Chapter 21
The night air still carried the metallic tang of blood-the remains of Tang Shi scattered like a discarded memory upon the broken stones. Silence pressed over the alley like a suffocating blanket, broken only by the ragged breaths of those who remained.
Choji's chest heaved. His eyes, wide and unblinking, remained fixed on the figure before him.
Renji. His brother.
And yet… not his brother.
The golden afterglow of Renji's eyes lingered like embers, and his face, once so familiar, carried the detachment of something inhuman. He stood there motionless, his shoulders rising and falling slowly as though he hadn't just annihilated Tang Shi with nothing but his gaze.
Choji's throat was dry. He swallowed hard, the words clawing at his throat, terrified of what the answer might be.
"Renji… what… what are you?"
The question cracked the silence like brittle glass.
Beside him, Lily's small hands clutched tightly at the fabric of Choji's sleeve. Her eyes brimmed with tears, her lips trembling as she gazed at her brother. Awe and terror warred within her, both emotions drowning her fragile heart.
Renji turned.
Slowly. Mechanically.
His eyes locked onto Choji's—two pools of golden fire that reflected no warmth, no familiarity, only judgment.
When he spoke, his voice was deeper than before, layered with an alien resonance, as though another being spoke through him.
"Do you think you could hide from me?"
The words were not an answer. They were an accusation.
Choji stumbled back a step, his knees trembling. He hadn't moved out of fear of Renji not even once they were beast friends No they were brothers but this was no longer fear of a brother's anger.
This was fear of something unshackled, something far beyond human, beyond even the greatest hunters he had ever seen.
"Hide…?" Choji whispered, his voice hoarse. "What are you talking about, Renji?"
But Renji didn't respond. His gaze drifted past Choji, toward the rooftop where Takeda stood in silent vigilance.
And then—
It happened.
Without warning. Without preparation.
Renji vanished.
No blur of motion.
No sound of displacement.
One instant, he stood before Choji. The next—he was behind Takeda.
Even Takeda, the famed SSS-ranked hunter whose reflexes and instincts were sharper than any man alive, couldn't track the movement. His eyes widened, his senses screamed—
And then impact.
Renji's foot connected with the back of Takeda's skull, the force reverberating like a thunderclap.
Takeda's vision went white. His body, strong enough to withstand the blows of titans, was flung forward like a ragdoll, crashing into the stone streets below. Dust and shards of rock erupted around him, the ground cracking under the violence of the impact...
Pain exploded through Takeda's head. His vision swam, his balance wavered.
Impossible… he thought. No one has ever… hit me that hard… in twenty years…
He groaned, spitting blood as he pushed himself up on trembling arms.
But before his body could fully rise, a shadow fell over him.
Renji was there.
Another kick, faster than Takeda's eyes could register, slammed into his jaw. Bone cracked. Blood sprayed.
Takeda's massive frame lifted off the ground, sent flying across the street before crashing violently into the broken pavement just feet away from Choji and Lily.
The earth trembled beneath the force, fissures spiderwebbing outward from the crater his body carved.
Choji's eyes widened. His heart stopped.
"Takeda…!"
The man who was a legend, the untouchable hunter, had been beaten into the dirt like a child.
Takeda's breath came in short gasps. His ribs screamed in agony, his throat raw with pain. His mind reeled.
Too fast. Too powerful. I couldn't even react…
The truth dawned on him like a blade across the throat.
This isn't human. This… isn't something even SSS-rank can measure.
Before Takeda could lift his battered body from the ground, a blur cut across his vision.
Renji stood before him, towering like a predator over its prey. His expression was void of mercy, his golden eyes glowing brighter, shimmering like twin suns threatening to consume everything.
In one fluid motion, Renji's hand shot out and wrapped around Takeda's throat.
Takeda choked, his feet lifting off the ground as Renji hoisted him effortlessly with one arm. The world spun, his breath stolen, the pressure around his neck threatening to crush his windpipe.
Renji's other hand drew back, his fingers rigid, sharp as spears. The intent was clear. He would drive his hand into Takeda's chest. Straight through his heart.
Choji froze in horror, every fiber of his being screaming to move, to intervene—but his body was leaden. He could feel the suffocating aura pressing him into place.
Lily's tears streamed freely down her cheeks as she found her voice, a scream tearing through her throat with the desperation of a child:
"ONI-CHAN!!!"
Her voice cracked with pain, with love, with fear that her brother was gone forever.
The word—Oni-chan—pierced through the suffocating void.
Renji's glowing eyes flickered. The golden inferno dimmed slightly, confusion and hesitation rippling across his face. His grip on Takeda's throat loosened just enough for the hunter to gasp for air.
The alien resonance in his voice wavered, breaking as though two entities fought for control within him.
Renji blinked. Once. Twice.
The golden glow faded, his irises shifting back to their natural color. His expression softened from a mask of godlike detachment to that of a boy suddenly lost.
And then like a puppet with its strings cut Renji collapsed.
His knees buckled, his body crumpling onto the shattered ground with a dull thud. His chest rose and fell heavily, his face pale, beads of sweat streaming down his temple.
Takeda fell to one knee, clutching his throat, coughing violently as he tried to draw in breath. Bruises mottled his skin, blood staining his lips, his chest screaming in agony from the force of the blows.
Choji rushed forward, falling to his knees beside Renji's unconscious form. His hands trembled as he touched his friend's shoulders, his voice breaking.
"Renji! Wake up! Come back, damn it!"
Beside him, Lily pressed her tiny hands to her mouth, her sobs shaking her fragile body as she whispered over and over:
"Oni-chan… oni-chan…"
Takeda, still kneeling, raised his trembling gaze to the boy lying unconscious on the ground. His heart hammered with something he hadn't felt in decades. Not fear of a monster. Not fear of death.
But fear of the unknown.
His thoughts churned violently.
That power… that speed… the force in those blows… Even at my peak, I couldn't keep up. He isn't just human. He isn't just a boy. He is… something else entirely.
Takeda's jaw tightened, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth as he whispered aloud, almost as if admitting the truth would damn him.
"Januza…"
The night returned to silence once more.
The streets lay broken, stained with blood.
And at the center of it all lay Renji, unconscious and vulnerable, his body human—yet the shadow of something far greater looming behind him.
Choji clutched him tightly, as though refusing to let go.
Lily's tears fell freely, her tiny hands reaching to touch her brother's face.
And Takeda… bruised, bloodied, gasping for breath… stared with hollow eyes at the boy who had nearly ended him.
"If that truly is Januza… then we are standing at the edge of something far darker than we can comprehend."