Promoting the Konoha threat theory, and talking about the Hidden Mist Belt!

"...Ghost Lantern Crescent Moon?"

Upon hearing that familiar voice, Ren looked at the figure in front of her, enveloped in scarlet chakra, with six tails swaying back and forth behind him, exuding an ominous aura, and immediately withdrew without hesitation.

It's clear from this chakra aura, which is far stronger than before, that Hozuki Shingetsu has successfully subdued the Six-Tails and become its jinchūriki.

Ren wasn't surprised that Hozuki Shingetsu possessed the talent to become a Jinchuriki of a Tailed Beast. Despite being an enemy, Ren acknowledged his aptitude as a ninja, and with the help of the Uzumaki clan's sealing techniques, it wasn't surprising that he became a Jinchuriki of a Tailed Beast.

However, it was only two hours at most when Hozuki Shingetsu and the others left here for the Uzumaki clan's territory. How could they become Jinchuriki of Tailed Beasts in such a short time?

Furthermore, considering that he could easily reveal six tails while remaining rational, Hozuki Shingetsu's sealing of the Six-Tails even left room for maneuver. Could it be that the Uzumaki clan's sealing techniques are truly that powerful? Enough to make someone a Six-Tails Jinchuriki in such a short time?

but……

"He's still just a child! He doesn't think things through."

Ren looked at the seemingly powerful Hozuki Crescent Moon before her, a hint of disdain flashing in her eyes.

Because he was greedy for Kage-level strength, he rashly became a Jinchuriki of a Tailed Beast. Even though he succeeded with the help of the Uzumaki clan, so what?

Do you really think he, the Mizukage, is made of clay? Do you really think that someone who has been a Jinchuriki of a Tailed Beast for less than an hour can easily crush him?

What a joke!

Moreover, in Lian's eyes, sacrificing one's future for this rapid increase in strength is utterly foolish!

Unless the Six-Tails doesn't resist at all, or even actively cooperates with Hozuki Shingetsu in using its chakra, then a Jinchuriki of this level is nothing but a nobody in front of him!

After all, his decades of painstaking cultivation were not something that could be easily surpassed.

"What, you don't recognize me anymore?"

Hozuki Shingetsu casually tossed the broken half of his ninja sword aside, and several tails behind him swayed back and forth, helping Hozuki Zangetsu to his feet.

As expected of a tailed beast, under the influence of this massive chakra, Hozuki Shingetsu could clearly feel a continuous stream of power surging from the depths of his body.

With this power, combined with the Water Release Chakra Mode, he can even break a ninja sword made of chakra metal with his bare hands!

"The Six-Tails Jinchuriki? Shingetsu, you..."

At this moment, Hozuki Zangetsu finally realized Hozuki Shingetsu's current state, but like everyone else, he didn't understand why his son would give up a promising future and choose to become a Jinchuriki of a Tailed Beast.

Although becoming a Jinchūriki of a Tailed Beast is the easiest way to become a Kage, the aftereffects of fighting against the Tailed Beasts day and night are enough to cut off a ninja's chance of advancement.

However, judging from the current trend, Hozuki Shingetsu has a very high chance of following the path of Hozuki Gengetsu. Wouldn't he be stronger than a half-baked Tailed Beast Jinchuriki?

"Why should I hesitate to sacrifice myself to protect the village?"

"Compared to the suffering of the village, what is my little pain?"

At this moment, Hozuki Shingetsu subtly dispersed the tailed beast chakra that had been enveloping him, revealing his resolute face.

His handsome face, coupled with the constantly waving scarlet tail behind him and his ominous aura, made Hozuki Shingetsu's temperament seem both holy and demonic. With the support of his powerful voice, everyone present seemed to see a bright new moon slowly rising.

Although there were no outsiders here, only allies and enemies, Hozuki Shingetsu still kept in mind the self-discipline of an actor, constantly reminding himself to pay attention to his character.

Immediately afterwards, the topic of Hozuki Shingetsu, which emphasizes the integrity of its actors, shifted to raising the banner of righteousness.

"Ren, for your own selfish reasons, you plotted today's tailed beast chaos, causing countless casualties in the village. How can you call yourself the Mizukage after what you have done?"

