Just as Kakuzu was about to exit the forest, a figure appeared ahead, emerging from the fading white light.

With a faint smirk, the figure spoke, "Kakuzu, you seem unusually cheerful. Did you throw a kunai at the First Hokage from 800 meters away when you were a kid?"

"You…!"

Kakuzu's grin froze. His eyes widened in shock, and a cold sweat ran down his forehead.

"You! How did you get here? And how do you know about my fight with the First Hokage?!"

He was stunned, overwhelmed with questions.

"Heh… how I know about your fight? That's a secret. As for how I caught up—" Kaito chuckled. "What, your intel unit never mentioned me? When it comes to speed—excluding Space-Time Ninjutsu—I'd say I'm the fastest in the world. You're far too slow."

His words carried arrogance, but they were backed by truth. Ever since awakening a higher mastery over his Lightning powers, his speed—especially when traveling in lightning form—had dramatically increased.

At this rate, not even Namikaze Minato, the Fourth Hokage, might compare.

"Alright, enough talk. Time to send you off."

Lightning danced across Kaito's body, white arcs sparking in the air.

"Lightning Style: False Darkness!"

Reacting instantly, Kakuzu formed seals, and a sharp lightning spear surged from his mouth toward Kaito, crackling with vicious energy.

Kaito grinned. He hadn't expected Kakuzu's final heart to be lightning-based—an interesting twist.

Crackle!

The massive lightning spear surged toward Kaito.

"That's enough!" Kakuzu sneered, watching his attack fly. He knew how powerful that version of False Darkness was. Though originally B-rank, he had developed it to A-rank strength through years of refinement. It could obliterate a Jōnin in an instant.

But his confidence shattered the moment he saw what came next.

Kaito raised his hand—and caught the spear.

His palm absorbed the high-voltage lightning with no sign of injury. Then, with a small clench, he crushed it.

The spear shattered like glass and vanished into sparks.

"What—! How?! That was False Darkness! It didn't even leave a scratch!"

"The shinobi world's bigger than you think, Kakuzu," Kaito replied coldly.

He vanished in a flash of light—and reappeared right in front of Kakuzu.

Lightning surged in his hand.

With a single, precise thrust, it pierced Kakuzu's chest, the last of his hearts.

Kakuzu's eyes widened in disbelief. He collapsed, dying with shock and unwillingness still etched on his face.

As his lifeless body dropped, Kaito's hand crackled with renewed energy. He narrowed his eyes.

Then he disappeared again, leaving only scorched ground behind.

Moments later, a figure rose from beneath the earth like a blooming plant.

It was White Zetsu—alongside Black Zetsu, still hidden within him.

White Zetsu, a product of Hashirama's cells and the Gedo Statue's chakra, originally born from humans trapped in Infinite Tsukuyomi.

Black Zetsu, in truth, was a will created by Ōtsutsuki Kaguya herself, pretending to be Madara's creation while secretly pulling the strings of history.

Together, they formed one of the most elusive intelligence units in the Akatsuki.

"Looks like Kakuzu and Hidan were both wiped out by Kaito," White Zetsu muttered nervously. "So… what now?"

"The dead are dead," Black Zetsu replied, voice gravelly. "What else is there to do? Report to the leader. It's not like we can revive them."

"Let's take Kakuzu's body and return," he added after a pause.

White Zetsu nodded. "Right…"

Whoosh!

Just as the two emerged from the earth, Kaito's figure materialized directly in front of them.

White arcs of lightning flashed as a blade of pure electricity formed in his hand. Without hesitation, he swung it horizontally.

Slice!

The blade cut cleanly through both Zetsus' upper bodies.

The scorched wound sizzled, and a faint roasted scent lingered in the air.

Black and White Zetsu collapsed to the ground, playing dead instantly.

A flicker of surprise crossed Kaito's eyes. When he'd taken Kakuzu down, he'd sensed two strange chakra fields underground and had pretended to leave. Curious, he'd doubled back.

He hadn't expected them.

If he'd known it was Black Zetsu… he might've finished the job earlier.

Neither of them were easy targets—especially not Black Zetsu, the infamous manipulator of history.

"These two are weird," Kaito muttered, his tone cold. "Killing them… or letting them live… feels like a waste of time either way."

With one last glare at the twitching bodies, Kaito turned and disappeared into the night.

"This is just bad luck," he muttered.

. . .

Two hours later, Kaito passed through the Land of Wind to resupply, then continued toward the ancient kingdom of Rōran.

Ten minutes after that, map in hand, he paced through the desert, scanning the terrain with electromagnetic pulses.

Half an hour passed.

Suddenly, he felt it—a vast, overwhelming chakra presence beneath the earth.

Kaito's eyes lit up. "Finally found it."

He vanished.

In the middle of a sun-scorched ravine, surrounded by sand and broken ruins, Kaito reappeared.

Staring at the cracked walls and sensing the monstrous energy below, he smiled.

"This is it."

He gazed across the ruined remnants of Rōran.

Even in its broken state, the place radiated grandeur. Its design likely rivaled, if not surpassed, that of modern Konoha.

"To think… they built something like this here," he murmured.

In the original timeline, the ruler of Rōran had discovered the power of the Dragon Vein, but never truly harnessed it. He'd turned it into a mere weapon, nothing more than a glorified machine.

A waste.

Now, Kaito had reached it ahead of schedule. In a year, when Anrokuzan finally arrived, he'd find nothing but disappointment.

Chuckling, Kaito turned his attention underground.

A power this immense couldn't be accessed by brute force. He needed to find the correct path to the Dragon Vein—and soon.

---

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