This specific problem had plagued Minato for days. His eventual conclusion was simply: Diligent practice. This left Minato even more helpless—he had never seen Ren practice, so how could his friend complete such training so effortlessly?
Forget it. I'll see Ren's Rasenshuriken today anyway; then I'll know how he did it.
The night passed, and the next day arrived.
The Konoha shinobi were geared up and ready early. Compared to yesterday, their morale was even higher, as if they intended to end the war with the Sand right then and there. Even Tsunade didn't rest today; she personally took the field, leading the charge against the Sand.
"Wind Style squad, move out!" "Earth Style squad, go!"
Boom! Boom!
The two sides met without a word. They opened immediately with group ninjutsu skirmishes. Seeing her first wave of attacks blocked by Konoha, Chiyo continued to direct the puppet brigade forward, instantly dismantling the Earth Style walls Konoha had raised.
Tsunade reacted in a flash, barking orders: "Wind Style squad, target those puppets! Destroy them!"
"Wind Style: Breakthrough!"
Whoosh—!
Gales swept across the field, instantly shredding the standard-issue puppets. Only a few high-quality puppets controlled by Chiyo herself survived the blast, continuing their charge. Seeing this, the White Fang unsheathed his short blade. A flash of white light streaked out, pulverizing Chiyo's puppets.
But the terror of puppets lies in the fact that as long as the chakra threads remain intact, they can be infinitely reassembled. The puppet Sakumo had bisected suddenly snapped back together, a blade gleaming with a cold light extending from its arm as it lunged for the back of the White Fang's neck!
"Hah!"
Tsunade let out a roar, slamming her fist into the ground. Shards of rock flew up, striking the puppet and sending it tumbling away. Sakumo's eyes flashed; just as he was about to activate his secret technique to give Chiyo a "piercing" reminder of his presence, an ear-piercing whine erupted from the rear!
Zzzzzzt—!
Behind them, Ren Kurogane held one hand high above his head. A high-speed, rotating chakra shuriken was spinning violently in his palm.
"What is that?" Sakumo's brain stalled for a second. As a traditional ninja, he couldn't even begin to comprehend the nature of the sphere Ren was holding.
"Everyone, move!" Ren roared. The Konoha shinobi scrambled to clear a path, their eyes wide with horror as they stared at the shrieking mass of chakra.
Step, step.
Ren walked forward slowly, a confident smirk on his face. "Chiyo, remember that new jutsu I mentioned? I didn't have the chance to show you before. I'm not missing the opportunity this time!"
In the distance, Chiyo's face contorted with alarm. She had suspected the "new jutsu" wouldn't be anything good, but this was a bit too much of a surprise! However, after the initial shock, she calmed her heart and looked at Ren. "Brat, how do you plan to release that? If it's that powerful, you'll likely blow yourself up too!"
Indeed, the Rasenshuriken in Ren's hand currently looked larger than he was. Chiyo assumed Ren was using every ounce of his strength just to maintain its form, let alone use it for an attack.
"Hehe! Just watch!" Ren leaned forward slightly, drawing the hand holding the Rasenshuriken back.
"Wait! That stance! Is he going to... no way! You've got to be kidding me!"
Seeing Ren's motion, ninja from both sides were floored. And Ren's next move confirmed their fears! With a powerful snap of his arm, he released the shrieking chakra shuriken. He threw it exactly like a regular shuriken, hurtling directly toward Chiyo!
"Lady Chiyo, look out!" "Hmph! A childish trick like this won't hurt me!" Chiyo flicked her wrist, releasing several scrolls. With a series of poofs, two puppets clad in white robes appeared before her. With a twitch of her fingers, the puppets manifested blue energy shields, guarding Chiyo firmly.
"Heh. Trying to block a Rasenshuriken with those? How stupid," Ren sneered.
The next moment, the Rasenshuriken began to expand violently. In a heartbeat, it grew from its original size to a massive shuriken over ten meters in diameter. Anything it touched was instantly sheared away. Chiyo and her two protectors were the first to be hit.
"Lady Chiyo!" "Mother!"
Several shadows blurred out from the Sand side, forcibly throwing Chiyo's upper torso out of the blast radius.
"Expand!" Ren whispered.
The massive Rasenshuriken detonated into a sphere of swirling wind blades, swallowing everything in the vicinity. The Sand ninja scrambled back, terrified of being caught in the vortex.
When the dust settled, a massive crater nearly thirty meters wide remained. Everything else was gone. Chiyo's primary puppets and the ones that had tried to shield her were ground into dust. Even Chiyo's lower half, which hadn't been rescued in time, had been shredded into a mist of blood and vanished.
Hiss—
Seeing the destruction, both friend and foe sucked in a breath of cold air. They thanked their lucky stars they hadn't been hit directly. After all, they didn't have anyone coming to rescue them!
Tsunade looked at Ren, thinking to herself just how mysterious this kid was. Well, as long as he's on our side!
Ren looked at the destruction, satisfied. A shame I didn't kill her outright, but she was cut in half. There's no way Chiyo survives that, right?
Minato and the others finally snapped out of their stupor, looking at Ren as if he were a monster. "Unbelievable power!"
"And you threw it! How is that even possible?" "Master! I want to learn that!" "Learn my foot! Go back to cutting your leaf!" "Yes, sir..."
Tsunade raised her arm and shouted, "Press the attack!" "OH!!!"
The morale of Konoha reached its peak, while the Sand was in total disarray. Although Chiyo had been pulled away, her life was fading fast. She was on the verge of death.
"Damn those Konoha ninja!" A red-haired man cried out through clenched teeth.
"Kiruga... you must kill that Konoha brat! Otherwise, the Sand will be forever suppressed!" Chiyo managed to wheeze out her final words before the last light in her eyes faded away.
"Rest easy, Mother! I will kill that brat and offer his life to your memory!" Kiruga clenched his fists, his eyes burning with hatred and a thirst for revenge.