While the three forces outside were locked in a stalemate, within the palace at the edge of Unming City, Ren Uchiha exhaled slowly. He cast a final glance at the desolate ruins where no living soul remained.
Then, he closed his eyes, which were aching and dry from activating the Susanoo.
Though I only have a brief moment of respite, I should rest them while I can. After all, the fusion of these eyes isn't truly complete yet.
The surroundings fell into a swamp-like silence. The ground beneath him felt like a crossroads where countless demons were about to descend; the air was heavy and sweltering, as if the very space would plummet into the Avici Hell at any moment.
He didn't have to wait long. A heavy set of footsteps echoed in his ears.
"Are they all dead?"
A burly man wearing the red uniform of the Hidden Stone suddenly leaped down, landing atop the remains of the roof. He looked down at the ruins, furrowing his brow. This was the powerhouse of the Hidden Stone who had come to finish off Sugaya Ryuzoji once and for all: Kitsuchi!
However, when his gaze landed on the youth standing in the center of the ruins, his heart skipped a beat.
"This guy is..."
In his sight, the youth wore a Konoha rogue ninja protector with a deep horizontal slash. He was dressed in tattered high-collared short sleeves with a black undershirt, a purple shimenawa rope tied around his waist, and nine-point lantern pants secured by grey, frayed leg wraps. In his hand, he gripped a chipped katana.
His entire appearance was "battle-worn," looking as if he had just escaped three months of grueling combat in the Land of Rain. But when Kitsuchi saw the red-and-white Uchiha fan crest on his back and the handsome, sharp profile of the black-haired youth...
His brow twitched violently, and a flash of shock erupted in his eyes.
"That outfit... and that face..."
"Ren Uchiha!"
"No doubt about it, this one is the real deal!"
Kitsuchi's face twisted into a cold, knowing smile. "I see. After surviving the Raikage and hearing about that brat's exploits, you rushed to Unming City in a hurry? And you've committed such an outrageous act!"
Looking at the scene—the ruins looking as if a hundred elephants had trampled through and Ren standing alone amidst the bodies—Kitsuchi couldn't imagine any other explanation.
"But this suits me just fine!"
The brat in front of him was clearly here for revenge, and his actions had indirectly helped eliminate the Lightning Daimyo's son. Furthermore...
Kitsuchi let out a cold laugh, a murderous glint in his eyes. He raised his hands and formed two seals. Layers of rock spread over his arms. Then, his feet ground into the tiles, shattering the roof beneath him.
He plummeted downward, swinging his arm back and throwing a massive punch toward Ren!
Whoosh!
The fist, hardened and weighted by Earth Release: Fist Rock Technique, carried the momentum of the fall and the thrust of his jump, smashing straight toward Ren's head! If it hit, a human head wouldn't stand a chance; it would burst like a shattered watermelon.
"I'll be taking your head!" Kitsuchi roared, his eyes wide as he pushed his fist through the air, creating a sonic boom.
THUD!
The strike landed, emitting a dull, heavy sound like a hammer hitting a stone wall!
However, Kitsuchi's expression changed. He had hit something, but he hadn't reached Ren's head. His fist was stopped by an object that had suddenly manifested in front of the boy's face.
It was a layer of flickering incandescent flame, shaded between yellow and red, looking like a human ribcage!
"This is..."
In the next moment, the youth with closed eyes snapped them open. His indifferent, resolute gaze met Kitsuchi's stunned eyes.
Whoosh!
A burst of incandescent flame rose from Ren's side, instantly condensing into a form and swinging out! Ren's long black hair was swept up by the force, dancing wildly to his left. A shroud of chakra, burning like a firestorm, surged around him.
Before Kitsuchi could figure out what was happening, he felt himself being gripped by something—tightening, constricting, and lifting him off his feet. He looked up and his pupils shrank!
It was a skeletal hand made purely of chakra and condensed flame. Bare tendons flickered and grew along the bones. He was held fast in that palm, caught by the terrifying grip of the interosseous muscles and tendons.
Then, as Ren silently and savagely clenched his fist, the skeletal hand squeezed toward its center!
SQUELCH!
Like crushing a mushroom, Kitsuchi's face distorted instantly. His cheeks, head, body, and bones burst in a flash!
POOF!
But there was no blood. What fell through the skeletal fingers was a pile of fine sand and earth.
"An Earth Clone?"
