Late at night, in Senju Tobirama's laboratory.
Before going to bed, Renya habitually drank the bottle of milk placed in his room, then once again fell into "deep sleep."
And soon after, he was taken away—by the ever-prepared Senju Tobirama—to the laboratory.
Who had prepared that bottle of milk was, of course, self-evident...
"Kid, I'll cure you soon."
Senju Tobirama stood in front of the test bench, looking at the unconscious Renya, a flicker of determination flashing in his red eyes.
He hadn't slept for days, tirelessly working in the lab to develop a ninjutsu capable of curing Renya's condition.
After several dozen days of effort, he had finally succeeded.
It just so happened that Renya had returned from leading a mission, so Tobirama placed a pre-prepared glass of milk in his room.
Knowing the boy's habits, he would never go to bed without drinking a glass.
Everything went exactly as Tobirama had predicted—Renya drank the milk before sleeping, and thus appeared here, in the laboratory.
"As long as I cure your illness, I'll give up on any further experiments on you," Tobirama murmured softly.
He was afraid now. Truly afraid.
He feared that if he continued experimenting, new personalities might once again emerge inside Renya.
The one currently present didn't seem harmful to Renya, but there was no guarantee others wouldn't try to seize control of his body.
He didn't know exactly how these personalities had formed, but from what the "other" had said, their existence was connected to his experiments.
If that was the case, then once this was over, he'd completely abandon his research on Renya!
Worried that "that guy" might interfere with his treatment, Tobirama increased the dose of sleeping agent in the milk.
Renya lay motionless on the test bench, appearing almost lifeless.
If not for his steady breathing, one might have thought he was dead.
...
Senju Tobirama took a deep breath, then began forming a series of complex hand seals.
When the final seal was complete, a pitch-black mirror appeared before him. The surface of the mirror was like an abyss, endlessly devouring the surrounding light.
"Mind Mirror Reflection Technique!" Tobirama muttered, gently pushing the dark mirror toward Renya's forehead.
"Let me see where exactly you're hiding..."
As chakra flowed continuously into the mirror, Tobirama's consciousness entered Renya's mental world through the jutsu.
"This is..."
Senju Tobirama looked around and found himself standing in a courtyard. The family crest carved into the gate immediately caught his attention.
"The Uchiha Compound?"
Why would this boy's mental world resemble the Uchiha clan's domain? Shouldn't it be the Senju grounds instead?
It was nighttime—the full moon hung high in the sky, yet it wasn't a normal moon.
It was blood red.
Its crimson glow bathed the surroundings, covering everything in a mist of blood.
The quiet courtyard bore no signs of habitation. In the center stood a stone table, and in the corner, an old well.
Tobirama noticed a slip of paper on the stone table. Instinctively, he approached and picked it up.
The yellowed paper was scrawled with blood-red writing. When he read the words, his pupils shrank sharply.
It read: [The 482nd time, old man!]
Before he could react, the paper in his hand suddenly burst into flames. Not only the paper—the wooden house ahead also ignited at once.
The blazing flames illuminated his bewildered face.
"What's going on?"
Within moments, the house was reduced to nothing but a charred frame. The blackened beams collapsed to the ground, and the air filled with the stench of burning flesh.
Tobirama frowned slightly.
"Where is that smell of roasted meat coming from?"
Could it be... roasted Uchiha?
A light breeze swept through, stirring the ash on the ground.
In front of Tobirama, the ashes gathered into a vaguely human shape. The blurry figure gradually became clearer—
Until it revealed an unmistakable face.
Renya's face.
Or rather, Uchiha Renya!
He wore the traditional Uchiha attire, the fan-shaped clan crest standing out vividly on his back. His crimson, three-tomoe Sharingan stared directly at Tobirama.
"Old man, you're secretly experimenting on my true body again."
"I study that boy only to destroy you, you wretched Uchiha spawn!" Tobirama snapped coldly. "Born of evil blood, I'll put an end to you with my own hands!"
He had already seen through the chakra composition of the being before him. This thing wasn't Renya—it was an intruder parasitizing his mental space.
"Heh... fighting me in my own domain?"
Uchiha Renya's body vanished in an instant. His voice echoed from every direction, but his figure was nowhere to be seen.
Tobirama gripped a kunai tightly, eyes darting vigilantly around.
Suddenly, a puddle appeared before him. But instead of his reflection, the water showed Renya's face—twisted in both agony and mockery.
It was almost impossible to imagine one person making such a disturbing expression.
"Genjutsu? No..."
He quickly formed a hand seal.
"Release!"
The Renya in the puddle grinned.
"Useless, old man. This is my mental world—a rift between illusion and reality."
From the water's surface, dozens of pale arms stretched out, grabbing Tobirama's ankles and trying to drag him down.
"Water Release: Water Severing Wave!"
Tobirama spat a razor-sharp stream of water, slicing through the pale hands instantly.
The blood moon was suddenly swallowed by dark clouds, plunging everything into utter darkness.
Tobirama suddenly felt a chill on the back of his neck—
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
...
The blazing fireball erupted almost instantly. Fortunately, Tobirama had placed Flying Thunder God markers nearby and managed to teleport away just in time.
Uchiha Renya's figure finally emerged. The young man stood atop the burnt-down roof, his Sharingan gleaming with eerie red light in the darkness.
"Flying Thunder God, huh?" Renya tilted his head. "As expected of the [Forbidden Technique Master]. But..."
He suddenly vanished. His voice came directly from Tobirama's ear.
"I know that jutsu too."
A kunai pierced Tobirama's back—but no blood flowed out.
The "Tobirama" that was stabbed dissolved into a pool of water.
"Water Clone?" Renya blinked in confusion. "When?"
At that moment, the real Senju Tobirama emerged from the shadows behind him, thrusting his kunai toward Renya's heart.
"It's over."
"It's not over yet, old man." Renya's lips curved into a cold smile. "You're celebrating too early."
As soon as he finished speaking, his form distorted and vanished from sight.
The blood moon hung above once more. Tobirama stood amid the ruined Uchiha compound, embers still flickering in the ashes.
"Old man, don't think you can kill me..."
Not far away, space itself twisted, and Uchiha Renya's body slowly reappeared.
"In my mental world, I am the truth itself!"
Tobirama's expression didn't change. His eyes calmly scanned the surroundings.
"What's wrong?" Renya tilted his head. "Don't like this battlefield?"
"Then I'll change it... to something you'll like better."
----------------
Pls Drop some Power Stones
+100 chapters and support me on Patreon(.)com/Jixo