Watching Shinno gradually reveal his true face as a villainous BOSS, Ren Uchiha's heart sank.
As expected of a villain BOSS, truly malicious! Not only did he save me, but he also shoved a vicious jutsu like 'Earth Style: Earth Spear' into my arms. He even craftily explained the side effects and the cure for the 'Physical Rebirth' forbidden jutsu. And now, he's pointing at the cliff, telling me to go down and grind some experience!
Does he not know that the core of Uchiha-Style Manipulated Shuriken isn't the shuriken, but the manipulation of the threads?
With Manipulated Threads + Earth Spear + Double Tomoe Sharingan + Upgraded Combat Intuition + Infinite Jashin Threading... bringing this many buffs to a multiplayer battlefield?
Dammit, I'm being forced to stack my 'Heart of Steel' again! Why must an innocent Genin endure such an unbearable thrill of power!
Ren's expression grew dark and grim. Beside him, Mei Terumī had finished mentally reviewing her infiltration route. Seeing Ren's dark face, she asked in concern, "What's wrong, Ren? Has your chakra not recovered yet?"
Ren shook his head. "No... My status couldn't be better!"
While Physical Rebirth was active, it constantly squeezed his life force to boost his physical activity. His stamina was currently at its peak. He turned to Mei and said, "Let's begin."
"You..." Mei wanted to say more, but didn't know how to start. She settled for a solemn warning. "Remember, our true goal is to storm the headquarters and get Hidan back. There's no need to linger in a fight. Just draw their attention, create a gap in the wall so I can slip in. That's enough."
"Don't push yourself!" she added, remembering Ren's several reckless stunts. It was like plucking chestnuts from a fire.
"Don't worry," Ren grinned, flashing his teeth. "Is it just drawing attention? No one understands how to be a 'show-off' (attention seeker) better than me!"
"Wait—" Before they could ask if he had misunderstood something, Ren turned his back to them, gave a thumbs-up over his shoulder, and flashed a smile so bright it practically sparkled.
Then, he leaped. Under their horrified gazes, he dived straight off the 400-meter cliff!
Mei's pupils shrunk as she screamed, "You idiot! You jumped in the wrong direction!"
On the fortress walls...
Dozens of ronin in ragged samurai robes were divided into four squads, patrolling with their katanas under the lead of a Yugakure Genin. Nearby, other Jashin squads were expanding their search from the rubble of the collapsed cliff.
They didn't have the sophisticated tracking jutsus of the Great Nations, so they used a simpler method: dogs. Each squad had two dogs, mostly Akita Inus, with a couple of expensive Tosa fighting dogs mixed in. One of these was held by the Jashin Chunin squad leader, Hideki.
Hideki was holding a deformed, melted kunai—the only lead found below the wall. It clearly belonged to someone involved in the pre-dawn battle. He knelt, let the Tosa dog sniff the kunai, and patted its head.
"Good boy... tell me, where is the owner of this kunai?"
Hideki's eyes burned with a morbid fanaticism. If he could find the intruder, the High Priest would surely reward him with the cult's secret techniques—treasures a commoner ninja could never hope to touch.
The Tosa dog sniffed the blackened metal. Suddenly, its eyes turned vicious. It stood up, the fur on its back bristling, and a low, engine-like growl rumbled in its throat. It looked like it was facing its ultimate enemy!
Hideki's right eyelid flickered. He felt a sudden sense of dread. The dog's reaction meant the enemy was found! But Hideki looked left, then right... nothing. Not on the ground.
Then... Hideki looked up.
High in the air, a dark silhouette was hurtling down from the 400-meter cliff, accompanied by a howling gale. In the mid-air, the figure pulled a long, crimson streak across the sky!
"ALL HANDS ON ALERT!!!" Hideki roared, drawing his sword and pointing it at the heavens. "The enemy is in the sky!"
The howling wind whipped his hair. Ren Uchiha snapped his eyes open.
His crimson Sharingan flared, the two tomoe spinning rapidly. In an instant, he locked onto the positions of all thirty-six enemies on the wall below. Their stances, their alertness, their chakra levels, their weapons, and their likely reactions—everything was reflected in his eyes.
In a heartbeat, his battle plan was set. Mei's scream faded behind him, but it didn't matter. Ren never intended to follow her plan to the letter.
Drawing attention and leading them in circles? Any Genin who could walk on trees could do that. But that wasn't enough! Ren's goal was to kill his way into the heart of the Jashin Cult and have a life-or-death showdown with the ultimate evil!
Saving the "500-yuan" little brother Hidan was just a side quest. Pushing himself to the limit and fighting until the end—that was the true goal!
And these small-fry? They weren't worthy of him dodging.
Ren's lips curled into a smirk. He locked onto the first cultist who noticed him. He reached into his pouch, pulled out his last kunai, and hurled it with a snap of his wrist. It embedded deep into the fortress wall.
The kunai pulled the Earth Grudge Fear thread taut. As he fell past the edge of the wall, Ren grabbed the thread, his feet skidding against the stone to brake his descent. Then, he swung in a high arc, spinning his body in mid-air.
He delivered a brutal, soaring whip-kick directly into the face of the yelling Jashin Chunin.
The Taijutsu he "copied" from Kakuzu was truly formidable. One kick sent the man—and his head—flying, leaving his sword to fall uselessly through the air.
Ren casually snatched the sword from the sky. He gave the hilt a stylish spin and held it up to his face. He flicked the blade with his finger.
Ting~
A clear, resonant ring echoed. Ren's eyes lit up with the joy of a successful "free loot" drop.
"Huh? This is actually a decent blade. Nice... it's mine now."