"I haven't lived enough yet, I can't just die like this," Ren said with a smile, while also noticing the surrounding Anbu closing in and the little Chakra left in his body, feeling a bit tricky.
Although Ninjutsu bombardment was satisfying, it also consumed a lot of Chakra. Even though he had eliminated nearly half of the enemy's forces, he absolutely couldn't defeat the remaining people in his current state.
"You don't have a choice in this, attack!" Captain Ao shouted softly, and in an instant, all the Anbu rushed forward. From the previous battle, they had all seen that Ren's Ninjutsu ability was not bad, so now they were preparing to quickly take down the opponent with Taijutsu and numerical superiority. After all, their own Chakra reserves were not much either, and if they didn't take down Ren soon, they would truly be sinking into the sea.
"Come if you're not afraid to die!" Ren began to form hand seals with both hands, speaking softly.
"Ice Release: Mirror of death!" The surrounding seawater began to fluctuate, then surged up into the air, forming a water curtain that forced the few people to stop and also firmly protected Ren within it.
"What is this thing?" A group of people stood two meters outside the water curtain, looking ahead with surprise. No one dared to act rashly, otherwise, who knew if the next one to die would be themselves.
"It looks like just a normal defensive Ninjutsu. Continue the attack!" The Anbu carrying a long staff leaped forward, picked up his staff, and smashed it towards the water curtain!
Suddenly, the water curtain instantly solidified into ice. The translucent ice layer shimmered under the sunlight, and when the former's attack landed on it, it only created a tiny crack. It seemed the effect wasn't too good.
"Hmm?" Before the others could react, the ice curtain suddenly lit up. The dazzling light instantly caused everyone nearby to lose their vision, their eyes filled with a vast white expanse.
"Not good! Retreat!" Captain Ao pulled two Anbu next to him and quickly retreated. The next moment, several streams of water shot out from the position the three had just occupied, then fell back into the water after missing their target.
The others, however, were not so lucky. Streams of water shot out near everyone, but fortunately, Captain Ao's earlier reminder made them instinctively follow suit. The staff-wielding Anbu and two other Anbu successfully escaped one after another, but the remaining three were restrained by the water streams because they reacted a beat too slow, and then were pulled into the water.
At the same time, Captain Ao and the others' vision slowly recovered. Their first reaction after opening their eyes was to look around. Upon seeing the noticeably reduced numbers and the three pools of blood appearing on the sea surface not far away, they immediately understood what had just happened. Their expressions grew increasingly grim.
Clearly, they had lost three more comrades to the enemy.
"Hoo, hoo." Ren broke out of the water, standing on the surface and leaning on his knees, his breathing somewhat ragged.
"There are still six, no, seven guys." Ren's gaze was somewhat solemn. Now, the Chakra in his body was less than 20% of its peak. If this continued, his Chakra would definitely run out in about five more minutes at most.
"Captain Ao, leave the rest to me. You all conserve your Chakra," Hozuki Mangetsu darted to the center of the battle and turned to Captain Ao, speaking in a deep voice.
Truth be told, among everyone present, Hozuki Mangetsu was in the best condition; his Chakra consumption had not exceeded 30%. If it came to a one-on-one fight now, if Ren couldn't defeat the former quickly, he would only be defeated and captured.
"Good, then I'll leave it to you. We'll cover your back." Captain Ao nodded. At this point, this was indeed the best option. Their own Chakra reserves were not much, and they still needed to conserve some Chakra for the return journey, so them staying nearby to prevent Ren from escaping was the optimal solution.
"A hozuki clan member, just you alone, are you eager to come here to die?" Ren straightened his body, looking at Hozuki Mangetsu, who was slowly approaching, and spoke indifferently.
After all, one should not lose face even if defeated; the battle of aura is also very important.
"Hmph, you're only tough-talking now. If I'm not mistaken, your Chakra is almost depleted, isn't it?" Hozuki Mangetsu snorted coldly, gripping his Ninja Swords tightly, his eyes fixed on Ren, looking for the opponent's weakness, ready to launch an attack at any moment.
"It seems there's no escaping. You all, come die with me here!" Ren's expression became extremely ferocious, enveloped in killing intent. His hands began to quickly form hand seals.
"Water Release…" As Ren continued to form hand seals, the entire sea surface in this area immediately began to fluctuate violently. The sky also became dark at the opportune moment.
Waves surged, and the wind howled ceaselessly.
"Not good, gather, prepare for Water Release defense!" Seeing the scene before them, like a natural disaster, Captain Ao did not hesitate and immediately told everyone to gather together to collectively withstand the opponent's final desperate counterattack before death.
"Mangetsu, you come back too!" The Jonin with the staff roared at the distance, and the latter did not hesitate, directly sheathing his sword and turning to retreat in one fluid motion.
He wasn't stupid; if he even grazed the edge of the opponent's Ninjutsu with such a commotion, he would likely be severely injured. It was better to honestly huddle together for warmth and then complete the mission.
"Ah!" Ren roared, and the sea surface immediately became even more turbulent. Dozens of water streams shot up into the sky, then converged into a waterfall that rushed directly down towards Captain Ao and the others!
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!" Four or five Water Formation Walls instantly formed and then stacked up, making the originally somewhat thin water wall immediately become thick and heavy.
Under the tense gazes of the few, the turbulent water flow crashed down onto the Water Formation Wall. After being obstructed, the water wall faced a continuous onslaught of immense impact.
"Hmm?" As time passed, Captain Ao and the others noticed something was off.
Is this attack… a bit too weak?
From just now until now, such a seemingly grand and powerful attack had not even broken through one layer of the Water Formation Wall's defense, which made them suspicious.
A moment later, the attack stopped. Aside from the sky still being dark, the turbulent waves on the surrounding sea surface had all returned to calm, making the few people wonder if what they had seen earlier was just an illusion.
"Captain, look over there!" Just then, an Anbu's voice attracted everyone's attention. Following the direction of his finger, they saw Ren with his head bowed low, his hands hanging at his sides, his eyes lifelessly staring at the water surface.
"Act!" With Captain Ao's command, everyone moved forward in unison, quickly surrounding the opponent.
At Captain Ao's signal, two Anbu reluctantly launched a surprise attack from behind the opponent. At the same time, they were ready to retreat at any moment.
To their surprise, they easily rushed to the opponent's front and smoothly pushed him down onto the water surface.
"Hmm?" The remaining few immediately began to look at each other.
This… what's going on?