"Ready for round two?"
Jie Uchiha stood his ground, his tone perfectly calm. "I've been looking forward to testing the true caliber of an S-rank missing-ninja."
"Human Puppet: Third Kazekage."
Sasori unrolled a scroll, and a cloud of white smoke filled the air. Out of the mist, the puppet made from the Third Kazekage's body appeared right in front of Jie.
"Poison Blade!"
As soon as Sasori spoke, the puppet's right arm began to click and rattle. Sharp, heavy blades snapped out from its wrist. Under the sun, the edges of the swords glowed with a faint blue light—a sure sign they were covered in Sasori's deadly poison.
Guided by the invisible chakra threads extending from Sasori's fingertips, the Third Kazekage lunged toward Jie at incredible speed.
'The Third Kazekage, huh?' Jie thought as he watched the puppet rush toward him. 'Hailed as the strongest Kazekage in history, yet he died an obscure death at Sasori's hands. Let's see if he's actually as tough as the stories say.'
In his grip, the Kusanagi Sword flared with a brilliant white light, emitting a low, continuous hum.
Simultaneously, Kakuzu's hands blurred through a rapid sequence of hand seals.
"Earth Grudge Fear Mode!"
Thick black threads exploded out of Kakuzu's back, ripping his cloak to pieces. Two ugly masks pushed through his skin and rested on his shoulders.
"Fire Release: Searing Migraine!"
"Wind Release: Pressure Damage!"
"Combined Technique: Blazing Fire Bullet!"
Without Kakuzu even moving, the two masks on his shoulders attacked together. The wind made the fire much bigger and hotter than normal. The giant wave of flames roared toward Jie, trapping him so he had nowhere to run.
"Uchiha Style: Halo Dance!"
Jie didn't back away. Instead, he swung his Kusanagi Sword in a beautiful, spinning circle. Like a hot knife through butter, his blade hit the Kazekage puppet's poisoned swords. He sliced them cleanly in half without any effort at all.
Immediately, bright flames covered the entire Kusanagi Sword. The fire didn't look like an explosion, but as soon as Jie swung the blade in a wide arc, the giant wall of fire rushing at him was sliced right down the middle. The flames roared past him on both sides without touching him.
In that same moment, the fire on his sword shot up into the sky. Mixing with his own energy, the flaming strike tore across the battlefield, flying straight toward Kakuzu.
"Water Release: Water Cannon!"
Seeing the flaming strike coming, Kakuzu didn't wait. He quickly made hand signs, and a huge blast of water shot from his mouth. But while the water put out the flames, it did not stop the sword's energy. The invisible strike sliced right through his body.
"A pity. I missed the heart," Jie muttered, shaking his head.
The strike had sliced right through a bundle of black threads, but Kakuzu acted as if he wasn't even hurt. Using the loose threads, he detached the two mask-monsters from his shoulders, letting them move on their own.
Because of the Earth Grudge Fear jutsu, Kakuzu didn't have a normal human body anymore. His life was held together by the hearts he had stolen. As long as all five hearts weren't destroyed, he was basically immortal.
Sasori, however, did not give Jie any time to rest.
"Human Puppet: Thousand Hands Manipulation Force!"
Just as the puppet's right arm was cut off, Sasori gave his chakra threads a tiny tug. A paper seal on the puppet's left arm began to glow. A second later, thousands of wooden arms exploded out from the seal. They spread out like a giant, moving cage, trying to trap and crush Jie inside.
"Human Puppet: Mechanical Arms!"
Before Sasori even finished speaking, a loud clicking sound came from the wall of wooden arms. Dozens of hidden doors snapped open, and a rain of kunai and shuriken shot out. Every single weapon glowed with the same sickly blue light—more of Sasori's deadly, fast-acting poison.
Jie did not panic. He simply pulled his Kusanagi Sword back an inch, holding it as if he were about to put it away.
"Hatake Style: Iai Slash!"
A perfect, moon-shaped wave of energy exploded outward from his blade. the powerful shockwave hit the rain of weapons, crushing them in mid-air. It then tore through the thousands of wooden arms, turning the entire cage into a pile of splinters.
"Simple tricks like that won't beat me," Jie said calmly. He then turned his head to look at Kisame. "And what about the pretty boy over there? Are you just going to watch the show? Isn't it time you showed me your power?"
"Pretty boy?"
Kisame's face turned dark with anger. He literally had the face of a shark!
"You talk big, brat," Kisame sneered, his small, shark-eyes glinting dangerously. He reached behind his back and grabbed the giant, bandaged sword from his shoulder. "If that's what you want... let's go, Samehada!"
With a burst of speed, Kisame charged straight at Jie.
"Don't forget about me, you bastard!" Hidan roared.
He jumped high into the air, gripping his giant, three-bladed scythe. He swung it down toward Jie with all his strength, using the weight of his fall to make the blow even more powerful.
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Triangular Pyramid!"
Sasori's cold, robotic voice rang out across the battlefield.
Huge clumps of black Iron Sand floated into the sky. Above the Third Kazekage's head, the sand squeezed together, hardening into a giant, solid pyramid.
"Drop!"
Even though it was incredibly heavy, the Iron Sand pyramid shot downward toward Jie at a terrifying speed.
"Three at once?" A small smile appeared on Jie's face. "Now this finally feels like a real fight. Don't let me down."
"Hatake Style: Wind Chaser - Second Stage!"
Jie moved so fast he looked like a blur. The Kusanagi Sword dancing smoothly in his hands as powerful lightning chakra surged through the blade, maintaining the devastating resonance of the Lightning Release: High-Frequency Lightning Blades.
Clang!
The moment Jie's sword hit Hidan's scythe, it sliced a huge chunk right out of the three blades. With two more lightning-fast strikes, he shredded the thick bandages off Kisame's sword.
Kisame stumbled back in shock. He could feel his weapon, Samehada, shaking with fear. The sword was actually whimpering in pain from clashing with the vibrating, lightning-infused Kusanagi Sword.
As for the colossal Iron Sand pyramid falling from above? t never even touched the ground. Before it could hit him, Jie swung his sword in a fast series of strikes. He sliced the massive structure into tiny, harmless bits of gravel that rained down around them like black sand.
"Is this really all the strength you have?" Jie asked, his tone mocking. "This isn't nearly enough to satisfy me!"
Beneath his taunts, however, Jie was brimming with excitment. He knew exactly how his System worked. The harder these Akatsuki members fought—and the more power they showed—the better the rewards the System would give him after he won.
He was simply boiling frogs in warm water...By deliberately displaying a level of strength only slightly higher than theirs, he was feeding them the false hope that victory was just within reach.
He would string them along, forcing them to push past their limits. Once they were completely drained and had absolutely no room left to grow, he would deliver the crushing final blow in one fell swoop.
To Jie, this was the best way to get the biggest and best rewards from his System.
'Come on, my little playthings,' Jie thought, his eyes gleaming with excitement. 'You have to try harder than this. Give me everything you've got, and make sure your deaths give me the best rewards possible!
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