Chapter 91: Raikage
[Ding!]
[Human Malice Value detected: +1,000,000]
[Cursed Energy converted to Chakra: +1,000,000]
[Chakra (246,985,002 / 400,000,000)]
"Are you kidding me?!"
Shikamaru's roar tore through the tent. He lunged, fists bunching in Renji's cloak at the shoulders, eyes blown wide with rage, a faint crimson rimming his irises.
Renji only frowned, a flash of open disgust crossing his face. With a casual sweep of his hand—light, but implacable—he knocked Shikamaru aside.
"Shikamaru, are you laying hands on a loyal shinobi of the village?" His tone was cool, indifferent, edged with mockery.
Shikamaru didn't flinch. "A loyal shinobi?" His voice shook. "Then why did you attack Kurenai-san?"
He ground the words out, each syllable splintering with hate. "Why?!"
Renji's silence made him snap. "Answer me!" he shouted, his voice ripping hoarse. "Why?!"
[Ding!]
[Human Malice Value detected: +2,000,000]
[Cursed Energy converted to Chakra: +2,000,000]
[Chakra (248,985,002 / 400,000,000)]
Renji met his gaze without fear or guilt. Shikamaru was all fire and fracture; Renji was ice.
Suddenly Shikamaru slammed him into a tent post, forearm jammed beneath Renji's jaw.
"Admit it!"
The tent froze. No one breathed.
"Shikamaru!" Ino moved first, crying out as she grabbed his wrist and tried to pry him back.
"Ino's" eyes brimmed. "Renji, explain! It isn't like that! It can't be like he's saying!"
Renji didn't even look at her. He let Shikamaru's pressure sit on his throat, never lifting a hand to resist. A thin, derisive smile crept across his lips.
Shikamaru waited—waited for the apology, any sign of remorse. The unbroken silence, more than anything, was what he hated.
At last his hand fell away.
"Why?" Ino whispered, tears spilling. "Renji… why would you—betray us…?"
[Ding!]
[Human Malice Value detected: +1,000,000]
[Cursed Energy converted to Chakra: +1,000,000]
[Chakra (249,985,002 / 400,000,000)]
It was what everyone thought and no one dared to say. "Betrayal" felt like a seal—once spoken, it couldn't be undone.
Renji gave a small, scornful laugh. "Betrayal?" he said, crisp and slow. "I was never on your side. How do you betray something you were never part of?"
[Ding!]
[Human Malice Value detected: +1,000,000]
[Cursed Energy converted to Chakra: +1,000,000]
[Chakra (250,985,002 / 400,000,000)]
[Ding!]
[Human Malice Value detected: +1,000,000]
[Cursed Energy converted to Chakra: +1,000,000]
[Chakra (251,985,002 / 400,000,000)]
.
.
.
The notifications kept ringing. Renji's gaze swept the group. "Forgetting Lord Danzo's mission because of you—that would be betrayal."
"Renji, what are you even saying?" Lee blurted, lost.
Neji pressed his lips together, saying nothing.
Tenten's eyes flicked to Naruto, shrinking into silence within the ice mirror. "Renji, he's a Jinchūriki, not a criminal. You can't do this."
Renji regarded her flatly. "Who are you to tell me what I can do? I follow the Sixth Hokage's orders. Pain came for Naruto—he bears responsibility for the damage."
Ino glanced at Sakura. She hadn't spoken once.
Sakura stared down at the unconscious Tsunade. 'This is better. This way… Lady Tsunade won't have to face him.'
"In the hospital," Sakura said quietly, "was that you?"
She didn't need the answer. She already knew whose hand had turned patients into monsters.
"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean," Renji replied with a pleasant smile that never reached his eyes. He could smear Kurenai as a collaborator; he couldn't neatly explain dozens of transformed Konoha shinobi.
[Ding!]
[Human Malice Value detected: +1,000,000]
[Cursed Energy converted to Chakra: +1,000,000]
[Chakra (259,985,002 / 400,000,000)]
'So be it,' Sakura thought. Proof wouldn't change anything. Most would rather blame Hasumi Maki.
Renji take ice mirror and headed for the isolation cell Danzo had ordered for Naruto.
Yamato had built it—reluctantly. Power in the village now wore one face.
The wooden cage sat far from the tents, alone under open sky.
Inside, Renji released Naruto; the mirror dissolved to mist. He turned to leave—
—when a deafening crack slammed him into a post. The air bottomed out of his lungs.
He twisted his head. Naruto was behind him, iron-hard arms locking Renji's elbows in place. His eyes burned with something feral. A sheen of fangs flashed at the corner of his mouth.
Before Renji could counter, teeth punched into the side of his neck. Pain shot bone-deep. Blood cascaded hot and fast.
[Ding!]
[Human Malice Value detected: +1,000,000]
[Cursed Energy converted to Chakra: +1,000,000]
[Chakra (260,985,002 / 400,000,000)]
[Ding!]
[Human Malice Value detected: +5,000,000]
[Cursed Energy converted to Chakra: +5,000,000]
[Chakra (265,985,002 / 400,000,000)]
[Ding!]
[Human Malice Value detected: +10,000,000]
[Cursed Energy converted to Chakra: +10,000,000]
[Chakra (275,985,002 / 400,000,000)]
Crimson flooded Naruto's pupils. He let the flesh fall from his mouth, shoulders heaving.
Renji's flesh knit clean in seconds, skin smoothing as the last trace of blood faded. Naruto didn't look at it. He stared at Renji's profile, eyes reddening, tears sliding hot down his cheeks to dot Renji's collarbone.
"You were lying to me the whole time?" Naruto's voice trembled. "Was any of it real? You swore your dream was to help me become Hokage—was that all a lie? Did you ever tell me the truth?"
