Naruto: From Shikotsumyaku to Otsutsuki

"Sandbag???"

"I?"

Kakuzu was dumbfounded.

He never imagined that his reliance on the Earth Grudge Fear, which allowed him to dominate the ninja world, would one day become the reason he became a qualified punching bag.

"Yes, it's you."

Kaguya Kazama affirmed, "In the entire ninja world, there are many who can directly resist my ninjutsu, but you are the only one who can withstand my repeated testing of ninjutsu."

"My ninjutsu is too powerful, and I'm not very skilled at it. I need a proper punching bag."

"Impossible!" Kakuzu roared.

His green eyes were filled with resentment.

"I'm an S-rank rogue ninja, you think I'd be your punching bag??? Even if Hashirama Senju were to resurrect, you wouldn't get a chance!"

As he spoke, he assumed a fighting stance, like the crab that Kaguya Kazama had caught before, raising its pincers in a menacing manner.

It looks impressive, but it's useless.

Kaguya Kazama raised her hand, and a small blue ball condensed at her fingertip. Accompanied by the Nine Luminaries Binding Light Nails that appeared around her, she looked at Kakuzu with a half-smile.

Are you sure?

In an instant, Kakuzu's fire went out.

The enemy raises their hand, and a normal attack becomes an artillery barrage; who can withstand that?

He put away his crab claws, dejectedly saying, "Let's get another one."

Kaguya Kazama looked at him with disdain: "You're so poor? Besides Earth Grudge and money, you don't have anything of value on you?"

"Let me see those rare ninjutsu techniques and special weapons first."

"no."

Kakuzu grew increasingly dejected. He said weakly, "I'm so poor all I have left is money. But you don't even want my money, what can I do?"

As the treasurer of the Akatsuki organization, he was obsessed with money and adhered to the philosophy that money was everything.

Unfortunately, money has lost its power to work now.

He glanced at the small ball in the boy's hand, which was crackling with electricity, and couldn't muster the will to fight back to the death.

A ninjutsu that can be released at will, with a power level of A, can only withstand a maximum of three hits from his current heart.

He didn't want to die yet.

Suddenly, he remembered something, and his eyes lit up.

"I've got it! I have something else, something very special, that you'll absolutely love."

He hurriedly took out a scroll from his ninja tool bag, and after performing the hand seals, a gourd-shaped bottle appeared.

"Hero's Water"

He held up the bottle and said, "This is it. Once you drink it, your chakra level will increase several times over."

"This thing is a secret treasure of Takigakure. It takes many years to collect a whole bottle. You can't even buy it in the underground gold exchange. I took a bottle when I defected back then."

As Kakuzu spoke, he took out another scroll and said, "I also have research records on this thing from Takigakure Village. You can take a look at them together. If you don't believe me, I can go with you to Takigakure Village to confirm."

There was not a trace of deception in his eyes, only a longing to refuse to be a punching bag.

"Hero's Water?"

Kaguya Kazama knew about this thing.

According to his vague memory, this thing could indeed increase chakra by dozens of times, but it would cause death after use; it was a suicidal thing.

However, Kaguya Kazama still planned to look at the research data of Takigakure Village.

After all, this thing is hailed as a secret treasure; if it can only launch suicidal attacks, it doesn't deserve that title at all.

He picked up the scroll, quickly read through the information inside, and then fell silent.

"Is this why Takigakure produces so many Jonin and can consistently rank among the top tier below the Five Great Shinobi Villages?"

"Drink the Hero's Water, trading lifespan for a massive increase in chakra, rapidly boosting strength?"

The scroll records the origin of the Hero's Water and its true function.

It is formed from the essence of a giant tree, and its production is scarce. Its function is to enable cells to divide and mature rapidly, producing several times or even dozens of times more chakra.

The side effects are obvious: rapid cell division consumes lifespan.

According to the research records of Takigakure Village, they have two methods for using the Hero's Water.

