Naruto: Naruto's Uchiha girlfriend is too tsundere

“Damn it…” Kakuzu’s voice was squeezed out through clenched teeth, “You, a big shot like you, would actually attack me? This doesn’t align with your principles, [Jin].

A calm voice came from beneath the mask, "Kakuzu, the immortal ninja, I've come to welcome you as a member of [Jin]."

Kakuzu's pupils suddenly contracted. He slowly straightened up, the black stitches from the burns twisting on his skin and making a faint "creaking" sound.

“Heh…” Kakuzu suddenly let out a cold laugh. “It seems my price is much higher than I expected. But unfortunately, I’m not interested in your philosophies. Right now, only money can attract me.”

Chapter 70 Interests? Ideals?

“I think you’ve misunderstood something, Kakuzu.”

Menma's voice came through the fox mask, and his eyes, hidden behind the mask, stared directly at Kakuzu.

"Whether you're interested in my ideology or not, you must join [Jin]."

Kakuzu's muscles tensed as he stared intently at the figure before him, never imagining that his simple task of earning some extra money would lead him to provoke someone of this caliber.

As a bounty hunter who had roamed the black market for many years, Kakuzu knew all too well how terrifying the man before him was. On the black market's bounty list, the Kage and Daimyo of the Five Great Nations had always been the most valuable targets—until a few years ago, when a name surpassed all other bounties with an overwhelming amount.

【Jin】The leader of the organization, with a pockmarked face.

This man's achievements are nothing short of astonishing: annihilating the entire Cloud Village delegation, severely wounding the Raikage to the brink of death, and single-handedly attacking Konoha... Each of these feats is enough to shake the entire ninja world. And he remains at large to this day.

Kakuzu still remembers the shock he felt when he saw that exorbitant bounty. He immediately set off for the area around Konoha, hoping to find this priceless prey.

However, when he stood on the outskirts of Konoha and saw the giant crater that was almost the size of the village, all his greed vanished in an instant.

Even Kakuzu, who had lived for nearly a hundred years, had to admit one fact: wanting to hunt Menma for a bounty was simply a death wish. He had originally thought that after Hashirama Senju's death, monsters of that caliber would never appear in the ninja world again.

Should I say I'm honored?

Kakuzu's voice carried a deliberate sarcasm, "With your power, [Jin] wouldn't care whether I'm there or not."

As he spoke, he glanced around out of the corner of his eye, secretly planning possible escape routes. Although money was his greatest passion, Kakuzu wasn't stupid; no matter how valuable the prey, it wasn't worth risking his life for.

Menma suddenly spoke up, "Kakuzu, you've lived too long... In such a long life, are you content with merely chasing money?"

This sentence caused Kakuzu to freeze almost imperceptibly.

"I know the inside story from back then," Menma's voice continued. "Those parasites gave you a suicide mission, but you actually went and challenged the God of Shinobi."

The green light in Kakuzu's black eyes flashed violently. Those shames he thought had been buried by time were now being laid bare.

Those long-buried fragments of memory suddenly surged up—the faces of the Takigakure high-ranking officials, the chilling atmosphere of the prison, and the twisted pleasure of taking the first heart...

"The ridiculous thing is, they were afraid of Hashirama Senju's revenge, so they used you as a pawn." Menma stepped forward slowly. "Even though the village betrayed you, they labeled you a 'traitor.'"

"How...how do you know all this?"

Kakuzu's voice wavered. For nearly a century, he had thought that the past had been buried with those who knew about it back then.

Could it be that the masked face of [Jin] is also a monster that has lived from that era to the present?

This thought secretly alarmed Kakuzu. He had originally planned to intimidate the other party by saying that he had fought against the First Hokage, but now it seemed that anyone who knew a little about what happened back then would understand that he was able to return alive purely because Hashirama Senju had shown mercy.

Menma seemed to see through his thoughts, and a soft chuckle came from beneath the mask. "No need to guess, I know more than you imagine... For example, how many hearts are still beating inside you?"

These words struck Kakuzu like a thunderbolt. The secret of the Earth Grudge was his greatest trump card for survival.

"bring it on."

Menma slowly extended his hand towards Kakuzu. "My target is those ambitious individuals who lord it over others while pushing all the danger onto the ninjas."

A gentle breeze ruffled his robes, and the nine-faced beast stirred restlessly behind him. "My organization does not pursue a meaningless peace... I want to build a world where 'the strong need not betray, and the weak need not beg for mercy.'"

Kakuzu clenched his fists, the black stitches on his skin writhing uneasily. These words... decades ago, in the dark prison of Takigakure, were the very salvation he had longed to hear.

“Kakuzu, and you—” Menma’s hand remained suspended in the air, “can become its 'foundation'.”

“Those who live as long as heaven and earth, cease your wandering…” The voice beneath the fox mask suddenly softened, “It’s time to ‘put down roots.’”

