Chapter 76: A Brother's Lesson
Ren's kick sent Sasuke sprawling across the floor once more.
"Damn it!" Sasuke snarled, trying to push himself up, but Ren was already upon him. A foot planted firmly in the center of his back, driving him back down onto the cold stone with a grunt of pain.
"Is this all you're capable of?" Ren asked, his voice dripping with contempt as he looked down at his brother.
"Bastard...! I'll kill you... I'll kill you!" Sasuke gritted out through clenched teeth, the words laced with pure, unadulterated hatred.
*Huh?* Ren's brow furrowed. He could feel it—a surge of malevolent, foreign chakra erupting from Sasuke.
Suddenly, the curse mark on Sasuke's neck flared to life. Sinister, black patterns spread like ink across his skin, covering his entire body in moments. A palpable aura of evil and raw power radiated from him, warping the air around him.
"Hmph. The Curse Mark," Ren stated, his frown deepening. He knew of its power—a double-edged sword that granted strength at the cost of the user's own vitality and sanity.
"KILL YOU!" Sasuke roared, his voice distorted by the mark's influence. With a surge of unnatural strength, he shoved himself upward, forcing Ren to retract his foot and leap back to create distance.
"Not bad. You were hiding this much power," Ren remarked, a note of dark amusement in his tone.
"Hehehe~ Surprised? This is my true strength now!" Sasuke grinned, a feral, ugly expression.
"Oh? Relying on borrowed, corrosive power? Is this what you call your own? This kind of force only damages your body," Ren retorted, his disdain clear.
"Tch! I don't care if it's borrowed! I can control it! It makes me stronger! To kill *him*, I need this power! I'd sell my soul to the devil if I had to! A little physical damage is nothing!" Sasuke's declaration was frantic, unhinged.
"You've lost your mind. That power will only consume you. Do you truly believe this curse is enough for your revenge? In your current state, I could end you with ease."
"Humph! Maybe I am crazy! You look down on this power? Then I'll make you die by it today!" Sasuke lunged again, the Chidori screeching back to life in his palm, aimed with murderous intent.
"Stubborn fool. Don't blame me for what comes next." Ren's patience had worn thin. Sasuke, drowning in resentment, was beyond listening. He needed to be taught a lesson, and harshly. Even amplified by the Curse Mark, Sasuke's power didn't warrant Ren using his Sharingan, let alone the Mangekyo.
"Die!" Sasuke thrust the Chidori forward. Ren sidestepped. Sasuke altered the thrust into a wild slash. Ren simply jumped back again, evading with infuriating ease.
Seeing his taijutsu fail, Sasuke dispersed the Chidori and formed a new set of seals, drawing a deep breath.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!" A massive sphere of flame shot from his mouth.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!" Ren's hands had been moving in perfect sync. His own fireball took form, but it was larger, denser, and burned with far greater intensity.
The two projectiles collided mid-air. Instead of exploding, Ren's superior fireball seemed to engulf and absorb Sasuke's, growing even larger before continuing its path toward him.
"Damn it!" Sasuke was forced to abort his attack and throw himself sideways to avoid the incoming inferno. The enhanced fireball slammed into the far wall of the hall, obliterating a large section of it in a shower of stone and fire.
But before Sasuke could even land, Ren materialized in front of him. There was no time to react. A fist, reinforced with brutal force, connected squarely with Sasuke's jaw.
***CRACK!***
The sound of the impact was sickening. Sasuke was sent flying backward once again.
"You're still too weak. You know why? Because you haven't truly pushed yourself!" Ren's voice was cold, each word a hammer blow. "With your current strength, you can't even hope to touch me, let alone *him*."
He took a step forward. "You talk of revenge against Uchiha Itachi? It's a joke!"
"What right do you have to say that to me?!" Sasuke screamed, scrambling back to his feet, his body throbbing with pain and rage. "What have *you* done all these years?! I train every single day to get stronger! And you! You pretended to be a fool! You deceived me! You dumped all the pressure onto me! You hid in your room, oblivious! I bet you've even forgotten our family's blood feud!"
Ren's composure finally shattered. A wave of his own long-suppressed resentment boiled over. "I did nothing? If I had *truly* done nothing, you'd have been captured and brainwashed by now! Would you still be here screaming at me?!" he roared back, his voice echoing in the hall. "Do you think this power was just *given* to me? You know nothing! NOTHING! So don't you dare stand there and judge me!"
For years, he had endured the humiliation of playing the fool, the constant surveillance, the petty insults from lesser shinobi he could have crushed with a thought. He had bottled every slight, every ounce of fury, all for the sake of his ultimate goal. To be accused of forgetting, of being lazy, by the very brother he had, in his own twisted way, been trying to protect—it was the final straw.
"Yes, I know nothing! Because you never told me anything! You hid everything from me! You played me for a fool all this time!" Sasuke shot back, too consumed by his own anger to hear the truth in Ren's words. "I'll never forgive you! I'LL KILL YOU!"
The Curse Mark on his neck pulsed violently. The dark patterns intensified, spreading further. His transformation became more grotesque. His skin turned a deathly gray, a cross pattern split his face, his hair lengthened, his teeth sharpened into fangs, and two large, bat-like wings sprouted from his back. The Chidori that formed in his hand this time was not blue-white, but a sinister, corrupted black.
"Hmph! I'm done playing with you. Lie down!" Ren had lost all patience. It was time to end this.
He vanished.
He reappeared less than half a meter behind the transformed Sasuke. Sasuke, sensing the presence, whirled around in panic, swinging the black Chidori in a wild, backward arc.
It never connected.
Ren's right hand shot out, snatching Sasuke's wrist in an unbreakable grip. His left hand snaked around, grabbing the back of Sasuke's head and forcing it forward, locking their eyes together.
Sasuke's widened in shock and horror as he saw it—the intricate, six-pointed star pattern swirling in Ren's eyes, a sight far more terrifying than any Curse Mark.
The Mangekyo Sharingan.
Before Sasuke could even process the revelation, a devastating genjutsu—far beyond any he had ever experienced—slammed into his mind. His consciousness shattered. The black Chidori flickered and died. The grotesque Curse Mark transformation receded like a tide, leaving behind only the pale, unconscious form of Uchiha Sasuke. He slumped forward, caught by Ren, who then unceremoniously let him drop to the floor.
*Huh? What did Uchiha Ren just do? A genjutsu?* Orochimaru, who had been watching the spectacle with detached amusement, now leaned forward, his interest sharply piqued. From his angle, he hadn't seen the Mangekyo, but the result was undeniable. *To overpower Sasuke's Sharingan and his Curse Mark state instantly... his ocular prowess must be several times greater. Unless...* A wild, ecstatic thought occurred to him. *Unless he has already awakened the Mangekyo! That would explain everything—his sudden, immense power, his victory over Kakashi!* Orochimaru's gaze upon Ren became one of pure, unadulterated avarice and obsession.
Ren straightened up, ignoring his unconscious brother at his feet. He turned his gaze toward Orochimaru, his expression once again cold and controlled.
"Humph. Don't get in my way. Just stay down." He stepped over Sasuke's prone form and began walking toward the Snake Sannin. The fraternal conflict was over. Now, the real negotiation would begin.
𝗚𝗨𝗬𝗦, 𝗙𝗢𝗟𝗟𝗢𝗪 𝗠𝗘 𝗢𝗡 𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗠 𝗔𝗧 𝗚𝗘𝗛𝗥𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗦𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗢𝗪9