Beneath the massive Hokage Rock stands the Hokage Building—a circular, fortress-like structure topped with a broad, pristine white roof.
At this moment, the Third Hokage of Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi, stood by the roof's railing, gazing over the sprawling landscape of the village. Behind him, Minato Namikaze was concluding his report on the actual battlefield situation in the Land of Rain.
"Lord Hokage, that summarizes the entire operation."
"The greatest credit for this campaign goes to the Konoha Surprise Attack Force led by Shinichi Uchiha and Ren Uchiha. Their strike allowed us to claim Ebizō's head and secure countless classified intelligence files, making our subsequent offensive as smooth as a fish in water!"
Hiruzen raised his pipe, tapped it against the railing, and knitted his brows slightly. "Ren Uchiha, eh..."
"Minato, what is your impression of this child?"
Minato's expression turned solemn. He knew the Third was asking the pivotal question. After all these days, Hiruzen had already received the official war reports; he didn't need Minato to suggest rewards. What the Third wanted to know was the Uchiha problem.
Since the founding of Konoha, the relationship between the Uchiha and the village had never been ideal. Burdened by historical pressure, the balancing of various interests, and the flaws of the old system, the two sides had remained in a stalemate. Hiruzen could only struggle to maintain the status quo.
But if things continued this way, the marginalized Uchiha would accumulate resentment that would eventually spark a disaster. The news of Orochimaru, one of the Sannin, taking Ren Uchiha as a disciple—and the Uchiha's subsequent concession on the S-Rank mission at the Valley of Hell—had sent a positive signal.
The key was Ren Uchiha. Did he have the capacity to become the bridge between the clan and the village?
Hiruzen had never met the boy and couldn't judge his attitude toward Konoha. From his performance, he was undoubtedly a new genius of the Uchiha, comparable to Kagami Uchiha in his prime! But if the boy's mindset mirrored Madara Uchiha's, then the village was in trouble.
Hence, he sought Minato's opinion.
Minato recalled his recent days with Ren and smiled warmly. "Ren Uchiha... he is a peace-loving child—"
Suddenly, the sky darkened!
A black mushroom cloud billowed from the south of Konoha. The tremor of the earth and the roar of a violent explosion, accompanied by a shockwave that swept through the entire village, slammed into the Hokage Building.
The blast sent Hiruzen's Hokage hat flying into the sky.
Immediately following the boom, an ominous aura surged, causing Hiruzen's old face to twitch. He looked toward the Uchiha and Senju districts in the south, his eyes trembling.
"What is that?!"
The smile on Minato's face froze. He turned his head stiffly toward the familiar, spiraling mushroom cloud in the distance and scratched his head, looking uncertain.
"Uh... that looks a lot like my jutsu?"
Konoha Underground, Root Headquarters.
Danzo Shimura was resting with his eyes closed on the throne of the Root leader. Suddenly, the ceiling shuddered violently, sending a shower of debris downward. A piece of rubble struck him right on the forehead.
He snapped his eyes open. "This chakra... this ominous aura? Has a Tailed Beast attacked the village?!"
Danzo stood up, his spirit instantly revitalized. He began barking orders to his subordinates, shouting at the hooded man standing in the shadows:
"Ryōma! Quickly, send men to contain the Uchiha! Gather our forces but do not reveal yourselves yet. We wait until that monkey Hiruzen finishes cleaning up the mess before we step in!"
Danzo was ecstatic. This was the perfect opportunity to oust Hiruzen. The position of Fourth Hokage would surely be his!
However, beneath the throne, Ryōma Aburame frowned, recalling a parasitic insect from the air. "Uh... Lord Danzo, that shockwave... it originated from within the Uchiha district."
Danzo's brow furrowed. "The Uchiha? Where did they catch a Tailed Beast? Excellent! I knew it—those wretched Uchiha are trying to start a coup by seizing another nation's Tailed Beast! I told Hiruzen he was too merciful—"
Ryōma choked for a moment, his expression awkward. "My Lord, have you forgotten? That 'Jinchūriki' is your subordinate, the disciple of Orochimaru... the one codenamed 'Asura'..."
"...Ren Uchiha."
Danzo froze in place, his face shifting through a kaleidoscope of emotions. After a long silence, he let out a dry cough. "I-Is that so?"
Meanwhile, at the Konoha Hospital.
Countless people looked up at the black mushroom cloud rising from the south. Then, a woman's furious roar echoed through the halls.
"WHO DID THAT?!"
To the crowd's shock, a blonde woman wearing a green robe with the kanji for 'Gamble' (Kake) burst out of the hospital. Tsunade, one of the Sannin, stood at the entrance, her fists clenched and her body trembling with rage. Behind her followed a nervous young girl with short black hair.
Tsunade stared helplessly at the site of the explosion, her teeth gritted as she closed her eyes in agony.
"MY GAMBLING MONEY!!!" (Note: The explosion hit the Senju district, her ancestral home/assets.)
Back at the Epicenter: The Uchiha Courtyard.
Yashiro Uchiha had stopped dead in his tracks, staring in absolute terror as Ren—now a half-beast—vomited a Menacing Beast Beam into the sky. Sweat poured down Yashiro's forehead. He swallowed hard, glancing toward where Jie Uchiha had been sent flying.
"Heh... heh..." Yashiro breathed heavily, trying to suppress his racing heart and surging blood pressure. His face was a sickly pale.
However, the blade he had swung toward Ren's back was already in motion. He couldn't stop it!
Whish! Whish!
Shuriken flew, trailing steel wires intended to bind Ren's limbs. The 'Half-Beast Ren' snapped his head around, his crimson snake pupils exploding with killing intent as he glared at Yashiro.
The Version 2 cloak of white flames surged and reshaped itself, sprouting eight arms of fire. Each hand materialized a six-foot-long blade of flame. Without any technique or finesse, the beast simply hacked downward, a dense web of fire covering every inch of space in front of Yashiro.
Yashiro's scalp went numb. With his Sharingan wide, he was forced to dodge like a frantic flea, parrying and blocking with his single blade. His ninja tool felt pathetically frail against the onslaught. The steel wires that had managed to wrap around Ren were incinerated into ash within seconds.
The beast let out a distorted laugh. The veins around its eyes throbbed as it began forming an even more lethal Expanding Rasengan—one infused with Natural Energy.
Then, it swallowed the orb again.
Ren's body bloated, his claws dug into the earth, and his jaw unhinged to aim at the sky once more. Yashiro's eyes were filled with pure powerlessness. How could a normal ninja block that?
Inside the Mindscape.
From his third-person perspective, the "true" Ren Uchiha shook his head.
"How stupid. To have all that power and struggle so much just to kill Yashiro. If it were me, I'd have ended it with one look and one strike."
"As I thought, this is just a beast—a feral consciousness born from the interaction of Natural Energy and Dark Chakra. No tactical thought, just brute force."
"In that case, this is simple."
Dealing with a developing "Dragon-fied" personality—unlike the fully formed one Sage Kabuto would eventually possess—was right up Ren's alley. As an Uchiha with a powerful soul and S+ Combat Intuition, this was a "professional match."
Ren flared his Sharingan, entering his own spiritual world through the link of his chakra.
When he opened his eyes, he was back in the cramped, dingy room of his previous life. Looking down at the white-skinned, human-faced snake that bore his own features, Ren remained expressionless.
He reached for his waist, unbuckled his heavy leather belt, and raised it high.
SNAP!
The human-faced snake let out a wretched shriek before dissolving into green smoke, utterly crushed and erased.
Ren's vision cleared instantly as he regained control of his physical body.
However, the "feral personality" had left him a total mess before it vanished. He felt the chaotic cocktail of energies currently raging inside him: Natural Energy from the eyes, the Dark Expanding Rasengan, his own chakra, the leak from the Cursed Seal, shredded Immortal Cells, and the Fire Style Chakra Mode...
Ren's forehead twitched as he realized the gravity of the situation.
Oh, crap. I overdid it.
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