A day before the final.
The sky over Fire Country was clear, yet Ren's thoughts churned like a storm. The forests of the Land of Fire stretched endlessly beneath him, a sea of green broken only by the thin lines of merchant roads. From a distance, his group could have been mistaken for ordinary travelers. But every step carried the weight of preparation, every breath laced with tension.
They were not merchants.
They were the Eclipse Order, moving quietly toward Konoha.
Ren rode at the front of the column. To the villagers who might glimpse them from the roadside, he was just a boy among rough-bodied men.
Behind him, Zabuza trudged along with the Kubikiribōchō strapped across his back, the blade wrapped in cloth. His silence spoke volumes, but his eyes flicked often toward Ren, sharp and watchful. Escanor walked beside him, head lowered, frame hunched to make his bulk seem smaller. At night he was meek, soft-voiced, almost apologetic in the way he carried himself. In the eyes of outsiders he could pass for an unremarkable attendant, the kind no one remembered.
But Ren knew what the sun would reveal. At noon, that same man would be a furnace of pride and power—the Lion's Sin incarnate.
Ren's gaze fixed forward. He closed his eyes briefly. He could see the sequence as clearly as a ledger: Hiruzen fighting Orochimaru on the rooftop of the stadium, the Four Purple Flame Formation sealing them in, Konoha's forces scrambling as Sand and Sound shinobi poured in. That was the canon he remembered from Earth. But this world had already shifted. Gojo's existence. Escanor's presence. The Eclipse Order's roots in Wave.
They made camp at the edge of a river that evening, the water carrying a quiet song through the rocks. The men of the Order lit only a small fire, careful not to draw attention.
Zabuza crouched near the flames, sharpening his cleaver with slow, deliberate strokes. "Once the chaos starts, we'll be moving blind," he said. "Your orders?"
Ren unrolled a scroll across a flat stone. The parchment was covered with neat handwriting: lists of possible entry points into Konoha, marks for the stadium's location, paths Root ANBU were likely to patrol.
"Gojo will be inside the stadium already," Ren said. His tone was calm, steady, but his eyes gleamed with red light. "As far as Konoha is concerned, he's their mysterious savior from the Nine-Tails attack. They will not raise their blades against him. That makes him the shield for our entrance."
Zabuza leaned closer, voice quiet. "And Escanor?"
The meek man by the fire raised his head slightly, as if startled that his name had come up. "M-me?" he said softly, almost apologetic. "I… I will serve in whatever way you deem fit, Lord Ren."
Zabuza snorted. "Look at him. Can't even keep his chin up after sundown."
But Ren's gaze didn't waver. "Wait until noon. His role comes after the Hokage falls."
Escanor flinched at the words, then bowed his head. His hands twisted together nervously, but there was a flicker in his eyes, a heat just waiting for the sun.
Zabuza grunted. "You're putting a lot of faith in a sun-drunk maniac."
Ren's mouth quirked slightly. "He'll appear when needed. He doesn't need faith—he needs a stage."
At that, Escanor's lips trembled, as though he were holding back something unsaid. For a heartbeat his meek mask cracked, and pride shimmered beneath the surface like a lion stretching in its sleep. Then it was gone, and he lowered his gaze once more.
The fire crackled softly. Ren looked down at the maps again. "Our task is simple. Move into Konoha during the confusion. Secure contact with our allies already positioned in the trade quarter. When the Hokage falls, we move to stabilize. No looting. No unnecessary killing. We take over with precision, not chaos."
Zabuza raised an eyebrow. "Precision during an invasion?"
"Yes," Ren said. "Because after this, Konoha will not see us as invaders. They'll see us as the force that prevented its total collapse."
The confidence in his voice silenced the doubts. Even Zabuza, who lived for blood and fog, leaned back with a grunt of acceptance. Escanor, still hunched in the shadows, smiled faintly at Ren's words—because though he sounded meek, in his heart the lion already stirred, ready to bare its fangs when the sun reached its peak.
Night deepened. The men slept in shifts, but Ren stayed awake longer than most. He stood at the riverbank, staring at his reflection in the water. His eyes glowed faintly red, three tomoe spinning in their slow orbit.
Five years ago, I was just a ghost, hiding from Itachi's blade. Now… I carry an army. I bend missing-nin into my chain. Even Mei of the Mist treats us as equals.
His hand clenched at his side. But this isn't enough. If the cycle of hatred continues, the world will burn again. Pain, Obito, Madara, Kaguya—all waiting on the horizon. Unless I cut the chain now, forge a new one in its place.
He bent down, touched the cold river water, and whispered to himself: "Tomorrow, the chain tightens again."
By dawn, they were moving once more. The closer they drew to Konoha, the thicker the traffic became. Merchants with carts of cloth. Farmers driving herds of pigs. Children running alongside wagons. All heading toward the village for the spectacle of the Chūnin Exams.
The Order blended among them easily, cloaks hiding weapons, faces unreadable. But Ren could feel the pulse of chakra in the air—faint, suppressed, but there. Scouts from every village. Spies cloaked as traders. Konoha's patrols slipping silently through the canopy above.
"Security's tight," Zabuza muttered under his breath.
"Good," Ren said. "That means Orochimaru is moving too. We'll use the cracks he opens."
By midday, the outline of Konoha's walls rose from the forest. Tall stone, gates busy with travelers, banners of the Leaf fluttering in the breeze. And above it all, the sound of distant cheering carried faintly on the wind—the Chūnin Exam Finals already in progress.
Ren's heart beat faster. This is it. The day Konoha changes hands.
He raised his hand. The Order slowed, scattering slightly among merchant groups to avoid drawing suspicion.
"Stay close," Ren said quietly. "But not too close. When the stadium erupts, we move."
Escanor glanced at him. "And if things don't happen as you predicted?"
Ren's eyes gleamed with cold certainty. "They will."
Inside Konoha's stadium, the second match was already underway. The crowd roared as sparks of chakra lit the arena floor. Orochimaru, hidden under the guise of the Kazekage, waited with patience only snakes could know.
And beyond the gates, hidden in the flow of travelers, a boy with the Sharingan watched and waited, his chains ready to seize the future.
The storm was about to break.