A few seconds earlier...
The battle was a blur of steel and chakra.
Ren moved like a ghost through the rain. A puppet with a grotesque, spiked head lashed out, firing razor-sharp cords from its chest, attempting to impale him.
He channeled Wind Chakra into his blade, extending the cutting edge by three feet. With a single, fluid slash, he severed the cords and bisected the puppet in mid-air.
Snap.
Before the puppet halves hit the ground, another puppet—this one with elongated, telescoping arms—swung at him from his blind spot.
Ren didn't dodge. He gathered Reishi under his feet.
Hirenkyaku.
Whoosh.
He vanished, the puppet's arms swinging through empty air. Ren reappeared instantly right in front of the puppet's chest.
He raised his right hand, placing it flat against the torso. A sphere of swirling blue energy formed, rough and serrated.
"Wind Style: Rasengan."
ZZZRRRT!
He detonated the sphere directly inside the puppet. The internal wind blades shredded the gears and chakra threads from the inside out, turning the S-rank construct into a cloud of splinters.
"Two down," Ren counted.
But Chiyo was a master for a reason.
SNAP.
The sand beneath Ren exploded. The Lion Head puppet clamped its massive jaws around Ren's right leg, teeth digging in deep.
"Caught you!" Chiyo screeched.
Then, another puppet opened its chest. The massive, spinning chakra saw launched toward Ren's exposed chest with the speed of a bullet.
Ren tried to move, to use Hirenkyaku, but Chiyo slammed her palms together. Three puppets dropped from the sky, forming a triangle around him.
"Three Jewels Suction Crush!"
A terrifying vacuum gravity field slammed down on Ren. It felt like a mountain had been dropped on his shoulders. He was pinned.
The saw blade was inches away.
Ren saw the serrated edges. He saw his father's horrified face in the periphery. He felt the cold touch of death.
The barrier in his soul shattered. The Reishi in the air didn't just obey him; it flooded him. It became him.
[Quincy Compatibility: 75% Reached.][Ability Unlocked: Blut (Blood Guise).]
WHAM!
The saw blade struck his chest.
Satoshi screamed.
But there was no blood.
A neon-blue pattern, like a glowing circuit board, pulsed across Ren's skin. The chakra blade ground against his chest, throwing sparks, but it couldn't even scratch him.
Blut Vene (Vein of Blood).
Ren looked down at the blade. "Is that it?"
He grabbed the spinning saw with his bare hand and crushed it into dust.
Then, his eyes narrowed. The blue pattern on his skin faded,
[Switch: Blut Arterie (Artery of Blood).]
He pumped Reishi into his muscles, granting him explosive power.
Ren flexed his leg, shattering the Lion Head puppet like it was made of glass.
He vanished.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
Four blurring impacts. The remaining four puppets of the Chikamatsu collection exploded simultaneously. Ren moved faster than the eye could follow, his fists destroying the S-rank masterpieces with single blows.
He reappeared in front of Chiyo.
The legendary Puppet Master's eyes were wide with shock. She tried to raise a finger to summon a shield.
Too late.
Ren reached out, his hand gripping her entire face.
"Sleep, Granny."
BOOM!
He slammed her head into the floor. The impact cratered the ground. Chiyo went limp instantly.
"Ren!" Satoshi ran over, looking at his son as if he were a stranger. "What... what did you just do?"
"No time," Ren said, hoisting the unconscious Chiyo over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "We have to—"
ROOOOAAAAARRRR!
A shockwave of pure malice nearly knocked them off their feet.
In the center of the camp, the One-Tails had fully materialized. It was a mountain of sand and blue markings, screaming its hatred at the night sky.
And it was looking right at them.
The beast opened its maw. Black and blue bubbles of chakra gathered, compressing into a super-dense sphere.
"It's aiming at us!" Satoshi yelled, his face pale. "Ren, drop her and run!"
Ren closed his eyes for a microsecond, then snapped them open.
His irises bled red. The three tomoe spun and merged, forming a geometric pattern of three arrows pointing outwards.
Mangekyo Sharingan.
Ren focused his ocular power on the beast. He thrust his will into the chaotic mind of the One-Tails.
'Turn.'
The Shukaku twitched violently. Its head jerked to the side.
BOOM!
The Tailed Beast Bomb launched, missing Ren and the Uchiha team by fifty meters and slamming into a distant ridge. The explosion turned night into day, vaporizing half the Suna camp's supplies, but the Konoha ninja were safe.
He deactivated the Mangekyo instantly, reverting to black eyes before anyone could see the pattern.
"Ren!" Satoshi grabbed him. "Are you fine?"
"I'm fine," Ren said. Let's go!"
He grabbed Chiyo again. "Move!"
They sprinted through the chaos, meeting up with Fugaku and the other Uchiha at the edge of the blast zone.
Fugaku stopped dead when he saw Ren. Or rather, what Ren was carrying.
"Is that..." Fugaku stared. "Is that Chiyo?"
"She was taking a nap," Ren said breathlessly. "I decided to bring her along. Souvenir."
Fugaku looked at the destruction behind them, then at the unconscious commander of Suna's puppet brigade. A rare look of awe crossed his face.
"We have the target," Fugaku commanded. "Intercepting Suna ninja ahead! Clear a path!"
A squad of Suna elites tried to block their escape, but with Fugaku and a re-energized Satoshi leading the charge, they were cut down swiftly. The Uchiha were unstoppable.
Meanwhile, Sakumo Hatake was locked in combat with the Third Kazekage.
Iron Sand spikes clashed against the White Light Blade.
Suddenly, the ground shook. The massive explosion of the Tailed Beast Bomb illuminated the sky behind them.
Sakumo leaped back, landing on a pillar of rock. He saw the One-Tail rampaging, firing wind bullets randomly into the Suna ranks.
"The beast is loose," Sakumo noted. "Mission accomplished."
He raised his hand. "All units! Retreat! Fall back!"
The Third Kazekage floated on his iron cloud, staring at the horror unfolding in his own camp.
"The Shukaku..." the Kazekage gritted his teeth. "Bunpuku lost control?"
He looked at the retreating Konoha forces. He wanted to chase them. He wanted to crush the White Fang.
But then he looked at the center of his camp. His men were dying. The beast was preparing another bomb. And he couldn't sense Chiyo's chakra anywhere.
"If I chase them, the village is destroyed," the Kazekage realized.
He made the hard choice.
"Do not pursue!" the Kazekage roared to his men. "Focus on the One-Tails! We must reseal it immediately!"
Kilometers away, in the safety of the rocky canyons, the Konoha forces regrouped.
Sakumo Hatake landed, sheathing his saber. He looked around, checking his men.
Then he saw the Uchiha squad approaching.
Fugaku walked in front. Behind him, Ren walked, dumping a bound and unconscious old woman at Sakumo's feet.
Sakumo stared.
"Chiyo?" Sakumo asked, stunned.
"She put up a fight," Ren shrugged, wiping dust from his flak jacket. "But she's sleeping peacefully now."
Sakumo looked at the burning horizon where Suna was fighting its own Tailed Beast. He looked at their second-in-command lying in the dirt.
He let out a long breath, a smile touching his lips.
"The One-Tails is rampaging. Their supplies are destroyed. And their chief strategist is our prisoner."
Sakumo looked at Ren and the Uchiha.
"The war with Suna is almost over."