After Ren finished reading the scroll, he didn't say a word, just stood silently beside Tsunade, lost in thought.
Inside the spacious tent, despite having four people, it was eerily quiet, with only the rustling sound of writing coming from the desk.
"Screech!"
Suddenly, the sound of a chair being pushed back rang out, and then Jiraiya stood up, his face grim, and walked out of the tent, his voice carrying from a distance.
"I'll be back tomorrow."
Watching his disappearing back, Tsunade came to the desk and sat down, rubbing her temples as she murmured,
"That guy."
They all knew what he was going to do, but they didn't try to stop him; it was probably good for him to vent his emotions.
"I'm going too!"
After a moment of thought, Tsunade also suddenly stood up and rushed out of the tent in a flurry, chasing after him. In an instant, the tent became empty again.
"Then I won't disturb you, Orochimaru-sama."
Looking at Orochimaru, who was diligently reviewing documents, Ren bowed slightly and said softly.
"Hmm, don't forget about tonight's experiment, Ren-kun."
He didn't pay much attention, just reminded him and then continued to focus on his own work.
"Alright."
After responding, Ren turned and left the tent. Kurenai should be working at the Medical Camp now, so Ren didn't disturb her. Instead, he walked straight out of the Konoha Camp.
Once outside, Ren immediately sensed two powerful Chakras moving forward, so he instantly changed direction.
In less than half an hour, Ren stopped, squatting on a tree trunk and observing a passing Iwagakure squad below, a cold glint in his eyes.
After fifteen minutes, Ren nodded in satisfaction, looking at the Iwagakure ninja whose hands and feet were bound, mouths gagged with cloth, and all of them unconscious.
Immediately, he collected all the money he had confiscated from them, then confirmed with his sensory perception that no one else was around before confidently taking out a storage scroll from his person and opening it.
"Bang!"
White smoke erupted, and after it dissipated, several strands of hair appeared on the scroll.
"Hmm…"
After a moment of thought, Ren selected an Iwagakure Genin and dragged him out onto the open ground.
"Ugh…"
The pain of being dragged on the ground quickly woke the Genin from his unconsciousness. The first thing he saw was all his comrades lying on the ground, eyes closed.
"Wuwuwu!"
He twisted his body, trying to break free from his restraints, his mouth wide open, but it was futile.
"Don't move."
Ren walked over to him, suppressed him while inserting a strand of hair into his neck, then stood up and retreated three steps, beginning to form hand signs.
"Tiger - Snake - Dog - Dragon"
After the four hand signs, Ren clasped his hands together fiercely, then slammed them onto the ground, roaring in a low voice,
"Edo Tensei!"
The struggling Iwagakure ninja suddenly noticed that the ground beneath him was glowing white, and then countless white paper tags swarmed out, completely enveloping him.
"Wuwuwu!!!"
The sound went from high to low until it completely disappeared. The white paper tags also dispersed, revealing the figure standing within.
"Where is… this?"
Looking at his own hands, a hint of confusion appeared in the figure's eyes. When he raised his head and looked around, his gaze quickly locked onto Ren.
"It's you!"
Seeing Ren, the figure's emotions immediately became agitated, the confusion in his eyes fading, replaced by hatred.
"Yo, long time no see."
Ren stood up, looking at the figure who was glaring at him with hatred, and grinned.
"Shou!"
Looking at that hateful face before him, the scene of his own death at Ren's hands instantly flashed through Shou's mind, as if it had happened just yesterday, vivid and clear.
"Die!"
Shou roared and directly lunged towards Ren, Chakra condensing in his hands.
He didn't bother to think about why he had been resurrected; right now, he just wanted to kill this brat who had killed him.
"Tsk, what a temper."
Ren showed no panic at Shou's attack. He quickly formed a hand seal, and Chakra began to surge.
"Hmm?"
Shou, who was charging, immediately stopped and stood still. He instantly panicked, trying to control his body to move, but it was useless.
He felt as if he had completely lost control of his body; he could only see what was happening outside through his eyes.
"Hmm…"
Ren maintained the hand seal gesture, then circled Shou once, a thoughtful look in his eyes.
Shou, meanwhile, felt his scalp tingle from Ren's gaze. He could now confirm that after his death, he had been summoned back by the other party using some unknown method.
Although he didn't know his intentions, it certainly wasn't anything good.
"Alright, let's try it."
Ren's murmuring voice reached Shou's ears. Before he could react, he felt his body rapidly shoot forward, Chakra wildly surging into his raised right fist, which then slammed into a large tree in front of him!
Explosion Release: Detonating Clay Fist!
"Boom!"
A powerful explosion instantly echoed through the forest. Looking at the large tree, which had a smoking crater blasted into it but hadn't fallen, Ren frowned slightly.
Compared to their previous battle, the power of this Detonating Clay Fist had been reduced by about 40%. It seemed that the strength of a resurrected person was indeed greatly related to the strength of the sacrifice.
A Genin sacrifice could only unleash about 60% of Bakuton Kari's strength. So, what about a Jonin sacrifice…
Ren shifted his gaze to the unconscious Jonin. At the same time, he formed a few more hand signs, and Shou's body in the distance instantly disintegrated into paper fragments, a white soul shooting straight into the sky.
"Damn brat, I…"
Shou looked down at Ren from above, just about to curse him, but the next moment, his figure vanished into thin air.
Before he disappeared, Shou's last thought was that he could finally be free from this bastard brat's torment.
But when he opened his eyes again, the first thing he saw was that hateful face once more.
"Yo, we meet again, Shou."
Looking at the wide-eyed, astonished Shou, Ren raised his hand, patted Shou's shoulder, and smiled.
"…"
"Boom!"
After another roar, Ren looked at the large tree that had been directly blasted to the ground, his eyes immediately lighting up as he began to analyze.
A Jonin sacrifice was indeed different; it could unleash about 80-90% of Shou's strength. Coupled with Edo Tensei's infinite Chakra and automatic recovery from injuries, his overall ability already exceeded his peak during his lifetime.
However, this was quite wasteful of corpses. After all, Ren had collected quite a few strong individuals during this time, and the minimum standard had to be Jonin to unleash most of their strength.
Especially that old man, a regular Jonin wouldn't be enough for him to mess around with.
Thinking of this, Ren couldn't help but get a headache.
It was hard enough not to worry about money, and now he had to worry about corpses.