"The guy hiding in the corner, aren't you ready to come out?" After dealing with Zabuza, Ren looked toward a distant jungle.
"And there are enemies?" Tazuna was startled at the words, but he soon calmed down again. He had just witnessed this young man, Ren, kill such a powerful ninja, which was enough to show his formidable strength. He remembered the contempt he'd felt for Ren when he first saw him, and Tazuna's heart couldn't help but feel a chill of fear. Fortunately, he hadn't truly angered the young man then, otherwise, he might not even know how he died!
"Hey, is there really someone?" After Ren's reminder, Might Guy, who was relatively on edge, immediately noticed another presence.
A whoosh.
A figure appeared in front of them instantly. It was a beautiful young man, with a face even gentler than a woman's. With a soft and warm apology on his face, he respectfully pleaded with Ren: "We give up this mission. My lord, please allow me to take away my lord's body. I am willing to agree to any conditions you have."
Ren swept his gaze over Haku's face, prettier than a woman's, and nodded. "You can take his body, but the Kubikiribocho must remain."
The beautiful boy's expression hesitated for a second, then he nodded and thanked Ren very politely, "Thank you, my lord." He then walked towards Ren. His eyes were very calm, unwavering, and he didn't seem to be afraid that Ren, who was the enemy, would go back on his word. In those black pupils, Ren seemed to be able to see a trace of death.
Haku didn't seem to have any intention of seeking revenge for Zabuza. Or perhaps he didn't dare after witnessing Ren's strength? Or was he simply kind-hearted, unwilling to kill after giving up this task? Or was Zabuza's position in his heart extremely important, and he couldn't bear to let his lord's corpse be exposed to the wilderness, no matter the cost? Ren didn't care about any of these possibilities.
Ren didn't feel any killing intent from Haku's body, so he agreed to let him take Zabuza's corpse. Only when Haku passed him, Ren whispered a few words to him in a low voice. Haku hesitated for a few seconds, then lowered his head and nodded softly to Ren, "Yes, Lord Ren." Then Haku walked behind Ren, picked up Zabuza's body, and disappeared from the spot.
Ren picked up the Kubikiribocho left on the ground and chose to submit the task.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing the task!]
[Quest Reward: blueprint of Daiguren Hyōrinmaru!]
After hearing the system's voice, Ren was very satisfied. And when he obtained the information on the blueprint of Daiguren Hyōrinmaru, a slight shock appeared in his eyes. It turned out to be a six-star blueprint! Ren couldn't help but sigh in his heart, 'The Daiguren Hyōrinmaru is worthy of being the strongest Zanpakutō of the ice type!' He was certain that when this Zanpakutō was created, it would definitely become an artifact capable of shocking the entire world! Moreover, this was the first six-star blueprint Ren had obtained! In the past four years, although he had completed many tasks released by the system, the highest-level blueprint he'd received was five stars.
After these four years, his system interface had undergone very big changes:
[Host: Ren]
[Age: 12 years old]
[Forging Level: Intermediate]
[Unlocked Weapons:]
Six-star weapon: Zanpakutō - Daiguren Hyōrinmaru!
Five-star weapons: Intermediate Storage Ring, White Mist Sword, Ten Needles of Skyfire...
Four-star weapons: Mechanical Bird, Three-Tomoe Sharingan, Imperial Dragon Crown, Nightbringer Helmet...
Three-star weapon: Nichirin Blade...
Two-star weapon: Heavenly Feather Robe...
One-star weapon: …
After viewing the system panel, Ren temporarily closed it. As a six-star Zanpakutō, the materials required for forging were also very complex, numbering in the hundreds. Although Ren's collection ring had gathered a lot of special materials and ores in the past few years, it wasn't enough to fully satisfy the hundreds of forging materials for the Zanpakutō. There were several special minerals that had to be obtained in the territory of the Fire Nation. So, he could only start forging this Zanpakutō after he had all the materials in place.
"Ren, your strength has become stronger again." Might Guy walked to Ren's side. He patted his shoulder and said very excitedly, "Sure enough, all the hard work you put in will pay off. I have witnessed all of your hard work in your cultivation and the rapid growth of your strength. This is an exciting youth!"
"Haha, I'm sorry, Guy-sensei, I took your opponent," Ren chuckled.
"It's okay!" Might Guy waved his fists a few times in place, eager to show off his skills. "Our mission this time hasn't truly begun yet! Tazuna said there's a bad guy called Gato in the Land of Waves, right? Heh heh! Just wait until this uncle arrives in the Land of Waves and beats that guy to the ground!"
'How much was Gato worth?' Ren couldn't help but smile. He was afraid the next thing would be a disappointment for Guy-sensei.
After a short break, Ren, Might Guy, and Tazuna set off again on the road leading to Tazuna's house. They arrived at their destination in less than two hours.
After accepting the gracious hospitality of Tazuna's family, as Might Guy was planning to demonstrate his skills to deal with the villain named Gato, exciting news arrived that made Tazuna's family, and even the people of the entire Land of Waves, rejoice!
Gato was dead!
The villain who controlled the Land of Waves and committed all kinds of evil had been silently killed by a member of a mysterious organization in his office!
After hearing this news, Tazuna couldn't believe it for a while. It wasn't until his daughter and his colleagues who built the bridge came to tell him the good news that he finally believed it. Without further ado, Tazuna followed his architect colleagues out of the house. Ren didn't know if it was to deal with the political affairs of the Land of Waves or to seize the time to build the bridge.
Upon hearing the news, Might Guy had a disappointed expression on his face, feeling utterly bored, like a deflated ball. Then, the extremely bored Might Guy finally sensed something was wrong with his wild intuition. He stared into Ren's eyes and exclaimed, "I'll go, apprentice, you weren't behind this, were you?!"
Ren put on a very innocent look and blinked. "Guy-sensei, if you don't have any evidence, you can't slander me like that!" He added, "Furthermore, if that guy Gato is dead, there's no more danger in the Land of Waves, so our mission is basically over, right?"
"Uh..." Might Guy said, a guilty expression on his face. Then he puffed out his chest, patted it, and assured Ren, "After handing over the task with Mr. Tazuna, we'll set off immediately! Don't worry, Ren, we'll definitely make it back!"
'No, he's deliberately changing the subject!' Might Guy suddenly reacted, and then he grew even more suspicious of Ren in his heart. Although there was no evidence, he just knew that Gato's death had to have something to do with his apprentice!
"Ren, you really and Gato..." Just as Might Guy was about to ask something else, Ren suddenly interrupted him, "Guy-sensei, didn't you forget that the day after tomorrow is my graduation exam?"
"Ah? Graduation exam, it's the day after tomorrow?" Might Guy was stunned, apparently having completely forgotten such a thing.
"Indeed, I had already guessed this." Ren's head was covered in black lines, and he couldn't help holding his forehead and sighing, "We have to return to Konoha before the day after tomorrow. If we can't finish this task, I'm about to miss my graduation exam and be held back."
"Uh..." Might Guy said with a guilty expression on his face. Then he puffed out his chest, patted it, and assured Ren, "After handing over the task with Mr. Tazuna, we'll set off immediately! Don't worry, Ren, we'll definitely make it back!"