**Chapter 99: The Miserable Kakuzu**

"Hmph!"

Fugaku snorted coldly and said indifferently, "I am an Uchiha! The worst outcome would be war. Do you think I'm afraid of war?"

Back in the day, he led the Uchiha and faced the Mist Village alone.

Although, from Itsuki's perspective, this was pure stupidity, you couldn't deny the man's pride!

"Well..."

Itsuki hesitated, then quietly asked, "What if the Cloud Village demanded to take Sister Mikoto, or else they would declare war? Would you agree?"

"Fire Style..."

*Whoosh!*

Itsuki vanished from the spot.

All that was left was a kunai.

The Flying Thunder God Technique!

Setsuna was at a loss for words, sighing, "Fugaku, what's going on with Mikoto? Itsuki seems to be... obsessed with her."

Is the clan leader's wife that charming?

She's a full twenty years older than Itsuki! 

And she's already a mother of two!

Fugaku glared at Setsuna fiercely, gritting his teeth, "What's going on? How the hell should I know what's going on? That damned bastard—I'm going to kill him sooner or later."

"Alright, let's go! Father!"

Itachi stood by with a bored expression.

Fugaku, enraged, snapped, "Itachi, is that really your attitude? Itsuki just spoke about your mother! He... he..."

He's hitting on your mother!

"I know! But, Brother Itsuki always likes to fool around. You shouldn't take him seriously. Besides..."

Itachi waved his hand and said, "Father, don't you trust Mother?"

Good kid, you're really something! 

Fugaku's face darkened, left speechless by his son's retort.

This child has been lacking fatherly love since childhood.

Maybe he should assert his parental authority a bit more!

The onlookers around them were struggling not to laugh out loud.

Itsuki's words made sense: "A kind father and a smiling son!"

---

**Amegakure (Hidden Rain Village).**

Figures radiating cold, ominous energy appeared one by one in the large, empty hall.

Pain appeared, his Rinnegan eyes scanning the ten people gathered below. He paused slightly as his gaze passed over Itsuki.

At this moment, Itsuki was standing behind Konan, smiling.

And Konan wasn't standing beside Pain, as she usually did.

Surprisingly, she didn't seem to mind Itsuki's presence, even acting as though she was open to giving things a try with him.

Pain's brows furrowed, irritation building in his heart.

Konan was an important family member to him. It wasn't that he forbade her from getting close to men.

But!

Not Uchiha Itsuki! 

He couldn't understand this man, and that made him dangerous.

Sensing Pain's gaze, Itsuki grinned provocatively and leaned closer to Konan's ear, whispering something.

Konan smiled, casting Itsuki a flirtatious glance.

Pain's face darkened further. He snorted coldly, saying, "Everyone, today, we formally meet each other. We should get to know each other, and for future plans, we will be working in pairs."

"Pairs, huh!"

Itsuki nodded, glancing at Konan with a smile.

Pain's face grew even darker, and he said coldly, "Konan doesn't count. She's not one of the ten core members."

The "Ten" naturally referred to those wearing the organization's rings.

Itsuki gave Pain an exasperated look. "You sure know how to complicate things."

"Hmph!" Pain snorted again. "Enough talk. Let's begin. Who's first?"

"I'll go!"

Itsuki stepped forward, clapping his hands toward Hidan. "Hey, Hidan, let's spar a bit."

He seemed like the weakest one here, with strength not yet reaching the Kage level.

Deidara was still young and about the same in strength, but he could fly, making him a tough opponent.

Though Itsuki could handle him, he preferred not to reveal too much just yet.

After all, there was still a certain one-eyed observer.

Everyone knows—those with just one eye are never to be messed with.

"Hehe!"

Hidan chuckled. "Me? Perfect, Lord Jashin wants me to teach you a lesson too."

"I'll go!" 

Kakuzu's deep voice rang out as he stepped forward, cutting off Hidan.

"Hey, hey, hey!" 

Hidan shouted, displeased.

