"Hmm?"
As the barrier shattered, Elder Hozuki, who was discussing with the clan elders on the other side of the Village, suddenly changed his expression, abruptly stood up, and looked into the distance.
"What's wrong, Elder Hozuki?"
"Did something happen?"
Seeing this old fox, who usually remained calm no matter what, suddenly show such an expression, everyone couldn't help but feel surprised, asking one after another, with a hint of schadenfreude in their tone.
The Elder's face instantly turned extremely grim. After scanning the crowd, his gaze finally landed on his own second elder, and he said in a deep voice,
"The barrier protecting the Scroll of Summoning Ninja Blades has been broken."
"What?!"
Hearing this, everyone who had been watching with a 'eating melon' attitude changed their expressions and exclaimed in unison.
The Scroll of Summoning Ninja Blades, second only to the Tailed Beast in Hidden Mist Village. The last time the Three-Tails was stolen, Hidden Mist's foundation was shaken, and the Third Mizukage was so enraged he ended up in the hospital twice.
If the Scroll of Summoning Ninja Blades were to be lost again this time, their Hidden Mist Village would truly suffer a debilitating blow. And if the Third Mizukage, who was leading the army despite his illness, were to learn of this news, it wouldn't be impossible for him to spit blood and die. At that point, there would be no talk of fighting a Ninja World War; it would be time to write a peace treaty.
Thinking of such severe consequences, everyone shivered with fear. The Hozuki Second Elder even rushed directly out of the conference room door, using Instantaneous Body Technique towards his clan's territory.
"Alright everyone, let's go. If the scroll is taken, none of us will escape responsibility."
Elder Hozuki threw out a sentence, then turned and rushed out of the hall. The remaining people looked at each other for a moment before they could only follow, while constantly cursing inwardly.
The ninja sword scroll were lost in your clan territory; if punishment comes down, it's your Hozuki Clan's problem for poor defense. And you want to drag us down with you? This is outrageous!
But they couldn't not go. After all, the Scroll of Summoning Ninja Blades ultimately belonged to the Village, and losing it was unacceptable. After recovering the scroll this time, perhaps they could apply to Lord Mizukage to have the Hozuki Clan hand over the scroll. That didn't sound bad either.
Just as they were all traveling with their own ulterior motives, Ren and his two companions obtained the Ninja Blades scroll and began their retreat. Their previous attack had eliminated most of the Hozuki Clan's remaining forces, so they encountered no significant resistance until they exited the Inner Circle.
It wasn't until they reached the outer circle that they found themselves surrounded by Kirigakure ninjas. In Ren's perception, the Hozuki Clan territory was already encircled by Kirigakure ninjas, layer upon layer, and people were constantly rushing towards them from a distance. It seemed Ren and the others' plan had been completely exposed.
"Break out?"
Looking at the impenetrable human wall before them, Ryufeng raised an eyebrow and quietly said to Ren.
"Let's hurry, or if those elders arrive, we really won't be able to get out," Pakura said with a grave tone, looking at the surrounding Kirigakure.
Such an act of stealing Ninja Swords scrolls was unacceptable to every Kirigakure. If they delayed any longer, it was likely that all of Hidden Mist Village's remaining forces would arrive.
"Leave it to me."
Ren didn't panic. Instead, he threw the two Ninja Swords behind him to Ryufeng, then with a few Instantaneous Body Techniques, he arrived on a rooftop a hundred meters away. Under the bewildered gazes of the two, a large amount of dark red Chakra began to surge from Ren's body, then covered him completely. Finally, Three-Tails emerged from his back, a half-Tailed Beast transformation!
But the transformation didn't stop. Ren's figure continued to grow, stopping only after dozens of meters, and his appearance underwent a drastic change.
A carapace covered in spikes, incredibly thick limbs, and three massive tails dancing in the sky behind him. The powerful Chakra fluctuations instantly silenced the previously noisy Hozuki Clan territory.
"This…"
The Kirigakure surrounding them, seeing this scene, all stopped in their tracks, looking in horror at Ren, who had transformed into a monster not far away. A profound memory simultaneously surfaced in their minds.
Tailed Beast rampage!
Many of them had participated in suppressing Tailed Beasts, so their impression of these monsters was incredibly deep. Although they felt angry when the Three-Tails was lost last time, they also felt a slight relief.
Because every time a Jinchuriki or Tailed Beast rampaged, it would cause a large number of casualties, and becoming disabled was a common occurrence. With the Tailed Beast gone, in some sense, it wasn't entirely a bad thing for them.
But now, they were once again facing the fear of death dominated by a Tailed Beast rampage.
Ren didn't waste any time. In a few breaths, he arrived in front of Pakura and Ryufeng. Looking at the two stunned individuals, Ren directly opened his huge mouth and said,
"Hurry and get in."
"Hmm?"
Ren's actions left the two bewildered again, but Ryufeng quickly reacted, grabbing Pakura's hand and rushing into Isobu's giant mouth.
Ren immediately closed his giant mouth. Under the stunned gazes of the surrounding Kirigakure, he slowly coiled himself into a sphere covered in sharp spikes, then began to roll in place.
"Three-Tails?!"
The elders rushing from a distance instantly widened their eyes upon seeing this scene. They hadn't expected to see the lost Tailed Beast again here. It seemed that the group causing chaos in the Village this time was the same one that stole the Tailed Beast last time.
The Hozuki Second Elder recovered from his shock after a moment and roared at the surrounding Kirigakure,
"Attention, Sealing Jutsu squad prepare! Others, attack and restrain!"
These Kirigakure immediately awoke as if from a dream, organizing their forces to prepare for an attack. Meanwhile, Ren, in the center, had finished charging. He then burst forward, plunging into the Kirigakure crowd, raising a cloud of dust.
"Ah!!"
The giant spiked wheel rolled over, instantly crushing all houses and buildings in its path. In a few breaths, the Kirigakure suffered heavy casualties.
"Damn it!"
Watching the Three-Tails crush back and forth through the crowd, the elders immediately pushed aside the bewildered Kirigakure beside them and surrounded it. But Ren had no interest in playing with them. He immediately turned and charged out of the encirclement, rolling towards the outside of the Village.
"Chase!"
Elder Hozuki, seeing this, roared in anger and pursued him alone. If the opponent escaped, the Hozuki Clan would definitely be in big trouble. Leaving aside the Ninja Swords scroll, the chaos caused in Hidden Mist Village and the resulting casualties would certainly be largely attributed to them.
Ren rolled along, crushing everything that blocked him with his massive size and weight. In this state, he quickly burst out of Hidden Mist Village in no time, speeding towards the distant forest with billowing dust.
"Bastard!!"
The elders who caught up stood in the dust, furious. The opponent didn't even fight them, focusing solely on escaping, not even giving them a chance to engage.
The Sealing Jutsu squads were also helpless. Even if their Sealing Jutsu mastery was profound and they could seal the opponent relatively easily, the prerequisite was that the opponent had to engage them.
Previously, Tailed Beasts always fought them in place and had no concept of running away. If they really started running, they couldn't catch up no matter how hard they tried.