The Renjiro Squad ran in different directions at an extremely fast pace.
However, they were all very tired. Kakuzu's speed was comparable to Renjiro's. Shen Cheng and his Lightning Clone, however, were faster than Feng Zheng and the others.
After eight Body Flicker Techniques, Feng Zheng's Chakra finally dropped to its lowest point. He hid behind a tree and took a deep breath. He used his last bit of Chakra to perform a few Hand Seals.
Shen Cheng arrived almost immediately after Feng Zheng. He saw the traces Feng Zheng left behind, as well as his hiding spot.
He circled around the tree and appeared in front of Feng Zheng.
An evil smile appeared on Shen Cheng's face. He said,
"You brat, you knocked off half of my right ear. I'll make you pay a thousand times over."
He thought Feng Zheng would be afraid. However, there was no trace of fear on Feng Zheng's face. Shen Cheng was surprised. Feng Zheng said firmly,
"Ever since I became a Ninja, I've resolved to dedicate my life to the Village. Death won't scare me!"
Shen Cheng was stunned. But soon, he burst into a fit of laughter.
"Hahahahahahaha!"
He looked at Feng Zheng with murderous intent and said,
"You stinking brat, let me teach you a lesson. Death would be merciful to you. I'll show you how miserable life can be. Once I'm done with you, you'll be begging for death. Hahaha."
A look of terror immediately appeared on Feng Zheng's face. Shen Cheng's smile grew even more evil as he extended his arm and grabbed Feng Zheng's neck.
At the same time, Hodaka and Mieko were also caught by Shen Cheng's Lightning Clones. They were also exhausted and unable to fight back.
Shen Cheng's Shadow Clones continuously approached them.
Soon after, Renjiro was also caught by Kakuzu.
Kakuzu's Lightning Mask appeared behind Renjiro, pushing him to the ground and holding him down. Kakuzu appeared and said,
"Your mastery of Water Release is excellent! I will take your heart and replace my Water Mask with it!"
Renjiro's eyes widened; he understood the meaning of the words. Threads extended from the Lightning Mask, drilling into Renjiro's chest.
However, Renjiro showed a cold smile. Kakuzu immediately had a bad premonition!
Boom!!!!
Renjiro exploded beneath the Lightning Mask. Kakuzu quickly dodged, but his Lightning Mask could not. The Lightning Mask took the full force of the explosion. The mask cracked. Kakuzu was stunned! He had lost a heart!
He looked at the spot where Renjiro exploded and thought,
"Shadow Clone Great Explosion! But when did he create a Shadow Clone? Was it when he was escaping? Impossible, I've been watching him. He had no chance to create a Shadow Clone. So when did he do it?"
Shen Cheng's Lightning Clones approached Hodaka and Mieko. As they entered attack range, both Hodaka and Mieko exploded.
The Lightning Clones didn't react fast enough and were caught in the explosion. Both clones were dispersed!
Although Lightning Clones don't transmit information, the main body can sense when a clone is dispersed. As Shen Cheng's hand reached for Feng Zheng, the clones were dispersed.
Shen Cheng realized that his two Lightning Clones had been dispersed and was distracted for a moment.
Feng Zheng noticed this, and he also self-destructed!
Shen Cheng noticed and immediately retreated. However, his right forearm was affected by the explosion, and his skin was burned!
His face became very grim, and he thought angrily,
"When exactly did he create a Shadow Clone? His Chakra was already exhausted; it's impossible for him to create another Shadow Clone!"
He looked around but found no signs of anyone escaping. He walked towards the place where the other two Lightning Clones had been dispersed.
But once again, he found no signs of Mieko or Hodaka escaping.
After a few minutes of fruitless searching, he ran back to where the battle had taken place. Kakuzu was inspecting the area.
He appeared behind Kakuzu. Kakuzu immediately noticed Shen Cheng, who now had only half of his right ear and a burned right arm.
Shen Cheng also noticed that Kakuzu's cloak was destroyed. Shen Cheng said,
"I was chasing clones! There are no traces of anyone escaping."
Kakuzu said,
"It's the same here. The Renjiro I was chasing turned out to be a Shadow Clone. When I caught him, that bastard self-destructed."
Shen Cheng said,
"You too? The same thing happened with that Wind Release user. It seems the other two are also like that. But when did they create the clones?"
