"Hiss..."
Ren Uchiha drew a long, deep breath, exhaling a condensed stream of white vapor into the night air as he felt the power coursing through his perfect Cursed Seal form.
"This strength..."
"I feel like I could beat ten bulls to death with my bare hands!"
A glint of excitement flickered in his eyes. He couldn't resist flicking his tongue out to lick his lips. The power of Ryuchi Cave was never meant to be taken easily; the massive influx of natural energy earlier had nearly caused his eyes to explode.
If it hadn't been for Ebizo's sudden attack—forcing him to expend a massive amount of chakra and use Body Incarnation to violently siphon off a portion of that energy—he might have gone blind then and there.
"Well then... as a reward,"
Ren's lips curled into a cold, ghastly smile on his pale face.
"I'll let you witness the power of a Sage!"
In an instant, his serpentine pupils shifted, locking onto the bewildered Ebizo behind the sealing array. A wave of killing intent erupted from his gaze!
Ren slammed his foot down, shattering the ground beneath him. A violent vortex of chakra surged around his body. In the blink of an eye, he broke the sound barrier, vanishing in a thunderous boom and leaving only a gale of dust in his wake!
He dove headfirst into the sealing formation of Lion puppets!
"The brat is even faster than before. This is bad!"
Ebizo's eyes widened. He gritted his teeth. Faced with an opponent this fast—so fast that conventional methods couldn't track him—his only option was to make the battlefield impossible to hide in!
Ebizo clapped his hands together and slammed them onto the sand, funneling chakra into the array.
"Puppet Style: Lion's Rabbit Trap!"
The seal scripts flared. The lion-headed puppets soared into the air, erecting a shield wall while spitting out a torrential rain of weapons and capture cables at Ren!
Fwish-fwish-fwish-fwish!
Facing the surging rain of steel, Ren's expression shifted to one of pure disdain. As he charged, he clapped his hands and roared:
"You think you can kill me?!"
"Absurd! Let me show you—"
"I am immortal!"
He stomped the ground with a force that seemed to shake the heavens. With his perfectly controlled body and combat instincts that far surpassed a normal human's, he bypassed the tedious steps usually required for Senjutsu.
Inside him, natural energy merged with his physical and mental energies in a perfect 1:1:1 ratio. A brand-new power was forged!
Sage Chakra!
This chakra hammered through his soles into the earth, causing the desert within the barrier to tremble. Then, the Sage Art he had copied from Orochimaru with his Sharingan manifested once more!
"Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation!"
The sand beneath him churned violently, lifting Ren high into the air. A massive volume of sand coalesced beneath his feet, taking the form of a gargantuan serpent!
"HISSS!!!"
The sand serpent reared its head and let out a deafening roar that shook the very foundation of the barrier. Ren stood atop its head as it carried him forward, crashing headlong into the rain of lethal blades and the iron shield wall behind it!
"Has he lost his mind?" Ebizo's face twitched. Seeing Ren's suicidal charge, his scalp tingled. He quickly formed the 'Ram' seal, his eyes bulging.
"Fine! If that's how you want it!" He snarled. "Puppet Style: Drill-Pole Blades · Human Control! Sealing Jutsu: Lion's Closing Roar!"
Chakra threads emerged from the back of the flying projectiles. Simultaneously, the lion puppets in the shield wall opened their mouths, creating a powerful vacuum that sucked everything toward them!
Ren didn't even try to dodge. He allowed the threads and weapons to pierce his flesh, dragging him toward the shield wall where the puppets' jaws snapped shut on him!
CRACK!
As the mechanical teeth sank into Ren's body, black sealing marks raced across his skin, locking his chakra entirely. At the same time, the giant sand serpent slammed into the shield wall, smashing a massive hole through the formation.
"I've got him!" Ebizo's white eyebrows shot up in triumph. Normally, once a ninja's chakra was sealed, they were no different from a common civilian.
However, a sudden boom echoed from the puppet holding Ren!
BANG!
A violent gust of air sent shards of wood and iron flying backward. A fist covered in white snake scales punched through the puppet, before literally prying it apart!
A "Ren Uchiha"—covered in sealing marks and looking like a pincushion of weapons—was pinned to the ground. But a second Ren Uchiha leaped out from the wreckage!
"How... how is this possible?!"
Ebizo stared in disbelief. The boy had used pure physical strength to dismantle a puppet. The sealing marks on the corpse proved his chakra had been locked, so how was he still moving?
Ren let out a cold laugh. He didn't stop, sprinting toward Ebizo. As he ran, his mouth opened wide, and another arm reached out from within!
It was a terrifying, grotesque sight: the old body sprinted forward while a "new" Ren Uchiha tore his way out of the old one's mouth. Navigating through the rain of steel and leaping over the battle lines, he was like the mythic Ouroboros—the unfettered, immortal serpent!
Ren had been hit by the sealing jutsu, but Ebizo had only sealed the "skin" generated by his Cursed Seal Level 2 state. The Orochimaru-Style Substitute—the most broken replacement technique in the shinobi world—meant that the conventional rules of combat no longer applied to him.
"Dammit! What kind of monster is this?!"
Ebizo's scalp crawled. He saw Ren about to breach the gap created by the sand serpent. If he let this "Uchiha Boxing Champion" get close, his old bones wouldn't survive a single combo!
Ebizo desperately manipulated his remaining puppets to fire another volley.
Ren, currently pulling his last leg out of the mouth of his previous self's face, looked up and raised an eyebrow.
"Old man, you're trying to fix things now?"
He threw his head back and laughed maniacally. "HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Then, his face went stone-cold. He looked at Ebizo and delivered his sentence:
"Let me be merciful and tell you, old man—"
"It's already too late!"
Ren landed on the sand, reaching back into the mouth of his previous "shell" to retrieve his Kusanagi blade. He flashed a grin of brilliant white teeth at Ebizo and swung the hilt!
He triggered his heart!
The Zero-Tailed Seal: UNLEASHED!
Forbidden Jutsu: ACTIVATE!
In an instant, atop the endless desert of the Land of Wind...
Beneath the night sky, a brilliant, scorching sun suddenly rose!
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