The news of the burly man's death quickly spread throughout the Konoha camp.
"Did you hear? The Raikage's personal guard got taken out!"
"They say he was poisoned—his body turned to nothing but a pool of blood!"
"Who could've done it?"
"I heard it was a member of the Uchiha clan..."
"No way, I've never heard of an Uchiha using poison!"
Around the crackling campfires, plumes of smoke curling into the air, ninjas whispered among themselves, occasionally casting glances toward a group of injured Uchiha nearby.
Due to their serious injuries, these Uchiha hadn't gone to the battlefield.
The moment they heard that the Raikage's bodyguard was killed by an Uchiha, they raised their heads proudly and looked disdainfully at the whispering ninjas.
They didn't know who exactly had done it, but as long as it was an Uchiha, that was enough.
At that moment, four figures appeared in the distance, supporting each other as they walked with difficulty.
Leading them was a black-haired youth carrying an injured comrade on his back, slowly approaching the camp.
It was Renya and the others, returning from victory.
As for the rest of the Konoha forces, they were still on their way back.
The first to react were the veteran soldiers stationed on the front lines.
They rushed forward to help carry Mitokado Homura, who was gravely injured, off Renya's back.
Medical-nin from the camp sprinted over, lifting Homura onto a stretcher and carrying him into the camp.
Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others followed the medical-nin to the treatment area.
"Did the northern front win?" someone asked.
The northeastern battlefield had been divided into several fronts. The one Renya had been fighting on was the northern front.
"Yeah, we won," Renya replied softly.
Seeing that Renya wasn't badly injured, the surrounding ninjas gathered around him curiously, asking,
"I heard that on the battlefield, the Raikage's personal guard was killed by an Uchiha. Is that true?"
Clearly, they didn't know Renya's true identity.
Faced with their expectant eyes, Renya's expression became a little strange.
They were asking the very person who did it…
He had no intention of explaining, and simply nodded.
"It's true."
Hearing him admit it, the surrounding ninjas broke out in delighted laughter.
That burly man had caused significant casualties for Konoha on the battlefield in recent days.
With his powerful Lightning Armor, they had no real way of dealing with him.
Those lucky could escape, but those who weren't... ended up severely wounded, or even dead.
Over half of the wounded in camp were thanks to that man. Now that he was confirmed dead, how could they not be thrilled?
The ninja who had reported earlier quickly made his way to the command tent when he saw Renya and informed the commander of the news.
Upon learning that Renya had returned, the Nara commander immediately left the tent to greet him.
He saw Renya surrounded by the crowd and instinctively sized up his appearance.
Young, cold expression, blade at his waist.
Exactly as the clan head had described in the intel.
"Haha, you must be Jonin Renya!" the Nara commander said enthusiastically as he walked up.
The surrounding Konoha ninjas quickly made way.
Renya looked at the cheerful commander and guessed that the man already knew the truth.
"That's right, I'm Renya."
Seeing Renya confirm it, the Nara commander smiled even wider.
"Come, come! Let's talk inside the tent."
Without giving him a chance to refuse, he pulled Renya toward the command tent.
The surrounding Konoha ninjas looked on curiously, whispering among themselves.
"Who the heck is that kid?"
"Even the commander-sama greeted him with a smile. Must have some background!"
"Don't talk nonsense—maybe it's just because he's strong."
"He's only in his teens. He can't be a Jonin, right?"
The injured Uchiha nearby exchanged glances, all clearly shocked.
"Did you hear what the commander just said? That guy…"
"Yeah. I think he called him by that traitor's name."
They hadn't seen Renya's face clearly due to the crowd.
"Don't tell me it was that traitor who killed the Raikage's personal guard?"
Their faces grew uglier by the second.
Even though they had never interacted with Renya before, they had always considered him a traitor to the clan.
Now, learning that he might be the one who killed the Raikage's elite guard, the bitterness hit harder than death.
"We have to report this to the clan head."
...
Inside the command tent.
The Nara commander enthusiastically pulled over a chair for Renya.
"Jonin Renya, you've worked hard."
Renya was a little stunned. Wasn't the commander being a bit too welcoming?
But he quickly understood the reason…
It's true—if you have power, you'll be respected anywhere.
Without being polite, he took the seat.
"Jonin Renya, do you know anything about the death of the Raikage's guard?" the Nara commander asked indirectly.
He'd only had a hunch before and didn't want to ask outright without evidence.
"The Raikage's guard was taken down by me and Hiruzen working together," Renya said.
He didn't take all the credit.
After all, if not for the efforts of Hiruzen and the others in holding the opponent back, he wouldn't have found the opening to strike, let alone killed him.
Half of the credit belonged to his teammates.
The Nara commander was momentarily surprised, then smiled broadly.
"So that's how it is. You're all heroes of the battlefield!"
Now he fully understood why the clan head had spoken so highly of Renya in his reports.
Not only was the boy powerful—he valued his comrades.
This was exactly the kind of elite Konoha needed most.
No wonder the Hokage-sama raised him personally!
All of this came from the intel sent by Nara Mikage...
"Jonin Renya, take some time to rest in camp. I'll have your squad's tent arranged right away," the Nara commander said.
"Thank you."
...
Renya was led by the reporting ninja to a tent.
"Jonin Renya, this will be your squad's tent."
The northeastern front had a lot of personnel, and space for tents was limited. Normally, multiple people had to squeeze into one.
Renya entered the tent. It was large enough to house six ninjas, so for just the three of them, it was more than spacious.
He knew it was originally meant to house six, but the Nara commander had arranged special treatment.
He didn't rest right away, instead heading to the medical unit to inform Danzō and Koharu about the tent.
On the way, he saw several injured Uchiha gathered by a nearby campfire.
They saw Renya too and immediately gave him looks full of disgust.
Renya didn't say a word, but activated his Sharingan and stared right back at them.
When they saw the triple tomoe in his eyes, they instinctively lowered their heads.
Among the Uchiha, anyone who could awaken the three-tomoe Sharingan was considered an elite.
Even if Renya was a traitor, he wasn't someone they could afford to mess with…
Renya ignored them and continued on to the medical unit.
As long as the Uchiha didn't actively come looking for trouble, he couldn't care less about them.
But if they did—
He would show no mercy.
...
"Damn it, how is that traitor so strong?"
"Why does he get to awaken the three-tomoe Sharingan?!"
Watching Renya's fading figure, they clenched their fists in frustration.