271.Only Believing in Money

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As the figure emerged, the dark space behind him slowly closed. The slight undulations in the space gradually calmed down. Nawaki's face was a mix of deep surprise and immense joy as he recognized the figure, excitedly shouting like a child, "Aizen-sama!"

Saki also looked on with stirred emotions, barely containing his voice as he said, "Aizen... Captain..."

The figure of Aizen appeared with a smile, his deep eyes briefly scanning the situation on the ground without much concern, then slowly shifting to Saki and Nawaki as he chuckled, "Saki, Nawaki, it's been a long time."

Hearing this, Saki's eyes unexpectedly moistened a bit as he softly replied, "It truly has been a long time. But as long as you're back, Captain Aizen, it's all that matters."

Nawaki, with a face brimming with joy and having let down his guard against Kakuzu, looked at Aizen with wide eyes, excitedly saying, "Saki-niisan is right, Sōsuke-nii. We hardly knew what to do without you."

Hearing this, Aizen's face carried a slight smile as his eyes glanced towards Kakuzu in the distance and casually asked, "What are you doing here?"

Seeing Aizen's gaze, Nawaki quickly explained, "Saki-niisan wanted to recruit him as an ally for our plan, but he seems quite disdainful. He even wants to take our hearts."

"So Saki-niisan and I were preparing to deal with him here."

Understanding Nawaki's explanation, Aizen's lips curved slightly, looking at Saki who nodded slightly in confirmation that Nawaki's words were largely correct.

Seeing Saki's gesture, Aizen glanced at Kakuzu and said softly, "Good, let me see your progress this past year, Nawaki. Following Saki, your strength must have developed."

Hearing Aizen's words, Nawaki nodded earnestly, somewhat excitedly responding, "Understood, Sōsuke-nii. Just watch, I will do my best against this guy!"

Aizen smiled and nodded lightly.

Meanwhile, Kakuzu's gaze grew intense as he stared at Aizen who had just appeared, rasping out, "If I'm not mistaken, you are the rogue ninja from Konoha from a year ago, even the only one who left the village while being a Hokage, 'Child of Konoha'!"

"It's unexpected to encounter you here, and surprising that you now possess space-time ninjutsu..."

"A year ago, your bounty in the black market reached an all-time high. But now, it seems your heart might be even more valuable than your head."

Despite his serious demeanor, Kakuzu's eyes flickered with a heated intensity, as he continued, "I never dared to dream I could possess a heart with space-time properties. Your arrival is indeed a rare opportunity for me."

Hearing Kakuzu's words, Aizen merely smiled, giving him a brief glance, and softly said, "You want to take my heart?"

Their gazes met in the air.

For some reason, although Aizen used no force and his face maintained a tranquil smile, just making eye contact with Aizen made Kakuzu feel a terrifying pressure.

It wasn't a physical oppression but more like the instinctive fear of a lower being in the presence of a superior one.

In just an instant, his back was soaked with cold sweat.

Somewhat astonished by Aizen's presence, Kakuzu, with a raspy voice tinged with surprise, said, "You..."

He was interrupted by Nawaki's loud shout before he could finish.

Nawaki, looking a bit impatient with Kakuzu's endless talk, shouted angrily, "Hey! Monster with five hearts, your opponent isn't Sōsuke-nii, it's me!"

"Earlier you claimed to have battled the First Hokage. I'm sorry to say, I don't recall my grandfather ever mentioning such an insignificant opponent like you. You must have been nothing more than a minor character to him!"

Nawaki scornfully yelled at Kakuzu. With Aizen present, revealing his grandfather as the First Hokage didn't matter anymore.

Of course, Nawaki had never actually heard any of these stories from the First Hokage; he hadn't even been born when the First was alive.

This was all just an attempt to provoke Kakuzu, looking for a flaw in his defenses.

As expected, even the battle-hardened Kakuzu couldn't hide his anger upon hearing Nawaki's words.

He recalled his own past experiences.

In his prime, Kakuzu was sent by his village to assassinate the then First Hokage, Hashirama Senju.

The mission was doomed to fail from the start; how could a few ninjas from Takigakure possibly kill Hashirama, the strongest ninja of that era?

Faced with Hashirama's formidable power, they had almost no chance to fight back, and Kakuzu barely escaped with his life.

However, when he returned to his village, he was deemed a failure and faced disdain and rejection, even being held accountable for the mission's failure.

Already harboring resentment for the mission, how could Kakuzu just surrender?

He seized an opportunity to take a secret artifact from the village, killed Takigakure's leaders, and then deserted the village.

Thereafter, he survived in the ninja world's underground markets using the bizarre powers of the stolen artifact.

The village had abandoned him, the villagers had turned their backs on him, and even the village he had once protected had forsaken him. What else in the world was there to trust?

If anything, the only thing trustworthy was money.

This nearly forgotten memory, provoked by Nawaki's taunting words, stirred anger in Kakuzu.

With a deep, raspy voice filled with anger, he declared, "Brat, I'll take your heart first!"

With that, he ran forward, quickly forming hand seals.

But seeing Kakuzu's angry expression, Nawaki's disdainful face hid a sense of seriousness, his eyes gleaming with sharpness.

Now was the moment!

"Kakuzu, you may have been battle my grandfather, but don't underestimate me!"

With a loud shout, he clapped his hands together, "Wood Style: Deep Forest Emergence!"

As his words fell, the ground trembled violently.

"Boom! Crack!"

From the ground, enormous tree trunks surged upwards like massive, muscled monsters, spreading rapidly.

The area was overwhelmed by these huge trunks, the landscape being distorted by their impact.

"Boom—"

Like mighty beasts tracking a scent, they surged furiously towards Kakuzu!

Beside them, Aizen, with a slight smile on his lips and a slight squint in his eyes, looked at Nawaki, who was straining to maintain the jutsu, his eyes twinkling with astonishment.

"What a surprise... This is the power of Wood Style..."

"Just a child who has awakened the power of Wood Style... and yet he can achieve so much..."

Kakuzu, who was rushing forward, saw this scene and his rigid face shifted slightly.

"This jutsu... It was the First Hokage's...!!"