Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

Crackle—

Boom—

Bang, bang—

Unknowingly, several minutes had passed.

Lightning, wind blades, flames, and water balls surged across the battlefield in waves. Kakuzu continuously controlled his four masked monsters, relentlessly launching attacks at Uchiha Haruki.

Yet all of these assaults were deftly dodged by Haruki using the powerful insight of his Sharingan.

Not only that—whenever the opportunity arose, Haruki would counter with fierce retaliation, causing Kakuzu considerable trouble.

But that also allowed Kakuzu to gradually see through Haruki's abilities.

Finally, after yet another round of attacks failed, Kakuzu stopped wasting time and activated his most powerful form—Earth Grudge Fear Mode.

Black stitching across Kakuzu's body suddenly burst apart. From the gaps, a mass of black tendrils surged out, entwining together like enormous serpents and covering his entire form.

And that wasn't all.

He opened his mouth wide—more black tendrils spilled out, lashing about in the air, making for a deeply unsettling sight.

Seeing this transformation, Haruki immediately understood: Kakuzu was done playing around.

Without hesitation, Haruki formed a series of hand signs, unleashing the jutsu: Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique—targeting the Fire mask monster.

Unfortunately, even though his Water Dragon Bullet had recently leveled up to Lv3 (101/1000), the jutsu still required forty-four hand seals to execute. It couldn't be cast quickly.

By the time he completed the seals and released the technique, a different masked monster had already moved in front of the Fire mask monster.

Zzzzt!

A bolt of lightning surged forward.

A crackling electric serpent spat from the mouth of the Lightning mask monster, wrapping around Haruki's summoned water dragon.

In the next instant, the lightning coursed along the flowing water and surged toward Haruki.

To avoid electrocuting himself, Haruki had to interrupt his jutsu and retreat quickly by pushing off the ground with both feet.

But Kakuzu wasn't done. He commanded the Lightning mask monster to keep pressing with its Lightning Release ninjutsu.

Haruki was forced into evasive maneuvers, dodging with increasing difficulty.

When the barrage ended, Haruki realized that two of the masked monsters had already merged into Kakuzu's shoulders—the Fire mask and the Wind mask.

From afar, Kakuzu glared at him. His tendrils twisted and lifted him into the air.

Midair, Kakuzu completed a sequence of hand seals, expending a tremendous amount of chakra. In a low voice, he declared:

"It's over!"

The masks on his shoulders opened their mouths wide and simultaneously launched Fire Release: Searing Migraine and Wind Release: Pressure Damage.

The two jutsu merged in the air, fusing into the Composite Jutsu: Scorching Wind Storm!

Fire fed on wind, and wind amplified fire.

When combined, the resulting power wasn't merely the sum of two jutsu—it far exceeded that. Its might rivaled even A-rank or S-rank techniques.

Blazing firestorm surged downward from the sky, illuminating the entire night.

Below, Haruki had nowhere to run—he was engulfed by the sea of flames.

"No—!"

A roar of unwillingness escaped Haruki's lips.

A wall of water appeared in front of him, but against the overwhelming tide of flames, it was utterly useless.

Ultimately, his body was consumed by fire.

Witnessing the scene, Kakuzu's normally stoic face finally relaxed with a rare expression of relief.

To be honest, Haruki's strength had exceeded all expectations. For a bounty of just 17 million ryo, his power rivaled targets worth over 30 million.

Kakuzu couldn't help but feel this job was a loss.

Just as he was wondering whether he could squeeze some extra compensation from the black market, a sharp, grating sound like something being scraped suddenly echoed behind him.

"What?"

Kakuzu was shocked. He didn't turn around—instead, he instantly deployed a mass of black tendrils, forming a thick wall of flesh behind him.

But even so, the intense sense of danger did not fade. It felt like a blade was pressed to his back, sending chills down his spine.

Without hesitation, he rapidly formed seals and cast his strongest defensive ninjutsu—

Earth Release: Earth Spear!

He could sense the attack behind him was Wind Release. With Earth Spear's defensive capabilities, it should be enough to block one hit.

That was the plan.

But just as that thought crossed his mind—searing pain exploded across his body.

He felt the flesh wall of tendrils behind him being torn apart in an instant, and then his body was wrapped in a surge of chakra—unable to move.

At the same time, a thousand stabbing sensations erupted all over his body, as if needles were piercing every cell.

"AHHH—!"

Even someone as battle-hardened as Kakuzu couldn't suppress the scream that followed.

There was no doubt—this was the attack of the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!

A few seconds earlier, when Haruki appeared to be engulfed by the flames, he had secretly activated his Mangekyō Sharingan, then cast the left-eye ability—"Heaven's Veil" (Amatsu-no-Ma)!

In an instant, Haruki separated himself from the world of shinobi, as if he and the sea of flames existed in two completely different spaces. The jutsu allowed him to avoid all damage.

This was the moment he'd been waiting for.

Everything he did before being "consumed" by the flames had been an act—intended to lower Kakuzu's guard.

And it worked.

Even someone as cautious as Kakuzu had let his guard down, if only slightly, after seeing Haruki swallowed by fire.

That moment of carelessness was all Haruki needed.

He used the window to teleport behind Kakuzu, released Heaven's Veil, and then launched the devastating Wind Release: Rasenshuriken.

At such close range, there was no way Kakuzu could dodge. All he could do was defend—and even that didn't help.

The Rasenshuriken, an S-rank forbidden jutsu, effortlessly tore through the wall of tendrils—stronger even than the Kusanagi Sword could penetrate—and struck Kakuzu directly.

A mortal body struck by a jutsu that attacked on a cellular level… The result was obvious.

Haruki calmly gazed at the Kakuzu engulfed by a swirl of wind chakra, silently waiting for the jutsu to finish.

A few seconds later, boom!

Kakuzu fell from the sky and crashed at Haruki's feet.

Crack—crack!

Two crisp shattering sounds rang out.

The two mask monsters on Kakuzu's shoulders had shattered, and the black tendrils connected to them withered away.

And not only the masks—Kakuzu's own heart had been critically damaged. After falling, it lasted less than a second before ceasing to beat.

But still—he wasn't dead yet.

Haruki looked up toward the two remaining mask monsters rushing in from the firestorm. He didn't stop them and allowed them to merge back into Kakuzu's body.

Moments later, Kakuzu's heart began to beat again, and his eyes regained some focus.

Unfortunately for him, with his chakra pathways shattered, he couldn't move at all.

Just as Haruki had predicted: once struck by the Rasenshuriken, even if the target had five hearts, it didn't matter.

However, thanks to his Mangekyō Sharingan, Haruki saw that the black tendrils fused with Kakuzu's body were already trying to repair his injuries.

Meaning, if left alone, Kakuzu might eventually recover.

Of course, it was also possible his body would fail before the regeneration succeeded.

Which would it be? Haruki neither knew nor cared.

Shiiing—

Haruki drew his blade.

Squelch—squelch—

Two swift thrusts.

He pierced straight through Kakuzu's final mask and remaining heart, ending his life completely.