Chapter 89: A Swift and Decisive Strike
The cavern was a cathedral of crystalline light and deep, abyssal shadow. The air itself thrummed with a low, pervasive energy, a vibration that seeped into the bones—the latent power of the Geller's Stone ore veins that spiderwebbed through the rock. In the center of this otherworldly chamber, the scene was one of brutal interruption.
The silence that followed Ren's entrance was profound, broken only by Naruto's ragged panting and the faint, pained groan from Temujin. All eyes, wide with shock and confusion, were locked on the new figure who stood with an infuriatingly casual air, as if he had merely stumbled upon a mildly interesting street performance.
Naruto's vision, blurred from the recent impact with the wall, struggled to focus. The silhouette was painfully familiar—the dark, spiky hair, the pale Uchiha complexion. A desperate, hopeful part of his heart, the part that always ached for a certain missing teammate, leaped. "Sasuke...?" he breathed, the name a whisper of longing.
But the illusion shattered the instant the figure spoke. The voice was colder, sharper, laced with a mocking disdain that was utterly foreign to the Sasuke he knew.
"No... No!" Naruto's voice hardened, his blue eyes clearing as they narrowed in recognition and wariness. "You're Ren! What are you doing here?"
Ren's lips curled into a faint, derisive smirk that never reached his cold eyes. "Must I file a travel itinerary with you, Uzumaki Naruto? Does my presence in this... hole in the ground... require your express permission?"
"That's not what I meant!" Naruto protested, pushing himself fully upright and wincing as his bruised ribs protested. He gestured vaguely at the transformed monster, Hyde, and the glittering cavern. "I'm just surprised! This is... complicated! And why—"
"Enough," Ren cut him off, his voice slicing through Naruto's explanation like a kunai. He held up a hand, a gesture of finality. "I have no bandwidth for your tedious prattling. I am here on business. Your little drama is an inconvenient sideshow. Entertain yourselves elsewhere." His gaze, dismissive of Naruto, slid past him. The three tomoe of his Sharingan were already active, spinning slowly, taking in every detail of Hyde's grotesque form. They focused intently, analytically, on the source of the aberrant energy—the gemstone set into the gauntlet on Hyde's right hand. It pulsed with a sickly, compelling light. *So, that's a shard of it,* Ren thought, a thrill of avarice cutting through his cold demeanor. *Even a fragment can warp a man into this... and grant him such power. The potential of the entire vein is beyond calculation.*
Hyde's initial surprise melted into a low, guttural chuckle that echoed unnaturally in the cavern. "Hehehe~~ Another gnat buzzes into the web. It matters not. The harvest of souls merely grows more bountiful!" He raised his right arm, the Geller Stone flaring with malevolent intent. "I grow weary of this farce. Allow me to expedite your journey to Utopia!"
An invisible wave of force, a concussive blast of pure, distorted energy, erupted from the gem. To the naked eye, there was nothing—only the air distorting like heat haze. But to Ren's Sharingan, the attack was a clearly defined ripple in the chakra field, its trajectory and power laid bare. He didn't attempt to block or counter it; he simply ceased to occupy the space it targeted. There was no dramatic blur—one moment he was there, the next he was five feet to the left, his posture unchanged. The ground where he'd stood didn't just crack; it vaporized into a fine dust, leaving a small, perfectly smooth crater.
*Efficient,* Ren noted clinically. *The attack is virtually untraceable without a dōjutsu. No wonder the knucklehead was getting pulverized.*
"Hey! Naruto!" Ren's voice was a sharp crack of command, his eyes still locked on Hyde. "If you possess a single shred of self-preservation, you will grab those two wounded liabilities and evacuate. This is your only warning. I will not extend this courtesy again."
"Deal with him alone? No way!" Naruto yelled back, his fists clenching so tight his knuckles turned white. His stubbornness, his nindo, flared bright. "I made a promise! I never go back on my word! I won't run away and leave anyone behind, ever!"
Ren's patience, a resource already stretched thinner than a spider's silk, snapped. "You blithering idiot!" The curse was delivered with icy precision. "When did I ever consent to be your comrade? When did we ever form a 'precious bond'? You invent connections out of thin air to soothe your own loneliness. You are an obstruction. A noisy, sentimental obstacle. Get. Out. If I am forced to engage this creature with my full capabilities, the collateral damage will be extensive. Do you wish for their deaths to be on your head?" He jerked his chin toward the unconscious elder and the bleeding Temujin. "Leave!"
