Chapter 65: A Glimmer of Doubt
Ren fell silent for a moment under Ino's fierce interrogation. Of all the people in Konoha, she and the old woman at the dango shop were the only ones who had shown him unwavering kindness during the years he'd been forced to play the fool to survive. While others forgot him, they had remembered. If there was any lingering guilt in his heart for Konoha, it was reserved for those two.
He found he couldn't muster the same cold disdain for her. A wry, almost sad smile touched his lips. "Ino... it's been a long time."
A ripple of confusion went through the Konoha shinobi. The cold, murderous rogue was gone, replaced by someone who sounded almost... nostalgic.
"Don't change the subject!" Ino snapped, though the shift in his tone gave her a moment's pause. "Tell me! What did you do to Ren? Where is he?!"
"Heh," Ren let out a soft, humorless laugh. "That guy? You might as well consider him dead."
"What did you say?" Ino's voice was a deadly whisper.
"I said," Ren repeated, his voice hardening slightly, "that the idiot known as Uchiha Ren of Konoha is dead."
"No... that's impossible... you're lying..." Ino's face paled, her hands trembling.
"Believe what you want."
"Did you... did you hurt him?" The question was barely audible.
"Let's just say the Uchiha Ren you knew was... dismantled by me," Ren stated flatly. It was the truth, in a way. The persona of the helpless fool had been shed forever.
"YOU BASTARD!" The words were a raw scream of agony and rage. The hope in Ino's eyes shattered, replaced by a hatred so pure it was blinding. She forgot she was a sensory type, forgot her clan's mind-based techniques. She just charged, a kunai gripped in her white-knuckled hand, aiming to bury it in the heart of the boy who had killed the one she never stopped caring for.
"Ino, wait!" Shikamaru yelled, but it was too late. She was already moving.
"Tch. What a drag. Choji!" Shikamaru's hands flew into his clan's signature hand seal. "If we can't stop her, we back her up!" His shadow stretched out from his feet, a black serpent racing across the ground towards Ren's own shadow, aiming to snare him with the Shadow Imitation Technique.
Simultaneously, Choji took a deep breath. "Human Juggernaut!" His hands ballooned to massive proportions, and he lunged forward, his giant palms swatting towards Ren to pin him down.
Ren didn't retaliate against Ino. He simply weaved and dodged her frantic, grief-stricken attacks, his movements economical and precise.
"Die! Die! Die!" Ino screamed, slashing wildly with her kunai, every ounce of her being focused on making him pay.
"Why so angry?" Ren taunted, still effortlessly avoiding her strikes. "Maybe that fool Uchiha Ren never cared about you at all. Maybe you were just another face in the crowd to him, someone he never gave a second thought."
"SHUT UP!" she roared, her attack becoming even more ferocious. "Ren wasn't like that! He was bright, he was kind! A cold-blooded murderer like you has no right to talk about him!"
"You're wrong," Ren countered, his voice cold. "He was selfish. He never cared about anyone else. He was a coward, hiding behind a mask. You were just deceived by him."
"I SAID SHUT UP!" With a final, enraged cry, Ino threw a wild, powerful punch straight at his face.
This time, Ren didn't dodge.
The punch connected solidly with his jaw. His head snapped to the side from the force of the blow, and a trickle of blood immediately seeped from the corner of his mouth. Ino froze, stunned that her attack had actually landed. Her rage had been blind; she never truly expected to hit him.
"Heh," Ren chuckled, slowly turning his head back to look at her. He raised a thumb and wiped the blood from his lip. "Nice punch, Ino. I never knew you had that in you."
"You... why didn't you dodge?" she asked, her voice trembling. "You could have easily avoided that."
"Consider it a debt paid," he said, the wry smile returning. "Maybe it'll make me feel a little better about all this..."
"You—" Ino began, but she was cut off as Ren's expression suddenly sharpened. He had spotted the inky black tendril of Shikamaru's shadow racing towards his feet. In a fluid motion, he leaped backward, evading the capture.
*Shikamaru!* Ino thought, glancing back to see her teammate in his signature pose.
Before Ren could fully land, the sky above him darkened. Choji's gigantic hand was descending like a fleshy meteor, aiming to crush him.
"Tch!" Ren grunted in annoyance. In mid-air, he performed a flawless Body Flicker Technique, vanishing and reappearing several meters away just as Choji's palm slammed into the ground with a thunderous ***BOOM***, sending a cloud of dust into the air.
"Naruto! Sakura! Support them! Restrain him!" Kakashi's command cut through the chaos.
"Right!" they yelled in unison, charging into the fray. "I'm not letting you get away this time, Sasuke!" Naruto roared.
*This is getting troublesome. Kakashi is the only real threat, but the others are persistent. Time to end this,* Ren thought. His Sharingan flared to life, its crimson pattern spinning. He met Naruto head-on, their fists and feet clashing in a rapid exchange of taijutsu. He moved with an efficiency and power that far surpassed his former rival, easily parrying and countering.
"Sasuke, please, just come back with us!" Sakura pleaded, joining the attack, her punches infused with chakra.
Ren ignored her words, his focus absolute. He weaved through their combined assaults with an almost contemptuous ease. Against several Chunin-level opponents, his Elite Jōnin prowess was overwhelming. He didn't hold back, showcasing the full extent of his stolen power. A Chidori shrieked in his palm, forcing Naruto to leap back. A Rasengan materialized to deflect a coordinated strike from Shikamaru's ensnaring shadow and Choji's giant fist.
The battle was brutally one-sided. Soon, Shikamaru was on one knee, wiping blood from his mouth. Choji was panting, his techniques drained. Naruto was sporting new bruises, and even Sakura had a shallow cut on her arm from a near-miss.
"Damn it..." Shikamaru muttered, a bitter laugh escaping him. "It's not even a contest. We're completely outclassed. When did he get this strong?"
The only ones left standing relatively unscathed were Ren, Kakashi who had yet to move, and Ino, who was still reeling from the emotional whiplash.
"Well, Kakashi," Ren said, turning to face the Jonin, his breathing barely elevated. "You held back from the start. That's not like you. What were you thinking?"
Kakashi's single visible eye was narrowed, intense with concentration. He had watched every move, every technique, every micro-expression.
"I was thinking," Kakashi said, his voice low and deliberate, "are you... really Sasuke?"
Ren's confident smirk faltered for a fraction of a second. Kakashi's observation was sharper than he had anticipated.
"Oh?" Ren recovered quickly, tilting his head in a show of amusement. "And why would you say that?"
𝗚𝗨𝗬𝗦, 𝗙𝗢𝗟𝗟𝗢𝗪 𝗠𝗘 𝗢𝗡 𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗠 𝗔𝗧 𝗚𝗘𝗛𝗥𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗦𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗢𝗪9