Chapter:22

"I want your head!"

Kakuzu, radiating a menacing aura, suddenly raised his hand and aimed it at Uchiha Fugaku like a cannon.

In an instant, something incredible happened.

Kakuzu's hand shot forward like a cannonball, aiming for Uchiha Fugaku, who stood dozens of meters away. Strange black tendrils connected his hand to his arm as it launched forward.

*Puff—*

Kakuzu's hand pierced the ground where Fugaku had been standing, but Fugaku managed to dodge just before the attack landed.

"Earth Grudge Fear," Fugaku muttered, reappearing more than ten meters away as he eyed the hand connected by those tentacles.

The Earth Grudge Fear was a forbidden jutsu, transforming Kakuzu's body by producing numerous black tendrils, allowing him to do things that defied reason. For instance, he could now detach his hands from his body, linking them only by those threads.

*Swoosh—*

Kakuzu quickly retracted his hand, glaring at Fugaku. The sudden attack would have caught most off guard, but Fugaku had easily dodged it. Clearly, this man was strong.

However, Kakuzu wasn't surprised. Despite the decline of the Uchiha clan, it had produced warriors like Uchiha Madara, who could rival the First Hokage. As the current head of the clan, Fugaku's power was to be expected.

*Whoosh!*

Kakuzu leaped forward, his large and imposing body quickly closing the distance between them. As he ran, his hands flew through a series of seals.

"Earth Style: Earth Spear!"

As he finished the jutsu, his hands turned pitch black, as though dipped in ink. This Earth-style technique hardened his skin, making his body as tough as steel. It granted him formidable defense as well as destructive power.

"Sharingan. Illusion," Fugaku calmly whispered.

Knowing the strength of Kakuzu's Earth Spear technique, Fugaku had no intention of facing it head-on. His eyes shifted, revealing the three-tomoe Sharingan, which began spinning rapidly. Without even needing hand signs, Fugaku cast a powerful genjutsu. Even with Kakuzu's Kage-level mental strength, he was dragged into the illusion.

Still, Kakuzu's experience as a Kage-level shinobi meant he could break free in time, given the chance. No illusion, not even one from the Sharingan, was truly inescapable. But Fugaku had no intention of giving him that time.

"Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"

Fugaku quickly formed a series of seals, and a massive fire dragon surged forward, radiating intense heat as it barreled toward Kakuzu. The ground scorched in its wake.

*Boom!*

The fiery dragon consumed Kakuzu, its flames spreading outward. But as the fire died down, Kakuzu emerged from the inferno, his fire-resistant clothing reduced to tatters. Yet, his body was unscathed, thanks to the powerful defense provided by his Earth Spear technique.

"Impressive," Kakuzu remarked, having now broken free from the genjutsu. He glanced at the smoke still rising from his body and gazed at Fugaku with a newfound interest.

This was the legendary Sharingan genjutsu, a force even he, a seasoned Kage-level fighter, had momentarily fallen prey to. And the fire-style jutsu that followed had considerable power as well. He had encountered this technique before, but in Fugaku's hands, its strength was far greater than what he had seen from other Konoha shinobi.

"But if that's all you've got, it won't be enough to hurt me!" Kakuzu declared.

His hardened skin resembled armor, and each step he took left deep imprints in the ground as he charged at Fugaku with brute force.

"His defense is incredible," Fugaku thought, frowning slightly. Despite his powerful attack, Kakuzu had emerged unscathed, a testament to his mastery of Earth-style ninjutsu.

Considering his next move, Fugaku rapidly formed even more complex seals, his hands moving so fast they left afterimages.

"Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation!"

With a deep breath, Fugaku unleashed a massive fireball, akin to a meteor, which surged forward with intense heat. The fireball's power was so overwhelming that it could instantly evaporate the moisture from a person's body.

The ground scorched, trees ignited, and the very air seemed to burn. The *Great Fire Annihilation*, one of the Uchiha clan's most powerful fire-style techniques, dwarfed the earlier *Great Dragon Fire* jutsu.

*Boom!*

The fireball engulfed Kakuzu, and for a moment, he screamed in agony before falling silent. Even with his enhanced defense, the raw power of Fugaku's attack appeared to have caused severe damage.

Suddenly, a figure burst from the ground near Fugaku. A spear-like hand shot toward him—it was Kakuzu, launching a surprise attack from underground.

Kakuzu had been wary of taking the full brunt of the *Great Fire Annihilation*, so he had replaced himself with a shadow clone before the fireball hit. His real body had burrowed underground to get closer to Fugaku.

*Puff—*

Kakuzu's pitch-black hand impaled Fugaku, and blood splattered as Kakuzu grinned maliciously.

But before he could revel in his victory, Fugaku's body vanished in a puff of white smoke—it was a substitution.

Just as Kakuzu processed this, another massive fireball descended from above, engulfing him.

On a nearby tree branch, Fugaku stood calmly, his Sharingan active. But this time, the tomoe had been replaced by a special pattern—a ring combined with three tomoe and four black dots.

Unbeknownst to Kakuzu, he had already fallen under the true illusion of Fugaku's right eye. Kakuzu believed he had injured Fugaku, but in reality, everything had been an illusion.

The reason Fugaku had seemingly disappeared after being fatally wounded was simple—under the effects of this powerful genjutsu, Fugaku could manipulate reality itself. Kakuzu had been fighting a battle he could never win.

(End of Chapter).

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