I am the new Hokage of Konoha.

Thinking this, Kakuzu created distance while rapidly merging the wind-attribute masked monster outside into his body. Combining this with his inherent fire-attribute heart, he instantly activated Earth Grudge Mode and clapped his hands together, saying:

"Fire Release: Head Slash! Wind Release: Pressure Damage! Combined Ninja Art: Flame Wind Chaos!"

The fusion of fire and wind made the sea of ​​fire several times larger and more intense than before.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Kakuzu turned to flee.

Despite this, Kai, who was closest to the sea of ​​fire, showed no fear whatsoever. Instead, he clenched his fists with boundless fervor, his aura surging as he shouted:

"The seventh gate, the Gate of Shock, opens!"

Instantly, an enormous amount of blue steam surged out of Kai's body.

Seeing the sea of ​​fire rushing towards him, he roared at Kakashi, who was rushing behind him, "See! Kakashi, this is the technique I specially prepared for you!"

"Daytime Tiger!"

In an instant, the air cannon, shaped like a tiger, was unleashed by Kai in his seventh form with all his might. With an unstoppable surge of power, it not only extinguished all the sea of ​​fire along the way, but also caught up with Kakuzu at an extremely fast speed with its remaining force.

Before the latter’s incredulous gaze, a deafening tiger roar was followed by a swift swallowing.

The next instant, an incomparably dazzling light suddenly erupted from where Kakuzu was located.

Accompanying this was a roar that was many times more intense than before.

At that moment, Kakashi, who had just caught up, looked ahead and then at Guy beside him, and was speechless:

'Kai, you're giving me way too much credit!'

Chapter 186 The Gathering of Dawn

What should have been a battle where the Konoha Jonin worked together and each shone brightly turned into a one-man show by Guy in the final moments due to his outburst.

Although everyone is aware of Kai's strength.

But the sudden burst of power beyond the level of a Jonin was shocking even to Kakashi, who was very familiar with Guy.

Not to mention Asuma, Yamato, and others.

The only exception should be Genma Shiranui.

He once teamed up with Guy and Ebisu on the battlefield of Kirigakure. He personally witnessed Guy's father, the genin who was always ridiculed by the villagers, unleash unparalleled taijutsu when facing the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, kicking four of them to death with a single kick, while the remaining three were seriously injured and fled in panic.

"I never imagined you'd reach this point, Kai. So, as you said, hard work doesn't lie, does it?"

Genma Shiranui, who had somehow revived the senbon (a type of Japanese sage) in his mouth, looked at Kai with a deep sense of emotion.

In the other person, he seemed to see the great man named Matt Daley who had once shone with endless brilliance in an instant.

"That can't be!"

Meanwhile, Hidan, whose head was hanging from Genma Shiranui's waist, stared at this scene in disbelief.

Then he cried out in grief, "Kakuzu! You were the leader of our group! You were always so awesome, how could you suddenly be killed by some weirdo with a penchant for strange clothes!"

Even if I'm going to die, please help me reconnect my body before I die!

The thought of those faithless people in Konoha repeatedly cutting and bleeding him, conducting all sorts of horrific experiments, sent a chill down Hidan's spine, a rare occurrence for the usually carefree man.

Although he won't die, he'll still feel pain!

Afterwards, when he saw the aftershocks of the battle subside, and Kakuzu's two remaining hearts shattered simultaneously under Guy's Daytime Tiger, leaving him lifeless, Hidan sighed deeply, and his last glimmer of hope vanished completely.

"I told Kakuzu to believe in the true god, but you wouldn't listen. Otherwise, you wouldn't be dead now! I don't know what you were doing making so much money. Did you want to bribe the Grim Reaper in the Underworld? But nobody's burning money for you, Kakuzu... Hey hey hey! What are you doing? Waaah~"

Before Hidan could finish his reflection, Genma Shiranui pulled out a roll of tape from somewhere and started wrapping it around Hidan's mouth.

Seeing Hidan glaring at him fiercely but unable to utter a word, Genma Shiranui, whose ears were practically callous from hearing it all, finally breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Finally, some peace and quiet!"

Meanwhile, after confirming that Kakuzu was indeed dead, Yamato took out a sealing scroll, put his body inside, and took it back to Konoha for research.

Beside him, Kai, who, despite having opened seven gates before, was still full of energy, flashed his snow-white teeth in the sunlight and addressed his lifelong rival:

"Kakashi! My lifelong rival! To catch up with you, I spent a long time perfecting that move. So, Kakashi, when shall we have our fifty-fourth match?"

"No need, Guy, you've already won." Kakashi sighed slightly, his expression showing no sign of perfunctoriness as he spoke to Guy.

Although Kai still regarded him as that peak that he had never been able to surpass since childhood.

But he knew perfectly well that he had already been overtaken.

What was once Kai has now transformed into the peak he needs to climb.

Kakashi felt no jealousy whatsoever.

Because he was very clear about how much effort Kai had put in over the years.

All of this is now the result the other party deserves.

Looking back at myself, I have become quite lax in recent years.

Although in the ninja world, his title of "Copy Ninja" is greater than that of Guy and many pure Uchiha, it now seems that he has become complacent and self-imposed limitations.

Touching his Sharingan, Kakashi patted Guy on the shoulder, seemingly oblivious to Guy's confusion, and solemnly said, "Guy, now it's my turn to catch up with you! So, for our fifty-fourth match, let me prepare myself before I come back to learn from you."

"Oh...oh...alright then! Kakashi, I look forward to our fifty-fourth match." Although Guy was a little confused by what Kakashi said.

