Hovering in mid-air, Kaito looked down at the raging inferno below and whispered, "It's over."

He raised his index finger. Chakra surged, directly from his core—and a Rasenshuriken materialized above his finger, glowing like an orb.

He lowered his hand slightly.

The Rasenshuriken dropped, growing rapidly as it spun downward. What began as a compact sphere soon expanded into a massive disc of wind chakra, resembling a glowing full moon.

The spiraling wind chakra rotated with terrifying intensity, its edge sharper than any weapon forged by man.

This wasn't just a Rasenshuriken anymore—it was a Giant Rasenshuriken, a devastating evolution of the original.

Whoosh!

As its size increased, so did its speed. It plummeted like a meteor, cutting through the air toward the battlefield.

Kakuzu, still catching his breath and beginning to relax, suddenly felt his heart tighten.

"What… What is this feeling?" he muttered, alarm creeping into his voice. "This sense of dread… I haven't felt this in years."

His instincts—honed through countless battles—were screaming at him.

"Forget this—I'm getting out of here," he muttered, making a split-second decision.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

A high-pitched sound tore through the sky.

Kakuzu's gaze snapped upward—and his eyes widened in disbelief.

A colossal mass of chakra was hurtling toward him. The immense wind energy it radiated churned the air, each ripple sending a pulse of danger through his heart.

Even from a distance, Kakuzu could feel it: this wasn't just ninjutsu—it was a natural disaster.

That Rasenshuriken wasn't just S-rank—it had surpassed that.

By now, the spinning sphere of destruction was less than a meter away from one of his masked heart beasts.

Kakuzu didn't hesitate. He yanked one of the hearts back into his body and formed hand seals at lightning speed.

"Wind Style: Pressure Damage!"

"Fire Style: Searing Migraine!"

"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet!"

The three remaining masked entities unleashed massive elemental jutsu at once, aiming to intercept the falling Rasenshuriken.

The wind technique condensed into a razor-thin pressure beam, sharp enough to slice through steel.

A wave of blazing fire erupted next, the heat so intense it warped the air around it.

The final jutsu—a massive water dragon—roared upward, each scale formed from compressed, high-pressure torrents.

All three attacks converged, twisting together mid-air, forming a combined triple-element blast that surged toward the incoming Rasenshuriken.

But Kakuzu didn't wait to see the result.

He vanished in a flicker, using Body Flicker to escape with everything he had. He had no illusions—no matter how strong his ninjutsu, it wasn't going to stop that technique.

He'd even abandoned the three masked hearts, all to buy himself a few seconds to run.

Still, he wasn't worried about losing them. If he could survive, collecting new hearts from elite Jōnins wouldn't be difficult.

What enraged him most wasn't the loss—but the intel failure.

"They said he was just Kage-level, with Lightning Style… What's this Wind Style monster doing here?!"

He clenched his fists in fury.

If it were just him and Hidan, they should've won easily. But now, Hidan had been erased before even landing a proper attack, and Kakuzu had been forced to abandon four hearts just to escape.

"Damn it!" he hissed. "When I get back, someone's going to pay for this faulty intel!"

BOOM!

A deafening roar shook the forest.

It was as if the full moon had slammed into the earth—blinding light exploded outward, engulfing the area.

The combined elemental ninjutsu didn't stand a chance. They were swallowed instantly by the Rasenshuriken's fury.

BOOM!

The shockwave expanded in all directions.

A dome of white light stretched across a kilometer, wind needles bursting outward within it like a storm of invisible blades. Everything caught inside—trees, dirt, stone—was lifted into the air, shredded to dust, and scattered to the wind.

At the heart of the destruction, the light became so intense that nothing could be seen within it.

Perched on a tree far in the distance, Kakuzu squinted and panted heavily. Using Body Flicker more than a dozen times in a row was annoyingly exhausting.

He stared at the explosion, disbelief etched into his stitched face.

That attack… Even just touching one of those wind needles would be enough to kill an elite Jōnin. How did this kid get so powerful in just a few years?

"He's on a level that might even threaten the leader," Kakuzu muttered to himself, eyes narrowing.

After a brief rest, he began moving again—faster, further.

This wasn't a retreat anymore. This was an escape.

This boy wasn't prey. He was a predator.

Meanwhile, the glowing dome in the distance finally began to dim. The searing white light faded, revealing the aftermath.

The land was unrecognizable.

Everything within a kilometer radius had been obliterated. No trees, no grass, no sign of life. A massive crater, over a hundred meters wide, had been gouged into the earth like someone had scooped it out with a giant spoon.

And floating high above it all—spotless, emotionless—was Kaito.

His expression didn't change. He extended his sensory field through electromagnetic pulses, scanning the area.

Moments later, a faint smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.

"Trying to run, are you?"

He vanished.

. . .

Deep in the woods, Kakuzu sprinted with all his strength. His figure flickered between the trees, moving as fast as a wild beast at full charge.

Ever since witnessing the Rasenshuriken's explosion, he hadn't dared stop. His instincts screamed that Kaito wasn't going to let him escape.

"All I need to do is reach the town… If I can just get to that populated area—"

He saw the distant lights.

"Come on… just a bit more…"

His eyes locked on the growing glow in the distance. Relief crept into his heart.

He didn't notice the sudden silence behind him.

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