Even though Omokage knew Ronin possessed wide-range fire attacks like the Majestic Destroyer Flame, he was confident. He figured that inside the church, no matter how much fire Ronin breathed out, it wouldn't pose a real threat to him.
But he never expected the first attack to come from high above rather than the ground outside.
Clay smashed through the church's vaulted ceiling, raining down into the sanctuary with no sign of stopping.
Does Ronin have a Conjurer ally hiding nearby?
The thought barely flashed through Omokage's mind before flames roared to life outside the windows.
Glass shattered instantly. The temperature inside the church skyrocketed, baking the falling clay and causing it to harden rapidly.
He couldn't stay here.
A swarm of puppets smashed through the windows, charging outside. All Omokage heard was the crunch of them shattering as they hit the ground.
His heart was bleeding.
Sure, the standard puppets were simple to make, but they still cost a pretty penny in materials and time. Now, they were being destroyed before they even saw the enemy's face. How could he not be furious?
Yet, amidst the rage, a nagging doubt crept in. Had he underestimated Ronin?
No.
The puppet of Uvogin exploded with a sudden burst of aura. With one hand, it ripped a pew from the floor and charged straight at the wall.
BOOM!
Hitting with the force of a freight train, Uvogin smashed a massive hole through the masonry.
Thanks to the impact, the falling clay didn't stick to the Uvogin puppet, and even the flames were blown back by the force of the debris, clearing a path.
Omokage rushed out right behind the massive puppet, his army in tow.
But the moment they stepped out of the church, a giant lid shaped like a wild boar's head, complete with tusks, came crashing down from the sky.
Earth Style: Dropping Lid.
It was still a B-rank wide-range Jutsu—a move originally designed to crush giant summoned beasts.
Ronin's Shadow Clone, having camped out on the roof, used the last of its Chakra to spring the trap.
Crash!
The Uvogin puppet unleashed a Big Bang Impact, but the force was too much—its arms crumbled into dust instantly.
However, Uvogin's sacrifice bought a split second of time. Hiding behind him, the Phinks puppet had been winding its arm. It unleashed the raw power of Ripper Cyclotron.
Cracks spider-webbed across the boar-shaped lid before it shattered completely.
A barrage of Nen bullets immediately shot out from beneath the crumbling stone, aiming straight for the treetop where Ronin's Shadow Clone was perched.
But on the other side of the battlefield, electricity crackled.
Wrapped in lightning, Ronin moved like a bolt of jagged light, closing the distance to Omokage in a heartbeat.
Omokage snapped his head up just in time. His hollow sockets stared directly at Ronin's eyes, which were glowing with the Lightning Style Chakra Mode.
But a gasp escaped Omokage's lips. "How?!"
They had made eye contact, yet the condition to steal Ronin's eyes hadn't been met.
The reason sat perched on the bridge of Ronin's nose: a pair of sunglasses.
The Nen that flared from Omokage's empty sockets failed to connect with Ronin's Sharingan, blocked by the sudden appearance of the shades.
For a Sharingan user to actually have to avoid an enemy's gaze... that was a first for Ronin.
Omokage's ability had a glaring flaw, one that Ronin's Shadow Clone had baited out earlier.
Ronin's fingers straightened into a spearhand. Lightning Chakra coated his arm as he struck Omokage in a flash.
Hell Stab: Four-Finger Nukite.
Omokage was sliced clean in half at the waist by the power of the Lightning Style.
Blood sprayed, but the alarm bells in Ronin's head didn't stop ringing.
His Sharingan's kinetic vision picked up a detail: even though the bisected Omokage was bleeding, his internal structure was identical to a puppet's.
The puppet had been wrapped in enough aura to fool even the Sharingan's initial scan!
Is this like the movie where he fakes his death using a doll?
As the thought crossed his mind, his Sharingan caught the glint of Nen threads snapping taut ahead of him.
Machi's ability.
Simultaneously, a figure quietly materialized back near the church. It was the real Omokage.
Standing behind him were three more figures: Machi, Nobunaga, and a middle-aged man with a scar Ronin didn't recognize.
That meant the previous "Omokage" looked like the original, but it had been using Franklin's ability to shoot those Nen bullets.
The man standing there now, flanked by three shadows, was the real deal.
The lightning faded from Ronin's body as he skidded to a halt in front of the threads.
His sunglasses were gone—snatched away by the suction of the puppet's aura when they crossed paths a moment ago.
Now, Ronin's crimson, three-tomoe Sharingan stared directly into Omokage's eyes.
In that split second, both made their move.
Omokage twitched his finger. The threads yanked an eyeless puppet in front of him as a shield while simultaneously tightening the trap around Ronin, aiming to slice him to ribbons.
But then, Omokage froze.
In his vision, Ronin was still standing there, but suddenly, massive, rusted iron spikes slammed into Omokage's body, pinning his limbs to the ground.
Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique.
A gigantic Sharingan loomed in the sky like a blood-red moon, slowly rotating as it gazed down at him.
Pain washed over him like a tidal wave.
In the real world, Ronin felt his Chakra draining rapidly to sustain the Genjutsu.
Omokage stood rigid, paralyzed.
A kunai appeared in Ronin's hand. He formed a one-handed seal, converting his Chakra into Wind Style. A sharp layer of blue energy coated the blade.
He threw it.
The kunai flew straight for Omokage's heart.
At that exact moment, Ronin couldn't hold the illusion any longer. The Shackling Stakes broke!
Thwack!
The kunai buried itself in Omokage's chest with lethal precision.
Omokage, just waking up from the phantom pain of having his limbs spiked, was immediately hit by the searing reality of a pierced heart.
He looked down, disbelief written all over his face. The kunai had punched right through his defensive aura and into his vitals.
"I... I lost here?" Omokage's eyes were wide with shock.
He was the perfect counter to this kid. He should have won. Why was he the one dying?
Blood poured from his chest, and soon, he was coughing it up with every breath.
The shadowy figures behind him flickered and vanished. The army of puppets didn't even get a final frenzy; they just collapsed like wheat in a storm.
Maybe I shouldn't have come.
That was Omokage's last thought before he hit the ground.
But it was too late for regrets.
Ronin gasped for air, his chest heaving. When he threw that kunai, he had been sweating bullets, terrified that Omokage would snap out of the Genjutsu in time to dodge.
Luckily, the wind-infused blade cut through the defense and ended it right in front of the church.
Ronin steadied his breathing and walked into the building.
The fire was out, but the heat still lingered.
He hurried upstairs and found the puppet of Pairo, still encased in the hardened clay.
The puppet was frozen in a walking pose. Ronin had already deactivated his Sharingan, but he coated his hands in Nen, allowing him to easily rip through the clay casing.
He grabbed the puppet's face and, with two sharp tugs, ripped the Scarlet Eyes from Pairo's sockets.
Even though they were dusted with dirt, Ronin felt a strange warmth radiating from them.
In that moment, a massive weight finally lifted off his shoulders.