Under the influence of chakra, these words were spread widely, and all the ninjas present heard them.

"Ha, you sharp-tongued brat."

Ren dismissed Hozuki Shingetsu's accusations with disdain, neither refuting nor admitting them.

Those present were all on their own side, so such lukewarm words had no effect on either side, who were already blinded by rage.

Of course, Hozuki Shingetsu didn't expect to be able to disrupt the other party's mindset with this; he was only doing this to stabilize the current situation.

After all, while the concept of righteousness is invisible and intangible, it plays a crucial role in stabilizing public sentiment at critical moments.

As expected, after Hozuki Shingetsu uttered those words as the Six-Tails Jinchuriki, their previously crumbling defenses immediately stabilized.

With such a courageous leader and such a noble cause at their disposal, how could the ninjas present not be filled with righteous indignation and fight with all their might?

"So, it seems you want a one-on-one duel with me, is that it?"

Ren looked at Hozuki Shingetsu, whose six tails were swaying behind him, poised to strike, and sneered, "What gave you the courage to challenge me? Just those six tails?"

"Courage? You need courage to even challenge yourself?"

He certainly wouldn't lose a verbal battle like this, and he never forgets his professionalism as an actor, always placing himself on the side of righteousness.

"If I had to say who gave me courage, it would certainly be the thousands upon thousands of righteous villagers of Kirigakure. With their support, no matter what the enemy is, they can only fall to our collective will."

Lian remained silent, realizing that it was pointless to talk to someone like Hozuki Shingetsu.

He even suspected that Hozuki Shingetsu might have some side job, or that being a ninja was his side job. Otherwise, where did he learn such a shameless style and the way he always put himself on the side of righteousness?

Summoning Jutsu: Ninja Tool Summoning!

Upon realizing this, Lian immediately bit her thumb and slapped her hands on the ground to summon a ninja sword wrapped in bandages.

"Since that's the case, then I won't hold back anymore. Let me see if you have the ability to defeat me and become the Mizukage by stepping over my corpse!"

Ignoring the fact that Suigetsu Hozuki, who had rushed into the crowd, would lose his weapon, Ren charged towards Hozuki Shingetsu with Samehada in hand.

In his view, Hozuki Shingetsu's appearance here at this time is actually a good thing. As long as Hozuki Shingetsu can be dealt with here, it means that the two pillars of the Hozuki clan's present and future have been destroyed. In this way, the Hozuki clan can basically declare its withdrawal from Kirigakure.

As for the Uzumaki clan, once the Hozuki clan is eliminated, none of the surviving ninjas in Kirigakure will support the Uzumaki clan, a ninja clan that has only recently arrived in Kirigakure.

This has nothing to do with who is right or wrong; it's about stance!

Even if He Lian makes a mistake, he is still one of Kirigakure's own people.

And you, the Uzumaki clan, have already separated from the Hozuki clan, yet you still want to punish them? Who do you think you are?

Faced with the overwhelming force of the lotus, Hozuki Shingetsu dared not be careless in the slightest.

The six tails formed from the chakra of the tailed beast behind her suddenly shot forward, coming together to block Ren's attack.

However, in the blind spot, dozens of water needles drew an arc in the air, densely piercing Hozuki Shingetsu's vital points.

However, unlike Hozuki Zangetsu, Hozuki Shingetsu, empowered by the Tailed Beast Cloak, doesn't need to worry about these low-level ninjutsu attacks at all. Even if Ren Lian plays them in fancy ways, he can't break through his defense.

As expected, these water sticks could only make clanging sounds helplessly, unable to break through the defense at all.

Seeing this, Ren simply abandoned these low-level ninjutsu and instead used various advanced ninjutsu to try to break through Hozuki Shingetsu's defense while constantly pulling Hozuki Shingetsu's position using the Body Flicker Technique.

To be honest, under this flexible and maneuvering tactic, Hozuki Shingetsu's shallow combat experience was exposed. While he was dodging and weaving, he was often pulled into openings by Ren, and what awaited him at these moments was often a flash of lightning or a vicious ninjutsu.

These attacks were fleeting, and Hozuki Shingetsu had no chance to react. He could only rely on his tough Tailed Beast Cloak and powerful physique to withstand them.

