An hour later, the Sun Blade in Ren's hand flashed, severing Hidan's head from his body. Once Ren understood Hidan's Jashin ritual and mainly prevented him from obtaining his own blood, there was nothing to fear from Hidan's otherwise troublesome immortality. Dealing with him was much easier than dealing with Kakuzu.
"Damn! Damn! Damn brat!"
After Hidan's head fell to the ground, he was still cursing incessantly, chattering like a shrew.
"This guy... what's going on?" Sunflower and the others approached from a distance, looking at the scene before them with astonishment, unable to hide their shock. The man they had just faced had five hearts and had to be killed five times before he would truly die, which had surprised them quite a bit. They hadn't expected this person in front of them to be even stranger; his head had fallen off, yet he wasn't dead, and he was still talking!
"It's a kind of evil mysticism, granting him an immortal body," Ren explained simply.
"It's... it's so weird!" Facing Hidan, whose corpse was separated, Sunflower approached Hidan's head curiously, staring at it carefully from left to right.
"Wait a minute... Be careful!"
At this moment, beside Hidan's head, a huge pitcher plant suddenly rose from the ground. A half-black, half-white figure appeared within the pitcher plant.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Several kunai shot out in different directions. Tsunade and the others were caught off guard and quickly stepped aside to avoid them. However, Sunflower, who was closest to Hidan, had no time to avoid. In a flash, Ren reacted fastest, jumping to Sunflower's side at once. With a few clangs, all those flying kunai were knocked down.
However, in less than a second, it had granted him the chance. Black Zetsu immediately pulled Hidan's head into his arms, then plunged towards Hidan's corpse at an incredibly high speed.
"Don't even think about it!" The long sword in Ren's hand instantly positioned itself on the only path Black Zetsu could take to reach Hidan's corpse!
Clang!
Black Zetsu and White Zetsu immediately halted their movements and were forced to change their body shape. But even so, most of the pitcher plant's green leaves, along with most of White Zetsu's body, were sliced off by Ren's single sword strike!
And just as Ren was preparing to press his advantage, to capture the Akatsuki members White Zetsu and Black Zetsu, the duo, seeing that their sneak attack had failed, immediately abandoned the idea of stealing Hidan's body. Without any lingering regret, they dived directly into the ground and escaped before Ren could launch another attack!
As soon as they burrowed beneath the surface, a few people behind Ren immediately wanted to give chase. But Ren stopped them, shouting loudly, "Stop chasing!"
"Captain, this..."
"There's a saying: 'Do not chase a cornered thief,' and this is what we're facing now," Ren explained.
If the enemy could be cut down and killed, Ren would certainly not let them go. 'Absolutely... the Akatsuki organization...' The Akatsuki organization was not a simple group, and Zetsu... especially Black Zetsu, his methods were unpredictable. Ren might not be able to catch him, and he might even provoke other Akatsuki members to arrive. With chakra crystals, Ren didn't lack chakra. But against Pain, who possessed the Rinnegan, Ren would also find it difficult to resist.
"Clean up the battlefield, take the enemy's body with us, and let's return to Konoha!" Ren gave the order, his voice incredibly majestic.
"Yes, Captain Ren!" Sunflower replied loudly. Moth and Seaisland on the side didn't dare to disobey Ren's order this time and followed Sunflower to clean up Kakuzu's body.
"Boy, well done!" Tsunade looked at Ren with gleaming eyes and praised him aloud. "Such combat power... I'm afraid it's even stronger than mine!" At the end of the battle, Ren had adjusted his state in an instant, just like usual.
"Lady Tsunade is joking," Ren said. "If not for Lady Tsunade's help in this battle, our Anbu team would have met our end here." What Ren said wasn't mere flattery. With his current strength, a two-on-two against Akatsuki members would have been extremely difficult!
"Hahaha, you little brat can talk!" Tsunade laughed loudly, then handed the Tracking Bow she held to Ren. "Here, this thing is back to you!"
Ren smiled. He didn't reach for the Tracking Bow. "This bow is given to Lady Tsunade as a thank-you gift for your help."
Tsunade shook her head, rejecting Ren's proposal. "How is this possible! One thing is one thing! Helping you gamble at the casino was the reward for helping me win money. This bow was not part of our agreement." While speaking, Tsunade took two steps forward and handed the bow back to Ren.
This Tracking Bow... was naturally an excellent bow, and it was no exaggeration to call it an artifact. Good things were naturally desired by everyone, and Tsunade was no exception. But she still restrained herself and returned the Tracking Bow to Ren.
"Winning a little money in the casino doesn't compare to this difficult battle. This bow is an additional reward, and it's for you!"
"Lady Tsunade, please don't refuse."
"It would be hypocritical to keep refusing any further," Ren smiled.
"Alright, since you insist, I'll accept it then!" Tsunade responded generously. She then asked, "Are you going back to Konoha?"
Ren nodded.
"Okay, let me travel with you then!" It wouldn't look good for Tsunade to part ways with Ren immediately after receiving the Tracking Bow as a gift from him. So Tsunade decided to escort Ren all the way back to Konoha, and if they encountered another battle on the way, she could help out and reciprocate the gift.
"I haven't been back to Konoha for many years; it's a good time to see how Konoha is doing now..."
Ren did not refuse Tsunade's request. Soon, the Anbu team finished cleaning up Kakuzu's corpse. Ren and his party set off for Konoha once more.
Two days later, Konoha, Hokage's Office.
"Ren, you truly had a tough mission this time!" Hiruzen Sarutobi praised Ren, who stood before him, with a sigh of admiration.
"This is what I should do, Hokage-sama!"
Hearing Ren's return, Hiruzen carefully read the mission report several times. After a while, Hiruzen Sarutobi chuckled and said, "I will upgrade this quest to an A-rank quest, Ren. Don't make a mistake when you go to collect the quest reward; you were initially assigned a B-rank quest!"
"Old man, are you too stingy?"
"Talking about A-rank missions?"
"I ask you, can a normal S-rank mission be as dangerous as this one?!"
A voice of dissatisfaction resonated through the Hokage office, disrespectful to the Hokage himself. Under normal circumstances, a bunch of other Anbu ninjas lurking in the shadows would have already subdued the person who spoke.
But now... no Anbu ninjas in the Hokage's office moved. After all, the person who said this was the granddaughter of the First Hokage, Konoha's Princess Tsunade Senju! They dared not cause trouble with Tsunade!