Chapter 65 — All Quiet on the Western Front (Final)
"Hanegawa? Is there something you need?"
Sakumo Hatake's voice was cold, his expression unreadable. He had no idea about the layers of scheming beneath the surface — to him, everyone here was from Konoha, so there was no need to treat each other like enemies.
The only real black mark on Hanegawa in Sakumo's mind was that his mission had failed: both strongholds on either side of the Mokuning Dam had fallen. That was his responsibility.
"Sakumo-sama…"
Ignoring Namikaze Minato's watchful gaze, Hanegawa continued to advance.
Ren felt something was off. Switching from Sharingan to Byakugan, he peered through Hanegawa's body.
And there it was.
Suspicious as hell — dark-brown chakra roiling above Hanegawa's head, identical to what Ren had once seen emanating from Ryōsuke.
So… this guy, a clansman of the Shimura and Danzo's trusted subordinate — was a traitor.
Hanegawa's right hand was hidden inside his sleeve, fingers moving, weaving seals under cover as if reaching for a mission scroll. He was prepping a kill in close quarters — close enough to give his targets no time to react.
Squelch—
A wet sound.
Hanegawa's eyes widened in shock, looking down… only to see the cold gleam of Ren's sword Jūan buried deep in his gut.
"How… did you know?"
"Thank you," Ren grinned, baring his teeth. "I didn't even have a reason to kill you before."
He slid the blade free and shoved Hanegawa back.
"Hannya! What are you doing?!" Sakumo burst out, furious. Killing the leader of an Anbu division in front of him — what did that mean?
"Captain Sakumo, please, don't be hasty," Ren replied calmly.
With deliberate slowness, he drove Jūan through Hanegawa's forehead, prying open the skullcap.
"Now… smell this chakra. Looks familiar, doesn't it?"
He held the grisly trophy toward Sakumo. The stench was foul, acrid; Sakumo's brow furrowed as he glanced toward the nearby lump of black flesh from Ryosuke's corpse.
The exact same smell.
"Hanegawa… was a traitor?"
"Bingo."
Ren smiled, flicking the skull aside. Mission complete — including this extra kill. When they got back, old man Sarutobi was going to owe him big time.
And maybe… Tsunade. Without a certain level of rank, pursuing her was hopeless; she'd see him as nothing more than a kid. But with the right status… things could change.
Yes — Ren had every intention of pursuing Tsunade, openly and without hiding it from Sarutobi Hiruzen. Princess Tsunade — princess of the Land of Fire, heiress of the Senju clan — that was a title he wanted to claim.
(Not that he didn't have personal reasons too… he liked them big, and with her, any future children would never go hungry.)
From the side, Minato tilted his head toward Ren, who gave him a small nod in return. Understanding, Minato turned and left to summon others.
When Ren finished treating White Fang's wound, he walked over, lifted Hanegawa's limp body into a seated kneel, facing Sakumo.
"What are you doing?" Sakumo asked, baffled.
Moments later, Anbu reinforcements arrived — many of them from the Shimura clan, hastily summoned by Minato.
With all eyes on him, Ren removed his mask, flashed Minato a quick grin, then addressed Sakumo:
"Sakumo-sama, there's protocol. For traitors, a formal execution is required — and as the highest-ranking officer here, that duty falls to you."
His words were quick, but loud enough that every shinobi present could hear them.
Sakumo hesitated. The man was already dead — wasn't this just corpse-mutilation?
"Sakumo-sama," Ren pressed, "killing the dead is for the sake of the living — for them to see."
"…Fine."
With Ren helping him stand, Sakumo faced the assembled Anbu. His severe injuries did nothing to diminish the aura of awe his comrades felt toward him.
"Hanegawa… was captain of an Anbu squad. But he betrayed Konoha. He betrayed the Will of Fire. Today, I execute him here."
When every Anbu had heard, Sakumo swung his short blade with his left hand. One clean stroke — Hanegawa's head thudded onto the ground.
The Shimura clan's Anbu said nothing. Cold eyes, no protest, no defense.
Perfect. Ren smiled faintly.
Elsewhere, as Ren tied off this loose end, Utakata the Six-Tails' Jinchūriki stirred to consciousness.
He had been hunted down by Sakumo, cut a thousand times, yet — thanks to the Six-Tails' regenerative power — he had survived.
This was the strength of a Jinchūriki: resilience beyond reason.
"Sakumo Hatake… Konoha's White Fang…" Utaka's voice dripped with hate.
Saiken — come out. Avenge me. I'll destroy Konoha!
Blue-white chakra boiled over as the Six-Tails re-emerged, the swelling energy coalescing into a tailed beast bomb in its maw.
Its target — the Mokuning Dam.
"Konoha dogs… White Fang… I'll take your lives!"
The bijūdama swelled larger still, then fired like an arrow loosed from a drawn bow.
BOOM!
Ren and every Konoha ninja on the field turned just in time to witness it — the Mokuning Dam shattering under the impact, stone and timber ripped apart in an instant.
The waters it had held back surged free, unstoppable. From this moment onward, the lower Mokuning River would become a drowned land stretching a thousand li, with millions left homeless.
The Land of Fire had taken heavy damage — but the Land of Rain was hardly better off.
In the end, they were evenly matched in misery.
Sakumo Hatake's already pale face turned ashen as the sight before him sank in.
"I… I…"
Regret clawed at him. He should have taken Utakata's head the moment he had the chance, not merely pierced his heart before returning.
Ren stepped forward. He didn't add any unnecessary flourish — only a quiet line meant to console.
"White Fang-sama… human strength has its limits. As long as we do what we believe is right, it's enough."
At the side, Namikaze Minato's eyes flickered with surprise.
He had always felt there was a certain openness in Ren — a quality he himself didn't have. A sense that right or wrong didn't matter as much as whether something felt worth doing.
And now… he understood.
Ren's personal philosophy wasn't quite aligned with Konoha's mainstream Way of the Ninja.
He didn't care for perfection — only for a clear conscience.
Because in the end… human strength has its limits.
From this far away, they could still hear the raging roar of the river. Against such raw power of nature, they were almost powerless.
"Come. Let's head back."
Ren didn't even bother looking again. In his eyes, Konoha had lost even in victory. War could be like that — just when you thought everything was secure, fate would kick you in the gut without warning.
He took the lead on the road home. Minato followed soon after. As for Kakuzu, Ren simply told him to collect his payment in two weeks.
And so, the border war sparked by Rain's move toward "negotiation" drew to a close.
Both Konoha and Amegakure had suffered grievous losses. Each side had deployed over a thousand shinobi; more than thirty jonin lay dead.
Among the fallen, Rain's Minister of External Affairs, Senkiri Ryōsuke, perished in battle. Elite jonin Uzumaki Nagato was dead.
On Konoha's side, the White Fang had lost his right arm — his combat strength drastically reduced. Anbu Captain Hanegawa was executed in the field for treason, remembered as a disgrace to the Anbu ranks.
After this, there would almost certainly be real peace talks between the two villages.
Even if they wanted to keep fighting, neither had the strength left to do so.
Konoha's borders were long — far too many points that needed shinobi to guard. Rain, on the other hand, was gutted; they wouldn't be able to field an elite force again anytime soon.
When Sarutobi Hiruzen received the reports, his face betrayed neither joy nor anger. He tamped his pipe against the desk, again and again, before finally — after long hesitation — pressing the Hokage's seal to paper.
"Commend Namikaze Minato and Ren as heroes of Konoha's war effort.
For Hanegawa — offer posthumous honors. His treason will not be pursued, nor will it be publicly spoken of within the village."