"Ren-sama… please…"
"Please—win."
While Ren held Obito in place, the surviving Mist shinobi dragged the wounded—those who could still be saved—hundreds of meters away into the forest.
They treated injuries and forced down soldier pills, hoarding strength for the retreat.
They watched the battle like people staring into a natural disaster.
When Ren's attacks passed through Obito's body with no effect, their hearts climbed into their throats.
When Obito's storm of Cutting Sprigs was neutralized by Shikotsumyaku, they clenched their fists without realizing it.
Maybe…
Maybe we can win.
But when Ren finally baited an opening and landed a real hit—
only to be trapped and "killed" by an enormous jutsu in the next breath—
hope shattered.
Fear bloomed.
Under that pressure, more than half the survivors screamed and broke, abandoning comrades and scattering like headless flies into the dark.
Only Mikazuki Eri—Ren's subordinate, who had pinned her future promotion hopes on him—remained.
Her legs were shaking so hard she had to clamp her thighs together to keep from humiliating herself on the spot.
Yet she never looked away.
She didn't run.
Because she understood:
If Ren lost, it didn't matter where she fled.
That Uchiha—who could "use Wood Release"—would hunt them down and kill them all.
For ordinary shinobi like her…
there was no resisting that kind of power.
So if escape depended on whether Ren survived anyway…
Then running would only lower her value in Ren's eyes.
If she ran, she would never become his trusted subordinate.
The others who stayed understood the same thing.
They were gambling.
Gambling that the "monster" named Kaguya Ren would create a miracle called victory.
And then—
they saw it.
They saw the bone flower bloom in midair.
They saw Ren seize the possibility of victory again.
"Is that… Dance of the Seedling Fern?"
An older ANBU—someone who'd fought in earlier wars—rubbed at blood-smeared eyes, voice trembling.
"That's Kaguya's strongest secret technique…"
"Ren… he's only fifteen."
"A monster. A true monster…"
"Will this war become the stage where you forge your name alone… like the Sannin of the Second War…"
"…like the Yellow Flash, who's already famous in this war?"
…
Ren didn't know what the survivors were saying.
He only knew that after he unleashed Dance of the Seedling Fern and spread his bones across the battlefield—
the fight with Obito returned to a stalemate.
Obito could ignore Ren's attacks through Kamui.
But his own offensive tools were still too limited to truly harm Ren, who could shift through the bone forest at will.
Ren had gained mobility.
But until Obito's ocular power ran dry…
Ren couldn't land another clean hit.
That opening he'd used to nearly cripple Obito's hands—
had been more than enough to warn Obito that Ren had likely discovered the flaw in his ability.
Without "planning against the unprepared," and without space-time ninjutsu of his own—
Ren could not harm a cautious Obito.
So…
Should we just end it here?
Ren tried to convey the idea through his gaze.
But Obito answered with nothing but boiling rage.
"Kill you."
That was what Obito's eyes screamed.
Ren didn't care.
If you can pull out a Susanoo "Gundam" right here, right now, then sure.
Otherwise, with your current damage output, don't even dream of breaking my defense and taking my life.
Perhaps Ren's indifference stabbed Obito's wounds again.
Obito panted, voice broken, as if asking the Zetsu… or asking himself:
"Why…"
"Why can't I kill him?"
"Why can't I even break his defense…?"
"Why…"
"Even with a stronger Sharingan…"
"…can't I protect my companions?"
"Give me power…"
"Give me more power…"
"Give me power strong enough to destroy all of this…"
"Susanoo…!"
"Come out…!!!"
BOOM!
The bone forest around Obito shattered under a sudden violent storm.
Through the flying dust and debris, Ren saw it—
a gigantic shape, not yet fully humanoid, unstable…
but undeniably real.
A massive chakra presence saturated with destruction.
Faint green ribs and skeletal structure in the haze.
Ren's scalp tingled.
He… forced out something Obito never even used in the original story?
But before Ren could think how to deal with it—
a pained, guttural cry came from that direction.
"Ah—my eyes…"
"My eyes—!!!"
The unstable Susanoo dissolved like snow beneath the sun.
Obito collapsed, clutching his right eye, trembling violently.
"We have to go, Obito!" Zetsu's voice snapped, unusually serious. "If you keep fighting, your eyes will go blind!"
"I… I can still fight…"
Obito staggered up.
Through the mask, his eyes were terrifying—
the sclera fully turned red, blood tears spilling.
He raised his hand to cast Cutting Sprigs again—
but Zetsu refused.
"That Shikotsumyaku user's chakra is still stable."
"Do you want to fight him like this, die to him…"
"And let Hatake Kakashi and Nohara Rin become Mist research materials?"
Rin…
Right.
Rin.
He couldn't let her fall into the Mist's hands.
They were mad dogs who killed without blinking.
Even if she died, they wouldn't let her rest.
Obito's movements halted.
A vortex formed around his right eye.
A spiral of space—
and in an instant, Obito vanished—
taking Kakashi and Rin with him into Kamui's unknown dimension.
Ren reacted immediately.
He fired Ten-Finger Piercing Bullets toward Obito.
Pffft—
several finger bones punched into Obito's shoulder, staggering him and ripping a scream out of his throat—
but it didn't stop the space-time transfer.
It only ensured that before he fully disappeared…
Obito sent Ren one last look of pure hatred.
I'll kill you.
Absolutely.
After Obito vanished, Ren didn't immediately dismiss Dance of the Seedling Fern.
He waited, hidden within the bone forest, several minutes—
until he was sure Obito, likely half-blinded from overuse, wouldn't return.
Only then did Ren step out of the white-bone domain and walk toward the remaining Mist shinobi—
now reduced to barely one-fifth of their original number.
[Dark Harvest stacks +1. Current stacks: 1]
[Harvested a soul fragment from Uchiha Obito. When stacks reach 999, you may use this fragment to break through and increase Dark Harvest's stack cap to 9999.]
"Oh?" Ren thought, mildly amused.
"So that last throw still triggered Dark Harvest?"
"His vitality dropped below fifty percent… so forcing a one-eyed Susanoo attempt really did cost him."
"Good thing it didn't stabilize."
"Dragging the ninja world into a Gundam era early would've been a headache."
Then another thought followed, irritated.
"Wait—Dark Harvest has a soft cap mechanic?"
"I've stacked Grasp of the Undying into the absurd and never saw a restriction like that."
"…Tch."
While muttering internally, Ren reached the survivors and planned to ask Mikazuki Eri for spare clothing.
After spamming Dance of the Larch and Dance of the Seedling Fern, his outfit was shredded beyond repair.
If he didn't change quickly, he'd be labeled a pervert by his own village.
But Ren hadn't even opened his mouth—
before the five surviving ANBU, led by Mikazuki Eri, removed their masks in unison, straightened, and bowed at a full one hundred and twenty degrees.
"Thank you for saving our lives, Kaguya Ren-sama!"
"Save your lives?" Ren waved it off, uninterested in farming goodwill. "I was just trying to make the report less ugly. Mikazuki—clothes."
"Yes, Kaguya Ren-sama!"
Mikazuki's eyes shone with fervor as she produced spare gear from a scroll—originally meant for infiltration—and handed it over.
Watching Ren change with terrifying calm, she clenched her fist silently.
After we report back…
I have to stay under Ren-sama.
If it's him…
Maybe ten years—no, five—
and he'll sit on the Fourth Mizukage's seat.
I don't need much.
As long as I can ride seniority into Special Jōnin as the Mizukage's old ANBU subordinate…
That wouldn't be asking too much, right?
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