Night fell quietly over Konoha.
Too quietly.
The Uchiha district was calm. Lanterns burned softly. Patrol routes were steady and predictable.
Predictable was safe.
Predictable was control.
Inside a dimly lit chamber far from the Hokage Tower, Danzō stood before a wall map of the village.
Several red markers had been added since morning.
One of them was labeled: Uchiha Ren.
Root operatives knelt in silence.
"The Hokage has chosen observation," one reported.
Danzō did not turn.
"Observation allows growth."
The operative hesitated. "Your orders?"
Danzō's cane tapped once.
"Accelerate containment."
The room grew colder.
"He must not be seen as a symbol," Danzō continued. "Discredit him. Isolate him. If necessary—"
He paused.
"—remove him quietly."
Root did not question.
They vanished into shadow.
Uchiha District.
Ren sat alone on the wooden railing outside his small home.
The air was cool.
The village felt… watchful.
He could feel it.
Not chakra.
Intent.
The drums inside him rolled faintly.
Doom.
Someone was moving tonight.
He stood slowly.
Footsteps approached from the far end of the street.
Not subtle.
Intentional.
Three Uchiha elders.
And behind them—
Fugaku Uchiha.
Clan Head.
His presence carried authority without effort.
Ren met his gaze calmly.
"You caused disruption," one elder said sharply.
Ren didn't deny it.
"They tried to bury me."
"That is not confirmed."
Ren's faint smile appeared.
"You know it is."
Fugaku studied him carefully.
His Sharingan did not activate.
Not yet.
"You have drawn the Hokage's attention," Fugaku said evenly.
"That can be useful."
Ren's eyes flickered slightly.
"Useful for who?"
Silence.
The elders shifted.
Fugaku stepped closer.
"You possess something the village fears."
Ren nodded slightly.
"They should."
One elder snapped, "Watch your tone!"
Ren's gaze didn't move.
"I'm not your weapon."
The air grew tight.
Fugaku's voice remained calm.
"No one said you were."
But everyone heard the implication.
Ren stepped down from the railing.
"If the clan wants to use me against the village," he said quietly, "I won't participate."
The elders bristled.
Fugaku's eyes sharpened slightly.
"You misunderstand your position."
Ren's faint smile returned.
"No. I don't."
A shift in the shadows across the rooftops caught Ren's attention.
Subtle.
But there.
Root.
Watching this conversation.
Interesting.
Ren looked back at Fugaku.
"You're being watched," he said softly.
The elders stiffened.
Fugaku's gaze flicked upward briefly.
He sensed it too.
Root presence.
Testing the tension.
Ren stepped backward slightly.
"You want me loyal?" he said.
"Then stop letting others decide what happens to me."
The words were direct.
Dangerous.
Fugaku held his gaze.
For a moment—
Clan pride warred with practicality.
Finally, Fugaku spoke.
"You will report any contact from Root directly to me."
Ren tilted his head.
"And what will you do?"
Fugaku's answer was calm.
"Decide."
It wasn't comfort.
It wasn't reassurance.
It was power structure.
Ren nodded slightly.
"Then decide well."
He turned and walked away.
Behind him, the elders whispered sharply.
Fugaku remained silent.
Watching.
Calculating.
Later that night.
Ren lay awake.
The village was too quiet.
The drums were steady.
Doom.
A window shifted slightly.
No wind.
Ren didn't move.
A blade slid silently through the paper wall.
Poisoned.
A second blade followed from the opposite side.
Simultaneous strike.
Professional.
Ren rolled off the bed before the blades pierced fully.
Two masked Root operatives burst through the wall.
No warning.
No words.
Assassination.
Ren's arm shot outward—
Stretching—
Grabbing one operative by the throat mid-air.
He slammed him into the floor.
The second operative activated a sealing tag mid-attack.
Natural energy flickered faintly from his gloves.
Interesting.
They adapted.
Ren twisted as a blade sliced across his shoulder.
It cut skin.
But when the blade tried to withdraw—
His flesh tightened—
And snapped the weapon in half.
The operative recoiled.
Ren compressed.
Released.
The first operative smashed through the ceiling into the night sky.
The second attempted retreat.
Ren's leg extended unnaturally—
Hooked the operative's ankle—
And pulled him back into the room violently.
The walls cracked.
The drums rolled louder.
DOOM.
The operative reached for a suicide seal.
Ren's hand shot forward—
Stretching—
Pinning the man's wrist to the floor.
"Tell Danzō," Ren said calmly.
"I don't hide."
The operative's mask shattered as his face slammed into wood.
Unconscious.
Ren stood slowly.
Blood ran lightly from his shoulder.
He touched it.
It sealed quickly.
Elastic regeneration was improving.
Outside—
Uchiha patrols were already approaching.
Lantern light filled the street.
Fugaku arrived moments later.
He took in the destroyed wall.
The unconscious Root operative.
Ren standing calmly in the center.
"You said you were being watched," Fugaku said.
Ren nodded slightly.
"They moved first."
Fugaku's gaze hardened.
"This will escalate."
Ren's faint smile returned.
"It already has."
Across the rooftops—
Root operatives retreated into shadow.
Reporting.
Calculating.
Danzō would know by dawn.
Ren stepped outside into the lantern light.
The Uchiha clan watched him differently now.
Not as a child.
Not as unstable.
As something volatile.
Potential.
Danger.
Symbol.
The drums slowed.
Doom.
And far away—
Inside the Hokage Tower—
Hiruzen felt something shifting in the balance he had tried to preserve.
Because now—
The conflict was no longer underground.
It was personal.