Kakuzu replied,
"We might have been fighting Shadow Clones the whole time. Although they tried to hide their tracks, there are signs that four people escaped along this route."
"And their clones all fled in the opposite direction towards the Land of Fire border. It seems they wanted to lure us away to buy time for their escape!"
Shen Cheng was very surprised. He immediately became very angry. The veins on his forehead were clearly visible! He said,
"No wonder those two brats' Earth Release and Water Release Ninjutsu were so powerful! They were just Renjiro's disguised clones!"
His Chakra erupted, and he roared,
"Those bastards think they can trick us? Kakuzu, track them down, and I'll take you to them! Those bastards won't escape our grasp!"
Kakuzu nodded. Sparks appeared on Shen Cheng. He pulled Kakuzu and moved quickly along the route Kakuzu had indicated.
They were on the shortest route to the Land of Fire!
After running at top speed for five minutes, they finally saw four figures. Shen Cheng immediately shouted,
"Bastards! Do you think you can trick me?"
The Renjiro Squad heard the shout and stopped. They immediately assumed a fighting stance. Shen Cheng put Kakuzu down and rushed towards them.
Kakuzu followed him but thought,
"Something's not right!"
Shen Cheng's speed was much faster than Kakuzu's. In the blink of an eye, he was in front of them.
Renjiro drew his sword and attacked Shen Cheng. Shen Cheng grabbed a kunai, infused it with Lightning Release Chakra, and attacked Renjiro.
Renjiro blocked his attack. At the moment their weapons clashed, Feng Zheng, Hodaka, and Mieko flickered next to Shen Cheng, surrounding him from all sides!
Shen Cheng was very surprised by this move. He had a bad premonition. Suddenly, all four exploded!
Kakuzu sensed this and stopped behind him. However, Shen Cheng was completely engulfed in the explosion!
He released lightning all over his body, forming armor, but he was not skilled in this application of lightning.
Although the impact of the explosion was lessened, he was still hit by it!
One second later, Shen Cheng jumped out of the dust cloud generated by the explosion.
His clothes were blown to shreds, almost all the skin on his body was burned, and he was bleeding heavily.
Kakuzu appeared beside him and said,
"Those traces were left by clones! Because this is the shortest route to Konoha, we thought they escaped this way. We didn't expect them to set another trap here!"
Shen Cheng looked at Kakuzu angrily and shouted,
"Bastard! You led me into a despicable trap! And then you hid behind and watched me get blown up!"
Kakuzu looked at him and said,
"I didn't tell you to charge in like an idiot. You're just too stupid."
Shen Cheng roared,
"Bastard, are you calling me an idiot? It's because of you, you idiot, that we fell into this trap!"
Kakuzu didn't answer, but Shen Cheng continued to yell at him! After yelling for a while, Shen Cheng turned and walked away.
However, the next moment, an arm pierced through his right lung.
Shen Cheng looked down in horror. Kakuzu's threads drilled into his body and began to steal his heart.
Kakuzu said,
"It seems they didn't tell you. All my previous partners were killed by me because I couldn't stand them."
Shen Cheng was stunned. A rogue Ninja from the Hidden Cloud Village, about to be promoted to S-rank, died without anyone seeing it.
Well, not entirely unseen, as two pairs of eyes were watching this scene.
The first pair of eyes belonged to Zetsu. The other pair belonged to Renjiro's Shadow Clone.
Feng Zheng's clone sensed that Kakuzu and Shen Cheng were chasing them.
He relayed the information to Renjiro's Shadow Clone, and Renjiro created a Shadow Clone with the minimum amount of Chakra.
The Shadow Clone left the ground and hid underground.
After killing Shen Cheng, Kakuzu removed his heart. Threads gathered around the heart, and a new Lightning Mask formed!
Renjiro's clone witnessed the entire process. Surprisingly, Kakuzu didn't sense anyone watching him until the entire process was complete.
After the Lightning Mask formed, it entered Kakuzu's body. Kakuzu knew it was pointless to continue the pursuit, so he withdrew from the path to the Land of Fire.
Renjiro's Shadow Clone dispersed on its own, sending back the information.
Far from where Shen Cheng died, the Renjiro Squad entered the Land of Fire.