord Jashin will protect us!"
Kakuzu opened his mouth, and judging from the shape of his lips, he said...
"Idiot."
But at this moment, having an idiot willing to rush to the front was nothing short of a chance to escape for Kakuzu.
Kakuzu didn't hesitate at all and turned to run.
"Escape, brother! Take the sins with you, and live for me!"
Hidan laughed freely as he charged at Linto.
His scythe was dull from the continuous battles.
His body had also become tattered from the previous burning.
"But, Linto, my will is eternal! Lord Jashin—"
Linto glanced at Hidan and activated time stop.
He kicked the frozen Hidan away, and killed Kakuzu first.
Earlier, Kambara Hayato had quietly told Linto about Hidan's abilities. Linto was very familiar with dealing with Jashin Cult followers.
They have the ability to curse people to death, and they're somewhat immortal, but apart from those two things, Jashin Cult followers aren't that strong in overall combat.
Linto needed to finish Kakuzu first.
This old man, who has lived for almost a century, is far better than Hidan in terms of tactics, ninjutsu, and escaping.
Linto couldn't give him a chance to escape.
"We're all adults here."
Linto walked behind Kakuzu, who was still running, and Star Platinum appeared, staring coldly at Kakuzu.
"From the moment you decided to take the job and attack me, you should have been prepared to die without regret, right?"
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Four rapid punches.
Star Platinum smashed Kakuzu's head and the three hearts hidden in his body, like smashing watermelons.
Three hearts?
From the information in Konan's memory disc, Kakuzu's Earth Grudge Fear technique was a bit like "Bluetooth transmission".
After being modified by Earth Grudge Fear, all his memories and techniques were stored in his hearts. The rest of his organs and brain were made of countless black threads, just wearing a skin-like mask to look like a person.
Kakuzu has a total of five hearts. If one heart is damaged, he can remove it and install a new one.
After the new heart completes "Bluetooth pairing", it will have the same memories and consciousness as the other hearts.
Kakuzu can fully recover at any time unless all five hearts are destroyed together.
Linto calculated.
One heart was with the fake person who left with the scarecrow.
Three hearts were just smashed.
One more left.
Where is it?
It wouldn't be hard to find the last heart. Linto just needs to end time stop and summon Hermit Purple.
But he had to be fast, and couldn't give Kakuzu a chance to replace his heart and escape.
Linto thought for a moment and had a plan.
Time started moving again.
Hidan was suddenly sent flying, crashing heavily into the wall, his bones breaking with a nasty cracking sound.
Kakuzu's whole body exploded, and countless black Earth Grudge Fear threads twisted and tangled together like crazy horsehair worms, emitting high-frequency hisses that were almost inaudible to the human ear. Just hearing a little bit made people want to throw up.
Kakuzu, who was hiding in the crowd wearing a mask, was suddenly shocked. His last remaining heart was beating wildly in fear. He stared straight at Linto, with only one thought in his mind—
A ghost!
The person in front of him was not human at all.
As the owner of the hearts, Kakuzu could clearly sense that the three hearts were shattered at the same time, without any time difference.
Linto appeared suddenly, like a ghost, and completed the slaughter.
Kakuzu's heart was in turmoil. This terrifying feeling of pressure was comparable to Senju Hashirama back in the day.
Thinking this, Kakuzu looked up and met Linto's eyes.
The eye contact was very short, only a moment. Then Linto looked away.
Anyone else might have thought it was just Linto's casual glance.
But Kakuzu, who was nearly a hundred years old, had a quality that young people didn't have—
Caution.
"Why did he look at me?"
"Did he find me?!"
"If Linto found me, then why isn't he attacking?"
"What is he waiting for? Could it be..."
Kakuzu noticed Linto's breathing becoming steady, and he suddenly realized.
Time!
"Linto's ghostly and strange attack earlier must have taken a lot of energy. He's waiting to recover so he can use that move again and completely kill me!"
From the moment Linto ended time stop, to using Hermit Purple to lock onto his target, to Kakuzu meeting his eyes and understanding everything, the mental activity seemed complicated, but it all happened in just one second.
Kakuzu didn't hesitate at all, opening his arms and shouting, "Everyone, get close to me!"
The ninja and samurai went crazy, rushing over to him. They took off their clothes and puffed out their chests.
"Take mine! Take mine!"
Countless black Earth Grudge Fear threads swept across, and Kakuzu had no choice. Four hearts fell into his hands, and the threads pierced through, instantly completing the pairing.
Kakuzu was back at his peak.
He raised his hand, and the wind, fire, and lightning Earth Grudge Fear masks merged into one arm. The three monsters all activated ninjutsu at the same time.
"Composite Ninjutsu: Earth Grudge Fear - Final Shot!"
"Huff—"
Linto, having just caught his breath, was about to deal with Kakuzu's attack.
Suddenly, his body froze.
On the distant rooftop, Yamanaka Fu formed a heart shape with his hands, encompassing Linto within it.
"Mind Body Switch Technique!"
Hidan, who had smashed through the wall, pounced out again, leaping behind Linto and swinging his scythe to chop off Linto's head.
"See that, Linto!"
"This is our trio's friendship combo move! So—"
"Die peacefully!"
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