Kakuzu clenched his fists so tightly his nails dug into his palms. Decades of solitary wandering had transformed the once passionate elite of Takigakure into a ruthless bounty hunter. His life's motto had long since become nothing more than an obsession with money...

"Looks like... you're planning to take me for granted?"

Menma nodded calmly. "Yes, that's right."

“I see… then I have a condition.” Kakuzu’s voice suddenly turned dangerous, and the black stitches began to twist violently. “I know you are strong, but…”

His body suddenly erupted with astonishing chakra, causing the surrounding earth to crack under the force. "Trying to gain my allegiance with mere empty words is far too simplistic!"

"Fight me! Let me see what kind of being this bounty target that strikes fear into the hearts of the five great nations."

Menma was silent for a moment, then his chakra began to fluctuate violently. "I see."

The nine-faced beasts roared simultaneously, "Then let's fight!"

"Now... let me sever your past with my own hands."

Chapter 71 Bonds from Another Side

Kakuzu's hands began to form hand seals, and the black stitches running through his body writhed violently as if they were alive. With a cracking sound, the four hideous and eerie masks on his back began to change—the manifestation of the four hearts stored by the Earth Grudge.

The black stitches on Kakuzu's body suddenly trembled violently, emitting a teeth-grinding "creaking" sound. The eerie stitches running through his body twisted as if they were alive, and suddenly burst open from the surface of his skin. Accompanied by the sound of flesh tearing, four globs of pitch-black substance gushed out from the wounds on his back.

"Pfft——"

Four completely black masked monsters broke free from Kakuzu's body and twisted and took shape in mid-air. They were different in form but equally ferocious.

"Lightning Release: False Darkness!"

The masked monster representing the lightning attribute suddenly opened its mask, and a blinding blue light burst forth from the hole beneath it. In an instant, a violent surge of lightning current poured out like a flood bursting its banks, and thick lightning snakes plowed scorched furrows into the ground.

Faced with this devastating lightning release, Menma simply raised his right hand calmly. The Nine-Faced Beasts scattered in unison.

"boom--!"

The blinding lightning completely engulfed the numb figure, and the explosion snapped the surrounding trees in half.

Kakuzu stared intently at the center of the thunderstorm. The raging currents lasted for a full ten seconds before gradually dissipating, leaving the ground scorched earth in the rising dust.

However—after the smoke and dust cleared, Mianma remained standing in the same spot, his hand still raised. His robe wasn't even scorched.

Naruto did consider using the Flying Thunder God Technique to dodge, but instead chose to test the new technique he had been diligently developing over the past year. In addition to practicing the ninjutsu scrolls given to him by the Third Hokage, he also repeatedly studied the "Uzumaki Menma" ability that he had briefly experienced.

This inspiration comes from a scene in the movie—when the Konoha ninjas threw kunai at Menma, the ninja tools mysteriously hovered in mid-air the instant they touched his body, and then fell helplessly.

Naruto deciphered the essence of this move by learning about the abilities he had experienced with the trial card.

This involves using extremely precise nature transformations to evenly distribute wind-style chakra throughout the body and surrounding space, creating an invisible storm field. This field can both actively attack approaching enemies and passively defend against attacks from all directions. Achieving this integrated offensive and defensive effect requires near-obsessive precision in chakra manipulation.

Fortunately, the sealing technique talent drawn by the Naruto system became a key aid. As the category that emphasizes precise control in the ninjutsu system, the delicate control cultivated through long-term training in sealing techniques allowed him to successfully reproduce the technique after a full year of repeated attempts, even without the trial card, and finally named it.

【Wind and Mist Flow】

At this moment, the invisible wind-style barrier perfectly withstood Kakuzu's lightning-style pseudo-darkness. Naruto secretly breathed a sigh of relief, after all, this was the first time the technique had been tested in actual combat, but he always kept a backup plan in mind, and could use the Flying Thunder God Technique to escape at any time if the defense failed.

Kakuzu, on the other hand, didn't show much surprise. Given Menma's fearsome reputation in the ninja world, it would be surprising if an attack of this magnitude were actually effective.

Kakuzu formed hand seals again, and the two masked monsters reacted simultaneously.

"Wind Release: Pressure Damage!"

"Fire Release: Head Carving!"

The wind-attribute masked monster bared its fangs, and a violent gust of air erupted from the holes in its mask, instantly creating a massive wind pressure exceeding ten meters in diameter. Almost simultaneously, towering flames burst forth from the gaps in the fire-attribute masked monster's mask, the scorching fire waves perfectly merging with the wind pressure.

"boom--!"

In the instant the wind and fire clashed, a fiery tornado more than 20 meters in diameter rose from the ground. The scorching heat instantly carbonized the nearby trees.

