"Don't say any more — let's go back first."
The lead Sunagakure Jonin wanted to continue speaking, but Chiyo cut him off.
If he kept talking he might draw the young man's displeasure, and then they'd all have to explain what happened here.
Don't let their numbers fool you; judging by the strength the youth just showed, dealing with them wouldn't be difficult…
"They wouldn't dare act up with me here," the lead Jonin tried to reassure them, completely missing Chiyo's hint.
They brought so many people — were they really afraid of not being able to deal with three Konoha ninjas?
Chiyo: "…"
"Konoha ninja, hand over the bodies of our village's traitors, or don't blame me for being ruthless!" the lead Jonin shouted.
The Konoha ninja's actions had already threatened the village's intelligence security.
If they refused to hand over the bodies, they would have no choice but to kill them — and surely the Kazekage-sama would not blame them for that.
After all, Sunagakure had the moral high ground in this matter; even if Konoha learned of it, they could only grit their teeth and accept it.
"Oh? And what if I don't give them up." Renya gripped the hilt of his blade; his eyes slowly turned icy.
This was not a time of war. He originally didn't want to kill Sunagakure's shinobi, because that would easily spark conflict between the two countries, but plans couldn't keep up with changes.
Since these guys were dead-set on coming here to die, he had no reason to refuse.
And as for creating friction between the two nations?
As long as he silenced them all, no one would ever know.
How could Renya possibly abandon intelligence he'd worked so hard to obtain?
"Won't hand them over? Then there's only one road — death!" The lead Jonin's killing intent rose as he shoved his hand into his weapons pouch.
The atmosphere in the clearing immediately thickened, like a drawn blade.
Seeing this, Danzō Shimura grew excited at once. He casually tossed a severed head onto the ground, drew a kunai from his pouch, and fixed his burning gaze on the lead Jonin.
So that's why Renya hadn't chosen to strike down the girl earlier — he was setting a longer trap to catch bigger prey…
Heh, truly evil, Renya!
Killing a single girl would be a poor trade-off, but killing a group of Sunagakure shinobi was an entirely different matter.
Koharu likewise readied herself for battle; if things went wrong she would attack immediately.
"Wait!" Chiyo hurriedly stopped the lead Jonin, afraid a fight would break out.
After all, they wouldn't be enough to handle the youth in front of them…
"Chiyo, what do you mean by this?" the lead Jonin shot back.
Chiyo, Sunagakure's prodigy, obstructing him again and again — there was clearly something wrong!
Could it be… she had taken a liking to this Konoha ninja?
The lead Jonin reflexively turned to the youth. His attention had been fixed on the traitor's head earlier; he hadn't really looked at the other's face.
When he clearly saw Renya's features, he was stunned.
The kid really was handsome — no wonder Chiyo had tried to stop him.
But what's beauty got to do with anything!
In this world, strength was the only thing that mattered!
As he studied the youth, the lead Jonin felt the face looked oddly familiar — he'd seen it somewhere before.
Where was it?
He rarely saw Konoha shinobi; the last time had been years ago on a battlefield.
Wait… the battlefield?!
Something clicked in his mind.
The young man's face slowly overlapped with that of a boy from three years ago.
The lead Jonin had witnessed that boy charging into Sunagakure troops wielding a greatsword, cutting them down like slicing melons — in an instant he had killed countless comrades.
Many of those who died were poisoned; if he hadn't been fast, he would have been another corpse under the blade.
Later he learned from others that that boy was Konoha's "Deadly Poison Master"!
The lead Jonin's face went pale in an instant. All arrogance vanished; he wanted nothing more than to run away.
Now he finally understood why Chiyo had blocked him — she already knew the youth's identity!
Renya noticed the series of expressions on the Jonin's face and guessed that the man had discovered who he was.
He asked with interest, "Any objections now?"
Chiyo had just been about to stop the lead Jonin from speaking, worried his words would anger the youth and thereby indirectly get her killed.
"N—no objections…"
Before she could finish, she watched the lead Jonin shake his head like a rattle-drum, his face filled with utter fear.
Seeing this, Danzō's mouth twitched. The head they almost had in hand was just gone — what a pity. If he'd known, he'd have acted immediately.
Now they had missed a chance to wipe out a Sunagakure unit.
"No objections? Then shall we be on our way?" Renya picked up the head Danzō had thrown to the ground and asked rhetorically before leaving.
He wasn't bloodthirsty. Since the Sunagakure shinobi hadn't acted first, he had no reason to take action.
He wasn't going to steal Sunagakure's intelligence and then turn around and kill them all, was he?
Only if they struck first would he choose to kill to silence them.
Most of the time Renya was a man of principle — so long as his life wasn't threatened.
If there was a threat to his life, he'd spare no means.
To Renya, his life always came first; nothing and no one could make him willingly give it up.
He could accept avenging others, but he would never accept someone avenging him.
Only by staying alive was there a future; if he died, there was nothing left.
He couldn't expect someone to revive him with Edo Tensei, after all.
Even if he were resurrected by Edo Tensei, it wouldn't be a true revival — the caster could remove the forbidden technique at any time.
Unless, like Uchiha Madara, he knew the seal to lift control.
Looks like he'd have to ask that old man about the details of Edo Tensei — if he were resurrected in the future, maybe he could cut off the caster's control.
Renya always thought ahead; he was even preparing for afterlife contingencies now.
Fear of death was a biological instinct, he didn't think there was anything wrong with fearing death. Only someone brainwashed from childhood would recklessly throw away their life.
If you can win, fight, if you can't, run, if you can't run, then struggle with all you've got.
That was Renya's creed for surviving in the shinobi world!
After decades of bitter training, few in the ninja world could now threaten his life.
As long as he didn't go seeking opponents stronger than himself like a certain fool.
…
Watching Renya and the other two walk away, one Sunagakure ninja asked in confusion.
"Captain, are we really just going to let them leave like that?"
"They took the traitors' heads — this could very well leak the village's secrets."
"What do you know?" the lead Jonin said, his voice still trembling. "That youth is Konoha's 'Deadly Poison Master'!"
"If we let the three of them go, we won't be able to account for this today."
"What?!" panic washed over the others' faces.
The title "Deadly Poison Master" — to the Sunagakure shinobi, it was nothing less than a nightmare!
Chiyo's expression shifted constantly; she clenched her fists in frustration, eyes locked onto Renya's departing back.