At this moment, Mifune's "sure-kill" strike had been shattered by a literal body of steel, only to be met with Ren Uchiha's stinging mockery. However, despite such an astonishing sight, the expressions of the three opponents merely hardened.
As veterans of countless battlefields, they were not discouraged by this single setback. Combat between ninjas is, at its core, a battle of information. Fighting an uphill battle due to a lack of intel on an enemy's abilities was common practice.
The combined force of Chiyo's ultimate technique, Kitsuchi's environment-enhanced Earth Release, and Mifune's lethal iai slash had succeeded in breaking Ren's Susanoo and forcing out a second hidden ability—a hardening technique reminiscent of Earth Release: Earth Spear.
Though Ren remained unharmed, this was a significant victory in terms of reconnaissance.
With the defense of that skeletal jutsu, if I time a Sandwiching Technique correctly, I should be able to restrain it. Besides, that technique doesn't seem to defend perfectly from all directions! Kitsuchi had been observing keenly. When the mountain fell, he noticed that while the Susanoo held the weight, the ground directly beneath Ren's feet wasn't as pulverized as the surrounding area, but it wasn't untouched either. It suggested the Susanoo was hollow or had specific structural weaknesses at the base.
"Furthermore, a jutsu of that scale must have an astronomical chakra cost..." Kitsuchi thought, landing a safe distance away and staring warily at Ren. "This brat isn't invincible!"
On the other side, while Ren looked calm and collected, he was actually frowning inwardly.
The Susanoo was not without its price. He was forcing its activation with a mere Three-Tomoe Sharingan. In this short span—less than a minute—he had cycled through the skeletal form and two stages of the half-bodied Susanoo. Already, he felt as if ten thousand ants were tearing at his cells.
Releasing such massive amounts of chakra to manifest the Susanoo was a grueling test for both his physical stamina and his ocular power.
Ren's current state was far from perfect. His eyes hadn't finished their fusion, meaning a large portion of his ocular power was being consumed just to maintain stability. His chakra reserves, while bolstered by his unique talents, were being drained rapidly by his high-consumption techniques.
By his estimation, he only had enough chakra for two more Susanoo activations, and that was assuming he could wait for the current physical backlash to subside.
In simpler terms, he had roughly enough chakra left for about 32 Great Fireball Jutsus.
Could he use that limited energy to take down three Kage-level fighters... and the six others who were likely on their way?
Ren didn't have time to dwell on it. Following his instincts while Mifune was still reeling from his broken blade, Ren's eyes flashed with a predatory light. He ground his foot into the earth, swung his arm, and swept his chipped katana toward Mifune's throat!
Simultaneously, his other hand pulled back into a fist behind his chest.
Feeling the biting wind, Mifune snapped out of his shock. He tightened his grip on his broken sword, stepped back in a standard samurai slide to create distance, and then swung his blade upward to meet Ren's strike!
CLANG!
Ren's scavenged sword was no match for Mifune's chakra-metal blade. Even though it was broken, Mifune's sword sliced through Ren's blade like butter.
Seeing his opening, Mifune's eyes narrowed. All hardening ninjutsu have a flaw! They stiffen the body. If I strike with a second, faster blow...
Mifune didn't hesitate. He adjusted his aim toward Ren's shoulder. If Ren dodged or hardened his shoulder, Mifune would twist the blade and plunge it into Ren's heart before the boy could shift the hardening effect.
However, Ren simply sneered. He let go of his broken hilt entirely and reached out with his bare palm to grab Mifune's broken blade!
The blade pierced straight through Ren's palm.
Mifune's pupils shrank; this suicidal tactic threw his swordsmanship rhythm into total disarray. Ren seized the moment, lunging forward with a punch from his side that smashed squarely into Mifune's face!
The blow left Mifune's head ringing, saliva flying as shock filled his eyes. Ren then grabbed Mifune's face, stepped between his legs to break his balance with a sweep, and slammed Mifune's head violently toward the rubble-strewn ground!
Desperate, Mifune tried to twist his body and use his legs to pin Ren and avoid the "slam dunk."
But Ren's cold laugh echoed in his ear: "Everything you do is already seen by these eyes!"
Ren released his grip, only to smash his elbow—reinforced with chakra—downward onto Mifune's skull.
BOOM!
