Chapter 472: The Fallen

Deep in the rarely visited dense forest, a giant Arhat with a solemn appearance stood tall, one hand pressing down as if performing an act of saving the world.

Shifting the gaze downward, a flickering golden light shone beneath the wooden man's broad palm.

Snap—

With a crisp snapping sound, the light beneath the wooden man's palm dimmed completely. After moving it away, the moonlight spilled down, illuminating a broken body embedded in the earth.

"It's over."

Number Seven, standing on top of the wooden man, raised his hand expressionlessly, and a seed exuding a decaying aura quietly grew in his palm.

"Whew..."

Kakuzu, whose consciousness was nearing collapse, looked at the man on top of the wooden man with despair in his eyes, blood continuously overflowing from his mouth.

"How could I..."

At this moment, Kakuzu had transformed into his strongest Emperor Sword form, but in front of Number Seven, who had activated Stage Two, the final form that had once suppressed Uchiha Madara was clearly not enough.

The Earth Grudge Fear cards embedded all over his body were all shattered, the golden heavy armor was covered in dense cracks, and countless scarlet blood flowed out from the gaps, gathering under Kakuzu to become a pool of despairing background.

The companion weapon, the Heavy Awakening Sword, was also snapped by the terrifying force of the Sage Art: Super Strength. Half of the broken sword was stuck in the open space a dozen meters away, and the fist marks clearly visible on the sword body seemed to be telling others what kind of tragic torture it had just experienced.

"Kakuzu, stop struggling, he doesn't want your life."

In the consciousness sea, the extremely weak Chomei advised Kakuzu, who was preparing to get up again.

The Earth Grudge Fear masks on his body were all scrapped; if he continued to fight, he might really die.

"If he doesn't want my life, then he wants my money!"

Since he wasn't taking his life, he must be after his money.

Kakuzu, whose consciousness was already muddled, woke up instantly upon hearing Chomei's words. Looking at Number Seven walking slowly toward him, driven by money, he endured the pain in his body and slowly climbed up.

"You idiot!"

Chomei was instantly furious. It could clearly feel that this Senju Hashirama who was attacking him was holding back. Otherwise, just by using Wood Release, he could have directly drained him dry; why go to such great lengths to cripple him without killing him?

"Hmm?"

Looking at Kakuzu who had stood up again, a trace of displeasure flashed across Number Seven's cold face.

His other empty hand lifted forward, and with a flash of green light, countless wooden branches instantly broke through the soil, binding Kakuzu tightly and hanging him upside down in front of Number Seven.

"I'm telling you, I have no money, and I won't give you my life either!"

Kakuzu, who had been drained of all strength by Wood Release, said through gritted teeth.

But Number Seven didn't intend to pay any attention to him at all. After looking him over, he slapped his left hand down, planting the seed into the position of Kakuzu's heart.

"Ahhh!"

Kakuzu, feeling a tearing sensation in his chest, screamed repeatedly. He could clearly perceive that countless roots were spreading in his blood vessels at this moment, eventually winding toward his living heart.

"Implantation successful."

After successfully planting the God Tree spore, a trace of imperceptible pride appeared on Number Seven's expressionless face.

He must be the first among all the clones to successfully harvest the fruit.

"What did you do to me?"

Discovering that the Tailed Beast chakra in his body was being plundered by the roots at his heart at a speed visible to the naked eye, Kakuzu felt a tightness in his heart.

"..."

However, facing Kakuzu's questioning, Number Seven remained unmoved.

In Number Seven's eyes, Kakuzu was just soil used to cultivate the Chakra Fruit. After the harvest, only death awaited him.

"You guy, I..."

Not expecting the other party to ignore him repeatedly, Kakuzu clenched his fists, preparing to rise up and resist.

"Kakuzu, don't be impulsive, as long as the green hills remain, there's no need to worry about firewood."

Chomei, who recognized the situation, continued to dissuade him. Kakuzu was a human he got along with relatively well; it didn't want to lose him just like that.

"Whew."

In the end, Kakuzu chose to endure, temporarily giving up resistance, and pondered how to escape alive.

"Click~"

Just at this moment, because he was hanging upside down, Kakuzu's already broken backpack reached the end of its life, and countless small items scattered all over the ground.

There were rusted kunai, frayed scrolls, military rations that had expired for many years...

"Clatter~"

One of them happened to fall in front of the hanging Kakuzu.

It was a figure of the Evil God series with extremely poor styling and paint, but based on the general appearance, one could still see a bit of the Seven-Tails Knight's spirit.

It was exactly the birthday toy Kakuzu had spent a lot of money to buy for his grandson at a discounted goods stall.

"Little Tsubasa..."

Looking at the toy he had carefully selected, the desire to survive in Kakuzu's heart exploded instantly.

For the sake of his grandson's smile, he had to live on.

"Crunch!"

In the next second, a large foot stepped on the figure, and the crisp sound of breaking was clearly audible.

"Uh—what trash?"

Number Seven lowered his head in confusion, looking at the figure broken into three pieces under his feet, kicked it aside expressionlessly, and then reached out to grab Kakuzu's head, beginning to absorb the continuous Tailed Beast chakra from his body.

Doing this could effectively stimulate the activity of the Tailed Beast chakra in Kakuzu's body, allowing the spore to bear fruit sooner.

And Kakuzu, who was being drained wildly, had a blank mind at this moment. Under the mask, his green eyes stared fixedly at the figure broken into three pieces, and the anger accumulated in his heart erupted.

"YOU! DID! THAT!"

Hiss—

"Ah?"

Number Seven, who was devouring the Seven-Tails chakra, showed a look of astonishment on his cold face for the first time. Looking at Kakuzu, who had suddenly broken free from the Wood Release restraint and was grabbing at his head with both hands, his eyes suddenly lost their luster.

"Boom!"

Just like that, the furious Kakuzu reversed the situation, held down Number Seven's bewildered head, and fiercely pressed it into the moist soil.

"That was a discounted toy I spent 3,000 ryo to buy from a Whirlpool merchant, and you dared to..."

Kakuzu, whose mind was clouded by anger, erupted with extraordinary strength, grabbed Number Seven from the mud, and unleashed a set of flesh-hitting combo punches, beating the other party until he was dizzy.

"Ora ora ora..."

"No, Kakuzu, were you acting just now?"

Looking at Kakuzu's overpowered operation, Chomei in the consciousness sea was somewhat suspicious of its beast life. When did this guy become so brave?

"GIVE! ME! TEN! TIMES! COMPENSATION!"

Kakuzu, who was getting more and more excited as he fought, gathered all his strength into his right fist, aimed at Number Seven's big face, and shouted his demands.

Just as Chomei was preparing to become a cheerleader and cheer for Kakuzu, who had exploded with power,

a mutation occurred.

"Tap~"

He saw Number Seven, who had just been completely powerless, actually raise his hand and easily block Kakuzu's charged punch, a look of contempt appearing on his unscathed face.

"Finished fighting?"

"Uh..."

Looking at the other party's indifferent expression in disbelief, Kakuzu suddenly felt a sense of emptiness in his heart.

"Heh."

The corners of Number Seven's mouth, which had become a bit more human, curled up slightly, and his fist, wrapped in dark blue super strength, fiercely hammered into Kakuzu's lower abdomen.

Charged punch!

"Pfft!"

With the massive force entering his body, even with the protection of the heavy armor, Kakuzu still opened his mouth and vomited bitter bile, and his whole body flew backward, breaking several large trees that required several people to embrace along the way.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Kakuzu, lying on the ground, was bathed in blood, his green eyes losing their previous luster, and his whole aura dropped to freezing point. If it weren't for Chomei working hard to transport chakra, he would have long since returned to his hometown.

"Is this the feeling of evolution?"

Number Seven wasn't in a hurry to punish the restless Kakuzu, but instead looked around with curiosity in his eyes. The loss of focus just now was only because he was undergoing metamorphosis.

After digesting the massive amount of Tailed Beast chakra, he seemed to have opened his wisdom. His mind was no longer purely filled with the word "mission," but also had a bit more craving for unknown things.

"I'll leave your life with you for now."

Fixing his gaze on the dying Kakuzu, Number Seven said something inexplicable, then turned and prepared to leave.

He had learned from the failure of the previous few test subjects and planted the spore in the other party's vital point. Unless Kakuzu could discard his heart, his fruit would bear fruit sooner or later.

At the moment, compared to torturing the other party to ripen the fruit, what he wanted to do more was to understand this world and understand humans.

Thereby, becoming human.

"Tap~"

Number Seven, who had just taken a step, suddenly raised his head, feeling something. Under the hazy moonlight, a scarlet figure flashed by.

He subconsciously raised his hands to defend, and another gray figure sprang out from the dense forest. In the blink of an eye, a large hand pressed onto his chest position.

"Happa-sho!"

Boom—

Happa-sho, as a unique taijutsu that Shenhuo had been immersed in for many years, had been practiced to the point of perfection. The force released was not at all weaker than the super strength punch of the Senju clan.

"Whew!"

Number Seven, feeling a slight pain, furrowed his brows. The hands he raised slashed down rapidly, and the super strength condensed in his palms was enough to kill ordinary people upon contact.

However, the moment he slashed down, a scarlet flash appeared in the sky again.

"Great Cutting!"

Mako, who had transformed into Amazons, waved her arm blades and fiercely smashed them onto Number Seven's wide-open head, bringing up a spurt of blood.