"Shut up, you fool! Or I'll kill you!" 

Kakuzu growled, coming to a stop in front of Itsuki.

Itsuki looked Kakuzu up and down.

This was the man who supposedly tried to assassinate the First Hokage.

However…

In Itsuki's eyes, one of the First Hokage's Wood Style clones would have been enough to hunt him down to the ends of the earth.

How did he even attempt the assassination?

Was it that he threw a shuriken from thousands of miles away and then immediately ran off?

Did the First Hokage even know you tried to assassinate him? 

And where exactly did your shuriken end up?

*Gurgle, gurgle!*

As Kakuzu locked eyes with Itsuki, his back suddenly bulged, and several shadowy figures emerged from it.

Earth Grudge Fear!

"Oh, now this is getting interesting!"

As they watched the figures radiating immense power, even the members of the Akatsuki couldn't help but be intrigued.

"A secret technique?"

Orochimaru's raspy voice laughed, "I believe this is a secret technique from Takigakure, Earth Grudge Fear!"

"You truly live up to your reputation, Orochimaru-sensei. Always so knowledgeable!"

Itsuki laughed heartily.

Kakuzu's expression didn't change.

Although Takigakure was a relatively isolated village, it was not completely cut off from the world.

What's more, they had the unique Hero Water. That substance greatly boosted power, which naturally attracted attention. It didn't take long before sharp-eyed individuals noticed them.

Kakuzu formed a series of hand signs and coldly stared at Itsuki, "I'm going to start now!"

Whoosh!

The attack came. But—

Everyone froze in shock.

The attacker was Hidan, and his target was none other than Kakuzu.

A massive, grotesque weapon pierced through Kakuzu's heart from behind.

"You… you…"

Kakuzu's face was filled with shock and fury.

Hidan grinned menacingly, "You, defiler of Jashin, sink into the abyss of blood and darkness!"

Cough, cough!

His heart pierced, Kakuzu couldn't help but cough up blood.

Splat!

As Hidan pulled out his weapon, he looked at the dripping blood and burst into maniacal laughter.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What the hell is this?"

Deidara couldn't help but shout, "This was supposed to be a one-on-one fight, and now he's attacking from behind?"

"Shut up!"

Sasori snapped irritably.

He wasn't exactly known for his patience.

Unfortunately, Deidara had quite the temper too!

He narrowed his eyes and glared at Sasori, "And what if I don't shut up?"

"Enough!"

Pain finally spoke, "It's still a one-on-one duel."

Deidara was taken aback, "One-on-one? But clearly—"

Mid-sentence, he realized something.

"Uchiha?"

"Genjutsu?"

"Exactly!"

Orochimaru extended his long, multi-purpose tongue, smiling, "At some point, Hidan fell under Itsuki-kun's genjutsu, so this is still Itsuki-kun and Kakuzu's fight. Hidan is just a puppet."

Deidara fell silent.

Still, he found it odd. Didn't Kakuzu just get his heart pierced? How is he not dead?

Splat!

Just as Deidara was lost in thought, Kakuzu's Earth Grudge Fear attacked Hidan.

Lightning Style!

Fire Style!

Two raging attacks buried Hidan.

Immediately after, the Water Style mask monster burrowed back into Kakuzu's body.

Kakuzu's body twisted, then slowly stood up, eyes filled with murderous intent, glaring at Itsuki.

"Damn Uchiha, I'll—" Splat!

Before he could finish, a mouthful of blood replaced the rest of his words.

Hidan!

Emerging from the smoke, Hidan was in his black-and-white ritual state.

He had impaled himself with his spear.

"Curse Technique: Death Controlling Possessed Blood!"

"Hahaha, you bastard! I'll punish you in the name of Jashin!"

At this moment, Hidan was covered in blood, his body in the black-and-white curse state, with a spear piercing his own heart.

With a sinister grin, he let out a crazed laugh.

He looked like a demon who had just crawled out of hell.

(End of the chapter)