Menma remained motionless amidst the flames, his voice suddenly turning cold beneath the fox mask. Naruto decided to end the battle swiftly.

"Let's stop playing house here."

Just as the fiery tornado was about to engulf him, Menma's figure vanished abruptly. The next moment—

"boom!"

"Crack!"

A series of cracking sounds echoed around Kakuzu. The Nine-Faced Beast had already completed its encirclement at some point.

The Azure Dragon's body slammed the wind-attribute masked monster into the ground, and the mask shattered in the ensuing rampage.

The White Tiger and Vermilion Bird attacked from both sides, and the fire-attribute masked monster disintegrated under the double tearing.

The Xuanwu's thick carapace crushed the water-attribute masked monster as it tried to escape.

The Southern and Northern Dipper Sages formed hand seals, and under the Grim Reaper's scythe, the last lightning-attribute masked monster had all its chakra harvested, rendering it unable to fight.

Kakuzu staggered back a few steps, the black stitches writhing frantically as he tried to repair the damage. Each of his four masked monsters possessed Jonin-level strength, but facing nine Nine-Faced Beasts who were at least elite Jonin-level, or even close to Kage-level, this battle was destined to be a crushing defeat from the start.

The gap in strength is too big...

As Kakuzu felt the last earth-elemental heart within him, he finally realized the kind of monster he was facing. The encirclement formed by the Nine-Faced Beasts was slowly tightening, each of the giant beasts radiating a dangerous aura of oppression.

"it's over."

The voice suddenly rang in his ears, and Kakuzu whirled around. The eerie fox mask was already inches away, so close that he could even see every tiny line on it. Driven by instinct, he didn't hesitate to throw a punch at Menma's face—

"boom!"

An invisible, heavy blow struck his wrist precisely, the bone cracking under the strain. Kakuzu staggered back two steps, his green eyes filled with shock and confusion.

what? !

He stared intently at the empty space around Mianma. The power of that attack was definitely no less than his own full-force punch, but why couldn't he see the attacker at all? The writhing black sutures were frantically repairing the damage to his wrist.

Behind Menma, the [Crazy Diamond], visible only to himself, slowly retracted its fist, hovering silently beside its master.

Kakuzu was breathing heavily. Nine-Faced Beasts were unharmed all around, while Menma stood there perfectly still, not even the hem of his clothes was disheveled.

Can't you even touch him...?

Nearly a century of combat experience seemed utterly laughable at this moment. Kakuzu clearly realized that if his opponent wanted to take his life, he would already be a corpse.

"What? Still want to fight?" came the voice of the man with pockmarked face.

Kakuzu raised a hand to wipe the corner of his mouth, then suddenly let out a hoarse laugh. "No, I've completely lost..."

The fragments of the mask representing the heart of the Earth Grudge were scattered all over the ground. Kakuzu took a deep breath and stared directly at Menma with his green pupils.

“I will keep my promise… but it’s not like I’m getting nothing in return.” His voice regained its familiar shrewdness. “Joining an organization with someone like you isn’t a bad deal.”

Mianma nodded slightly, and the figure of the Nine-Faced Beast began to fade. "Well, I won't hinder your pursuit of money. Let's go then."

Kakuzu nodded, but then suddenly stopped. "Wait, wait for me a moment. I only have one heart left now."

He turned to look at the corpse of the rogue ninja leader not far away, "We need to replenish his heart first—"

“No need, there’s no need for that,” Menma interrupted, his right hand already resting on Kakuzu’s shoulder.

"What—" Kakuzu's question came to an abrupt halt. The next moment, the sensation he felt made his eyes widen. Kakuzu stared in disbelief as the wounds on his body healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

To his even greater shock, the scattered fragments of the masked monster suddenly trembled, as if drawn together by an invisible force, and reassembled, radiating new life.

"What...what is this?!" Kakuzu's voice trembled for the first time. The masked monsters that should have been completely destroyed had now returned to his body intact, and the beating of his four hearts could be clearly heard.

"Just a special ability." Menma withdrew his hand, his tone indifferent. "Let's go."

Kakuzu looked down at his fully restored body, immediately realizing the strategic value of this ability. Finally, all his shock culminated in a meaningful sigh. "...Those who oppose you must be having a real headache."

At that moment, a familiar notification sound rang in Naruto's mind.

【Ding! 】

[Congratulations, host! You have established an initial bond with the original character "Kakuzu"!]

Points earned: 150!

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(Thanks again to Jiang Lanzzr for the expert certification)

(And with the endorsement from the owner of Yuziji, the author is truly terrified.)

(I'll be updating 4 times a day for the next 4 days, so I'm going to be working like crazy.)

Chapter 72 [Ember] Stronghold

Menma stood at the entrance to the stronghold, his expression completely frozen beneath his fox mask. Beside him, Kakuzu lifted the hood of his cloak, surveying the complex of buildings with keen interest.