Inside the Hokage's office—
"Not bad."
Ren drew his will back in, Conqueror's Haki vanishing as abruptly as it had erupted. He swept the room with Observation Haki, then nodded in quiet satisfaction.
His first full release had been a little rough at the start—enough to crack parts of the Hokage Tower.
But once he adjusted, his control became razor-clean.
The pressure had only targeted its intended victims:
Koharu Utatane, Homura Mitokado, Sarutobi Hiruzen—
and the ANBU hidden around the building.
Perfect effect.
"You…" Koharu rasped from the floor, still trembling, staring up at him like she'd seen a ghost. "So it was you…"
The Uchiha she'd never once taken seriously—
was now standing above her like a born monarch, suppressing the room with sheer presence.
Homura lay nearby, his glasses knocked off, his face a mix of disbelief and horror.
"Uchiha Ren… you hid that deeply…"
As for Hiruzen—
he remained in his chair, but the calm was gone.
Completely.
Inside, a tidal wave was tearing him apart.
At this point, the truth was obvious.
Even an idiot could see it now:
Ren was the real hand behind everything.
Which explained why Danzō and Root's elites had vanished.
Which explained why the Sarutobi shinobi had been slaughtered overnight.
Hiruzen could endure Ren's pressure with stubborn will and Hokage-level strength…
But he couldn't accept what it meant.
He'd watched Ren through the crystal ball.
He'd even sent Shisui to test him.
Every conclusion had pointed to the same thing:
Pure taijutsu.
No ninjutsu.
No threat.
And now?
That "non-threat" had shattered the extermination plan, erased the Sarutobi's shinobi, and walked straight into the Hokage's office to establish dominance.
It was humiliation at point-blank range.
The kind that tasted like swallowing filth.
And yet—
there was nothing Hiruzen could do about the fact that he should've crushed Ren long ago.
The only one who still looked composed was Fugaku.
After witnessing Ren's strength with his own eyes, the sheer pressure didn't even shake him anymore.
If anything, he felt a grim kind of relief.
Thank god he was born Uchiha…
If he'd been born elsewhere…
Ren stepped forward and looked down at Koharu and Homura.
His voice stayed flat.
"Now we can talk properly."
"Do you still want to fight?"
Koharu forced herself to glare up at him, even as fear shook her bones.
"Uchiha Ren… are you trying to rebel?"
"You hid for all these years—wolf's ambition!"
Then she spat the stupidest line possible:
"If you've got the guts—kill us!"
Homura, emboldened by her defiance, drew in a breath and tried to recover his old "elder" posture.
His chin lifted.
"We're Konoha's leadership. If you kill—"
He didn't finish.
Ren's right hand tightened.
Murakumogiri appeared in his grip.
One clean motion.
Slash.
Homura's head left his shoulders.
So fast the threat never even had time to become a sentence.
Hiss—!
Blood sprayed.
Homura's eyes stayed wide, frozen in shocked disbelief as his body and head separated.
His last thought was a hollow, stupid question:
Why is it like this…?
He'd only meant to threaten Ren out of habit—
the reflex of a man who'd lived his whole life above everyone else.
He never imagined Ren would simply… kill him.
No negotiation.
No hesitation.
No "political consequences."
Just death.
Koharu's face snapped into terror.
"You… you killed Homura?!"
She screamed, voice cracking, staring at Ren like he was a devil wearing a man's skin.
Hiruzen's hands trembled.
Rage burned through him so violently his body shook.
Under his desk—
Danzō's head still sat hidden like a curse.
And now Homura's body was bleeding out in his office.
"You…" Hiruzen's voice came out raw. "You…"
Ren shrugged lightly, almost amused.
"You all heard him."
"He asked me to kill him."
He smiled.
"In my life, I've never heard a more suicidal request."
Then Ren's gaze slid to Koharu.
"And you're next."
His eyes turned cold, killing intent no longer concealed.
Cut the weeds. Pull the roots.
If you leave them, they grow back.
He'd already stepped onto the stage.
So he might as well finish the job.
You people ruined my quiet check-ins.
You tried to erase the Uchiha.
You made me move.
So he would take their lives, and to hell with the "plot."
"No—!" Koharu panicked, voice tearing. "I surrender! I concede!"
Too late.
Murakumogiri traced a strange, elegant curve through the air—
and Koharu's head flew free.
A clean arc.
A wet thud.
Just like Homura—
even in death, she probably couldn't understand it.
How could he be this ruthless?
They were Konoha's high command.
Surely he had to fear consequences.
But Ren killed them the way a man kills stray dogs—
without the slightest hesitation.
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