Chapter 81 (Patreon)

A forest of withered trees stretched in every direction.

Amid the lifeless woodland, two figures walked slowly toward Konoha.

Their black cloaks patterned with crimson clouds and the scratched forehead protectors bearing the symbols of different villages immediately revealed their identities.

They were members of the Akatsuki.

Kakuzu and Hidan continued forward without exchanging a single word. Even Hidan, who normally never stopped talking, had remained silent for an unusually long time.

Both men had already sensed that something was wrong.

As they passed a dead tree with a trunk so enormous that more than a dozen people would have struggled to encircle it, a serpentine shadow silently extended across the ground behind them.

It crept closer like a long black whip.

Just before it could reach them, the shadow suddenly split in two and shot forward.

Whoosh!

Kakuzu and Hidan reacted at the same instant, leaping into the air before the shadows could seize them.

However, the attack had already anticipated their movements.

Two kunai carrying explosive tags shot down from the branches above, aimed precisely at the places where they were about to land.

“Explosive tags—”

Boom!

The tags detonated before Kakuzu could finish speaking.

Flames erupted beneath them, followed by a cloud of thick black smoke.

The force of the explosion hurled Hidan away. He had managed to raise his Triple-Bladed Scythe to block the incoming kunai, but the explosion shattered the chain connecting the weapon to his body.

A single explosive tag had been enough to separate him from his weapon.

Before Hidan could even think about retrieving it, the two shadows continued spreading across the ground, relentlessly pursuing him.

Kakuzu, meanwhile, had hardened his body with Earth Release: Earth Spear. The explosive tags had failed to injure him.

Even so, the smoke had obscured his vision.

The moment he emerged from the cloud, Kakuzu’s attention remained fixed on the shadows crawling across the ground. He failed to notice that the shinobi controlling them had already appeared atop a nearby tree.

Nara Shikamaru stood on one of its branches, holding two unusually shaped blades.

Explosive tags had been attached to both weapons.

“More explosive tags?”

After being caught by the first attack, both Kakuzu and Hidan were already on guard.

The instant the weapons were thrown, their battle-hardened instincts took over. They tilted their heads aside, allowing the blades to pass harmlessly beside them.

However, in the next moment, their expressions froze.

Their bodies would no longer move.

“Chakra-conductive weapons…”

Kakuzu immediately understood what had happened.

“This boy channelled his clan’s secret technique through those weapons and connected his shadow to ours.”

Standing on the branch above them, Shikamaru gave a faint, confident smile.

“That’s right. They’re chakra blades.”

His expression hardened as he stared down at them.

“They’re the only keepsakes Asuma-sensei left me.”

“The intellect of the Nara clan, combined with that shadow technique…”

Kakuzu’s voice emerged from beneath his mask, calm but heavy.

“How troublesome.”

Although Shikamaru’s strength posed little threat to him directly, the boy’s intelligence could not be underestimated.

Kakuzu had survived since the Warring States Period. He understood better than most that carelessness against an opponent like this could prove fatal.

“Shikamaru! Beneath that man’s feet!”

Hinata’s clear voice suddenly rang through the forest.

Both Shikamaru’s and Kakuzu’s expressions changed.

Kakuzu turned his gaze toward another treetop, where Hinata stood with the veins around her eyes raised.

“The Byakugan of the Hyūga clan…”

Thunk! Thunk!

The sound of two blades slicing through flesh echoed between the dead trees.

“Gah! That hurts!”

Hidan’s furious scream immediately drew Kakuzu’s attention.

Two severed arms spun through the air before falling toward the ground.

Kakuzu’s expression darkened.

At the same time, he silently accelerated whatever he had already set in motion beneath the soil.

“So that’s your plan.”

His voice was now filled with unmistakable killing intent.

“You studied the abilities we displayed that day and created a strategy specifically designed to counter us.”

His eyes settled on Shikamaru.

“Nara Shikamaru… I’ll remember you. You are a frightening young shinobi.”

“Ino! Chōji! Move!”

Shikamaru ignored him and shouted the order.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two figures burst from their hiding places and appeared beside Hidan.

Ino Yamanaka and Chōji Akimichi immediately seized the two severed arms from the ground before signalling to Shikamaru that they had secured them.

“Withdraw!”

After giving the order, Shikamaru leapt from the branch and landed directly in front of Hidan.

Their shadows remained connected through the Shadow Possession Jutsu.

Sweat had already begun gathering across Shikamaru’s forehead, but he maintained the technique. Hidan seemed to realise that something was wrong, yet he could do nothing but mirror Shikamaru’s movements.

Shikamaru gave him a taunting smile.

“You and I are going to have a little race.”

He immediately turned and began running deeper into the forest.

Bound by the Shadow Possession Jutsu, Hidan was forced to follow him.

Ino and Chōji followed close behind.

Kakuzu’s expression changed when he saw them carrying his partner away.

Suddenly, a hand burst from beneath the soil.

It seized the chakra blade embedded in the ground and tore it free from the shadow pinning Kakuzu in place.

Released from Shikamaru’s technique, Kakuzu immediately prepared to pursue Hidan.

Before he could move, however, the silver-haired boy who had severed Hidan’s arms raised his sword.

Mihawk swung the blade down.

A towering Ranged Slash, six or seven metres high, tore through the forest with the force of a surging ocean wave.

Kakuzu stopped in his tracks.

The immense slash not only prevented him from pursuing Hidan, but also forced him to abandon the idea of rescuing his partner altogether.

“Mihawk!”

Shino Aburame’s voice suddenly rang out.

Hidan’s abandoned Triple-Bladed Scythe was lifted from the ground and hurled through the air toward Mihawk.

Mihawk calmly turned toward the incoming weapon.

A layer of black Armament Haki spread across the blade in his hand.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

He swung several times in rapid succession.

Silver-white sword light flashed through the air.

Hidan’s Triple-Bladed Scythe shattered into dozens of pieces, scattering across the ground as fragments of broken iron.

With his sword still held in one hand, Nerona Mihawk turned to face Kakuzu.

“Hinata, Shino. Follow Shikamaru and support them.”

“Yes!”

Hinata and Shino immediately left the clearing, racing in the direction Shikamaru had taken Hidan.

Soon, only two figures remained among the dead trees.

Nerona Mihawk and Kakuzu.

Kakuzu stared at the young swordsman before him.

“Silver hair, exceptional swordsmanship and a Konoha forehead protector…”

His voice became thoughtful.

“You remind me of the shinobi once feared throughout the nations—the White Fang of the Leaf.”

Kakuzu narrowly avoided the lingering edge of Mihawk’s Ranged Slash before continuing.

“But the White Fang died long ago, and his son never carried on his swordsmanship.”

His gaze sharpened as he studied Mihawk.

“So you must be Nerona Mihawk—the silver-haired swordsman mentioned in the reports.”

Kakuzu’s tone was no longer questioning.

“A slash that distinctive is bound to become your trademark sooner or later.”