Chapter 44 (Patreon)

All Roy could do was help Kushina survive in this chaotic world.

Changing Konoha’s current situation, becoming strong enough that the other villages would no longer dare to invade, and securing a stable place for them to live—that was enough for him.

As for the rest of the shinobi world, Roy did not particularly care if they continued tearing one another apart.

Not far away, the Nine-Tails lay on the ground, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with Kushina’s naïve hope for peace.

It had lived for far too long and had never once witnessed humanity achieve true peace.

Long before nations and hidden villages had existed, tribes and shinobi clans had still fought endlessly among themselves. Otherwise, the tailed beasts would never have absorbed so much of humanity’s hatred and malice that even the nature of their chakra had gradually become tainted.

Even people as powerful as Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha had failed to bring lasting peace to the shinobi world.

The peace Kushina desired likely existed only in dreams.

“Roy-kun, please help me train.”

Kushina suddenly straightened, determination shining in her eyes.

“I’m counting on you.”

Roy said nothing.

He simply drew her consciousness out of the sealed mindscape, leaving the Nine-Tails staring after them in bewilderment.

“Wait! Why are you going outside to train?” it demanded. “Is it really safe to practise powerful techniques in the middle of the front lines?”

Kushina gave no answer.

Instead, she cut off the Nine-Tails’ perception of the outside world.

Left alone in the sealed mindscape, the fox raged helplessly and swore that it would never lend her its chakra again.

Inside the tent, Kushina watched the shadows of passing shinobi occasionally appear against the fabric walls.

Once again, her lower lip was forced to endure far more pressure than it deserved.

She had discovered that training in an environment where someone might pass by at any moment was even more effective at tempering her self-control than practising at home.

---

Late that night, the bounty hunters resumed their raids after recovering their strength.

Their usual strategy was simple: approach the battlefield whenever an opportunity appeared and seize whatever benefits they could find.

Some of them had gone several days without finding a suitable target and were already considering withdrawing.

However, the thought of others leaving with enormous profits made them unwilling to give up.

They had already wasted several days here. Returning empty-handed would make all that time and effort meaningless.

Unfortunately for them, Shikaku had no intention of allowing their harassment to continue forever.

His preparations had already been completed.

All he needed was an opportunity to eliminate them in a single operation.

That opportunity had finally arrived.

Kakuzu, who had blended into the bounty hunters’ group, immediately sensed that something was wrong.

Without hesitation, he quietly slipped away.

He had barely retreated a few dozen metres when flames erupted into the sky on every side.

The camp the bounty hunters had been targeting was completely empty. There was not a single Konoha shinobi inside.

Instead, waves of ninjutsu descended upon them from the surrounding darkness.

At first, Kakuzu intended to remain mixed in with the others and retreat alongside the main group.

However, he quickly realised that the apparent escape route had been deliberately left open by Konoha.

There was obviously another trap waiting in that direction.

After reinforcing his body with Earth Release, Kakuzu abandoned the others and charged directly toward Kumogakure’s position.

“Be careful! That’s Kakuzu, the bounty hunter!”

Kakuzu had no intention of wasting time fighting them.

He expelled a torrent of Fire Release, intending to force the Konoha shinobi back long enough for him to break through.

He passed through the sea of flames—

—and ran directly into an enormous emerald-green fist.

“An Uchiha’s Susanoo!”

Kakuzu recognised the technique instantly, despite the fact that even many Konoha shinobi knew little about it.

The giant fist struck him head-on.

Kakuzu was sent flying over the fleeing bounty hunters before crashing heavily into the ground.

He lay there without moving, appearing completely lifeless.

---

“Send word to Lord Raikage and Lord Dodai immediately!”

The shinobi stationed along Kumogakure’s defensive line had already noticed the disturbance.

“Something is happening inside Konoha’s position!”

It was not long before the Fourth Raikage arrived alongside Killer B and Dodai.

Yugito Nii, having also received the warning, soon joined them.

“It is most likely Shikaku Nara,” Dodai said as he studied the distant flames. “He has prepared a trap to wipe out the bounty hunters.”

He narrowed his eyes.

“If Konoha has committed enough forces to surround them, its defensive line should currently be undermanned. This may be our best opportunity to break through.”

---

Kushina had only just fallen asleep when Fūya, the Anbu standing guard outside her tent, awakened her.

