"Come out and face me! Lightning Release: Guillotine Drop!"
A leapt high into the air and brought down another devastating axe kick.
Boom!
The ground within dozens of meters beneath him cracked apart. From the shattered stones, Uchiha Ren's figure burst out.
"Lightning Release: Thunder Oppression Horizontal Chop!"
A pushed his Lightning Release Chakra Mode to its limit. His body flashed forward, giving Ren no time to react. in an instant, he appeared in front of him and threw a punch.
"Flash!"
Ren's expression turned serious. Flames erupted beneath his feet as his body shot upward.
Now!
A's eyes gleamed.
The punch he had thrown halfway suddenly stopped as he changed tactics mid-attack.
"Lightning Release: Guillotine Chop—Thousand-Style Dance!"
A also leapt upward, lightning gathering in his hand and forming a blade of crackling electricity.
Ren's high-speed movement only allowed linear motion.
If A could catch him in the instant between one step pushing off and the next landing—Ren would be unable to change direction.
That brief moment would decide the battle.
Bang!
A's lightning-wreathed hand struck Ren's waist—
Yet instead of blood spraying everywhere, Ren's body exploded into flames once again.
"A Fire Clone?!"
A froze for a moment before immediately rejecting the idea.
"No… impossible! That was definitely his real body!"
Although Ren had once again burst into flames, the feeling of the strike was completely different from the clone earlier.
Moreover, while Ren's body had turned into fire, the flames did not disperse.
Instead, they wrapped around A's arm, trapping it within the blazing mass.
A trusted his instincts.
"Could it be… genjutsu?"
He suddenly remembered Ren's identity.
The Uchiha clan was infamous for its mastery of genjutsu. Their Sharingan could trap opponents in illusions with nothing more than a single glance.
This nearly unfair ability had even given rise to a well-known saying in the shinobi world:
"If you encounter an Uchiha ninja one-on-one—run immediately."
The statement might not be absolute, but it spoke volumes about the clan's reputation.
In battle, eye contact was almost unavoidable.
In a one-on-one fight, a single moment of eye contact could result in falling into a genjutsu and becoming helpless prey.
In group combat, however, teammates could disrupt the illusion and free one another.
That was one of the reasons Ren had assigned the Eight-Tails' jinchūriki, Killer B, to Minato Namikaze earlier.
Although the Sharingan was known as a natural counter to the tailed beasts, Killer B was a perfect jinchūriki.
He effectively fought as a two-person team together with Gyūki, allowing them to break genjutsu easily.
From the very beginning of the fight, A had been careful not to look directly into Ren's eyes.
He tracked Ren's movements only by observing his body.
If that was the case—
When had he been placed under a genjutsu?
But if it wasn't genjutsu…
Then how could this situation be explained?
"It's called elementalization."
Just as A's thoughts raced, Ren's calm, magnetic voice sounded beside his ear.
A instinctively turned his head—
And his eyes met a pair of crimson Sharingan.
Damn it!
A realized the danger instantly.
The next moment, his body stiffened.
His consciousness was dragged into a dark crimson world, where massive iron spikes pinned him in midair, leaving him unable to move.
"Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique!"
Back in the real world, Ren's body slowly reformed from flames.
He pressed a hand against A's head, strengthening the genjutsu's hold.
As expected—
When it came to capturing someone alive, genjutsu was the most effective method.
When A had first converted the power of Guillotine Drop into explosive speed, Ren had already realized that A had partially seen through the weakness of his Fire Release Chakra Mode.
From the beginning, Ren had never intended to kill A.
His goal had always been to capture him alive.
So when A believed he had deciphered Ren's abilities and lowered his guard, Ren used elementalization to disrupt his thinking—and seized the opportunity to cast genjutsu.
Elementalization allowed Ren to transform his body into fire itself, making attacks pass harmlessly through him.
This was one of the abilities granted by the Flame-Flame Fruit.
In the world of One Piece, the elementalization of Logia-type Devil Fruit users was extremely difficult to counter.
Only those who had mastered Haki could touch the real body of a Logia user.
Without Haki, one wouldn't even be qualified to fight them.
Of course—
Ren was an exception.
However, Ren discovered that chakra-infused attacks could still harm him even when he used elementalization.
Perhaps it was because Haki and chakra both originated from the body's internal energy.
Even so, elementalization was still extremely effective for evading attacks in advance.
Used properly, it could determine the outcome of a battle.
Just like now.
Ren exhaled slowly and deactivated the three-tomoe Sharingan in his eyes.
He slung the unconscious A over his shoulder.
After several swift flashes of movement, Ren returned to where Minato's squad was located.
The battle there had already ended.
Without A's incredible speed to restrain him, Minato Namikaze had been able to unleash his abilities completely.
Among the Kumogakure squad, only Killer B could exchange more than a few moves with Minato.
The other Cloud ninja were defeated almost instantly.
And with the assistance of Minato's teammates—Inuzuka Gaku and Akimichi Dōtō, both Konoha jōnin—Killer B hadn't even had the chance to fully transform into the Eight-Tails before being sealed.
"Ren!"
Minato and the others immediately noticed Ren approaching.
"I've temporarily restrained him with genjutsu," Ren said as he dropped A onto the ground. "But to be safe, you should seal his chakra."
"Understood."
Minato nodded and rapidly formed hand seals.
Five small flames of chakra appeared on the tips of his fingers.
"Five Elements Seal!"
Minato crouched down and slammed his palm onto A's abdomen.
Five tomoe-shaped sealing marks appeared on A's stomach, locking down the flow of chakra within his body.
Minato wiped the sweat from his forehead and stood up.
"I used too much chakra earlier sealing the Eight-Tails' jinchūriki. For now, the Five Elements Seal can only disrupt his chakra flow."
"It can't completely sever his connection to chakra, but he won't be able to use any jutsu."
"That's enough."
Ren nodded.
"Once we return to the village, we can place stronger restraints on him."
A faint smile appeared on Ren's face.
"With this… the war should finally be over."
Minato and the others relaxed slightly as well.
This war had lasted nearly eight long years.
At last—
It was finally coming to an end.
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