"Hoo, hoo, hoo."
Ren lay on the open ground, taking deep breaths of fresh air, his clothes soaked with sweat and clinging tightly to his skin.
"Goodness, I didn't expect you, my main body, to actually succeed."
The second Shadow Clone put down the hand seal he was forming, walked over to Ren, and squatted down, speaking with some emotion.
"You bastard, can you stop talking and help me up!"
Ren gritted his teeth and glared at the second Shadow Clone. If it weren't for the fact that he currently had no strength in his entire body, he would have gotten up and punched the guy twice.
"Alright, alright, I get it, honestly."
The second Shadow Clone rolled his eyes and kept muttering as he helped Ren up.
"I am you, what's the difference between you scolding me and scolding yourself?"
"You!"
Ren immediately became furious. Just as he was about to make a move, the second Shadow Clone instantly shut his mouth. Then, after helping Ren to the shade of a tree, he exploded into white smoke and dissipated into the air.
"This guy."
The first Shadow Clone watched the dissipating white smoke and immediately jumped down from the tree, coming closer to the main body.
"How is it? No problems, right?"
"I'm fine!"
Ren shook his head, then looked at the other Shadow Clone and said softly, "Brother, thank you for helping with the lookout for a while. I still need to unseal the Four Symbols Seal within my body."
"Okay, leave it to me."
The first Shadow Clone nodded, and the next moment, he disappeared from his spot, reappearing on the tree where he began to seriously keep watch. Noticing this, Ren couldn't help but sigh.
They are all Shadow Clones, why is the difference so great?
"Next…"
Ren looked down at his abdomen. Next to the original Four Symbols Seal, an identical black rune had appeared. In Ren's perception, Chomei was quietly staying inside it.
Ren leaned against the tree and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he had already arrived in another place.
"Huh? Where is this?"
Looking around, there was nothing but water under his feet and endless darkness. Not far away, Isobu was quietly lying there, looking in his direction.
"Isobu, what's going on?"
Isobu was silent for a moment before saying in a deep voice, "I don't know either. I woke up and it was like this."
"Huh?"
Ren looked around. After thinking for a while and not understanding, he simply stopped thinking about it. Anyway, there was no harm, and it looked much more comfortable than the previous sewer-like sealing space.
"Where's Chomei?"
"I'm here."
As soon as Ren finished speaking, and before Isobu could open his mouth, a low voice sounded from behind.
Ren turned his head and saw a giant cage on the water not far away. Chomei was locked inside, its faceplate looking towards him.
"So you're here."
Ren used the Instantaneous Body Technique several times to arrive in front of the cage. Looking at the unchanged sealing formula on it, he floated up and said inside, "Just wait a moment, Chomei, I'll unseal you right away."
"Mm."
Chomei nodded without speaking, and Ren didn't waste any time. He removed the talisman with his left hand and lifted his clothing with his right, all in one fluid motion.
Within a few breaths, Chomei flew out of the cage, and Ren smoothly landed on its back.
"This is much better."
Ren looked at the two massive creatures in front of him and grinned, "The three-person team is officially formed!"
Now he was no longer fighting alone. With two Tailed Beasts inside him, Ren instantly felt much more confident.
"Oh, right!"
Ren's eyes suddenly lit up. He lowered his head and looked at Chomei's faceplate, asking with some anticipation, "Chomei, Chomei, I should be able to use your abilities now, right? Can you let me try?"
Chomei is the only Tailed Beast that can fly, and its Jinchuriki can, of course, use this flying ability.
"Yes."
"Yahoo! Then I'm going out first! Call me if anything happens, big brothers!"
Noticing Chomei's nod, Ren immediately cheered, then greeted the two Tailed Beasts and returned to his main body, leaving the two Tailed Beasts to look at each other…
"Mmm, much more comfortable."
When Ren returned to his main body, he found he was much better than before. Although still a bit weak, he should recover soon.
"Let me think, I need to find Chomei's Chakra first."
Ren muttered as he began to probe his body. Because the seal was released, the Seven-Tails' Chakra naturally mixed with Ren's and the Three-Tails' Chakra.
Ren drew out some of Chomei's Chakra and directed it to his back.
Soon, Ren felt a breeze on his back. When he turned around, he saw three pairs of wings constantly flapping in the air behind him, sending gusts of cool wind his way.
"Hm?"
Ren looked curiously at the pairs of wings behind him, thin as cicada wings. In his perception, although these wings were formed from Chakra, he could control them as he wished.
"Then… let's fly!"
Ren suddenly increased the flapping of his wings, and the next moment, he disappeared from his spot.
"Hm???"
The first Shadow Clone was sitting on the tree, keeping watch over the surroundings, when suddenly a figure shot out from the nearby treetop. Before he could see clearly, the latter continued to fly upwards and disappeared from sight.
"What the heck?"
The first Shadow Clone leaped to the top of the tree and quickly caught sight of that figure in the cloudless sky.
"Main body?"
Recognizing Ren, the first Shadow Clone was instantly bewildered.
What's going on? When did our main body learn a flying Ninjutsu? How come I don't know about it?
"No, those are… wings??"
After observing for a moment, the first Shadow Clone noticed the wings on Ren's back. After a brief thought, he remembered Chomei, whom Ren had just sealed, and a look of understanding immediately appeared in his eyes. He then sat cross-legged on the treetop, watching Ren fly back and forth in the air.
"Yahoo, this is so exhilarating!"
Although a bit rusty at first, Ren quickly found the knack for flying. Within a few minutes, he could already control his wings to fly normally.
"Brother. How is it? Aren't I flying very impressively?"
The first Shadow Clone looked at Ren, who had suddenly shot in front of him and stopped steadily, then rested his chin on his hands and said with some helplessness, "Impressive. So, can we leave now? We've been out for three days already."
"Uh?"
Ren's excited expression instantly froze, and even the speed of the rapidly flapping wings on his back slowed down considerably.
Goodness, he almost forgot that he had requested a three-day leave. Today was already the third day since they left, and it was almost afternoon. At their current speed, even if they flew, they wouldn't make it back today.
Suddenly, Ren seemed to remember something, and the expression on his face immediately cleared up. He looked at the first Shadow Clone and said cheerfully, "Don't panic. What I told Minato was 'at least three days, at most five days.' At our flying speed, if we leave now, we'll definitely make it back tomorrow."
No choice, being able to fly means being willful.