The elbow strike hit with the force of a sonic boom, driving Mifune's head into the dirt. Ren kicked his discarded katana into the air, caught the hilt in his already-healed left hand, and reversed his grip. He aimed the broken blade directly at Mifune's heart!
Against three, the odds are bad. I'll kill one first!
With [Mind's Eye], [Combat Instinct], and [Master of All Arms], combined with the Uchiha-style predictive boost, Ren's taijutsu was reaching an absurd level. He could trade blows with speedsters like the Raikage and Minato; Mifune was powerful, but they were no longer in the same league.
"No!" Chiyo's scalp went numb. She knew Mifune's skill; he was a man who could threaten Kage with just a sword. Yet, against Ren's brutal, close-quarters style, he was being dismantled.
It felt as if Ren without the Susanoo was even more dangerous than Ren inside it. If he got close to her—a puppet master—she would be finished.
"Mifune cannot die, at least not yet!" Chiyo made her move, throwing a yellow-covered scroll toward Ren.
"Puppet Jutsu: Soaring Blades!"
The scroll unfurled in mid-air, revealing the character for "Blade." In an instant, a dense cloud of ninja tools, needles, and hidden weapons shot out! Hidden within the barrage, Chiyo threw a small vial of purple liquid.
She screamed at Kitsuchi: "He can't keep using that giant skeletal move! Kill him now! Hurry!"
Kitsuchi realized the danger as well. While he had Earth-style taijutsu, he didn't believe he could suppress someone like Mifune as easily as Ren had. He gritted his teeth. "I'm on it!"
Kitsuchi slammed his palms onto the ground! "Earth Release: Golem Jutsu!"
A massive mound rose from the earth as a giant stone hand clawed its way out, followed by a towering, bulky torso.
Facing the rain of weapons and poison, Ren's eyes twitched. Veins bulged around his sockets as he entered a partial Sage Transformation. He pulled his left hand back, formed the 'Tiger' seal with one hand, and exhaled!
"Fire Release: Great Fire Destruction!"
A long, concentrated line of fire erupted, instantly expanding into a massive wall of flame that shot toward the sky!
CRACK!
The sound of ceramic breaking echoed through the sizzling of the toasted weapons. A purple mist began to spread from the air, descending toward him.
Ren's combat instincts, silent until now, suddenly screamed!
RUN!
A flood of danger hit his brain. Ren flipped away, dodging a few stray kunai, and abandoned the half-dead Mifune to leap back. He didn't know the exact nature of the mist, but he knew Chiyo's reputation.
Poison. A Hidden Sand toxin that rivaled the Hanzo of the Salamander.
However, as he leaped, the sound of rushing wind filled his ears. Ren looked up to see a massive shadow looming over him.
A twenty-meter-tall stone golem had risen from the ruins. It pulled back a massive arm and threw a punch straight at Ren's face! The Golem Jutsu was slow, but if it was pre-positioned for an ambush, it was a death sentence.
Kitsuchi sneered from a distance. "For the Stone... leave your head here, brat!"
The massive stone fist obliterated the space in front of it. Ren had no room to dodge. He was smashed backward, flying through the air like a projectile before crashing into the rubble.
Even with Earth Spear activated to survive the impact, the sheer blunt-force trauma caused his internal organs to shift and vibrate.
"Cough... ack!"
Under the thick black clouds of the night, Ren propped himself up on a jagged rock. As he rose, a faint trail of steam wafted from his body as his wounds began to close.
The blood in his veins began to boil with the escalating battle! He exhaled a long, sharp breath. He looked up at the twenty-meter titan, standing like an ant before a mountain.
He saw the burning city in the distance and felt the heart in his chest thumping with incandescent brilliance. Ren bared his blood-stained teeth in a savage grin.
"Now this... feels like a fight."
"I was starting to think this was a hot spring visit. Good!"
Ren's eyes turned fierce. In the next moment, he was lifted into the air by something even greater!
"With this next move, I'll finish all of you!"
As the stinging pain in his cells vanished, the divine power returned! A thirty-meter-tall flaming giant manifested once more, illuminating the night like a sun. The Susanoo clapped its hands together with a thunderous boom!
CLAP!
A brilliant blue light, composed of pure lightning, manifested between the flaming skeletal palms. As the hands pulled apart, it revealed its true form—the most dazzling celestial majesty in the world.
The legendary spirit sword, the "Radiance of the Silver Heaven"—
The Sword of the Thunder God: Futsunomitama!
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