The explosion sounds didn’t stop at once, being heard over and over as each paper spear slammed itself onto the ground and exploded one after the other.
Kakuzu however was constantly changing locations as he dodged the explosive spears.
‘It’s not working, he’s too fast for me to catch.’ Kazuo thought as he kept manipulating the spears however soon enough he wouldn’t even have enough paper to create a single spear.
Releasing a deep sigh, Kazuo lowered his hand, the spear barrage finally stopping after more than thirty seconds.
The entire landscape around them had changed, it had gone from a lush green forest into a fiery desolate landscape filled with large craters created by the detonation of hundreds of explosives.
“Are you done?” Kakuzu questioned in his deep voice as he finally stood still, more than a hundred meters away from Kazuo.
Kazuo however heard him clearly, as if he was right next to him.
His senses as a ninja were enhanced beyond belief when compared to a regular civilian.
“I am, though I do have to say that I am rather disappointed in myself,” Kazuo replied as he lowered himself to the ground slowly.
“You aren’t running away?” Kakuzu questioned as he looked at Kazuo as if he was looking at a bag of Ryo.
It was an unmistakable feeling, Kazuo could clearly identify it.
The feeling of being looked at as if one was nothing more than an object of value.
“No, you see whilst I might be merely a bag of money to you,” Kazuo said as he started walking towards Kakuzu, his paper wings scattering behind him.
“You are so much more than that to me.”
His words were said clearly and calmly, the meaning behind them however couldn’t be grasped by Kakuzu who simply raised an eyebrow in confusion.
“I see, though I don't care what a dead man has to say,” Kakuzu replied, feigning himself to seem as if he understood, a way to seem more imposing, more intelligent in a subtle way.
It didn’t take a single second for Kakuzu to arrive at Kazuo’s location, his speed having already reached levels beyond the speed of sound.
Kazuo didn’t so much as flinch when his heart was ripped out of his chest by Kakuzu’s hand, his arm having speared right through the left side of Kazuo’s chest.
“I’ll make sure that you understand by the end Kakuzu, I’ll make sure,” Kazuo said in reply as a large soft smile appeared on his face.
His lips were already dyed red by the blood flowing out, painting an unsettling image.
And so time rewinded itself back once more.
One Hundred and fifty times.
It was only on the two hundred and first time that something deviated.
That an anomaly occurred.
[ Due to continuous use, Time Loop has ranked up. ]
[ Ability Upgraded. ]
[ Time Loop ] [ Rank 3 ]
This time, Kazuo didn’t wake up one minute before his death vision.
He woke up inside his own tent.
His eyes snapped open as he jumped to his feet, the motion smooth and practiced.
‘Time loop upgraded?’ Kazuo thought to himself before starting to walk towards the outside of the tent.
There he saw Kisuke coming to his tent to wake him up, a ration bar in his hand.
‘Two days. The time loop has been enhanced to two days, does that mean that if I die again right now that I get sent back even further in time or does it create specific checkpoints in time every two days?’ Kazuo wondered before rushing his entire chakra reserves into his brain.
His body fell down once more. He was Dead.
A moment later in his own perception, Kazuo snapped his eyes open and found himself back inside of the same tent.
‘There's a checkpoint system, but this isn’t good. I need to experiment more. Does it mean that if I pass through five days without a death, I get sent back two days back from that point or only one day?’ Kazuo wondered before swiftly shaking his head.
‘I can’t come up with the answer at this point, I’ll just have to wait to when im back in the village.’ Kazuo thought as he swiftly took apart his tent and sealed it back into his wrist guard.
“Hey Captain, you want a ration bar? It’s from the special one from the Akimichi clan.” Kisuke asked as he came closer to Kazuo.
Turning to face the root member, Kazuo merely gave a light nod, taking the ration bar and eating it slowly right in front of the man before getting closer to him, placing a hand on his shoulder, and giving a light smile.
“It’s delicious, thank you.”
With those words, Kazuo quickly gave the orders and the group started their trek towards the fire capital once more.
Kazuo followed his previous actions perfectly, having already become experienced enough in the time loops that he could recreate certain scenarios without a single mistake.
This time however the change happened when they left the fire capital.
Kazuo chose a completely different road from the previous turns.
Instead of heading through a more roundabout path, he chose the swiftest path to head to the hidden leaf village.
And so without a hitch, the minutes continued to pass.
There was something happening, however.
Kisuke’s face kept getting uglier as time passed by.
Turning his head, Kazuo looked at the man and gave a light smile.
“Is something wrong Kisuke?”
“No sir, we can continue, nothing is amiss,” Kisuke replied, his words sounding fluid yet at the same time they carried a hint of detachment, something Kazuo wouldn’t have been able to notice before.
“Alright,” Kazuo replied as he continued his run.
The group only stopped at the last hours of the night.
“We will take a four-hour break, each of us will stand one hour guard,” Kazuo announced before quickly unsealing his tent.
“Kisuke, you will be first, Yajiro and Azuma after that in order and I’ll stand guard last,” Kazuo informed the group before heading into his tent.
Yajiro and Azuma quickly followed suit, heading into their own tents.
Minutes passed, and Yajiro and Azuma quickly fell asleep.
Meanwhile, Kisuke stood still, right in front of Kazuo’s tent.
‘How is he still alive? I saw him eating the bar right in front of me. Does he have a poison resistance?’ Kisuke wondered as he slowly moved his right arm, taking a kunai out of his ninja bag.
Walking inside, Kisuke moved swiftly, his grip on the kunai tight.
With a swift slash, his kunai was colored red.
A pool of deep crimson blood slowly started to form around his legs.
‘Mission accomplished.’
Kisuke thought as he slowly lowered himself and pulled the soft but thin blanket.
“What!” Kisuke unconsciously said as he looked at the person who he had just killed.
It was a familiar face, one much more familiar than Kazuo’s.
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