If Ren had the luxury, he wouldn't use psychological warfare like this—unable to kill, so he went for the heart.
Compared to making Kushina suspect Danzō of leaking intel to Kiri, dragging Minato into that suspicion, and possibly igniting Konoha's internal conflict…
Ren's preferred method was simple:
Kill Konoha's only Nine-Tails jinchūriki.
Then have Kiri loot the flames and carve away a swath of the Land of Fire.
That was his style.
Unfortunately, it wasn't realistic.
Ren's defense was near flawless.
But offensively, he was like Minato in one key way—
His tools were sharp, but narrow.
Against normal shinobi, Shikotsumyaku and the Rasengan were overkill.
But against monsters with absurd vitality and defense, the damage ceiling felt… insufficient.
Uzumaki vitality needed no explanation.
Kushina survived having the Nine-Tails extracted—something that should kill any jinchūriki—yet she still had enough strength to bind Kurama with Kongō Fūsa and hold barriers long enough for Minato's Reaper Death Seal.
A pierced heart alone might not kill her.
And she still had the Nine-Tails sealed inside.
Naruto, at the Valley of the End, took a Chidori through the chest. A small leak of Nine-Tails' chakra healed him in a blink.
Kushina—trained by Uzumaki Mito, a mature jinchūriki with full inheritance—would hardly be worse.
So Ren never expected to one-shot her.
He wounded her to force a choice:
Either refuse Nine-Tails chakra, keep her identity hidden, and watch the lower ranks die in droves—
Or use Nine-Tails chakra to recover fast and crush Ren… but expose herself, and give Ren every excuse to retreat.
"Choose," Ren thought coldly. "Hesitate and you'll lose both."
He moved through the Silent Dark fog with practiced ease, appearing long enough to slit a terrified genin's throat—[Dark Harvest] +1, cooldown refreshed—then sinking back into bone and mist toward a higher chakra signature.
"Shadow Stitching!"
The instant Ren emerged, shadows lashed up around him.
Needle-thin shadow spikes pierced his skin—then stopped at the bone membrane beneath.
In the next beat, the shadow turned into tendrils and wrapped him tight.
"Got you…!" Shikaku panted, veins bulging at his temple, eyes bloodshot as he grinned.
"Don't underestimate Ino–Shika–Chō when we're together… Inoichi—your turn!"
With everything he had, Shikaku yanked Ren fully out of the bone spike and hurled him—
And Inoichi struck instantly.
"Mind Transfer Jutsu!"
In a flash, Inoichi's body collapsed.
And Ren—midair, no room to dodge—took the jutsu cleanly.
His consciousness was shoved aside.
His body… hijacked.
"Chōza—NOW! Hurry, I can't hold him long—his soul is too strong—!" Inoichi shouted through Ren's stolen body.
Chōza barreled in, louder than thunder.
"Super—Spiked Human Boulder!"
The massive spinning juggernaut slammed down—
And in the final instant, Ren's soul—fueled by a monstrous spirit strengthened by Dark Harvest stacks—kicked Inoichi out.
But Inoichi still got one last move off.
"Mind Body Disturbance Jutsu!"
Ren's control shattered.
He tried to move one way—his limb jerked another. Chakra flow misfired. The bone forest around him collapsed at the worst moment.
Two seconds of internal chaos—
And Chōza crushed him beneath the rolling, roaring mass, grinding him into the earth and carrying him away in a brutal line.
"Shikaku… Inoichi…" Kushina coughed up dark blood, one hand over her chest as she forced a shaky breath. "Thanks… if you weren't here…"
"Kushina-sama!" Inoichi snapped back to his senses, instantly dragging a medic over. Guilt pinched his features. "I'm sorry—we still couldn't solve him fast enough…"
"No… you did enough…"
Kushina exhaled, voice hoarse.
"Shikaku. Gather everyone. We regroup… go back to camp."
"Yes."
No one argued.
They all understood: that combo wasn't enough to kill Ren. If they didn't retreat while he was stunned, the next exchange—with Kushina injured—would become slaughter.
So they pulled out.
Over a hundred remained.
Kushina used Kongō Fūsa to clear a path through the bone forest and led them back—
And before they'd gone far, they heard Human Boulder's rumble returning.
Chōza released the technique, face tight with apology.
"I'm sorry… that monster is too hard. You two risked everything to give me the opening—and all I did was make him spit a little more blood."
"It's enough," Shikaku said, clapping his shoulder, eyes heavy.
"This was only the first clash. We haven't played all our cards… but they've already shown their ace."
"Kanayama is a strategic point we must retake, but Kiri can't abandon the other points they still hold either."
"When Minato-sama fully recovers and Uchiha and Hyūga reinforcements arrive, we'll have more leverage—more ways to force that Kaguya bastard to yield."
Kushina's group vanished into the trees.
…
Minutes later, Ren—bloodied, uniform shredded—returned to the Kiri ambush zone where his squad waited.
"Ren-sama! You're hurt!" Several chūnin rushed him, guilt-stricken. "It's because we're too weak—forcing you to go alone—!"
"We're a side detachment. Our average quality can't match Konoha's main force. That's normal," Ren waved them off, coughing.
"More important—get me clothes. That Akimichi guy rolled me for kilometers. My jōnin uniform got ground to threads."
"Yes! Right away!"
Dressed again, Ren stared toward Konoha's retreating direction and inhaled.
First clash—handled.
No casualties on his side.
But that kind of win wouldn't be repeatable.
From here on out…
It would be real war.
Still—at least the system wasn't being stingy. He hadn't even beaten Kushina to the point she couldn't fight again, and yet it counted Optional Mission 1 as cleared.
That meant more resources to survive the next hard fights.
Ren's lips curled.
"Let's see what rune I pull…"
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