[CLANG!]
[You bravely stood your ground against Kakuzu, who looked down on your lack of funds. You have obtained a random skill from him: Secret Technique: Earth Grudge Fear Stitching (Skilled, A-Rank).]
[The stacks of your Heart of Steel have increased.]
The Great Sword of Flowing Flame cleaved downward.
Carrying peerless storms and the fuel of life's fire, it crashed toward the Water Wall Kakuzu had raised. The six-meter-high wall, which looked so formidable, was carved through by this blade like a hot knife through butter.
Sizzle—! Massive amounts of steam erupted instantly, only to be swept away by the violent winds of the flame sword. The battlefield cleared in a flash.
Ren Uchiha's pupils shrank as he saw what lay behind the wall. Kakuzu had already swapped to his Water-attribute heart. His Earth-mask monster had hardened its entire body and leaped high into the air, attempting to intercept the falling blade.
But the Fire, Wind, and Lightning masks—the ones Ren thought were preparing for a direct clash—were actually facing the opposite direction!
The next instant, the blue beam of the Earth Grudge Fear: Final Shot boomed forth. The fusion of fire, wind, and lightning slammed into the barrier of the Ultra Death-Match Barrier! The light of the barrier flickered, warped, and cracked under the pressure. The entire cliff, encased within the seal, began to splinter, massive fissures opening as it threatened to collapse.
Ren's eyes widened, his pupils contracting into tiny points. His skin contorted with rage, veins bulging on his forehead. He struggled to direct the momentum of his giant flame sword toward Kakuzu's main body, but a feeling of being cheated—of absolute despair—crawled into his heart!
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
"KAKUZU! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
"YOU COWARD!"
"ARE YOU TRYING TO RUN AWAY?!"
"AAAHHHH?!!"
Ren had sacrificed everything. He had embraced the will to die, waiting only for a powerful enemy to deal the finishing blow. But now, Kakuzu was fleeing?
He was running away?
Is this a joke?!
If Kakuzu escaped and the combat ended, and Ren was burned to death by his own technique... did that still count as a "Death in Battle" for his insurance policy? Ren didn't know, and he couldn't afford to gamble.
Driven by madness, he forced his failing body to lunge forward!
"COME BACK!"
"GET BACK HERE!"
"HRAAAAAAAAH!"
"YOU COWARD! FIGHT ME TO THE LAST DROP OF BLOOD!"
Ren's eyes were bloodshot, his Sharingan wide and leaking a sinister, crazed aura. Mid-air, he twisted his waist and swung the massive flame sword in a wide, circular sweep!
Kakuzu's Earth-mask was slammed into the cliff face by the force and then swept back out into the air as the blade continued its rotation. The return swing brought Kakuzu's main body and the other masks into its lethal range!
"This power... truly staggering," Kakuzu whispered, his eyes narrowed with deep wariness. Then, a cold smirk appeared as his hands blurred into seals.
"However... I am still the winner."
The flame sword fell, sweeping through Kakuzu's body. Ren watched as the man's body began to evaporate from the waist up.
Then, it turned into a puddle of water.
As the water hit the ground, a deafening roar erupted! Countless Earth Grudge Fear tentacles burst from the earth like a frenzied forest, tangling themselves around the flame sword.
This was the true nature of Earth Grudge Fear—hiding its life force beneath the battlefield! The threads were incinerated by the thousands, but they kept surging from below, one wave after another. They forced the giant blade's rotation to a grinding halt.
That tiny opening was all Kakuzu needed.
The blue beam of the Final Shot finally punched through the barrier. Kakuzu leaped out from the puddle of water, recalled his three masks, and shot through the opening in the seal. He lunged toward the crooked tree in the center of the cliff.
"HIDAN, RUN!" Ren's voice roared from within the barrier.
The three people outside finally snapped out of their shock. Mei was the first; she turned and saw Kakuzu charging toward them, her hands beginning to form seals instinctively.
However, a hand made of tentacles burst from the ground and grabbed her leg, dragging her down and interrupting her seals.
Hidan stood on the branch, looking left and right at the bottomless abyss on either side. Despair filled his heart. Where the hell am I supposed to run?! Trusting Ren blindly, Hidan simply closed his eyes and jumped off the tree into the void.
Shinno gasped and dove down the cliff to catch him, but Kakuzu was faster. Kakuzu extended his thread-arm through the air, snaring Hidan and reeling him back in, tucking the boy under his arm.
Hidan opened his eyes, looking flabbergasted. Kakuzu didn't waste words on his future "immortal partner"; he simply slapped the back of Hidan's head, knocking him unconscious. With a few agile leaps, Kakuzu descended the wall and vanished into the tunnel leading to the Jashin headquarters.
Shinno watched him go, his eyes narrowed, and stopped his pursuit. At that distance, he could have activated Physical Rebirth and the Eight Gates to stop him, but for some reason, he stayed his hand.
After the chaos, silence returned.
The moon hid behind the clouds. The barrier shattered into dust. The flame sword in Ren's hand dissolved into wild embers and drifted away in the wind.
Ren knelt on the cliff face. Not a single inch of his skin was intact. Raw, red muscle was exposed, and the thick oils from his burned flesh dripped onto the scorched earth. The kunai he held fell from his hand, melting into a puddle of iron before it even hit the bottom of the ravine.
His chakra was gone. Burned to the last drop.
Ren stared blankly in the direction Kakuzu had fled. A surge of rage flickered on his face—teeth gritted, fists clenched—but beneath it was a growing sense of panic.
Eventually, all intense emotions were replaced by a crushing sense of powerlessness.
What happens now? I fought to the very end. Can I go home? But the enemy ran away... if I die by my own hand, does the insurance cover it? The 'Heavenly Dao' Boss won't be that stingy, right? Will Hidan still become that crazy cultist? Was all of this... worth it?
Questions flooded his mind, but he no longer had the strength to find the answers. His brain felt fried. His body wouldn't move. His eardrums were gone; he could hear nothing but silence.
Ren's eyes slid shut as the last trace of chakra holding him to the cliff vanished. He pitched forward, falling toward the abyss.
Strangely, he didn't feel the pain of being smashed into a pulp. Instead, it felt as if he had landed in a soft, warm, pink cloud of cotton candy.