The brutal logic, the cold assessment of their helplessness, finally pierced the armor of Naruto's resolve. He looked from Ren's impassive face to the injured men, a war of duty and practicality raging in his eyes. He gritted his teeth, a low growl of frustration escaping his throat. "Tch! Damn it! Fine! Just... don't get yourself killed, you bastard!" He formed the familiar cross sign. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" A single clone poofed into existence, and together they carefully hoisted the two wounded figures.
The elder stirred weakly, his voice a raspy thread. "Naruto... wait... the Stone... it must not be taken... it must be destroyed...!"
"Don't trouble yourself, old man," Ren interjected, his voice cold and absolute, brooking no argument. "Ensuring the Geller's Stone is permanently... neutralized... is the sole reason for my presence. Every last gram of it will be accounted for. Now, be silent and *leave*."
"Come on, we have to go!" Naruto urged, hefting Temujin's weight and leaping toward the rocky shaft that led back to the upper world.
"Hehehe~~ Trying to flee to extend your miserable lives?" Hyde's chuckle was a distorted thing, full of static and malice. He raised his gemmed hand, the energy within it coalescing for another blast. "Utopia awaits all! There is no escape!"
He never completed the motion.
"Your attention belongs to me," Ren stated, a simple declaration of fact. A kunai flew from his hand, not with any hope of piercing Hyde's defenses, but as a calculated distraction. As anticipated, one of the four black, orb-like projectiles floating behind Hyde detached and zipped through the air, effortlessly deflecting the blade with a sharp *clang*.
"How utterly pathetic," Hyde sneered, a grin stretching his distorted features. He finally turned his full attention to Ren, dismissing the fleeing group. "Such a feeble attack. Sacrificing yourself for your friends? A tragically noble, yet profoundly foolish, gesture. I will dismantle you first, a brief diversion, and then collect them. They won't have gotten far."
Ren let out a sigh, a sound of profound, world-weary exasperation. "Do you possess a cognitive impairment? Are you incapable of processing auditory information? I told him, and now I am telling you: I am not his friend. I am not here out of nobility. I am not a sacrificial lamb." Ren's Sharingan began to spin faster, the tomoe sharpening, locking onto Hyde with predatory intensity. "You are a noisy, unsightly obstacle standing between me and a significant asset. That is all."
"Oh? Arrogant words for a child who is about to— Nani?!" Hyde's boast died in a strangled gasp of disbelief.
Ren vanished.
It wasn't the Body Flicker Technique that most jōnin used. This was something purer, more terrifying. It was the absolute apex of shinobi speed, a movement honed to perfection in ten days and nights of relentless, simulated combat against a perfect, Kage-level opponent. There was no blur, no puff of smoke. One moment he was ten yards away; the next, he was *there*, directly inside Hyde's guard, his presence an icy shock against the man's transformed skin.
In Ren's right palm, chakra screamed. The air twisted and whined as a sphere of pure, chaotic energy materialized—the Rasengan. It was a technique he'd seen, analyzed, and perfected in his mind, and now it manifested with flawless, devastating precision.
Hyde's defensive orbs moved on instinct, a hair's breadth too slow. They swarmed to intercept, but Ren's aim was true and his positioning impeccable.
"Rasengan."
The attack connected not with the orbs, but squarely with the center of Hyde's chest.
The sound was not of impact, but of annihilation. The enhanced, stone-like material of Hyde's torso offered no more resistance than paper. It didn't break; it disintegrated. The force of the spinning chakra didn't just push Hyde; it *wrenched* his entire body, violently contorting his limbs and spine in a single, grotesque instant before catapulting him across the length of the cavern like a comet made of flesh.
He slammed into the far wall with a force that shook the entire chamber. The rock didn't crack; it exploded inward, a massive crater erupting around the point of impact. A deafening roar filled the air as a cascade of boulders and debris rained down, completely burying the source of the impact under tons of stone.
The entire exchange, from the initiation of movement to the burial, had taken less than three seconds.
The cavern fell into a silence deeper than before, the only sounds the gentle *pat-pat* of settling dust and the relentless, humming song of the Geller's Stone.
Ren stood alone, his arm dropping to his side. Thin wisps of smoke curled from his palm. His expression was not one of triumph, but of cold, professional satisfaction. An obstacle had been assessed, engaged, and removed with maximum efficiency.
The path to the prize was now clear.