What could possibly threaten Kakuzu in the Land of Waterfalls besides the Hero Water? Without a doubt, it was the Seven-Tails. Outside of the Five Great Nations, this was the only small country that possessed a tailed beast.
To be honest, when Shinnosuke used the last of his strength to summon a summoning scroll onto the ground, Kakuzu was a little surprised. The large summoning scroll had several "reinforcement runes" on it—essentially seals that strengthened the original sealing technique.
"Hah… Open!" Shinnosuke used every ounce of his remaining strength, forming the Ram hand seal with one hand. The reinforcement runes on the scroll ignited with tiny sparks. As the runes completely burned away, the sealing scroll seemed to lose its power, splitting open from top to bottom in an instant.
The sealing symbols spread out completely, revealing intricate, mysterious black markings. A red light appeared in the center of the scroll, rapidly expanding outward.
Boom!
A massive cloud of smoke surged into the sky, stretching over a hundred meters high. When the smoke dissipated, a towering figure dozens of meters tall emerged. Its blue exoskeleton gleamed under the light, six orange-yellow wings flapped behind it, and its golden tail swayed in the air.
Frankly, this beetle-like creature had a rather unique appearance.
Shinnosuke struggled to lift his head, his bloodshot eyes filled with desperation as he gazed up at the enormous Seven-Tails.
"Kill… Kill him…" he gasped hoarsely.
But before he could finish speaking, a whip-like appendage suddenly coiled tightly around his neck. Ni stepped forward from behind, pressing her foot down on him, pinning him firmly to the ground.
"If you don't want to die right now, just watch. Otherwise, you'll only regret it later."
The Seven-Tails did not immediately attack or even speak. Instead, it simply stood there in silence, observing Kakuzu.
From inside the seal, it had been able to perceive the outside world. And perhaps because of that, it did not immediately lash out upon being released.
It was Kakuzu who eventually broke the silence. He pointed at the sealing scroll lying on the ground.
"Seven-Tails, this is pretty pathetic. A mere sealing scroll managed to trap you for twenty years. As one of the top three tailed beasts in terms of tails, don't you think that's a bit disgraceful?"
The reason the Seven-Tails had been sealed for twenty years was largely due to those reinforcement runes, which contained traces of Hashirama Senju's Wood Release power.
With such seals in place, even if another twenty years had passed, as long as there were people eager to harvest pieces of Hashirama's body, the Seven-Tails wouldn't have been able to break free.
Kakuzu's words were meant to provoke it.
Yet, to his surprise, the Seven-Tails didn't seem particularly bothered.
"You must be Kakuzu," it said, its voice carrying a distinctly feminine quality.
That was unexpected.
"We have no quarrel. I only wish to leave this place."
Kakuzu raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms as intrigue flickered in his gaze.
If he had said the same thing to the Eight-Tails, the Nine-Tails, or even Shukaku, they would have exploded with rage. To them, a tailed beast could not tolerate such disrespect!
"You want to leave? That's simple—just wait until I'm dead. Then no one will be able to stop you."
He stepped forward, his pace gradually accelerating until, in the blink of an eye, he was right in front of the Seven-Tails.
The Seven-Tails let out a long sigh.
"Humans… why must you always push us to the brink? Perhaps this is simply the fate of tailed beasts…"
With a powerful beat of its wings, it shot into the air. But before it could gain enough altitude, Kakuzu leaped up and landed right on its head.
He had learned his lesson—he would not let it escape like Ōnoki had once done.
The Seven-Tails frantically shook its head, trying to throw him off, but it was futile.
"Can't we just talk this through?" it pleaded.
Kakuzu chuckled. "Seven-Tails Chōmei, when you say things like that, I start to doubt whether you're really one of the nine tailed beasts."
There was even a trace of submission in its tone—how interesting.
"No need for pointless chatter. If you can entertain me, I might consider letting you go."
Hearing this, the Seven-Tails stopped talking. Instead, it exhaled a fine golden powder from its mouth. The shimmering dust drifted in the wind, reaching Kakuzu's face. His nose twitched slightly as he inhaled the particles, his expression briefly tightening.
"Paralysis? Heh… So this is your way of surviving, huh, Seven-Tails?"
Given that Kakuzu possessed Earth Grudge Fear and still had a real body, it was natural for him to feel some numbness after inhaling the pollen. But within moments, he regained his usual composed demeanor.
"Is that all? For a tailed beast, your power is rather unimpressive."
"You…" The Seven-Tails faltered.
Kakuzu's relentless taunts were clearly getting to it. It wanted freedom, but the overwhelming sense of danger emanating from him was paralyzing.
But there was no other choice—if it wanted to escape, it had to fight with everything it had.
Still, the outcome of this battle was never in question.
After all, in the original timeline, the Seven-Tails had been captured by Kakuzu and Hidan.
And compared to that version of himself, how much stronger was Kakuzu now?
Twenty minutes later, Kakuzu stood atop the Seven-Tails, having thoroughly tested its capabilities.
The Seven-Tails had an enormous reserve of chakra, enough to rival a mid-sized nation.
With its seven tails, it likely possessed nearly fifty percent more chakra than the Three-Tails.
But the most unexpected thing about it was… its submissiveness.
"Humans... why do they always refuse to leave us alone?" There was deep anger in the Seven-Tails' voice—resentment that had been building for a long time before it finally erupted into this question.
But Kakuzu had no obligation to answer.
"Steel Release!"
Crack!
Kakuzu's right hand was instantly covered in hardened steel, enhanced thirtyfold. His lips curled into a slight smirk as he spoke.
"Your friend left something for you."
As he raised his reinforced fist, a horn unexpectedly sprouted from it. Though small, a closer look revealed its striking resemblance to the horns of the Five-Tails. Carrying both the genetic traits of the Five-Tails and the power of his thirtyfold reinforcement, Kakuzu's fist came crashing down onto the Seven-Tails' head.
Boom!
A sharp cry of pain tore through the air as the Seven-Tails' six wings faltered, unable to function. Its massive body plummeted to the ground.
The moment the beast crashed down, Kakuzu landed alongside it. And just like that, the battle was over.
Shaking out his arm, Kakuzu let his body return to its normal state.
The Seven-Tails had never been a particularly aggressive tailed beast—it was even somewhat submissive. Just imagine if the Nine-Tails had been sealed in Takigakure without a proper jinchūriki to suppress it. Even without Hashirama Senju's Wood Release keeping it in check, the Nine-Tails would have done everything in its power to break free. But the Seven-Tails? It had obediently remained sealed in a scroll for twenty years. That alone spoke volumes.
"Get back in and take a nap. We'll figure things out later."
Kakuzu picked up the sealing scroll, gazing down at the fallen beast.
A tailed beast—one of the most fearsome creatures in the world—was now his prey.
With the Seven-Tails securely sealed away, Ni approached, carrying Shinnosuke. But by now, Shinnosuke had already lost all signs of life—the side effects of the Hero Water had taken their toll.
Now, Kakuzu only had one last thing left to do. And once that was done, Takigakure would be his.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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