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Chapter 121n
🕑 Added 2025-08-06 21:44:35 +0000 UTCChapter 121n
2-in-1-chapter
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This was an assassination attempt— An attempt directed at the Fourth Mizukage.
Only, unfortunately, the surrounding bystanders had been caught up in it as well.
“Clan Head!”
Uchiha Akitarō, stationed at Rēn’s side as a bodyguard, finally reacted before Rēn himself needed to make a move. The moment Rēn raised his fan, Akitarō had already completed a sequence of hand seals, holding back his jutsu in reserve. When the second wave of the assault came, he immediately released it—Earth Style: Earth-Style Wall.
Although his proficiency in Earth Style was nowhere near his skill in Fire Style, this technique had been properly charged. The earthen wall he created was durable enough that even a dozen explosive tags falling onto it failed to bring it down.
Then—
The rest of the Uchiha, those who had been standing further away, surged forward. And not only the Uchiha—Aburame Shikuro, Yamanaka Mokuren, and others rapidly closed in as well. The sudden ambush had left everyone on edge. Even after hearing the Mist-nin denounce the Fourth Mizukage, the tension could not be dispelled so easily. They were, after all, in the Land of Water.
If the Mist-nin were prepared to pay any price to detain them, then truthfully, no one here believed that this small group of a few dozen could stand against a major shinobi village. No matter how powerful the Uchiha clan head was, he alone could not possibly fend off the thousands of shinobi of Kirigakure.
“Clan Head!”
“Lord Rēn.”
Everyone turned to look at Rēn.
“Don’t let the Konoha shinobi escape either! That traitor Yagura Karatachi colluded with Konoha to betray the interests of our village!” Before Rēn could even open his mouth, the cries of the Mist-nin had already spread across the battlefield.
Rēn smiled silently. Gazing at the people around him, he asked, “Do I still need to tell you what to do?”
Everyone remained silent.
If these attackers had come solely for the Fourth Mizukage, they could have simply stepped aside for the moment and observed. But the Mist-nin’s shouting made it clear—retreat was not an option. At this point, the only response was to take the hardest line possible: eliminate the Mist-nin by force. There was no second choice.
A rustling noise began to rise.
Aburame Shikuro lifted both hands, and from his sleeves poured out a cloud of insects as thick as a storm front. These were not the Aburame clan’s common Destruction Bugs, but rather the deadly, nanoscopic Phosphor Bugs—a species so rare that only Shikuro and his son, Torune, could control them.
Everyone instinctively took a step back, even Rēn’s expression twitched slightly at the sight.
Poisonous insects—even he had no desire to test their power firsthand.
The Mist-nin, many of whom had never faced an Aburame on the battlefield, had no idea how terrifying the Shikuro’s venomous insects truly were. At first glance, they appeared to be nothing more than a group of young shinobi. But led by a commanding figure, they charged toward the Konoha group without hesitation.
And then—
They ran straight into a wave of toxic insects that blanketed the sky like thunderclouds.
These Mist-nin were not complete fools. They didn’t rush in swinging kunai or swords to try and swat away the insects. Instead, they hurled kunai laced with explosive tags into the air. Scorching flames erupted overhead. But none of them noticed the thin stream of poisonous insects skimming silently along the ground.
Very few people knew this: Aburame Shikuro’s insect techniques had never relied on numbers alone.
That was precisely why Rēn was wary of this insect user from the Aburame clan. Those nanoscopic bugs were nearly impossible to defend against. Were it not for the Sharingan’s ability to track their movement, even Rēn would avoid direct contact with Shikuro.
There was no surprise in what followed.
The first four Mist-nin who charged ahead collapsed soundlessly into puddles of water, their gear bags thudding heavily to the ground beside them.
“Water Clones?”
Aburame Shikuro frowned.
Water Clone Technique was easily the most irritating of all clone techniques. No contest.
It didn’t return memory or experience like the Shadow Clone, but it cost only a tenth of the chakra to use—and still had a tangible, physical form that was difficult to distinguish from the original. In theory, three to five Jōnin working together could generate an entire battalion of over a hundred clone soldiers using Water Clone Technique alone.
Of course, few ever actually did this.
The low chakra cost came with drawbacks. Water Clones had fragile combat capabilities and were nearly useless in serious battles. They were effective only for overwhelming weaker foes or for deception. In fights against skilled opponents, their main purpose was to confuse and mislead—concealing the real body.
“Explosive tags combined with Water Clones, huh? Looks like the actual number of attackers isn’t as high as it first appeared.” Rēn glanced at the shinobi pouches that hadn’t disappeared along with the clones. A quick deduction revealed the attackers strategy.
No wonder the formation looked so overwhelming. It had been padded out with clones from the start.
That meant their actual numbers were few—but… it was likely that a high-ranking Mist-nin was behind this, or at least involved. After all, so many explosive tags weren’t something that a few loyal village shinobi could just acquire on their own.
Ninja Art: Mind Body Disturbance Technique
Secret Technique: Poison Dust Jutsu
Yamanaka Mokuren and Aburame Shikuro launched a combined attack.
Yamanaka Mokuren, skilled in mental manipulation, didn’t have to worry about friendly fire from the poisonous insects, and his genjutsu wouldn’t interfere with the bugs assault either. Among the shinobi present, he was one of the few who could operate effectively alongside Shikuro. One immobilized the enemy, while the other attacked without restraint.