Shenhuo took the opportunity to create distance from him and ran toward the unconscious Kakuzu.

"Father-in-law!"

The tragic scene before him made Shenhuo feel a tightness in his heart. He had never seen Kakuzu in such a disheveled state. The exquisite carvings all over his body were all shattered, blood seeped out along the cracks of the heavy armor, and the red compound eyes on the mask had lost their luster.

If it weren't for the slightly rising chest, he would have been ready to go home and hold a funeral.

"Boom!"

Unfortunately, there wasn't much time for him to be shocked. He saw a figure flash past him and smash heavily onto the protruding rock slab not far away.

"Mako! Are you okay?"

Seeing his wife defeated so quickly, Shenhuo immediately picked up Kakuzu's broken body and retreated backward.

"Another one?"

In the distance, Number Seven, with only slightly dirty clothes, twisted his slightly painful neck and looked at the guys who had suddenly disrupted the situation with curious eyes.

"Aren't they Tailed Beasts?"

Especially Mako, who was exuding a violent aura, made him identify her for a long time, but he found that the power of her transformation didn't come from their target, so he lost interest.

"Who are you!?"

The couple, standing back on the same front, looked vigilantly at the indifferent Number Seven. Under the continuous bombardment of their finishing moves, the other party was actually unscathed. What kind of background did he have?

"Cough, cough, cough... Mako, you guys run quickly."

Under the bumping of Shenhuo's pulling, Kakuzu slowly woke up. Looking at the couple who came to support him, a warmth arose in his heart, but it quickly turned into anxiety.

"He is Senju Hashirama, you are not his match."

"That God of Ninjas?"

The couple walked the world, how could they not know the name of the world's number one.

But even knowing that they were about to face the strongest powerhouse in the Ninja World, the two still gritted their teeth and stood in front of Kakuzu, because the sweat oozing out due to nervousness soaked their backs in no time.

"You still have Tsubasa, don't do stupid things for me."

Seeing the two unmoved, Kakuzu felt anxious in his heart, supported himself to stand up, pressed on their shoulders, and advised them earnestly.

"Father, what stupid things are you saying, how could we abandon you!"

Mako turned her head back, and even through the mask, Kakuzu could feel the determination in the other party's eyes.

"That's right, we are a family, after all."

Shenhuo revealed a smile he thought was handsome and gave Kakuzu a thumbs up.

"You two idiots..."

Seeing this scene, Kakuzu only felt his body warm. Since his family left, he had never felt such intense family affection.

With the blessing of family bonds, Kakuzu felt that he had strength again, and the driver also started to heat up for some reason, as if some mysterious power was about to break out of its cocoon.

"Then let me join..."

"Clap, clap, clap."

Suddenly, a burst of crisp applause rang out. The three looked at the source of the sound in confusion, only to see Number Seven, who had just been murderous, actually clapping excitedly.

"Subarashii, too interesting, is this what humans call family affection?"

Number Seven, who had evolved wisdom by absorbing sufficient Tailed Beast chakra, was very satisfied with the performance of the three.

Human emotions were exactly what he urgently needed to understand at this moment.

It just so happened that Kakuzu's family gave him a lesson, and he also learned some things from it. With his emotions satisfied, he lost his murderous intent.

"What kind of tricks are you playing?"

Shenhuo furrowed his brows and reached his hands toward the two scrolls behind his back. Inside them were sealed countless Cursed Seals of the Heavenly Prison technique, enough to delay the other party for a period of time.

"I am satisfied, you guys have escaped with your lives."

Number Seven put down his hands, a faint smile actually hanging on his face. After nodding to the three, he leaped away.

"But next time we meet, you won't be so lucky."

Worried that the other party would make a comeback, the three did not relax their vigilance. Until the first ray of dawn appeared in the distance, the exhausted Kakuzu and Mako finally canceled their transformations.

"Father!"

Mako looked at Kakuzu, who was covered in blood, and tears gushed out.

Shenhuo nimbly supported his crumbling father-in-law and found that there wasn't a single piece of good flesh on his body. Using the word "covered in bruises" to describe it was not an exaggeration at all.

"Cough, cough... I don't have much of a problem, none of them are fatal injuries."

Kakuzu's consciousness still existed. He first spoke to comfort them, then shifted his gaze downward, saw the roots spreading on his chest, a look of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes, and he raised his hand and fiercely stabbed toward his own heart.

"Pfft!"

"Father, what are you doing!?"

This sudden act of self-mutilation directly stunned the couple.

"Gah!"

However, this wasn't over. Seeing Kakuzu pull a bloody heart from his own chest, Mako rolled her eyes and fainted.

"Kid, quickly give me the Earth Grudge Fear card I left for you!"

"Uh, Father-in-law, we came out in a hurry... don't move yet, I'll find it for you~"

(End of chapter)