Chapter 160: Ren vs. Kakuzu
"You are... Uchiha... Ren!"
Shikamaru's voice was a mixture of shock and weary recognition as he stared at the figure who had just effortlessly dismantled the two monstrous masks. He let out a dry, humorless laugh. "I never expected... that you would be the one to save us."
"Save you?" Ren didn't even bother to look back, his gaze fixed on the approaching Kakuzu. His voice was laced with cold amusement. "Don't flatter yourself. I was merely passing by. I have no desire to see Ino get hurt. Besides, I have my own score to settle with Akatsuki. Your survival is a trivial side effect."
"Is that so? Well, whatever you say," Shikamaru sighed, too exhausted and relieved to argue.
"Ino-Chan, focus on Choji," Shikamaru instructed softly, his tactical mind already shifting to their immediate survival. Ino, her hands still glowing with green chakra on Choji's back, looked up at Ren with wide, tear-filled eyes.
"Ren! Why are you here?" she cried out, a surge of emotion in her voice. If she weren't actively healing Choji, she might have run to him.
Ren finally glanced over his shoulder, his expression unreadable. "Ino. It's been a while. You've... changed." The comment was neutral, devoid of warmth.
But before Ino could say more, a roar of pure fury erupted from across the clearing.
"Uchiha Ren! How dare you destroy my hearts!"
Kakuzu had abandoned his fight with Suigetsu and Jugo, his entire focus now on the young Uchiha who had just annihilated two of his precious mask monsters. He stormed toward Ren, the two remaining masks hovering menacingly beside him.
"Uchiha Ren!" Kakuzu spat, his voice trembling with rage. "The Eagle and Akatsuki had no quarrel! Yet you interfere, you oppose us, and now you destroy two of my hearts! I will make you pay!"
Ren turned fully to face him, a faint, disdainful smirk on his lips. "Your 'hearts'? How fragile."
With a grotesque series of tearing sounds, Kakuzu recalled the two remaining masks. They slammed back into his body, which then underwent a horrifying transformation. The black threads comprising his form writhed and expanded. His limbs elongated, his skin split open at the seams, and a mass of thick, rope-like threads burst from his back and mouth, making him look less like a man and more like a monstrous puppet woven from shadow and hatred.
"Is this your true form? The legendary 'Earth Grudge Fear'?" Ren remarked, his tone one of clinical disgust. "It's even more repulsive in person."
Kakuzu, now fully transformed, had regained a measure of cold, murderous calm. "It has been a long time since I lost two hearts... I will not let you escape. I will take your powerful heart as a replacement!"
"Confident, aren't you?" Ren sneered. "Come and claim it, then."
"Hmph." Kakuzu didn't waste another word. Without any visible movement, a web of black threads erupted from the ground beneath Ren's feet, coiling around his legs and torso with lightning speed, binding him tightly.
"Ren!" Ino screamed.
But Ren showed no panic. He didn't even struggle. "Ino, Shikamaru, get back. Now," he ordered, his voice calm.
Shikamaru, understanding the sheer power about to be unleashed, didn't hesitate. "Ino, move! Now!" Together, they dragged the unconscious Choji and the critically wounded Asuma further away from the impending clash.
"Facing your death, and you still worry about others?" Kakuzu rasped. "Foolish. Now, die!"
The two masks on his back swelled with chakra. One glowed with the deep blue of water, the other crackled with the yellow-white energy of lightning. "**Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet!**" "**Lightning Style: False Darkness!**"
A torrential dragon of water and a spear of concentrated lightning shot forth, converging into a deadly combination jutsu aimed directly at the immobilized Ren.
Just as the attacks were about to hit, Ren's body surged with chakra. "**Earth Style: Earth-Style Wall!**"
A massive, thick wall of earth erupted from the ground in front of him, taking the full force of the combined assault. The impact was colossal, shattering the wall into dust and debris, but successfully blocking the attack.
Through the dissipating cloud of dirt, Kakuzu saw Ren standing unharmed. But something was different. In Ren's right hand, a sphere of chakra whirled with ferocious intensity. It wasn't just a sphere; it was shaped like a giant shuriken, its edges buzzing with a high-pitched whine that promised utter annihilation. The air around it distorted, and the very grass at Ren's feet was shredded by the invisible winds radiating from it.
This was the **Wind Style: Rasenshuriken**.
Ren had no need for the limitations of the original technique. The system's modifications had perfected it, making it stable, complete, and throwable.
Kakuzu's multiple eyes widened in shock. The chakra density was terrifying. He tried to react, to raise a defense, but it was too late.
As Kakuzu's next jutsu began to form, Ren leaped high into the air, easily evading it. He raised his right hand, the Rasenshuriken humming like a hive of angry hornets.
"**Wind Style: Rasenshuriken!**"
He hurled it downward.
The technique shot toward Kakuzu with impossible speed, a miniature hurricane contained within a shuriken's form. Kakuzu could only watch, paralyzed by its velocity and overwhelming presence, as the brilliant, destructive sphere closed the distance in an instant.
There was no time to dodge. No time to counter. There was only the inevitable, screaming impact.
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