Chapter 73: The Black Death God

The next moment, Ren swiftly sheathed the Sun Blade. His eyes, cold and piercing beneath his mask, fixed on the remaining enemies before him.

Ren dropped to one knee, shifting his weight into his legs and channeling chakra into the light boots he wore. An azure glow pulsed around his feet!

Full Speed!

In the very next second, Ren shot across the water, a blur of motion. Under his full-speed burst, his body became a mere afterimage. Despite being Special Jōnin, the opposing ninjas watched in horror, unable to track Ren's movements!

He appeared directly in front of a handful of terrified Special Jōnin, not uttering a single word. The sword in his hand swept out in a sudden, lethal arc.

"Breath of Water: First Form – Water Surface Slash!"

Boom!

A three-meter-long wave of sword qi erupted, tearing through nearly a dozen Special Jōnin. Only two managed to execute the Substitution Jutsu in time. The others, their eyes wide with shock and disbelief, were cut clean in half by the icy blade, not even a sound escaping their lips. For a moment, flesh and blood splattered through the air, and bodies rained down.

"No... impossible!"

"He blocked our combined Water Style jutsu?!"

"Could he be one of Konoha's Anbu commanders?"

The four remaining Jōnin and the handful of Special Jōnin were struck with expressions of utter shock and terror. They'd arrived with over fifty people, expecting a swift victory. But now, less than ten remained standing on the battlefield!

Ren wasted no superfluous words. His figure flickered again, darting straight for the survivors. He delivered another ruthless slash, and the azure water that clung to his blade washed away the blood instantly.

"Defend now!"

"Earth Style: Earth-Style Wall!"

"Earth Style: Earth-Style Wall!"

The remaining few, all formidable ninjas, were stunned by Ren's impossible speed but weren't as easily overwhelmed as their fallen comrades. Watching Ren prepare another attack, they instinctively performed their Earth Style defensive jutsu. Most were Special Jōnin at least, proficient in multiple elemental releases.

Boom!

The earth trembled. Several earthen walls erupted from the ground, quickly merging to form an Earth Style ninjutsu almost as strong as the A-rank Earth-Style Barrier! It stood like an impenetrable fortress in the heart of the battlefield.

"Boom!"

A sword qi struck, leaving a deep gash in the earthen wall. But the massive structure held firm, not even swaying. Ren's Sun Blade was designed for extreme sharpness and speed, and this colossal earthen wall effectively neutralized his cutting power.

"Can it finally stop his sword qi with this defense?"

"Good, this move restrains his blade."

"We need to get out of here. We have to report this situation to the elders. These Konoha Anbu ninjas are far more powerful than we imagined, and we've lost so many comrades..."

Relief washed over the group behind the Earth-Style Wall. They planned to seize the first opportunity to escape this place safely.

"Trying to run?" A faint smile touched Ren's lips. "Did I give you permission?"

A flash of white light, and a massive black hammer materialized in his hand. This was Ren's forging hammer, one of the ninja tools he'd crafted himself. When infused with chakra, its swinging power multiplied tenfold!

Tenfold! What did that mean?

For Ren, whose physical strength was immense even at twelve years old—capable of bearing a thousand pounds of weight—swinging an ordinary hammer for forging could exert two thousand pounds of pressure. But with this black hammer, infused with chakra, that pressure skyrocketed to over twenty thousand pounds! The countless hard ores that were once difficult to forge were now effortlessly pulverized into powder; it was his favorite tool for crafting.

A weapon powerful enough to smash even steel!

Now, Ren hefted the black hammer and brought it down on the earthen wall!

"Eighty!" Ren bellowed, a hint of playful mischief in his voice.

'Forty hammers, eighty hammers... everyone knows the saying.'

Crack!

Ren's first blow vibrated through the earth wall, shaking the entire connected structure.

"Eighty!"

Another swing. The earthen wall's surface instantly cracked, countless fissures spreading across it, leaving the entire structure crumbling.

"Eighty!"

The third hammer shattered the fractured Earth-Style Wall completely! The immense force swept outward in all directions, blasting away everyone who had been hiding behind it, waiting for their chance to escape.

Thump!

In an instant, under the sheer shockwave, every ninja's body convulsed violently, and they coughed up blood!

The next moment, Ren's light boots propelled him forward again at blinding speed. He moved with an almost casual force, bringing the hammer down again!

Boom!

This time, without the Earth-Style Wall for defense, no one present could withstand Ren's attack. Even a few who desperately unleashed their unique, life-saving secret techniques found them directly shattered by the raw, brutal power erupting from the hammer in Ren's hand, obliterating everything in its path!

Unstoppable!

Under this overwhelming force, cracks tore through the earth, spreading outwards. This wasn't the effect of any Earth Style ninjutsu; it was pure, destructive power! The previous puddles left by the Water Style ninjutsu now flowed into the newly formed fissures, disappearing into the ground.

The bright red on the earth spread further, like gruesome flowers blooming on a battlefield of ruins, with countless corpses serving as their waste. The flowers of hell had blossomed!

By now, the enemy force that had ambushed Ren was almost entirely annihilated. Most had fallen solely to Ren's hand. He had killed more enemies by himself than Sunflower, Seaisland, and Moth combined!

This entire process was nearly instantaneous. Ren had swept through the battlefield with an overwhelming, destructive power, crushing them all.

Of course, one enemy remained on the battlefield: the Jōnin named Kawasuke, the one who had initially stabbed Moth. Among their entire group, he was the strongest, and he had barely managed to evade the last wave of Ren's black hammer, escaping immediate death like the others.

But even so, his internal organs had suffered severe trauma. Just keeping himself standing was a struggle.

"You... who are you?" he rasped weakly, a hint of defiance still lingering in his eyes. He, who had faced death so many times, now defeated by a mere child?

"Me? Just an Anbu squad leader," Ren replied with a nonchalant wave of his hand, a look of indifference on his face. However, he saw the deep unwillingness in Kawasuke's eyes; his simple answer clearly hadn't satisfied the man.

'It wouldn't do to let him die with regrets,' Ren thought. He walked up to Kawasuke and whispered, "Perhaps, another title of mine might interest you... I am the Black Death God."

"You... you... you are..." Kawasuke's eyes shot wide open in a nightmare-like terror. His face turned ashen, utterly drained of blood, and his eyes bulged in sheer horror. But whatever he was about to say next, he never got the chance. Ren simply twisted his neck.