Sand Battlefield.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
Ren took a deep breath, gathered Wind Release Chakra in his throat, and forcefully exhaled.
A powerful gust of wind appeared, heading straight for the opponent.
"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"
Ryufeng, standing nearby, completed his hand seals and gathered Fire Release Chakra.
He extended both elbows, brought his index fingers together to form a triangle, and finished with the snake seal.
A line of fire spewed forth, the wind fueling the fire and the fire aiding the wind.
Under the enhancement of the Wind Release, the flame's range rapidly expanded, covering almost half of the battlefield.
At the same time, the raging flames swept majestically towards the opposing side, threatening to burn everything they touched to ashes!
"Ninjutsu: Fire and Wind Unite!"
"Scorch Release: Incinerating Steam Murder!"
Pakura did not panic in the face of the oncoming sea of fire.
As she formed hand seals, dozens of fireballs emerged behind her, floating up and down erratically while the surrounding temperature continuously rose.
Then, under Pakura's Chakra control, they began to rapidly merge, quickly forming a pure, massive fireball.
Pakura's left hand hovered beneath the fireball, and after a surge of Chakra, she forcefully threw it.
The scorching fireball plunged into the sea of fire; this was a collision between flames.
The fireball pushed the sea of fire apart, forcing it to separate, while the fireball itself continuously shrank under the constant assault of the sea of fire.
The intense high temperature caused the nearby crowds to retreat another dozen meters, all while inwardly groaning.
The battles of these powerful Ninja truly meant instant injury or instant death upon contact.
Most of the corpses near the Chiyo and Sakumo Hatake battlefield were either purple-faced and lifeless or dismembered by blade aura, with heads separated from bodies.
On Rasa and Tsunade's battlefield, Ninjas were either impaled by suddenly appearing Sand Gold spears, hanging like skewers on the battlefield, or died from being battered and bruised by the collapsing earth and scattered rock shockwaves.
Well, now there was another group.
Every time these three fought, it was a chaotic clash of various elements, occasionally even raining boiling water, which was incredibly annoying for the other Ninja.
In contrast, the battlefield of Ebizo and Ino–Shika–Chō was much better.
Those four were fighting properly: one threw a Shuriken, the other returned a Kunai.
The Shadow Deer lurked underground, the Giant Butterfly absorbed damage and outputted, and the Mind Pig provided support.
It was as harmonious as could be.
In this short time, the three had already started another wave of Ninjutsu bombardment.
After blocking the aftershocks, both Ren and Ryufeng were panting, their foreheads covered in sweat.
Even Pakura was somewhat exhausted, with sweat profusely dripping from her exposed skin.
"Hey, you two have made good progress in strength lately, being able to fight me to this extent."
Pakura recovered her breath, looked at the two opposite her, and said while panting.
"Pakura-jie, you flatter us.
If it were a one-on-one, we wouldn't last long against you.
Since we can't win alone, we can only barely avoid defeat by fighting together."
Ren responded while he and Ryufeng beside him seized the time to recover Chakra.
Of course, Pakura did the same; all three used this brief lull to frantically recover Chakra.
"Tch, again!"
After Pakura recovered, she circulated her Chakra, just about to unleash another Scorch Release, when she heard the retreat signal from behind her.
Pakura could only helplessly scratch her hair.
"It seems today can only be like this.
Goodbye, two little brats."
"Goodbye, Pakura-jie."
Hearing Ren's familiar tone, Pakura twitched her lips, waved her hand, then turned and followed the retreating Sunagakure forces.
"Ah, Pakura-jie is such a good person, don't you think so, Ryufeng?"
"Indeed, she's very strong.
And very beautiful…"
Ren, who hadn't expected Ryufeng to answer, turned his head just as he heard the response.
"Hmm.
Hmm?
Ah!"
Ren subconsciously responded, then, after a moment of realisation, he widened his eyes and looked at Ryufeng.
"What was the last thing you said?"
Ryufeng's face quickly flushed red after he realised what he had said; he had accidentally blurted out his true thoughts.
Ryufeng quickly walked two steps, slightly ahead of Ren, turned his head, and said fiercely,
"I didn't say anything.
Hurry up, let's get back to the Konoha Camp and rest."
"Oh, oh~~"
Hearing the strange sounds from Ren behind him, Ryufeng sped up, and with two Instantaneous Body Techniques, he vanished from Ren's sight.
"Good heavens, no way, no way."
Ren looked at Ryufeng's retreating with a strange expression, stroking his chin in thought.
Based on his nearly thirty years of experience across his past and present lives, this kid was probably experiencing his first stirrings of love.
Oh ho ho ho, Pakura, huh?
This kid has good taste.
"Yo, brat, what are you thinking about?"
A figure walked up beside Ren, looking at him curiously and asking.
"Oh, Tsunade-sensei, it's nothing, I was just thinking about the situation on the Iwagakure side."
Ren returned to his senses, looked at his teacher beside him, and said with a chuckle.
"Tsk, worried about your little girlfriend, aren't you?"
Tsunade seemed to have seen through Ren's thoughts, leaning her face close to his and saying with a half-smile.
"Cough, cough, I'm a man who will become Hokage, so of course I'm worried about everyone… Okay, I'm a little more worried about Kurenai."
Ren chuckled, about to explain, but under Tsunade's gaze, he finally gave in.
"Brat, still trying to hide things from me."
Tsunade playfully cursed, then suddenly her expression turned serious.
She said with some hesitation,
"By the way, if I asked you to go to the Iwa Ninja Battlefield, would you go?"
"Hmm? Tsunade-sensei, what do you mean?"
Ren was a bit confused, not knowing what Tsunade was talking about.
"Let me put it this way: because we left in a hurry back then, almost half of the medical staff came to the Sand Battlefield.
Now, with Iwagakure joining the war, the Village has decided to withdraw about one-third of the Medical Ninja from here and transfer them to the Iwa Ninja Battlefield.
Jiraiya will arrange for Aburame Clan Leader, Shibi Aburame, to meet them halfway.
As for here, we plan to dispatch two hundred Ninjas to escort them along the way.
Anyway, the two battlefields aren't too far apart, and it won't significantly affect the situation here.
What do you say, do you want to go?"
"Hmm… Go!"
Ren pondered for a moment, then clapped his hands in decision.
He, a water user, had been sent to a desert map; this terrible environment reduced his strength by at least twenty per cent.
If he were by the sea, Ren would even dare to challenge a weak Kage like Rasa.
This trip to the Iwa Ninja Battlefield was, firstly, to get to a normal environment, and secondly, Ren was indeed worried about Kurenai.
Although Jiraiya was taking care of her and Yuhi Shinku was also there, Ren was still uneasy, so going to see her would be good.
"Alright, the team departs promptly at 5 PM.
I'll inform them.
Be careful on the way.
Once you get there… be careful."
The two had already returned to the Konoha Camp, standing face to face.
Tsunade's words revealed a hint of worry.
On the Sand Battlefield, she could still look after her disciple, but it would be different on the Iwagakure Battlefield.
Iwagakure's strength was significantly greater than Sunagakure's, and even with Jiraiya looking after him, Tsunade couldn't stop worrying.
"Don't worry, Tsunade-sensei."
Ren chuckled, turned, and walked into the Konoha Camp, his voice drifting back from afar.
"I am Tsunade's disciple!"