Ren narrowed his eyes and turned his head toward a pillar on the side of the hall. His gaze turned sharp, and the massive skeletal hand connected to his shroud swung out instantly!
BOOM!
The pillar was obliterated by the skeletal hand. From behind the debris, a burly, round-faced man performed a backflip into the air!
As he flipped, the man's hands didn't stop, weaving through seals at a blistering speed: Tiger—Rat—Snake! He clasped his hands into the final 'Snake' seal.
"Earth Release: Rock Lodging Destruction!"
With the activation of the jutsu, the already swaying palace collapsed instantly from the roof down! Pillars toppled, the ceiling shattered, and thick bricks and debris rained down upon Ren Uchiha in the center of the hall!
What's the point of this? Just using Earth Release to create dust to avoid eye contact with the Sharingan?
Ren didn't dodge. He could see that Kitsuchi had pre-set this jutsu by spreading chakra through his feet when he first landed on the roof. But such a technique didn't even give Ren the urge to interrupt it.
Earth Release: Rock Lodging Destruction. This was the very jutsu that had crushed Obito during the Battle of Kannabi Bridge—the root of that later tragedy. But this wasn't a dense forest; there weren't even boulders large enough to kill someone like Obito here.
And Ren Uchiha was not Obito.
The strength of this palace's collapse wasn't even enough to "give a massage" to his Susanoo ribs!
So, why did he do it?
The palace collapsed, kicking up a high cloud of dust. Ren didn't move, letting himself be buried. The falling beams and bricks were exactly as he expected—they couldn't breach the defense of the Susanoo, even in its first-stage skeletal form.
BOOM!
The incandescent flames around him jolted, and the ribs expanded slightly, blowing away all the debris, soil, and broken wood! Ren stepped out from the ruins and surveyed his surroundings.
While the dust cloud could prevent direct eye contact, the Sharingan could still clearly see the chakra of a human body to determine their location. However, as he looked through the haze, there were now three distinct masses of chakra!
Ren was momentarily stunned. Before he could judge whether they were real bodies or clones, a flash of sword-light—traversing a hundred meters in a heartbeat—erupted from outside the dust cloud!
"Secret Sword: Iai Slash!"
At the edge of his vision, a figure in a charging posture pressed down on a scabbard. He tore through the dust like a bulldozer, closing the hundred-meter gap in an instant.
Then, the sword was unsheathed!
The brilliant blade-light reflected the moon as it struck straight at Ren's Susanoo ribs!
Screeeeee!
Sparks erupted violently against the bone! In the next instant, the tip of the blade actually sliced through the Susanoo ribs and lunged inward!
CRACK!
Dense cracks appeared on the skeletal defense. Ren's pupils shrank. He instinctively raised his own katana to parry!
CLANG!
The sword tip collided with his blade, throwing off sparks. It stopped just barely in front of Ren's throat.
Only now did Ren see the man's face. He had a long beard covering his mouth and chin, bandages wrapped around his head, and wore green layered samurai armor.
This man was the Great General of the Land of Iron—the Kage-level expert who would lead the Fifth Division in the Fourth Ninja War: Mifune!
Ren's heart skipped a beat as the realization hit him. He finally understood where the samurai around Sugaya Ryuzoji had come from, and why the neutral Land of Iron was involving itself in the Land of Lightning. There was only one reason: this incident touched upon the very foundation of the samurai nation—the Daimyo.
Before Ren could think further:
"Puppet Performance: One Body, One Mind!"
A cold, elderly, and hate-filled female voice rang out!
From the corner of the ruins, five specialized steel wires shot out at an incredible speed, wrapping around Ren's Susanoo ribs.
Click-clack-click-clack!
The sound of mechanical expansion echoed, like a winch being turned. The five wires bit deep into the skeletal frame, causing it to emit a shrill, grinding noise!
Then, an old woman in loose black robes, a white scarf around her neck, and a yellow scroll bag at her hip stepped out from the settling dust. Her face was a map of wrinkles, and her violet hair framed a somber, gloomy expression.
This was the Elder of the Hidden Sand and their current envoy: Lady Chiyo!
She unhurriedly pulled a purple-covered scroll from her pouch. Throughout the process, she stared at Ren with a cold, savage smile.
"You are Ren Uchiha, I presume?" she asked. "I have been looking forward to this day for a very long time!"
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