The soaring, intense flames instantly reduced the public restroom to ashes. The terrifying high temperature, even from a distance, was unbearable for everyone, making them instinctively want to retreat further.

Illuminated by the firelight, Kakuzu and Hidan's expressions turned grim.

"What terrifying Fire Release..."

Kakuzu, who had lived a long life and seen much, couldn't identify what kind of ninjutsu this was. Furthermore, Ethan had unleashed such a terrifying attack with just a casual flick, without any complicated hand seals or preparation. Even more frightening was that after using this move, Ethan didn't seem to have expended much energy.

Ethan stood there, his longsword pointing diagonally at the ground, its blade still enveloped in fiercely burning flames. Judging by the constant retreat of the Konoha ninja named Asuma, the temperature of those flames was also astonishing.

Just as Kakuzu and Hidan were sizing him up, Ethan suddenly spoke to Hidan.

"I heard you're immortal?"

"What? Scared?"

Ethan sneered with contempt and took a very slow step, yet in the next second, he was already standing beside Hidan.

"You'd better pray your immortality is as strong as they say..."

Hidan didn't even have time to react before he felt a wave of scorching heat engulfing his body. In the blink of an eye, he was swallowed by fiercely burning flames, becoming a human torch.

"Ah! Ah! Ah!"

Although Hidan possessed immortality, it didn't mean he was immune to pain. In this regard, he was no different from an ordinary person; he still had to endure the suffering. And Ethan had deliberately controlled the temperature of this strike. The flames weren't enough to reduce him to ashes.

"Immortality... Tsk."

The intense pain, combined with his body being nearly charred, rendered Hidan incapable of launching any counterattack even while standing right next to Ethan. Soon, he couldn't even scream. Yet he still couldn't die. The agony was unbearable.

Ethan glanced at him a few more times, then lost interest. Hidan's bizarre ability might be troublesome, but for someone who had experienced countless worlds and seen many strange abilities and beings—including gods—there were a million ways to torture Hidan and make him regret being immortal.

"Let him enjoy it slowly for now..."

He knew Hidan's body had decent regenerative abilities. After all, this was a guy whose head could be cut off and reattached after being sewn back on.

However, being burned to such a degree would take time to recover from. Ethan could play with Kakuzu first.

"I heard you fought with Hashirama?"

Kakuzu suddenly felt immense pressure. This young man gave him an overwhelming sense of dread. And when he heard Ethan refer to the First Hokage by name, his long years of experience immediately led him to a conclusion.

"You... you're not as young as you look."

"Although your strength isn't much and you like to brag, being able to live this long isn't entirely without merit."

Ethan didn't answer directly, but his words were essentially an admission of Kakuzu's suspicion. After hearing this, Kakuzu suddenly found it easier to accept the situation.

Since this was an old monster who had lived for an unknown number of years, it wasn't strange for him to possess such terrifying strength.

As for appearance? Setting aside the case of Tsunade, Kakuzu himself was also an old man, albeit a strange one. Just by appearance alone, people wouldn't think he was elderly.

Although Ethan looked young, Kakuzu simply assumed it was due to some personal preference and didn't dwell on it.

Compared to minor matters like appearance, how to deal with this terrifying old monster was what concerned Kakuzu most.

Judging by the Fire Release technique Ethan had casually used earlier, his strength was terrifying. And he clearly harbored intense hostility toward him.

Based on the few words Ethan had said earlier, Kakuzu could already deduce that the stories he liked to boast about had reached this person's ears.

Having fought with the First Hokage could mean many things.

A direct one-on-one battle counted.

Being chopped down like firewood in a chaotic battlefield but managing to survive could also be considered "fighting." 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Of course, there were jokes in his previous life that mocked Kakuzu for throwing a shuriken at Hashirama from eight hundred li away, then claiming he had fought him.

Ethan didn't think Kakuzu's story was that ridiculous. After all, from eight hundred li away, he wouldn't even be able to see the First Hokage. If he threw a shuriken toward the direction of Konoha, then he should also claim to have fought both Madara and Hashirama at the same time.

The most likely scenario was that he was lucky enough not to get killed by Hashirama on the battlefield. In that case, Kakuzu must have personally witnessed his overwhelming strength.