Water clones exploded one after another, bursting apart under the onslaught. One unlucky Mist-nin had his real body caught and killed, and in an instant, more than a dozen of his Water Clones dissipated with him.
Elsewhere, Uchiha Shisui plunged into the enemy ranks like a sharpened blade.
Body Flicker Technique wasn’t a true space-time jutsu and lacked long-range mobility, but when refined to its limit in close quarters, it could match the speed of elite space-time users. White Fang had once achieved such mastery, and now Shisui had as well. Where his blade passed, sprays of water and blood scattered in every direction.
And don’t forget— Konoha’s Blue Beast was also here.
Konoha-Style Strong Fist shone brightly on the soil of the Land of Water. Might Guy, charging like a wild beast, showed no trace of the miserable, seasick figure he had been just moments ago. Each seemingly simple punch and kick contained a terrifying force—just brushing against one of his attacks caused a Water Clone to shatter, creating an effect akin to a Gentle Fist air palm.
Other than his parents, the one person Ren truly admired, both when this world was behind a screen and now, was Might Guy. That admiration even extended to Rock Lee, who he felt should have been the real protagonist.
Guy wasn't the only one fighting this time, though.
The others, including Uchiha Chihaya, Akimichi Dōtō, and Inuzuka Gaku, were not standing around watching idly. Nearly every Konoha shinobi had joined the battle, leaving only a few—like Kakashi—who remained behind to guard Naruto and the younger ones.
Uchiha Rēn stood motionless, fan in hand, not in any hurry to act. His gaze moved fluidly, eventually settling on Yagura Karatachi.
As the attackers primary target, Yagura had been quick to retreat from the battlefield the moment the assault began. He knew better than to stay put. As for Meguro and the others, they were fellow Mist-nin—if one suffered, all did. And this situation gave him the perfect excuse to watch Meguro more closely. If any of the attackers had infiltrated the welcoming party, Mokuro, as the Jōnin in charge of that duty, would bear undeniable responsibility.
However, Yagura soon realized the attackers were more troublesome than expected.
The ones engaging him were not Water Clones but three elite-level Mist Jōnin working in perfect coordination. Strangely, they seemed thoroughly familiar with Yagura's fighting style, evading each of his carefully laid killing strikes.
This forced him to confront the truth again: he had weakened.
In the past, even without the power of the Three-Tails, he could have dealt with these jumping insects in no time at all.
Feeling a sharp, faint pain flicker through his mind, Yagura began to gather chakra in his palm. He was prepared to end this farce at any cost. Conditions no longer allowed him to waste strength and time. Just then, from the corner of his eye, he noticed Meguro being flanked by two attackers and retreating in a panic.
Whether by coincidence or design, Meguro wasn’t backing toward the Mizukage— He was retreating in the direction of Uchiha Rēn. And the two attackers flanking him were approaching Rēn as well.
Yagura’s heartbeat skipped. Realization struck him like lightning: Meguro was indeed compromised.
“Idiot! Don’t throw your life away!”
Yagura roared.
But the attackers had pressed in too tightly, preventing him from moving to stop Meguro’s suicidal charge.
Zzzzt—
Lightning crackled around Meguro.
He was using Lightning Release.
Though Kirigakure was best known for Water Style due to its geography, history, and culture, it didn’t mean its shinobi were limited to that alone. Just like Ringo Ameyuri—genius user of Lightning Release and wielder of the Thunder Sword: Kiba; Meguro, too, was a Lightning Release specialist with impressive offensive capabilities.
Even so, when facing two former comrades who specialized in Water Style, he appeared hesitant to strike them down with full force, and as a result, he was quickly overwhelmed.
As Meguro continued to retreat, he glanced at Uchiha Rēn. Realizing he could go no further, he made up his mind. His hands blurred through a series of hand seals, and then he unleashed a powerful Lightning Release technique—
Lightning Style: Wrathful Thunder Tiger
A brilliant flash of lightning erupted around him. Vast amounts of chakra surged together, forming a massive, roaring tiger of lightning that charged forward at blinding speed. In an instant, it reached Rēn.
“How dull. Don’t bother trying to impress me with such outdated tricks. But this killing intent… Was I your target from the start? Fine. Whatever your schemes may be, they’re wasted on me.”
Rēn’s Gunbai was already raised before him. When the thunderous tiger of lightning slammed into him like a cannonball, the fan absorbed the full impact as though swallowing a torrent, like a whale inhaling the sea, or an ox drinking from a pond. Every last spark of chakra from the Lightning Style technique vanished without a trace.
A devastatingly destructive ninjutsu—neutralized completely.
“How… How is that possible? My Wrathful Thunder Tiger—how did it…”
Meguro stared in disbelief.
Even if the technique couldn’t take Rēn down in one hit, it shouldn’t have simply vanished like that, without even a splash.
Now it was simple.
Rēn thought to himself—
All he had to do was swing the Gunbai and unleash Uchiha Reflection, returning the attack twofold and showing Meguro and his allies what true counterforce meant.
And so, he did.
Channeling chakra equal to or greater than the Wrathful Thunder Tiger, he swung the fan.
A roaring gale burst from its base. Meguro held his breath as the storm surged toward him.
A sense of helplessness washed over him.
The counterattack had come far too quickly. The area the wind covered exceeded what he could possibly dodge in such a short span. Realizing escape was impossible, he crouched low, arms crossed before his chest, attempting to minimize his profile.
In the next moment—
The storm struck.
