The brawny man opened his mouth, but only blood frothed out.
Renya withdrew his katana, and the man's massive body crashed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Renya sheathed his blade, lowered his head to look at the dying enemy, and said calmly,
"What a shame. You ran into me."
If it had been someone else, breaking through the man's Lightning Armor would've been nearly impossible—let alone killing him.
Thankfully, the poison Renya developed could deal with most situations. As long as the opponent was careless enough to get hit, the battle was already over.
The brawny man lay on the ground, lips twitching as if trying to say something. But in the end, he only spat out a mouthful of black blood, his pupils gradually dilating.
Seeing the man lose all signs of life, Renya suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood.
That was the internal injury he had sustained earlier from the man's strike…
Luckily, his body recovered quickly—otherwise, he'd already be the one lying on the ground.
In the distance, Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others struggled to get up and rushed over.
"Hahaha, Renya, you're too strong!" Hiruzen laughed loudly.
He'd really thought they weren't making it out alive today.
Shimura Danzō clutched his chest, staring at the corpse. "That guy was terrifyingly strong."
"Yeah, good thing we had Renya-kun," Uchiha Kagami agreed.
Just then, Koharu Utatane regained consciousness. Seeing the scene before her, she hurried over to try and treat Renya.
But Renya simply waved his hand, indicating he was fine.
"Koharu, go treat the others."
Koharu nodded and turned to start healing Hiruzen and the others.
...
With the brawny man's death, the rest of the battle came to an abrupt halt.
The fighting shinobi from Kumogakure and Konoha stopped almost simultaneously, turning to look toward the center of the battlefield.
The monstrously powerful man now lay on his back in a pool of blood.
And next to the corpse stood a cold-faced youth, proud and unyielding. His crimson Sharingan eyes scanned the surrounding Kumogakure shinobi.
Every enemy caught in his gaze froze like a frog facing a venomous snake, trembling uncontrollably.
"Raikage-sama's... Captain of the Personal Guard... is dead?!"
A Kumogakure Chūnin muttered with a trembling voice.
"How is that even possible?!"
That brawny man was Raikage-sama's most powerful bodyguard—his strength was monstrous.
Since arriving on the battlefield, he had slaughtered countless Konoha shinobi with his overwhelming power.
In the eyes of the Kumogakure ninja, he was practically a god.
Yet now he'd been killed by a single boy.
The boy before them had killed Raikage-sama's strongest guard!
Every Kumogakure shinobi present was fully aware of how powerful the man had been—almost at Kage-level.
And for the boy to have killed him… didn't that mean he was also Kage-level?
Realizing this, the Kumogakure shinobi looked at Renya standing beside the corpse, their faces full of horror.
In an instant, the atmosphere of the battlefield shifted dramatically.
"Kill them——!"
A deafening cheer erupted from the Konoha side.
The death of the strongest Kumogakure shinobi reignited the hope of victory among the Konoha forces.
With their morale surging, the Konoha ninja—exhausted moments before—now fought with newfound fury, their offensive tripling in intensity.
At this point, offense and defense had reversed!
On the other hand, the front lines of Kumogakure involuntarily took a half-step back.
Staring at the brawny man's body, their eyes filled with disbelief and dread.
That was the man who possessed Lightning Armor and was even said to surpass the First Raikage's strongest guard!
His death threw the Kumogakure forces into disarray. Faced with Konoha's furious assault, they began to suffer one defeat after another.
"Retreat... retreat!" a Kumogakure Jōnin suddenly screamed, "Retreat immediately!"
"Quick! Report to Raikage-sama that the guard captain has been killed!"
Like dominoes toppling one after another, the fragile formation of Kumogakure collapsed in an instant.
Some even dropped their weapons and fled into the northern forest without looking back.
The Konoha shinobi weren't about to let them escape that easily.
They gave chase immediately.
Renya did not pursue. He stood quietly in place.
It wasn't that he didn't want to—it was just that his injuries hadn't yet healed.
Some of the fleeing Kumogakure ninja turned back instinctively, glancing toward the youth standing in the distance.
"Don't look... just run!"
"That's Uchiha..."
"His blade is coated with poison strong enough to kill a Kage!"
"We must report this to Raikage-sama!"
The Kumogakure shinobi stared at Renya, as if trying to memorize his appearance.
...
Koharu Utatane was wrapping bandages around Shimura Danzō's wounds. Seeing the terrified reactions of the enemy, she whispered,
"Renya-kun... seems to have become Kumogakure's nightmare."
Shimura Danzō didn't reply. He simply stared at the boy's back.
"It's been a while, but Renya-kun has really grown stronger," Uchiha Kagami said with emotion.
The image of Renya using the Body Flicker Technique to kill the brawny man was still vivid in his mind.
Hiruzen's gaze was complicated as he murmured, "Renya has already surpassed us."
Back in the academy, they had all known this day would come.
Renya struggled with academic subjects, but he was always at the top when it came to combat training.
Especially when it came to training assignments from the teachers—he was always the first to finish.
After becoming a ninja, he took missions every day with barely any time to rest.
His strength had been forged through relentless training, and Hiruzen didn't envy him one bit.
The only thing that shocked him was Renya's recovery ability...
A few years ago, his regeneration wasn't this extreme.
They'd all been struck by the brawny man and could barely move for half a day.
But Renya? It was as if nothing had happened—he could still fight.
That baffled Hiruzen.
As he pondered this, Renya walked over to them.
"The battle's over. We can head back now."
He was starting to feel unwell and needed rest.
The brawny man's attacks had done real damage. It would take at least a couple of days to recover—he had to get back to the camp and rest properly.
Hearing that, the group helped each other up.
Compared to Renya, they looked absolutely miserable.
Shimura Danzō and Uchiha Kagami could barely walk properly.
As for Mitokado Homura—he was lying on the ground and couldn't move at all.
Only Hiruzen and Koharu were in barely passable condition.
The two of them supported Danzō and Kagami as they left the battlefield.
As for Mitokado Homura, Renya had to carry him.
"Sorry to trouble you, Renya," Homura said weakly as he lay on Renya's back, his face pale.
"No trouble. Just focus on recovering once we're back at camp," Renya replied.
Looking at Homura's near-death state, he was honestly a little afraid the man might die on his back.
...
Not far from the Kumogakure camp.
"What do we say if that brute asks us about this?" Ginkaku whispered.
The brute in question was the First Raikage's strongest bodyguard, sent to the front lines by the Raikage himself.
"No need to say anything. We'll just pretend we don't know. As for that brute..." Kinkaku narrowed his eyes. "Even if he suspects us, he's got no proof."
"Right. Everyone who knew the truth is already dead!"
Just then, a commotion broke out near the camp.
The two brothers exchanged glances and immediately rushed over to investigate.