Ōnoki hovered in midair, continuously unleashing Dust Release attacks.
"Shorty, I already told you your Dust Release can't hit me. Can't you use a different jutsu?"
Renya dodged the Dust Release while mocking him.
Back in Iwagakure, he couldn't use the Sharingan or Flying Thunder God, and the office space was cramped.
He was completely suppressed.
But now it was different—he no longer needed to hide his trump cards.
No matter how furious Ōnoki was, if Dust Release couldn't hit, then it couldn't hit.
Seeing the little dwarf fume with helpless rage, Renya couldn't help the upward curl of his lips.
He enjoyed that look on Ōnoki—annoyed by him but utterly unable to do anything about it.
"Boom—!"
A massive water pillar exploded beneath Ōnoki—not a ninjutsu.
It was Renya suddenly appearing at that spot, using the water's surface as leverage.
A rising slash unleashed a wave of cutting force.
Ōnoki shot upward, barely avoiding it.
The slash carved the sea open, leaving a trench dozens of meters long, taking a long time before seawater finally filled it.
"I almost got you just now."
Renya looked up at Ōnoki in the air, sounding slightly regretful.
"Dammit! If you have the guts, fight me on land!"
Ōnoki roared, forming hand seals.
"Earth Release: Rock Fragment Technique!"
But above the sea, he could only condense tiny sand-grains from the air into small stones.
Earth-style ninjas were greatly weakened on open water.
Renya pulled out a kunai and threw it at Ōnoki, who tilted his head to dodge.
Before the stones he created could reach him, Renya's figure vanished.
In the next instant—
Ōnoki, floating in midair, suddenly felt darkness above his head.
Renya appeared above him with absolutely no warning!
"Absurd!" Ōnoki's pupils contracted.
How did this guy silently appear behind him?
Such a method was unheard of.
He was over thirty meters in the air—ordinary ninjas couldn't even get close.
Yet this guy just appeared out of nowhere.
"Dust Release: Detachment of—"
Ōnoki hurriedly clasped his hands together.
He had to erase this opponent who had no way to dodge in midair!
But at the very instant the Dust Release was fired, Renya vanished again.
Renya's true body was already at the location of the Flying Thunder God kunai embedded below.
Sploosh!
The Flying Thunder God kunai burst out of the water with murderous intent—
From below, thrusting straight toward Ōnoki's back!
The angle was vicious, filled with deadly danger.
"What?!"
Ōnoki was stunned. In a panic, he barely formed a thin rock shield.
Crack!
The kunai pierced through it effortlessly, stabbing into Ōnoki's right shoulder.
Blood dripped, blooming into red clouds in the seawater below.
"Now!"
Renya's eyes lit up. His body flickered—and he appeared right in front of Ōnoki.
Before Ōnoki could react, Renya grabbed his throat.
"Down you go."
Renya's icy voice sounded by his ear as he exerted his full strength.
Using gravity and momentum, he dragged Ōnoki downward, slamming him toward the sea.
BOOM!!!
With Renya pressing him down, Ōnoki's back smashed hard against the surface—
Then the two crashed into the ocean without hesitation.
A towering explosion of water erupted.
Icy seawater surged in from all directions, swallowing them completely.
The underwater world dimmed instantly.
The huge impact made Ōnoki feel like all his organs had shifted.
The searing pain made him instinctively open his mouth, sucking in seawater.
Even worse—Renya still had his throat locked, and the crushing pressure and suffocation overwhelmed him.
He could only pound desperately at Renya's arm.
But Renya seemed unharmed; the Sharingan still glowed crimson even underwater.
He even had the leisure to break one of Ōnoki's arms—
Preventing him from recovering enough to use ninjutsu.
Using his body weight, Renya forced Ōnoki deeper toward the seafloor.
Glug glug...
Bubbles spilled from Ōnoki's nose and mouth, and the agony of suffocation blurred his consciousness.
He struggled in vain. Without leverage in the water, with an arm broken, Dust Release was impossible.
He never imagined he might die such an embarrassing death.
If others learned that the Third Tsuchikage of Iwagakure-sama drowned—
How would he face his teacher in the afterlife?
Renya's eyes were cold—he didn't intend to show mercy.
Ōnoki's struggles weakened… and finally stopped completely.
Renya didn't know whether he was dead yet, but he grabbed him and began swimming upward.
If Ōnoki was dead, then so be it.
If he wasn't, he could ransom him back to Iwagakure.
That would be a massive fortune.
After all, no Kage had ever been captured alive in the ninja world.
Renya burst out of the sea with the unconscious Ōnoki in hand.
Ninjas locked in battle froze at the sight.
The Iwagakure shinobi were stunned when they saw their Tsuchikage-sama held like a dead animal.
What kind of joke was this?!
Their mighty Tsuchikage-sama was killed just like that?!
Their worldview shook.
The invincible Tsuchikage-sama had been defeated.
Even the elite, well-trained Iwagakure forces wavered.
Retreat—everyone had that thought.
Staying meant certain death.
Better to return to the village and report that the Tsuchikage had been captured.
Renya didn't intend to pursue—after all, it wasn't just Iwagakure attacking the Land of Whirlpools.
As expected, Kirigakure and Kumogakure were also involved.
At that moment, another signal flare rose in the distant sky.
"See if you can revive him."
Renya tossed Ōnoki to the ground and rushed toward the flare.
Sarutobi Hiruzen and the Uzumaki clan head looked at Ōnoki lying there.
Soon, Uzumaki medical-nin rushed forward.
"Clan leader-sama, the Third Tsuchikage isn't dead—just unconscious from suffocation."
"Tie him up."
Several ninjas bound him tightly with ropes and strengthened it with sealing techniques.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes shone as he stared at the tied-up Ōnoki.
A living Kage!
They could extort a huge ransom from Iwagakure.
Even if the prize wasn't his, he was excited on Renya's behalf.
On the distant sea—
Hashirama and Madara hid behind a reef, having watched the entire battle.
"Why is that kid in the Land of Whirlpools?" Uchiha Madara's expression was strange.
He couldn't understand why Renya was here.
Did Konoha know about the invasion beforehand?
"Haha, who cares?" Senju Hashirama laughed brightly.
Since Renya was here, they didn't need to act.
He'd worried for nothing.