The first method involves diluting the product in small amounts and drinking it frequently. This can increase cell division and steadily increase chakra to a controllable degree.

This method allows ninjas to quickly reach the chakra level of a Jonin, with the only side effect being that they will appear older and their lifespan will be reduced by thirty to thirty years.

But in the ninja world, such an environment only shortens one's lifespan; it's a minor issue.

Many more ninjas, after graduating and being thrown into battle, were used as cannon fodder and wasted away.

The second method involves drinking a highly concentrated Hero's Water when in dire straits, which can temporarily and explosively increase chakra levels and change the situation, but will result in cell death afterward.

Both methods require the awareness of risking one's life to take the medication.

That's why this stuff was named Hero's Water by Takigakure Village.

Those who are willing to risk everything to take it are all heroes.

"An extremely practical but extremely useful thing, when combined with the Earth Grudge Fear, it is simply a divine object."

Kaguya Kazama gave an excellent and fair evaluation.

One sacrifices their lifespan to gain power, while the other seizes the heart to achieve immortality; both are exploiting each other's weaknesses.

Kaguya Kazama took the Hero's Water and looked at Kakuzu with interest, saying, "Then why didn't you drink the Hero's Water just now? You have Earth Grudge Fear, so you don't care about things like lifespan."

"Will you give me this opportunity?"

Kakuzu looked at the intimidating blue orb at the boy's fingertip and retorted, "I bet you've already fired a cannon shot before I even take out my scroll. I know you can use guided Storm Release, you know."

Drinking the Hero's Water takes time, and Kakuzu knew he couldn't possibly find that opportunity in the hands of such a freak of instantaneous ninjutsu.

So he simply handed it over in exchange for the chance not to be a punching bag.

"You have better insight than your teammates; no wonder you can be the treasurer of Akatsuki."

Kaguya Kazama sized him up and said calmly, "Your chakra is several times greater than that of an ordinary Jonin. Did you take this to gain your current strength?"

Kakuzu nodded: "That's right, I took it using the first method before I defected."

"wrong."

Kaguya Kazama frowned and pressed further, "If that's the case, you could have drunk the highly concentrated Hero's Water and then used Earth Grudge Fear to avoid death. In that case, your chakra reserves would be much higher than this."

He discovered the flaws in both.

The Thunder Roar Cannon at his fingertips flashed with light, showing a faint tendency to explode.

Kakuzu's expression changed, and after a long silence, he said dejectedly, "Fine, I can't beat you in a fight anyway, so telling you won't hurt."

"The technique of Earth Grudge has limitations. It can indeed steal the heart for immortality, but the time the heart exists in the body is the upper limit of the original body's lifespan."

He went on and on about the Earth Grudge's weaknesses: "As long as my heart exists for the maximum of my lifespan, regardless of whether it is damaged or not, the heart will fail and need to be replaced."

"If I were to drink a highly concentrated Hero's Water, even if I used Earth Grudge Fear, my heart would only survive for a few minutes. That time is too short, and I would be trapped in a cycle of constantly taking away my heart and dying. It's pointless."

"I see."

Kaguya Kazama nodded, understanding the reason.

In Kakuzu's hands, this thing is less than useless; it's only good for collecting.

If he drinks a highly concentrated Hero's Water once, his maximum lifespan will decrease to just a few minutes, and even the Earthly Grudge will be useless.

Unless, of course, there are countless hearts in this world waiting for him to use them anytime, anywhere.

But that's pointless.

Having countless lives, each lasting only a few minutes, is worse than simply dying.

This bug ultimately couldn't be exploited.

Kaguya Kazama stared at the Hero's Water in her hand, pondered for a moment, and then said, "I need to go to Takigakure to confirm the usage of the Hero's Water again. You are a rogue ninja from Takigakure, so you must know the secret passage. Lead the way."

If the first method of this thing is real...