With a tearing sound of clothes, a large amount of black threads surged from his back, constantly writhing. And on these black threads were four masks of varying appearances.
"Let me show you complete Earth Grudge Fear!"
The Second Elder was so stunned by this sight that he went blank. A moment ago, this was a perfectly normal person, and now he had suddenly turned into a monster! Was this the rumored side effect of Earth Grudge Fear?
Before the Second Elder could ponder further, the four masks on the black threads on Kakuzu's back began to writhe. They seemed to be trying to emerge, some even extending black claws! Moments later, the first mask burst from the black threads! It was a black monster with long claws. It looked like a haphazard collection of black threads, somewhat chilling. The other three masks also successively emerged, floating in mid-air.
"Do you understand now? There are only four right now, and your heart is about to fill the fifth slot."
But Kakuzu was still too straightforward. The Second Elder took advantage of Kakuzu's focused explanation and attacked again! But this time, Kakuzu had been vigilant. Seeing the Second Elder's movement, he immediately controlled the masked monster to seize the Second Elder, breaking his arm.
The Second Elder continued to curse incessantly. Kakuzu, annoyed by his repeated sneak attacks, stopped wasting time with him. He reached out and directly plucked out his heart. The cursing Second Elder, without his heart, instantly went limp like a toy from which the batteries had been removed. His head slumped, and he could no longer speak.
The masked monster tossed the Second Elder's corpse aside, then all returned to Kakuzu's body. At this point, Kakuzu's appearance finally returned to normal. Although Torifū wasn't scared by his previous monstrous form, it always caused a double dose of psychological and physical discomfort to look at.
After killing the Second Elder, Kakuzu stood motionless for a long time. It was only when Torifū patted his shoulder that he snapped back to reality. Kakuzu now felt an immense emptiness. His goal tonight had been to kill the five Elders. Now that the objective was accomplished, Kakuzu didn't feel happy, for he had lost his home and his friends. Although his family had passed away long ago, he had lived in Takigakure for over twenty years, developing deep emotional ties, and his subordinates had trusted him immensely. Now, he had suddenly become a rogue ninja, and their next meeting would involve clashing blades.
"Is there anything else? If not, we should leave."
"The Elders have considerable wealth. This can serve as starting capital for our organization, as there are only two of us so far." Torifū shrewdly caught Kakuzu's mention of "two of us." It seemed Kakuzu's discernment was quite good.
"Where is it? Let's quickly get it and leave this place." Kakuzu nodded. It was not advisable to linger here; if they were discovered, escaping would be much harder. Kakuzu went to the Elders' rooms to search for their finances, while Torifū cleaned up the battlefield. If so many corpses weren't cleaned up, at least half the villagers would surely be scared to death tomorrow morning. Using the Uchiha Puppet's Fire Release, the corpses were reduced to dust in mere moments.
After a while, Kakuzu emerged from the room, carrying two large bundles. Torifū opened one and saw it was packed full of gold coins. Well, he certainly got a lot of money! However, compared to Torifū's own fortune, it was just a drop in the ocean. But it was enough for the organization's expenses. After all, there were only two of them at the moment, and Torifū didn't have many expenses, so it would mostly be for Kakuzu's use.
"Where do we go next?" Kakuzu asked. He was now a rogue ninja with nowhere to go. If the villagers discovered tomorrow that Kakuzu was responsible for tonight's events, he would immediately appear on the black market's bounty list. People would seek his life to the ends of the earth.
"Let's go back to the Land of Fire first, then look for a place to establish the organization's base." Kakuzu nodded at this. In its early stages, an organization could only do this. But then he asked, "I still don't know what our organization is called."
Torifū thought for a moment and then said, "Let's call it Lotus."
"Oh? Why?"
"To emerge from the mud unsullied, that is the lotus. This ninja world is a pool of mud, and only the lotus can break free from the mud and bloom." Kakuzu pondered for a moment, then nodded. Although he wasn't sure if he was suited to be called a lotus, breaking free from the mud certainly fit his current situation.
After tonight, everything would be rewritten. Kakuzu was no longer Kakuzu, the Jōnin of Takigakure, but Kakuzu of the Lotus organization. He placed his forehead protector on the ground and drew a line across it with a kunai. From now on, he had no ties to Takigakure.
"Let's find a place to rest for the night. We can head back to the Land of Fire tomorrow morning."
Kakuzu assented, and Torifū then controlled the puppet, which transformed into a streak of light and returned to the mark. Torifū then brought his consciousness back to his main body. He opened his eyes and got up from the bed. Sweat had soaked his clothes and sheets. He had only felt some fatigue while controlling the puppet. It seemed that prolonged out-of-body consciousness control did put a strain on the body. Torifū now felt a bit weak, but changing the sheets and taking a bath was fine.
Just as Torifū was bathing, the system's voice chimed.
[Ding - Chaos Event: Kakuzu's Assassination of the First Hokage, Completed. Completion Grade: S. Reward: 8000 Peace Points.]
An S-rank evaluation only gave 8,000 points, which was quite ordinary. Since the system had appeared, he might as well unlock Kakuzu's character illustration as well. Another 1,000 points were added, bringing the total to 9,000 points. That was still decent. In fact, the specific mission rewards were more than just these; he had created an organization and recruited Kakuzu. These were all gains from this event, and overall, it wasn't bad. With an organization, many things that were inconvenient to do alone could now be done. However, currently, manpower was scarce, and some recruitment was needed. But there was no rush; after all, besides Kakuzu, there weren't many strong rogue ninja or wandering ninja in the ninja world right now. He would just have to take it one step at a time.
After bathing, he felt much refreshed, and the fatigue from controlling the puppet disappeared. This Chaos Event made him realize how convenient it was to have a puppet. Cross-country operations didn't even require him to leave his home; he could just let the puppet follow and then control it once it reached the destination. It was just a pity that there weren't any particularly special or powerful Kekkei Genkai right now, otherwise, Torifū could make a few more puppets to play with.