“Did someone bypass the defensive line and attack the main camp directly?” Kushina asked as she sat up.

“Lady Kushina, Lord Shikaku deliberately allowed those bounty hunters through,” Fūya explained. “However, Kumogakure appears to be preparing an assault on the defensive line.”

Kushina immediately became alert.

She restored the Nine-Tails’ connection to the outside world and asked, “Are Kumogakure’s jinchūriki there?”

The Nine-Tails opened one eye.

“So now you remember I exist? Find out yourself. Do not disturb my rest.”

Kushina stared at it for a moment.

“Nine-Tails… you’ve changed.”

The fox’s tails, which had been swaying smugly behind it, suddenly froze.

“You survived for so many years without anyone speaking to you,” Kushina continued. “But after being left alone for only a few hours, you’re already sulking.”

“Nonsense! Why would I sulk?” the Nine-Tails snapped. “Do not flatter yourself.”

“Roy-kun was right. You really are a tsundere who says the opposite of what you feel.”

Before the Nine-Tails could object, Kushina continued.

“Be good. Once we deal with Kumogakure’s invasion, Roy-kun and I will spend some time here and talk to you properly.”

“Kushina, what exactly do you think I—”

Before the fox could finish roaring, the chakra chain restraining its fourth tail vanished.

The Nine-Tails paused.

“Hmph. Do not think I will help you merely because you removed one chain.”

However, a tsundere’s actions rarely matched its words.

The very next moment, the Nine-Tails pointed out the locations of both the Two-Tails and the Eight-Tails.

At the same time, a sensor shinobi outside the tent shouted in a trembling voice.

“The Raikage’s chakra and the chakra of both jinchūriki have entered my sensory range!”

“They’re launching a full-scale attack! Send the distress signal immediately!”

---

According to Shikaku’s original plan, eliminating the bounty hunters should not have taken long.

Even if Kumogakure noticed something unusual, the Hidden Cloud forces should have realised it too late to exploit the temporary weakness in Konoha’s defensive line.

Kakuzu’s unexpected appearance had changed everything.

Shisui Uchiha had been stationed along the bounty hunters’ escape route to prevent anyone from breaking out of the encirclement.

Knowing how dangerous Kakuzu was, Shisui had not dared to hold back and activated his Susanoo immediately.

That display allowed Kumogakure to recognise that something unusual was happening within Konoha’s camp.

The Fourth Raikage seized the opportunity at once and personally led the assault.

Shikaku had already considered the possibility that Kakuzu might remain among the bounty hunters.

Because of that, he had informed everyone involved in the operation about the intelligence available on Kakuzu, including the ninjutsu he commonly used and an estimate of his overall strength.

However, Kakuzu proved even more difficult to kill than the reports suggested.

Despite apparently dying twice, he climbed back to his feet each time as though nothing had happened.

Roy had originally intended to explain the secret behind Kakuzu’s survival to Kushina.

Unfortunately, too many people had been nearby at the time, making it difficult to discuss the matter in detail.

Yugito had then appeared to test Kushina’s strength, and after Roy allowed the wrong words to slip from his mouth, Kushina had dragged him away for another training session.

As a result, Kakuzu’s abilities had completely slipped his mind.

Otherwise, Shikaku’s forces would never have been delayed for so long.

Every time they believed Kakuzu had finally been killed, he rose again and attempted to break through the encirclement.

Kakuzu himself was equally frustrated.

The Earth Grudge Fear allowed him to steal the hearts of others and use them to replace his own.

However, he was currently surrounded by numerous jōnin, with Shisui Uchiha watching his every movement.

Although Kakuzu managed to severely injure several Konoha jōnin amid the chaos, he had no opportunity to seize any of their hearts.

If the battle continued like this, even escaping alive would become impossible.

After Shisui destroyed another of his hearts, Kakuzu finally made his decision.

He would abandon his current body.

While the empty shell remained sprawled on the ground as a distraction, the black threads containing his final two hearts quietly dug into the earth and burrowed away.

Konoha’s sensor shinobi detected something moving underground.

However, because they did not understand the true nature of Kakuzu’s technique, most of their attention remained focused on the corpse lying before them.

By the time they realised what had happened, Kakuzu’s two remaining hearts had already escaped.