Back home, Chelsea immediately came up to him. "Ren, has that General Esdeath returned?" she asked.
"Mm, from now on, you only gather intelligence. Do not do anything else. This isn't a request, it's an order," Ren said seriously.
"All right." Chelsea didn't act mischievous this time.
"Did I miss something? Or did I make a mistake somewhere?" Ren lay back in his chair and rubbed his temples. He didn't want to think too hard.
"Ren, something on your mind?" Kurome came up behind him and began to massage his shoulders.
"Yeah, I just have a feeling something's going to go wrong." Ren was reviewing everything that had happened recently.
"Is it General Esdeath?" Kurome directly hit the mark.
Ren's eyes widened. Yes, ever since he saw that woman in the palace, that feeling hadn't left him. And now she had come to him.
"Looks like my feeling was right, Ren." Esdeath walked up in front of him.
"General Esdeath, may I ask if there's something you need?" Ren tried to play dumb.
"Ren, I trust my intuition." Esdeath immediately launched an attack, and suddenly, a large amount of ice appeared.
Ren disappeared on the spot with Kurome and Chelsea. Forced to fight, he could no longer hide his power. Inside, he cursed that woman. For the sake of some so-called intuition, she came to confirm things—too serious.
"What's happening?"
"That's General Esdeath's ability."
The battle instantly drew attention nearby.
"This woman is unbelievable," Ren said in disbelief. He was about to be completely exposed, and his original plan was ruined.
"Ren, let me see your limits. How did you move just now?" As a battle fanatic, Esdeath was very interested in Ren's strength.
"Heh, if I go all out, let's take this outside the city. Of course, you can choose not to follow, and I can choose not to give my all," Ren said, then left the two women behind.
"Though all traitors need to be wiped out, after I deal with this big fish, I'll come for you," Esdeath followed after him.
The two disappeared, and a crowd gathered outside Ren's residence. Among them were nobles and spies working for the Prime minister, all watching the place closely.
"My guard got into a fight with General Esdeath. There might have been some misunderstanding, sorry for causing trouble," Ren said as he opened the door, apologizing to the crowd watching.
"Guard? I don't remember hearing about such a powerful guard. Ren, you've really kept this secret well," one of the Prime minister's spies loudly asked.
"Since I'm weak, hiding a strong guard helps protect me and also lets me see who might have thoughts against me," Ren said with a meaningful look at the questioner.
The minister's spy started sweating and slowly slipped back into the crowd. Other spies also felt uneasy. What was once a large crowd quickly shrank to just a few people.
After all that, only a few onlookers remained. The rest were all spies.
Ren returned to his residence. After making sure no one was around, he changed back to his original form.
"Chelsea, thank you," Kurome said gratefully.
"If he got exposed, I'd be in trouble too. But that's not the deciding factor. If Ren can't handle that female general, everything will be for nothing," Chelsea sighed.
It was the first time she had seen Ren pushed to this level.
Outside the city.
"I hate surprises, General Esdeath," Ren said, looking at the woman who was chasing him closely.
"Two years ago, I was sure you didn't have much power. Now, suddenly, you're so strong. I'm curious, can you tell me why?" Esdeath drew her slender sword and attacked.
"All my power comes from myself," Ren replied while dodging.
"Heh." Esdeath stepped back to keep her distance. "The strong don't need to hide their power to protect themselves. You were weak before, but now, even if you try to pretend, you can't hide the strength of a true warrior."
"General Esdeath, I have to say, impressive as always. If I defeat you, will you work for me?" Ren invited.
"This world is ruled by the strong. If you beat me, it means I'm just a weakling, easily controlled by you. That's normal," Esdeath said calmly, as if stating a simple fact.
"That's too extreme," Ren thought, remembering Esdeath's harsh upbringing. Her father taught her from a young age that the world was about the survival of the fittest.
"Ren, come fight me," Esdeath said with a wild smile.
Ren stopped wasting words and used a technique from another world.
Although he couldn't use the Naruto world's chakra here, the pirate world's abilities shared with him were enough.
Chakra had strengthened his body and healing, helping him unleash pirate world techniques.
"Disappeared? No, she's just moving too fast," Esdeath blocked Ren's attack direction.
Ren's unstoppable surprise attack was stopped.
He looked at Esdeath and realized she had a terrifying talent for battle.
"Then I'll move faster than your body can react," Ren said, speeding up.
After his back attack, he rushed forward.
Even with her great battle talent, Esdeath couldn't block every strike.
On Ren's fifth attack, she was kicked flying.
In midair, Esdeath adjusted her position, using ice she created to land.
She immediately charged at Ren again.
But Ren didn't give her a chance; he vanished again.
Esdeath wiped blood from her mouth and looked at the red stain in her hand.
"Hahaha, how long has it been since I faced a worthy opponent, Ren?"
She said this as huge walls of ice rose around them, trapping the area like a cage.
Cold air spread through the surroundings.
Unfortunately, there were only three Rens here, and none had cold resistance.
Ren felt uncomfortable.
The longer this fight dragged on, the worse it was for him.
He wished he had brought Yatsufusa with him.
Ren's speed increased once again, but Esdeath was still able to defend herself.
"Interesting, very interesting," Esdeath said wildly.
She possessed the Ice Elemental type Teigu and could control it.
She could sense Ren's presence through the ice she created.
How long had it been like this — a battle where she could only defend but not attack?
Being able to sense him didn't mean she could defend successfully.
This time, a punch sent her flying.
Esdeath spat out a large amount of fresh blood.
She wiped her mouth and said, "This is more like it. You haven't shown all your moves yet, have you? Come, show me your limit."
"General Esdeath, you probably have never seen moves like mine," Ren said after thinking for a moment, ready to tell the truth.
Prime Minister Honest was right.
People with simple minds like Esdeath were easier to control.
But someone like Najenda was much harder to deal with.
"What do you mean?" Esdeath said, spitting blood.
"Follow me, and I'll make you stronger," Ren said honestly.
"Stronger?" Esdeath didn't believe him at first.
But then she thought of Ren's moves — truly unprecedented in power.
The most important thing was, he had no Teigu.
"You probably won't believe me if I just talk," Ren said.
"Let's finish this fight first."
After saying that, his figure disappeared once again.
**********
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