Chapter 90: The Power of Garel
The air in the cavern, thick with dust from the shattered rock, grew still. Hyde's body was buried somewhere beneath the pile of rubble, motionless. Ren stood calmly, his expression not one of victory, but of cold, analytical patience. He felt no pride in the blow. This foe was different; he was a vessel for an external power, a minor boss in a larger play, and Ren knew the script wasn't over yet. The true source of the man's resilience—the Garel Stone—had yet to be truly tested.
A low, grinding rumble broke the silence. Then, with a violent explosion of force, the pile of rubble concealing Hyde burst outward, sending shards of rock skittering across the cavern floor. As the dust settled, the man stood revealed once more, but his form was a grotesque parody of human anatomy.
His limbs were bent at impossible, horrifying angles. His neck was twisted a full 180 degrees, so that while his body faced Ren, his head also stared forward, his face a mask of twisted glee utterly divorced from the agony his body should be feeling.
"That... really stung," Hyde slurred, his voice a wet gurgle from his misaligned throat. A grim, bloody smile stretched across his features. "Hehehe~~"
Then came the sounds—sharp, sickening cracks and pops of bone and cartilage snapping back into place. His arms wrenched themselves straight, his legs realigned, and his head spun back to its natural position with a final, nauseating crunch. Within moments, he stood whole and unmarked, as if Ren's devastating attack had never landed.
He rolled his shoulders, cracking his neck with smug satisfaction. "HAHAHA! Incredible! The wound heals in an instant! Such magnificent power!"
"Heh. The power of the Garel vein," Ren murmured, his voice low. His covetousness for the ore, the true source of this energy, sharpened into a razor's edge. This was not Hyde's strength; it was borrowed, stolen. And Ren intended to repossess it.
"That's right! This is the power of Garel! What do you think? Impressed?" Hyde taunted, spreading his arms wide in a boastful gesture. "But your awe will be short-lived! Soon, you'll be crushed beneath this very—"
"**You talk too much.**"
Ren's voice cut through the gloating like a knife. In the space of a heartbeat, his eyes shifted, the familiar tomoe morphing into the stark, intricate pattern of his Mangekyō Sharingan. Before Hyde could even blink, a mass of swirling, grey-white chakra erupted around Ren, coalescing not into a full titan, but into a single, colossal spectral arm—the arm of Susanoo.
It shot across the cavern with terrifying speed. Hyde's arrogant smirk vanished, replaced by shock, then sheer panic as the gigantic chakra hand closed around him. He was yanked off his feet, his laughter choking off into a strangled gasp. The grip was immense, inexorable. He struggled, his Garel-enhanced strength useless against the divine power of the Uchiha's greatest defense—and offense.
"Gah! Wh-What is this?!" Hyde screamed, his voice strained, his face beginning to purple from the pressure.
"You were laughing so joyfully a moment ago," Ren said, his tone cold and mocking as he took a few steps forward. "Don't stop on my account. Entertain me."
"Damn you! Let me—*URK!*"
"Go ask the Shinigami yourself," Ren stated flatly.
With a mere thought, he commanded the Susanoo's hand to clench.
The sound was wet and final. A torrent of pink-tinged viscera erupted from between the spectral fingers, splattering across the cavern floor. Hyde's scream was cut short with a sickening crunch. When the hand opened slightly, what remained was a pulverized, unrecognizable mass of flesh and bone, barely held together. Only the head, locked in a final rictus of agony, remained somewhat intact. Notably, the gem embedded on the back of the corpse's hand—the Garel Stone—gleamed, completely untouched and unblemished by the destruction around it.
*Disgusting,* Ren thought with a curl of his lip. He dismissed the Susanoo arm, the chakra dissipating into the air, and his eyes reverted to their onyx black. "Let's see you recover from that."
He walked toward the remains, his footsteps echoing in the sudden quiet. As he neared, a faint, awful sound reached his ears—a wet, gurgling rasp. The ruined body twitched. The head, its eyes bulging, was still trying to draw breath.
"Annoying pest," Ren muttered, his disgust overriding any sense of ceremony.
He lifted his right foot and brought it down with brutal, precise force onto Hyde's skull.
It exploded like overripe fruit.
Brain matter, bone fragments, and blood sprayed out, staining the stone floor and spattering Ren's pants. He didn't flinch, his face a mask of cold indifference. The force of the stomp was so great it left a web of cracks radiating out from the impact point.
"Heh. Recover from *that*."
His eyes scanned the carnage, quickly locking onto the one thing that didn't belong—a single, beautifully cut gem that gleamed amidst the gore, pristine and pulsing with a soft, inner light. The Garel Stone. Ren bent down, plucking it cleanly from the mess. It was warm to the touch, humming with latent energy.
As his fingers closed around it, a familiar chime sounded in his mind.
***Ding! Host has eliminated one target: 'Hyde.' Reward: 10,000 points. Total host points: 21,000.***
*So,* Ren realized, *the stone was his tether to the vein's power. The moment I severed the connection, he was just a man. A very dead man.*
"System," he commanded internally, holding the gem up. "Analyze this."
A brief pause. Then the system's neutral voice responded.
***Analysis complete. The object is identified as a 'Garel Stone.' It contains a potent, mysterious energy with a powerful life-force signature. Host has two options:***
***1. Exchange the stone for a significant point value.***
***2. Allow the system to synthesize a unique potion.***
***Potion Effects:***
***- Drastically increases the user's natural chakra reserves.***
***- Stimulates cellular potential, drastically accelerating chakra generation.***
***- Grants potent regenerative properties, capable of healing near-fatal wounds from a single breath.***
***- Significantly enhances vitality, increasing natural lifespan.***
***- Halts the aging process, preserving youth and vitality indefinitely. Potential for rejuvenation exists.***
Ren's breath caught in his throat. His fingers tightened around the warm gem.
*Absolute... perfection.*
This was no mere treasure; it was a key. A key to power, to longevity, to everything. It was a artifact that should never be left in the hands of fools like Hyde.
*This changes everything,* he thought, a slow, determined smile spreading across his features. *I need more. I need to control the source. This power... will be mine.*