From Danmachi to God of Ninja

Chapter 76: Chapter 76

"Uwaaaaaah!"

Endless sword light swallowed Kakuzu whole.

Razor-sharp sword energy carved through his body inch by inch, grinding flesh into pulp and shattering bone under the dense barrage of attacks.

The pain was like being sliced apart alive, and even a hardened man like Kakuzu could not stop himself from roaring in agony.

Within that storm of sword light, Kiriya deliberately aimed his strikes at the areas where Kakuzu’s hearts and masks were located.

In only a minute, he had completely ground away three of Kakuzu’s hearts.

"Why... How did you catch up to me so quickly?"

On the verge of death, Kakuzu forced out the question.

Did the Flying Thunder God Technique have some kind of automatic tracking mark?

’Because I already left a Flying Thunder God formula on you earlier dumbass.’

That was Kiriya’s real answer, but he had no intention of telling Kakuzu.

After all, this thing counted as one of his biggest trump cards.

He was not one of those brainless protagonists who insisted on explaining the principles of their abilities in detail, only to get tricked later by an acquaintance or an enemy who had listened too carefully.

"Heh. Not telling you."

Kiriya’s answer made Kakuzu’s eyes bulge.

The last breath in his chest was spent in sheer anger, and he actually died from being pissed off.

"What a fragile mentality."

Kiriya shook his head.

"You’re already this old, but your heart is still so narrow. No wonder you could only become a bounty hunter."

At that moment, Kakuzu’s Earth Grudge Fear masks appeared within Kiriya’s field of vision, and Kiriya could not help sighing.

"They got back pretty fast."

Kakuzu had probably ordered the masks to hurry back the instant he saw Kiriya, and the distance was not far to begin with, so their return speed was naturally very quick.

Kiriya did not know how Kakuzu planned to recover when his body had already been smashed to that extent, and he had no interest in finding out.

He only wanted to end the battle as soon as possible.

"Sorry, but I’m afraid you’re not making it home."

Looking at the two Earth Grudge Fear masks rushing toward him like their asses were on fire, Kiriya gave a nasty little smile.

Then he took out a sealing scroll and swiftly sealed Kakuzu’s main body inside.

Bang!

Almost the exact moment Kakuzu’s body was sealed, the two Earth Grudge Fear masks let out sharp, miserable screams.

Then they collapsed into pools of black liquid that splashed across the ground, quickly going still.

"Just as I thought. These masks created by Earth Grudge Fear have a fair amount of independent awareness, but they still have to remain connected to Kakuzu’s main body. When the main body’s heart is destroyed and he dies, the technique automatically reacts and summons the masks back to replace the lost heart, completing the ’revival.’"

"But once the main body is sealed, the connection between Kakuzu’s body and the Earth Grudge Fear masks gets completely cut off across different spaces. The structure of the technique is broken as well. Since those masks only exist by relying on that technique, they naturally collapse."

Kiriya silently praised his own cleverness!

Then, almost immediately, he felt a little regret.

When he fought Kakuzu earlier, he had actually been planning to copy Kakuzu’s ninjutsu.

Whether it was Wind Release: Pressure Damage, Lightning Release: False Darkness, Fire Release: Searing Migraine, or Water Release: Water Curtain, all of them were powerful elemental attack ninjutsu.

Any one of them would greatly enrich Kiriya’s combat options.

That was why he had deliberately activated his Sharingan.

Unfortunately, his Sharingan had not worked on the Earth Grudge Fear masks, and he had been unable to copy the ninjutsu they used.

That left Kiriya rather disappointed.

"So in the end, all I got was Earth Release: Earth Spear?"

Kiriya looked at his hands as they turned dark and hardened, then clicked his tongue.

Still, it was a very high-level defensive ninjutsu.

It could instantly turn flesh and blood into a body like bronze skin and iron bones, tough enough to withstand explosive tags without taking damage.

That was not a small gain by any means.

"Well, that takes care of things here. Time to meet back up with them."

With that thought, Kiriya’s figure vanished from where he stood.

...

"Hey, hey, Genma, can you stop walking in circles? I’m getting dizzy just watching you."

Ebisu, who was sitting nearby, could not help complaining.

"Five hundred sixty-seven, five hundred sixty-eight, five hundred sixty-nine..."

Guy, meanwhile, was upside down with both hands braced on the ground, doing handstand push-ups.

"I’m worried, all right?"

Genma finally stopped pacing, his face full of concern.

"Kiriya-sama has been gone for so long and still hasn’t come back. What if he already..."

"Don’t say that."

Ebisu hurriedly cut him off.

"The other guy was a powerful shinobi who supposedly fought the First Hokage. Of course Kiriya-sama would need some time to shake him off."

"I hope so."

Genma sighed softly.

Then both of them looked toward Guy, who was still training.

"Guy, what do you think?"

"Kiriya-sama won’t lose. He’s incredibly strong!"

Guy answered with complete certainty, then continued his training.

"What the hell? So I’m the only one here worrying for nothing?"

Genma felt a little depressed.

"Instead of worrying, you might as well train like me and use every chance to get stronger," Guy said in a muffled voice. "I never want to experience being helpless in front of a powerful enemy a second time."

"..."

Genma and Ebisu looked at each other.

Then they both began meditating and refining chakra.

After all, worrying would not help. They might as well do something useful.

Whoosh!

Just as the three of them were absorbed in their own training, a figure suddenly appeared and startled them awake.

"Kiriya-sama! You’re all right?"

Once they confirmed that the person who had appeared was Kiriya, the three were overjoyed and immediately rushed toward him, only for Kiriya to dodge them one by one.

"Guys, I went through some effort to get this catch. Don’t dirty it."

Kiriya laughed softly and showed them the prey in his hands: a cleaned pheasant and a skinned wild rabbit.

"The battle’s over. So let’s have some barbecue!"

"..."

A strange silence spread through the air.

Even Kiriya was confused.

"What? You don’t want to eat?"

The three looked at one another. In the end, Ebisu was the one who spoke.

"Kiriya-sama, weren’t you fighting just now? How did you suddenly come back with all this?"

"Oh, after I finished dealing with that stitched-up freak, I felt like eating something good, so I went up the mountain to take a look. Turns out I found quite a lot! Look at how fat these little guys are. They’ll definitely taste great roasted."

Kiriya’s tone was light and relaxed, but Genma and Ebisu’s faces twisted.

They had been here worrying themselves half to death, while the actual person involved had gone hunting for a snack after the fight.

Who were they supposed to complain to about this?

Guy did not care about any of that.

To him, food was a matter of supreme importance.

As someone who specialized in taijutsu, his demand for calories was extremely high.

So the two of them worked together.

One gathered firewood and started the fire, while the other turned the meat and brushed on sauce.

...

Before long, a delicious aroma began spreading through the area.

Grrrrr.

Genma and Ebisu’s stomachs started growling, and both of them flushed red.

Kiriya simply smiled freely, cut off pieces of roasted meat, and handed them over.

"Here. Try my cooking."

"Thank you."

The two accepted the food and ate while blowing on the hot meat.

Only then did they suddenly remember an important problem.

"Kiriya-sama, will doing this attract other enemies?"

After all, the smell was really strong.

"Don’t worry. I already set up a barrier, there won’t be a problem."

Kiriya raised his thumb.

Only then did everyone relax.

After a satisfying meal, Kiriya left a wood clone on watch, and the three kids soon drifted into sleep.