But since he finally understood that there would be a fifty-fourth competition, he nodded happily.

Thus ended the first clash between Konoha and Akatsuki.

No one from Konoha died in battle, while Kakuzu of Akatsuki was killed and Hidan was captured alive.

For Akatsuki, an organization that follows an elite path and already has very few members, this is undoubtedly a devastating blow.

In particular, Kakuzu is also in charge of managing the organization's finances, and the two of them have very special abilities that are difficult to match even if new personnel are added.

In this situation, Pain, the leader of Akatsuki, who quickly received the news through Zetsu's report, did not add fuel to the fire by announcing to Iwagakure that the mission was clearly a trap, but instead chose to cut his losses in time.

Even the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, the Legendary Sannin of Konoha, and even true Konoha powerhouses like Shisui Uchiha, hadn't made a move yet. It was just the combined efforts of some Konoha ninjas that defeated Kakuzu and Hidan.

This made him truly realize the power of Konoha.

The latter is undoubtedly the biggest obstacle to his already begun peace plan.

The Akatsuki organization must undergo some changes.

With that thought in mind, Payne immediately used his ring to summon the Akatsuki members who were outside.

......

Inside a sealed cave, the Outer Path Golem stood silently, its massive body like a lifeless object.

On ten thick fingers, accompanied by flashes of colorful light, the holographic images of eight people appeared on each finger.

Pain, Konan, Zetsu, Sasori, Orochimaru, Hiruko, Juzo Biwa, and Oni-ko—all the members of the Akatsuki organization are now gathered together.

"Why is the leader in such a hurry at this time? You know my experiment is at a critical moment!" Hiruko, who still looks like a normal, strong young man, complained immediately.

Because the Akatsuki always operated in pairs, with Pain and Konan, Kakuzu and Hidan, Sasori and Orochimaru, and Juzo and Oniko already in their teams, Zetsu, as the intelligence officer, was left to act alone. As a lone individual, he didn't do many missions and instead stayed at the Akatsuki base conducting various experiments.

Because the synthetic beasts he created could increase the strength of the Animal Path, Pain did not stop him.

Thus, with ample time and a constant supply of various precious materials, his Ghost Sprout Luo Technique developed much faster than before.

The reason why Hiruko is complaining like this is precisely because his Oni-Garra Technique is about to be completed.

For scientists, having their experiments interrupted is undoubtedly the most frustrating thing.

Nearby, Sasori, though also a scientist, had always disliked Hiruko and her work, constantly criticizing them as inferior, and said bluntly, "Idiot! Don't you even look at the number of people before you speak?"

Hiruko was taken aback and subconsciously looked around. When he realized that the number of people gathered had decreased from ten to eight, he finally understood. Just as he was about to say something, someone spoke first.

"Kakuzu and Hidan are absent? I wonder if they were delayed by something or if they were killed?" Juzo Biwa, carrying the Executioner's Blade on his back, chuckled.

"Given Kakuzu's punctual nature, it's obvious he's been taken down!" A hoarse, snake-like voice rang out, followed by Orochimaru's smug grin, as if he were enjoying the spectacle.

Upon hearing this, Oni-ko, who was the youngest among them, exclaimed with a shark-like face, "Kakuzu and Hidan were actually killed? It's unbelievable! Especially Hidan, although I hate his constant preaching, it's almost impossible to actually kill him!"

At this moment, Zetsu chuckled and said, "Kakuzu is indeed dead. Hidan isn't dead yet, but the Konoha ninja took his head and body back with him. I imagine his future won't be easy. How pitiful! Speaking of which, I quite like Hidan!"

The one who said this was naturally White Zetsu.

Given Black Zetsu's personality, he wouldn't be so carefree and jovial.

"He really is dead!" Hiruko stroked his chin with some regret.

It's important to know that both Kakuzu and Hidan are excellent experimental subjects.

Konoha got it again.

How awful!

"By the way, who in Konoha killed Kakuzu and Hidan? Was it Minato Namikaze, Shisui Uchiha, or one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha?" As he finished speaking, Hiruko subconsciously glanced at Orochimaru not far away.

When he noticed the latter giving him a "friendly" smile, he snorted and continued the conversation, "It couldn't have been the Fourth Hokage who personally took action, could it?"

"None of them!" Black Zetsu said directly, suppressing White Zetsu and not wanting to waste any more time. "The people who made the move were all from Konoha's younger generation. There were eight of them, including Kakashi Hatake, Asuma Sarutobi, Might Guy, and others, and no one was injured or killed afterward."

"What?" Hiruko exclaimed in disbelief.

Not only him, but everyone else had a similar expression.

As the Akatsuki members expected, Kakuzu and Hidan must have encountered renowned Konoha fighters, so their loss was to be expected.

But to their surprise, the two were killed by a group of young people.

You should know that if they actually fought, very few people on the scene would dare to confidently guarantee that they could defeat Kakuzu and Hidan.

With their uncanny abilities, they could possibly defeat any of the other four Kage besides the Hokage.

How could they have been defeated by Konoha ninjas who were only organized into two small teams?

When did Konoha become this strong?

Hiruko, who had left the village early, was puzzled because he didn't recognize any of the Konoha people Black Zetsu had mentioned (because the Uchiha clan hadn't been wiped out and there was a sufficient supply of Sharingan, so Kakashi wasn't targeted by him).

Orochimaru, who knew Konoha best, upon hearing this, licked his lips with great interest and chuckled inexplicably:

"interesting!"

Chapter 187 Orochimaru and Akatsuki Exposed

Orochimaru suddenly thought of something.