So for a moment, the scene on the field was one where Ren was overwhelming Hozuki Shingetsu while he could only struggle to hold on.

"Was it ultimately too much of a stretch?"

Seeing this, Hozuki Zangetsu sighed inwardly, thinking that Hozuki Shingetsu had just become a Jinchuriki of a Tailed Beast and was not yet able to fully master this power, which was why he was behaving this way.

However, little did they know that Hozuki Shingetsu had already anticipated this scenario.

After all, Ren's ability to defeat his own father proved that the Mizukage was no pushover. While he himself could freely manipulate the Tailed Beast's chakra with the help of the Six-Tails, he had only recently become a Jinchūriki and lacked the necessary experience. Furthermore, this was his first battle against a Kage-level opponent, and his combat experience was insufficient, so this situation was entirely nothing to worry about.

Hozuki Shingetsu had already decided to prolong the battle, relying on the immense chakra, defense, and recovery speed brought by the tailed beast jinchūriki to wage a war of attrition against Ren.

When Renji couldn't break through, he was well aware of Hozuki Shingetsu's plans. Although he specifically chose Samehada, a ninja sword capable of absorbing chakra, to deal with Hozuki Shingetsu, relying solely on Samehada to absorb the tailed beast's chakra was ultimately too slow.

Tonight's battle should not be prolonged. Otherwise, if the Uzumaki clan finishes dealing with the tailed beasts and surrounds them, the already clear battle situation may suddenly change.

So his eyes narrowed, and he immediately thought of a quick and decisive solution.

He formed hand seals, and as the seals were completed, a dragon-shaped chakra shot into the sky.

Just as Hozuki Shingetsu was about to dodge, he was shocked to find that the water dragon bullet wasn't aimed at him at all. Instead, the winding water dragon shot straight up to his head, smashing through the entire ceiling in an instant. Its momentum didn't stop there; it continued to smash through the roofs of the surrounding houses before dissipating.

Before Hozuki Shingetsu could react, Ren immediately formed hand seals and released another ninjutsu.

"Secret Technique: Rain Slicer!"

Soon, a light drizzle began to fall. Every ninja who was drenched by the drizzle noticed that their chakra was dissipating over time, and many ninjutsu techniques even vanished into thin air as soon as they were used.

Upon seeing this scene, all the ninjas instinctively moved away from the battlefield, fearing they would be affected by Ren's ninjutsu.

For a moment, only Hozuki Shingetsu, Ren, and Hozuki Zangetsu, who could not leave, remained here.

Even Hozuki Shingetsu couldn't escape the rain.

The tailed beast cloak on his body gradually weakened under the influence of the light rain, and the originally thick tailed beast cloak was soon reduced to only a thin layer.

This is the secret technique of Kirigakure, the art of cutting rain.

This technique can dissipate all released chakra over time. In the original story, the Hidden Mist Village's Anbu used this technique to directly extinguish Naruto Uzumaki's Rasengan.

It can be said that once this technique is used, it essentially renders all of Hozuki Shingetsu's external ninjutsu useless, leaving him only able to fight using taijutsu and genjutsu.

The other affected ninjas were able to leave by moving away from the battlefield, but how could Hozuki Shingetsu, who was Ren's main target, possibly leave?

Therefore, with the tailed beast cloak gone, Hozuki Shingetsu, who possessed immense chakra but could not reveal it, was undoubtedly meat on the chopping block in Ren's eyes.

However, when Hozuki Shingetsu saw the scene before him, a strange expression immediately appeared on his face.

"Any exposed ninjutsu can't be used; only taijutsu and genjutsu can be used?"

Hozuki Shingetsu scratched his head and silently activated Water Release Chakra Mode.

Regarding this Rain-Cutting Technique, I also feel it's a bit of a bug. If it's as depicted in the anime, the Rain-Cutting Technique could not only weaken or even dissipate all outward-emitting chakra, but it would even have the ability to distinguish friend from foe.

If that's the case, then it would be too easy for Kaguya clan ninjas to go out and fight others. They could just activate the Rain-Cutting Technique and use the Corpse Bone Pulse Taijutsu without any brainpower.