His fists tightened until nails split skin. He didn't seem to feel it.
Memories flooded—empty days before Renji, the first real warmth after. Quiet faith. A hand on his shoulder when words failed. Meals shared. Silences understood.
All of it now felt like a stage set. One more mask Renji wore.
"Why?!" Naruto's voice shook with fury, but beneath it lay raw, open hurt.
He forced Renji to face him, searching his eyes for anything human. "Why couldn't you just keep lying? Renji… you felt something, didn't you? You cared—didn't you?"
Renji's smile was a knife. "If it helps you sleep, think so."
It cut clean through Naruto's chest.
"The one who truly belongs in a cage with his legs broken is you…" Naruto hissed, eyes flaring, blue burning to bestial slits.
Renji's gaze ticked to the air around Naruto—malice so thick it almost had weight. He moved. The knife-edge of his hand struck Naruto's neck.
Darkness swallowed Naruto's vision. He pitched forward, crashing onto the cold wooden floor.
Renji let his hand fall, stepped out, and turned the lock with a soft click.
Footsteps joined him—Sai. The two walked in silence toward Danzo's command tent.
…
Danzo's pavilion throbbed with voices. The old man gripped his cane, eyes like knives as he surveyed the room. Two elite ROOT stood at his back. Facing him were three unfamiliar shinobi wearing Kumogakure forehead protectors.
Renji and Sai entered. Renji took a place to Danzo's right, feeling Nara Shikaku's eyes on him.
Shikaku's gaze was weighted, unreadable. Kakashi stood beside him, half-lidded, somewhere far away behind that single eye. Hyūga Hiashi, off to the side, watched Danzo with a stillness that held teeth.
Danzo had imprisoned Naruto the moment he took power. Protection was the excuse. The message was the point.
Eyes across the tent slid to Renji—measuring, reassessing.
'Hearts are fathomless.'
[Ding!]
[Human Malice Value detected: +10,000]
[Cursed Energy converted to Chakra: +10,000]
[Chakra (275,995,002 / 400,000,000)]
[Ding!]
[Human Malice Value detected: +5,000]
[Cursed Energy converted to Chakra: +5,000]
[Chakra (276,000,002 / 400,000,000)]
Danzo glanced back. A tall blonde woman stepped forward from the visitors' line, hair cut short and neat.
"I am Samui of the Hidden Cloud, sent by Raikage-sama."
Silence fell.
"Lord Killer B, the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki, was abducted by Konoha rogue shinobi Uchiha Sasuke."
The words landed heavy, leaving silence in their wake.
Danzo's face darkened. "Deploy a strike team. Execute the rogue ninja Uchiha Sasuke."
His tone was steel. He cut a look toward Renji.
Renji: …
'Right. That.' He and Sai had delivered "Sasuke" and "Itachi" corpses not long ago.
"Lord Hokage—" Shikaku began, but too many heavy hitters had already been culled. What remained couldn't mount a front-line objection.
"This is decided," Danzo snapped. "There will be no debate."
"But Sasuke—" Shikaku tried.
A kunoichi beside Samui stepped forward, voice ragged with anger. "What's wrong with Lord Hokage's judgment? You let Uchiha Sasuke run wild and this is the result!" Her voice broke. "He took my master—and we don't even know where he is! He's a criminal. He should have been executed long ago!"
Shikaku clenched his jaw. Danzo watched him, the light in his eyes turning cold.
A faint rustle sounded outside. Renji stepped out and returned moments later with a letter, placing it in Danzo's hand.
Danzo scanned it once. "So—a Five Kage Summit."
The Akatsuki's assault and Sasuke's abduction of the Eight-Tails had shaken the world.
"I will attend," Danzo said. "Per regulation, two escorts."
His gaze landed on Renji, then on Sai. "Renji. Sai. You'll come."
Renji inclined his head. "Yes," Sai said at once.
They left after a swift disposition of village affairs.
"Wasn't Uchiha Sasuke dead?" Danzo asked as they moved through the trees.
Renji shrugged. "While we were setting our trap, someone else had already set theirs. Someone clocked our intent and planted two bodies to fool us."
He let the thought hang. "If those corpses fooled Lord Danzo, how would Sai and I have noticed?"
Danzo knew the holes. He wouldn't pick that fight—yet.
He halted beneath the trees and shrugged off the Hokage cloak. "It's been a long time since I had a proper battle…"
Renji's hand slipped to his hilt.
"No need," Danzo said. "Leave it to me."
His bandages loosened, revealing a slowly turning crimson Sharingan.
Hand seals blurred. A howling gale condensed into razor wind, lashing out like whips.
The hidden shinobi didn't even scream before they came apart, bodies riven and thrown in scarlet arcs.
Sai crouched over the remains. "Hannya-shū Anbu—remnants from the Land of Forests. The ones we hit before."
"They do love an opportunity," Danzo said, retying his cloak.
"Light draws flies," Renji murmured.
"In our world, obscurity is a blessing," Danzo replied. "The dark suits us better. But I am Hokage now. It's time my era began."
Renji cut him a sideways look. 'Confident, aren't we.'
…
Konoha.
Kakashi reached Naruto's cell. He'd found Yamato first; with Yamato's help, the wood peeled back. Naruto crouched inside, head bowed, small and silent.
"Sasuke has joined Akatsuki," Kakashi said quietly. "He also took the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki."
Naruto didn't move.
Kakashi held his gaze. "I know you feel awful. But are you going to stay in this box forever?"
Yamato nodded. "That's right, Naruto. Sasuke's trail is live again. This time, we can find him."
"Cloud and Konoha are both hunting him," Kakashi added. "Danzo's people have Konoha's pursuit. If we track those three from the Cloud, we can get to Sasuke first."
----
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