"This hammer is weird!"
After the two collided, Kakuzu immediately felt a massive, majestic force, rushing towards him like a tide. Even with his entire body hardened by the Earth Style: Earth Spear ninjutsu, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his fist.
"How is it possible? This kid's power..." Kakuzu's eyes were filled with disbelief. The raw power and strength this young man had just unleashed were truly terrifying.
"Are you surprised?" Ren's face held a somewhat mocking smile as he spoke to Kakuzu. "I've only used less than 30% of my power. Don't you feel a little overwhelmed with such a display? No, no, no? Your strength shouldn't be limited to this level, right, Master of Earth Grudge Fear?"
As expected, Ren's words immediately annoyed Kakuzu, who bellowed, "Hmph! Such an impudent brat!"
"But where did you get a few powerful ninja tools? You even dared to show them off in front of me!"
Black silk threads suddenly spread out from Kakuzu's body. His originally complete form abruptly became torn apart, like a doll being ripped open. Each joint detached from his body, and a larger number of black threads drilled out from within him.
Earth Grudge Fear Mode!
A hint of caution entered Ren's eyes. As Takigakure's treasure, Kakuzu's most powerful secret technique, countless individuals had fallen to this terrifying ability.
"Go!" Kakuzu shouted, and countless black lines converged into eight arm-thick strands, surrounding Ren from different directions. Hands, feet, arms, thighs, body, and even the hammer in his hand—these black lines flying from all directions instantly blocked all his escape space, wrapping around him, especially the hammer, making him unable to move.
"What is this black line? Captain won't be in danger, will he?" Moth's face was pale as he asked worriedly from the side.
"Don't worry too much. Since Captain Ren has already taken action, he must be confident. We have to trust him," Seaisland replied calmly. He had been with Ren long enough to understand their Captain Ren somewhat. Ren usually preferred a foolproof plan, preparing everything before making a move, and he would only act when certain of success. Since he had even requested Lady Tsunade's help earlier, it meant that their current strength was truly insufficient to be his helpers. They just needed to follow Captain Ren's instructions and protect themselves.
"Sunflower, aren't you worried about Captain Ren? You're not anxious when he's bound by that strange enemy? Before, you were most concerned about the Captain's safety," Moth looked at Sunflower with a touch of curiosity.
"I, where am I?!"
"No, that's not right! Was there something wrong with me worrying that our Captain was injured? Hmph, that's our Lord Ren!" Sunflower declared arrogantly. Then she paused, and asked hesitantly, "Don't you think... this scene in front of you seems a little familiar?"
'Look familiar?' This was the first time they had seen this enemy who used black lines, and they knew nothing about his origin or information. How could it be familiar?
"Oh, I remember!" Sunflower suddenly cried out in surprise. "When Captain Ren fought against Captain Tenzō (Yamato) before... he was also entangled by the vines born from Captain Tenzō's Wood Style ninjutsu!"
As soon as these words came out, Moth and Seaisland were both stunned for a moment. They quickly understood the meaning of Sunflower's words: when Captain Ren and Captain Tenzō were fighting, Ren had allowed himself to be bound by his vines. While wrapped in the vines, not only did he not have his chakra absorbed by Captain Tenzō's Wood Style ninjutsu, but he somehow managed to absorb chakra from Captain Tenzō's body!
At that time, Captain Ren was deliberately allowing himself to be restrained by Captain Tenzō!
They had all seen Captain Ren's speed. Under a full-force burst, it was impossible for those black lines to completely restrain him, because their speed couldn't keep up with Captain Ren's.
That meant... was the current Captain Ren deliberately allowing himself to be bound?
'This time, why?'
The reason for it was known only to Ren, who was now wrapped in the shape of a large dumpling by those black lines.
At this moment, the system's voice had already sounded in his mind.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing the quest: Devouring the Tentacles!]
[Quest Reward: Puppet Thread Forging Blueprint!]
[Ding! Quest Release: Obtain Complete Earth Grudge Fear!]
[Quest Reward: Puppet Doll Forging Blueprint!]
'Huh?' After the previously posted quest was completed, the system even released a new mission to him? The quest reward this time... was the forging blueprint of a puppet doll?
Although he didn't know exactly what this item was used for, the forging blueprints obtained from system rewards had to be high-quality products. It seemed the top priority was to defeat Kakuzu first. Only by obtaining the Earth Grudge Fear within his body could he complete the quest issued by the system.
"Hmph, kid, after being restrained by my weapon, are you completely powerless to fight?" A sneer appeared on Kakuzu's face under his mask, and he looked proudly at Ren, who was wrapped in the black threads of Earth Grudge Fear in front of him.
However, in the next second, he suddenly realized that something was wrong. In Kakuzu's rapidly shrinking pupils, a figure burst out from the ball of black lines. The broken black lines scattered across the ground in an instant, and almost at the same moment, the figure had rushed to Kakuzu's front.
"Konoha Great Whirlwind!"
"Secret Art: Earth Grudge Fear!"
Kakuzu hurriedly spread out the black lines of Earth Grudge Fear from other parts of his body, resisting the direction of Ren's attack. However, when Ren's right leg immediately smashed into those threads of Earth Grudge Fear, his figure suddenly changed at an incredible angle in the air. He abruptly stopped the right leg that was descending, but instead, his entire body underwent a 180-degree reversal, and he stretched out his claws, grabbing towards Kakuzu's wrist.
"What?" Kakuzu's pupils suddenly narrowed. Only at this moment did he realize that the opponent's previous attack was merely a feint. When he reacted and tried to avoid it, he realized it was too late.
At the moment Ren grasped Kakuzu's wrist, his body fell to the ground, his center of gravity shifted, and he rotated in mid-air using Kakuzu's arm as a pivot. Just like when he usually swung his hammer, he swung Kakuzu's entire body off the ground!
At the same time, he raised his right foot again, and kicked towards the center of Kakuzu's chest, where his heart was located!
"Konoha Great Whirlwind!"
Boom!
A dull crash echoed. Kakuzu had only heard of Konoha's Might Guy's taijutsu, code-named 'Blue Beast,' being very powerful, but he hadn't expected this young man, code-named 'Black Death God,' to possess such supremely powerful taijutsu.
Unexpectedly, the area on his chest where his heart was located was directly pierced by Ren's kick, and his heart was shattered! A massive pain shot through his body, and the surface of his skin, which had been hardened by the Earth Style ninjutsu, now burst like broken porcelain. His entire body flew backward, slamming hard into the rocky cliffs in the distance. For a time, countless sand and dust were stirred up across the entire battlefield!
"Great! Captain Ren killed that person!"
Standing far away from the battlefield, Sunflower, who witnessed this scene, immediately jumped up in surprise, with undisguised joy on her face. However, a calm female voice next to her suppressed her cheer.
"Don't be so happy so early. There's something strange about that person. Even if his heart was broken by Ren just now, he didn't die."
The person speaking was naturally Shizune, who was extremely proficient in medical ninjutsu. She had also seen the scene just now and instantly made an accurate judgment on the situation on the battlefield.
"How... how is it possible!" Sunflower's eyes widened instantly, an unbelievable expression on her face as she questioned, "How can someone whose heart is shattered still be alive?!"
What Shizune had just said was completely beyond her comprehension.