The heart completely vanished, and a mask appeared on Kakuzu's back. Just looking at the mask's expression was frightening.
"This is... Earth Grudge Fear?"
Seeing that Kakuzu had succeeded, Torifū asked, "How do you feel?"
Kakuzu moved his body, finding nothing different from usual. "Don't worry, the state is still good. Perhaps it will take some time to reach the Great Elder's stage." Torifū wasn't too worried about Kakuzu; after all, in the original world, Kakuzu, without any help, still managed to kill the five Elders. With his help now, it should be even faster.
Kakuzu was quite satisfied with his current state. He hadn't turned monstrous, just slightly different from a normal person. But paying this price for five extra chances at substitution, potentially even eternal life, Kakuzu felt it was very worthwhile. Earth Grudge Fear was indeed a good ninjutsu, and since he had already learned it, it was no longer useful to him. He could either give it away as a favor or keep it as a collectible. Between the two, Kakuzu chose the former; after all, keeping it as a collectible was just a scroll. As the first member of Torifū's organization, there was nothing to say about showing loyalty in the early stages of its establishment.
He handed the scroll to Torifū: "I no longer need it. You can keep it to cultivate or whatever you wish, it's entirely up to you."
Torifū looked at the Earth Grudge Fear secret technique but felt no ripple within him. After all, Torifū couldn't accept turning into something neither human nor ghost; even living like that would feel meaningless. However, since it was a gift from a subordinate, he might as well accept it and add it to his collection.
The matters here had come to a close. Next should be the remaining four Elders. However, they all lived in the residence, and a rash move might alert the guards and their clan members inside. To avoid killing innocent people, Torifū asked, "What's next? Go to the Elders' residence and kill them directly?"
Kakuzu nodded, his teeth still tightly clenched. "Of course! Everyone in that residence is a snake in the grass, in cahoots with the Elders!" Seeing Kakuzu's anger, Torifū said nothing more and followed him back the way they came.
This time, with fewer reservations, Torifū simply shattered any difficult rock crevices or caves with Dust Release. This significantly saved them time.
By the time Torifū and Kakuzu emerged from the Treasure Vault, it was almost eleven o'clock. Controlling the puppets for so long had somewhat jumbled Torifū's thoughts, but he could still manage. After all, he just needed to kill those four good-for-nothings, and then he could collect his thoughts and go to sleep.
Kakuzu instinctively walked ahead, guiding Torifū. Although Torifū had been here once before, the nighttime Takigakure was almost impossible to navigate, not to mention the constant, unfamiliar bird calls. It felt incredibly eerie. Torifū tried to pinpoint their location, but looking up, there was only endless darkness; he could only see clearly by activating his Sharingan. However, Torifū was already a bit tired now, and with Kakuzu leading the way, he didn't need to keep his Sharingan active all the time.
Takigakure wasn't very large, and their pace was quite fast. In a short while, they arrived at the Elders' residence. There were still two guards at the entrance, one fat and one thin, who looked like they had been asleep for a long time. Kakuzu quietly approached and struck each of their necks with a knife! Blood gushed from their arteries, filling their throats, preventing them from uttering a single word. They could only whimper in despair, awaiting death.
After dealing with the guards, the two gently pushed open the large gate and walked inside. They didn't see anyone. Perhaps everyone was asleep. The two guards at the entrance were useless anyway. They slept more soundly than anyone else and conveniently died in their sleep. May they have pleasant dreams tonight.
After entering the residence, Kakuzu and Torifū initially planned to split up, but seeing that Torifū knew nothing about the layout, Kakuzu abandoned the idea. They would dutifully stick together. The two then embarked on a frantic slaughter within the residence, killing anyone alive they encountered. Torifū was responsible for knocking them out, and Kakuzu decided how they would die. This would slightly reduce their suffering; dying unaware was better than being tortured to death.
They started with the weakest Elder, killing him easily. Kakuzu also consumed his heart with Earth Grudge Fear, which meant he could now substitute twice. There were three Elders left, just enough to fully power his Earth Grudge Fear.
During the battle with the Fifth Elder, he had shouted "Enemy attack!" which roused everyone in the residence. They all came out, searching for the enemy. But when they arrived in the courtyard, they found that the entire perimeter of the yard was blocked by high earth walls. Unable to call for support from the village, they had to face the enemy themselves, though they didn't know the enemy's strength. However, they could confirm that the Fifth Elder had definitely been killed, which allowed them to predict some of the enemy's power.
The Second, Third, and Fourth Elders were now gathered together. The gravity of the situation forced them to cooperate, otherwise, death would surely greet them. "Damn it! Where did the Great Elder go at a time like this!" the Fourth Elder cursed bitterly. The strongest person among them had inexplicably left the residence, leaving only them to struggle. Their clan members were on the verge of being overwhelmed.
"I said it all along! Don't target Kakuzu so much! But you all listened to the Great Elder! Now look, the Great Elder was the first to flee! He even abandoned his own clan members!" What they didn't know was that the Great Elder was already dead, his body long since decomposed into atoms by Torifū's Dust Release. Not even ash remained.
The Second Elder sighed, "Who would have known he secretly learned Earth Grudge Fear? None of us have learned it, and we don't even know how to deal with it."
"Moreover, the person with Kakuzu is even stronger; our clan members have no power to fight back." One ninjutsu could wipe out a large number of shinobi; no matter how many shinobi you had, it wouldn't be enough to fight.
At this moment, the three Elders were in a dilemma. They were forced to come up with a countermeasure before all their clan members were dead, or they would have to go to hell to accompany the Fifth Elder.
"How about shattering the earth walls around the residence? The three of us working together, one earth wall shouldn't be too difficult!" the usually quiet Third Elder calmly suggested. This method was a desperate gamble. If it didn't succeed, they would be caught red-handed.