He wondered which left the deeper psychological scar on him—Hashirama, or Ethan himself?

"Although I still have a lot to say, I find it rather boring to keep talking to you."

The longsword in Ethan's hand rose again, and the moment Kakuzu saw his movement, he immediately became fully alert.

"The game ends here."

The longsword slashed down. With that motion, blazing flames surged toward Kakuzu, who immediately used Water Formation Wall to defend.

To counter Fire Release, use Water Release. This was common knowledge in the ninja world. However, every ninja also knew that elemental advantages only applied when the strength of the two techniques was relatively equal.

If the power difference was too great, then elemental advantage was meaningless.

The Water Formation Wall evaporated into steam the moment it touched the flames. Kakuzu immediately leapt back, repeatedly using Water Formation Wall and Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall to defend, hoping to weaken the attack through layered defenses.

In his panic, he couldn't think of a better strategy, and Ethan's attack range was too wide to evade.

Just as Kakuzu had exhausted all his methods to finally resist Ethan's flames, he suddenly felt the tip of a sword piercing through his chest.

"This..."

He didn't need to turn around to know who was holding the sword, but how had Ethan crossed through that wall of fire to get behind him?

"As long as you're fast enough, nothing is impossible."

As if he already knew what Kakuzu wanted to ask, Ethan casually answered. And stabbing him wasn't the end. He knew Kakuzu had five hearts. This stab would, at most, destroy one. He had no interest in playing with this guy any longer.

"Ryūjin Jakka..."

With a soft chant, raging flames burst out from the longsword once again, instantly engulfing Kakuzu.

Even five hearts couldn't withstand the terrifying heat that erupted in an instant. Kakuzu didn't even have time to say another word before both he and his hearts were reduced to ashes.

From the moment Ethan made his move to the moment Kakuzu died, only a few minutes had passed. This was because Ethan had spoken a few extra lines. Otherwise, killing the two of them would have taken only a flick of his wrist.

Now that he no longer needed to keep a low profile or pretend to be a child, Ethan was no longer restrained in how he acted.

Of course, he still didn't use power beyond this world. He was still using chakra. But from his elevated realm, simply not suppressing his chakra to the level of ordinary people was enough to overwhelm these local ninjas.

Another reason was the information gap. Ethan knew all of their abilities, and even how to counter them.

But they knew nothing about him.

After killing Kakuzu, Ethan passed by Hidan on his way back. He glanced at Hidan, who was slowly recovering, then casually delivered another strike.

This time, it wasn't a move designed to inflict pain without destroying the body. The terrifying heat instantly turned Hidan's body to ash—or rather, directly vaporized him.

Ethan didn't believe this guy could resurrect without a body. If he could, that would be even better. It would mean there was something truly interesting worth studying.

Unfortunately, Hidan wasn't at that level. After being completely incinerated and wiped from existence by the intense flames, he was dead. His immortality had limits and was far from true immortality.

After consecutively killing the two, Ethan acted as if he had done something trivial. He dispersed the flames on the longsword.

He had originally intended to perform a cool sheathing motion, but as he dismissed the flames, the longsword in his hand also turned to ash and scattered in the air.

"The quality is really bad. Should I go find the shop owner?"

"No, with such terrifying flames... the fact it lasted this long already shows it was well-made."

Apart from Jiraiya, the others, including Asuma, were still in shock. The two enemies who had tormented them so badly were now reduced to dust after only a few exchanges. This power was so overwhelming that they couldn't process it for a while.

Asuma had even heard some incredible things like "old monster who has lived a long time." Judging from Jiraiya's calm reaction, he must have known long ago. Perhaps several other high-ranking officials in Konoha also knew.

As the son of the Third Hokage, Asuma knew how to deal with such situations: just pretend he didn't hear anything.

"Speaking of which, I thought you came so actively looking for these two for some special reason..."

But in the end, Ethan just said a few words and then directly killed them.

"No reason. I just found them unpleasant to look at."

As he spoke, he glanced at Asuma beside him. Saving this unlucky guy was just a bonus. After all, he and Kurenai had at least given him a bit of guidance, and Ethan had always disliked tragedies. Of course, there was no need to say any of that out loud.

(To be continued.)