"How many is that now?"
Renya looked down at the corpse of the spy at his feet and asked.
Shimura Danzō let out a sigh.
"This is the fourth one."
"Tch. These guys are really in a rush," Renya muttered with a hint of exasperation.
The news of Senju Hashirama's death had just broken, and already so many spies were infiltrating Konoha.
It seemed the other nations couldn't hold back any longer.
"Renya-sama, another infiltration," reported a ninja from the sensory team.
The two exchanged no words and darted off in the direction the ninja had pointed.
...
In an alley somewhere in the village of Konoha.
"Raikage-sama has ordered us to confirm whether Senju Hashirama is truly dead. This mission must not fail!"
A dark-skinned man instructed the two companions beside him.
"Understood, Captain!"
"Good. Let's begin."
Just then, a voice rang out—completely out of place.
"Oh? What mission? Mind letting me in on it?"
The three of them turned instinctively toward the sound and saw a boy standing at the alley entrance, a katana in hand.
"Damn, we've been exposed!"
"Take him out, now!"
"This is crap... we just got in and already we're found out."
They each drew a kunai and charged at Renya.
Because they were in Konoha, they avoided using ninjutsu to stay hidden, intending to silence him with kunai instead.
Renya, watching the three charging Kumogakure shinobi, raised his katana and slashed at the one in front with a cunning angle.
The man tried to dodge sideways, but just as he looked up—
He met a pair of scarlet eyes and was caught off guard by a genjutsu.
His pupils immediately lost focus and his body froze in place.
Renya's blade didn't stop. A flash of cold steel swept across the man's neck.
As warm blood splattered onto the ground, he leapt into the air from his toes.
"Sharingan! Don't look into his eyes!"
Amid their shocked cries, Renya twisted in midair, his katana slicing a crescent arc through the air.
The Kumogakure ninja on the left panicked and flung a kunai, which narrowly grazed Renya's ear.
Realizing his attack missed, despair filled his heart.
If that boy's still alive... then he's the one who'll die.
Splurt—
The sound of blade piercing flesh rang out. Renya's sword had run him through.
"Bastard! Die!"
The final Kumogakure ninja took the chance while Renya was killing his comrade to rush in from a blind spot, kunai aimed at Renya's back.
Just as the blade was about to pierce Renya's heart, the boy vanished from sight.
"Damn it, where did he go?!"
The ninja looked around frantically and spotted Renya not far away.
This time, Renya had three poisoned kunai in his hand.
"Cheap tricks," he sneered.
The Sharingan captured the subtle rhythm of the enemy's breathing.
The three kunai flew out, targeting the enemy's throat, heart, and thigh.
The last Kumogakure ninja tried to dodge but Renya was already upon him, slamming the hilt of his blade into the man's temple.
With a dull grunt, the enemy collapsed.
Having finished, Renya sheathed his katana.
Danzō hurried to the scene and frowned at the carnage.
"Renya, again?! You didn't leave a single one alive!"
They had found four spies in the morning. He had hoped at least one would be spared for questioning.
But once again, Renya had killed them all.
With the three new bodies on the ground, the count was up to seven.
Renya clicked his tongue.
"These kinds of spies aren't worth keeping alive. They won't spill any useful intel. Better to just kill them."
Danzō's eye twitched as he retorted,
"How do you know they don't have any value?!"
"Then next time you keep one alive when you run into a spy."
Renya didn't want to argue with Danzō and turned to leave.
This guy always talked too much—it was exhausting.
So what if he killed a few spies?
Did he have to nag about it non-stop? It was annoying as hell.
If he'd known, he wouldn't have teamed up with Danzō.
As he watched Renya walk away, Danzō was so angry his mouth nearly twisted sideways.
"Renya, what's your problem?!"
...
"Yosh! I've successfully infiltrated Konoha!"
A boy, around ten years old and dressed in coarse clothing, cheered in his heart.
He gazed curiously at the buildings of Konoha, his eyes sparkling like stars.
"So this is Konoha? It's so prosperous!"
The boy couldn't help but marvel. It was way more advanced than Sunagakure.
Konoha was stronger now, sure, but once they defeated it, all this wealth could belong to Sunagakure too!
His mission was to investigate the situation with Senju Hashirama.
If the intel proved true, the Land of Wind would launch a war against the Land of Fire.
And once they won... all these resources would be theirs!
As he indulged in his bright dreams of the future, a cold voice whispered by his ear.
"Prosperous, huh? Then stay here forever."
His body went stiff. He slowly turned around—and saw a pair of crimson eyes.
Renya drew the katana at his waist, eyes fixed on the spy before him.
"Who are you?" the boy asked, trying to look innocent.
He was just a scout trained by Sunagakure, not even a real ninja—just an ordinary civilian.
Surely this Konoha ninja wouldn't kill him, right?
He was just a regular tourist visiting Konoha, that's all.
Huh? Why is my view spinning?
Just as confusion filled his mind, he saw a headless body on the ground.
That... looked like his own body...
So his head had been cut off...
But weren't ninja forbidden from killing civilians?
Unfortunately, no one would answer his question.
Renya sheathed his sword and turned away.
The ANBU would take care of the cleanup anyway.
Just another spy brat. Dead was dead.
When Danzō arrived, he saw the boy's headless corpse and his head lying not far away.
A trace of fear flickered in his eyes as he muttered to himself,
"Renya... he's becoming more terrifying by the day..."
Even though he knew the boy was a spy, wasn't this... a bit too brutal?
Danzō always thought of himself as a cold-blooded person.
But compared to Renya, he suddenly felt way too soft.
Swallowing hard, he quickly followed after him.
If he arrived even a moment later, Renya would've killed another one.
He had hoped to bring one back alive for interrogation...
As soon as Danzō left, two ANBU wearing animal masks arrived at the scene.
When they saw the corpse, they were visibly shaken.
Damn... this was brutal.
They both had the same thought:
Never piss off Renya. Or you'll die badly.
...
"We caught five spies," said Koharu Utatane and Mitokado Homura.
"Haha, we got nine," Sarutobi Hiruzen said with a grin, exchanging a smile with Uchiha Kagami.
The four of them turned instinctively to look at Danzō and Renya.
Danzō looked a bit embarrassed, unsure what to say.
He knew it—Hiruzen and the others had definitely kept their spies alive...
"Do we really need to keep spies alive? I killed ten today," Renya said, noticing everyone looking at him and asking in confusion.
Everyone: "???"
Wait, is that... okay?!
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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