Time, for Ren Yamanaka, was not a river. It was a database.
Six more years had passed since the Hyuga Reformation. Ren was thirty-five years old. His rule over Konoha had solidified into a regime of terrifying prosperity. The village was wealthier, stronger, and more technologically advanced than any of the other Five Great Nations. The "Iron Era" was at its peak.
Ren sat in his office. He had changed little outwardly, though the air around him had grown heavier. It was dense with the gravitational pull of a soul that housed too many tenants.
Inside the Vault—the Memory Palace—the Council Table had been extended.
Current Roster: 1. Goro (Defense) 2. Ryuichi (Offense) 3. Isamu (Intel) 4. Puppeteer (Control) 5. Tactician (Logistics) 6. Diplomat (Politics) 7. Seal Master (Fuinjutsu) 8. Medic (Biology) 9. Kaito Uchiha (Willpower/Catalyst) – Kaito sat at the far end, still bitter, but his Sharingan was useful. 10. Cloud Speedster (Swift Release) 11. Mist Swordsman (Kenjutsu)
The latest addition, however, was the most disturbing. It wasn't a soul Ren had eaten directly. It was a manifestation of his own evolution.
Two years prior, Ren had achieved a breakthrough. By synthesizing the emotional trauma of Kaito, Ryuichi, and the other Uchiha remnants, Ren had force-awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan in his left eye.
His unique ability: "Izanami's Echo."
Unlike Izanagi, which rewrote reality at the cost of an eye, Ren's ability allowed him to "reset" his physical state to a previous save-point stored in his Memory Palace. He could rewind physical damage on his own body by up to ten seconds. The cost was massive chakra and immense mental strain, but it made him effectively immortal in short bursts.
Ren stood up. It was the day of the Chunin Exam finals. The village was packed with dignitaries. The Kazekage was attending.
Isamu: High-level killing intent detected. Tactician: Anomaly in the Anbu rosters. Four units unaccounted for. Ren: It's Orochimaru. He's here.
"Finally," Ren whispered. "The Snake comes out of the grass."
—————
The Crush Begins
The stadium was roaring. Sasuke Uchiha (now a well-adjusted, slightly arrogant elite Genin under Shisui's mentorship) had just arrived to fight Gaara.
But before the match could begin, white feathers fell from the sky. Temple of Nirvana Genjutsu.
The crowd slumped into sleep.
"Start the operation!" A signal flare went up.
On the Kage viewing box, the "Kazekage" grabbed Hiruzen Sarutobi (who was sitting beside Ren as an advisor) and put a kunai to his throat.
"Sensei," the Kazekage hissed, his face melting away to reveal the pale skin and snake eyes of Orochimaru. "It's been a long time."
Four Sound Ninja leaped to the corners of the roof, erecting the Four Violet Flames Formation, trapping the three of them—Ren, Hiruzen, and Orochimaru—inside.
Orochimaru licked his lips, staring past Hiruzen directly at Ren.
"Ren-kun," Orochimaru purred. "Or should I call you Lord Fifth? I've watched your reign. The efficiency. The collection. You are magnificent."
Ren stood calm, his hands behind his back.
"You are trespassing, Orochimaru."
"I am shopping," Orochimaru corrected. "I desire your body, Ren. Not just for a vessel, but for the library. Imagine what I could learn if I peeled open your skull."
Orochimaru formed hand signs. "Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation!"
Three coffins rose from the roof tiles. First.Second.Fourth.
Hashirama Senju. Tobirama Senju. Minato Namikaze.
The coffin lids fell with a heavy thud.
The God of Shinobi. The Inventor. The Yellow Flash.
Hiruzen gasped. "This… this is desecration! To defile the dead like this!"
Orochimaru laughed. "The dead are just tools, Sensei. Ren knows this. Don't you, Ren?"
Ren looked at the grey-skinned, cracked faces of the reanimated Hokage. He looked at Minato's blank eyes.
Inside the Vault, the Council went silent. The weight of these three souls was crushing even from a distance.
"Tools," Ren agreed. "But tools break if you don't know how to use them."
—————
The Clash of Legends
"Kill them," Orochimaru commanded.
The three Hokage charged.
The pressure was immense. Hashirama's chakra cracked the roof tiles just by existing.
"I will handle Hashirama and Tobirama!" Hiruzen shouted, summoning Enma and transforming him into the Adamantine Staff. "Ren, handle Minato and the Snake!"
Ren didn't argue.
Minato flashed. Flying Raijin. He appeared instantly behind Ren with a Rasengan.
Ren didn't dodge.
"Mangekyo Sharingan: Time Rewind."
Ren's body flickered. The Rasengan hit him, tearing through his back—and then, reality glitched. Ren "reset" to his position three seconds prior, standing ten feet to the left.
Minato's Rasengan hit empty air.
Ren extended his hand. "Magnet Release: Iron Sand World Method."
Millions of iron spikes erupted from the roof, creating a labyrinth of death. Minato teleported away, zipping around the spikes.
"You're fast," Ren noted. "But you're dead. Your chakra is finite."
Ren turned his attention to Orochimaru.
"You want my blood?" Ren asked. "Come get it."
Orochimaru extended his neck, the Kusanagi sword emerging from his mouth. He lunged.
Ren's Byakugan tracked the trajectory. His Sharingan predicted the strike. His Cloud Speed (Swift Release) executed the counter.
Ren sidestepped the blade by a millimeter. He grabbed the extending snake-neck with a hand coated in Earth Diamond Armor.
He squeezed.
Orochimaru gagged.
Ren yanked the Snake toward him.
"You call yourself a researcher," Ren whispered. "But you only experiment on others. I experiment on myself."
Ren's free hand glowed with purple chakra. "Soul Eater: Contact Drain."
Orochimaru screamed. He felt his chakra being siphoned at a rate that shouldn't be possible. He tried to shed his skin, regurgitating a new body to escape the grip.
"Ren!" Hiruzen shouted from across the roof. He was struggling. Hashirama's Wood Style was overwhelming him. The old professor was bleeding.
"Danzo! Shisui!" Ren barked into his comms. "Drop the barrier!"
Outside the purple flames, Danzo Shimura and Shisui Uchiha were waiting.
Danzo unwrapped his right arm, revealing his collection of Sharingan. Shisui activated his Mangekyo.
They attacked the barrier Sound Ninja simultaneously.
The barrier flickered and fell.
"Now!" Ren commanded.
Shisui flickered into the arena. He locked eyes with the reanimated Tobirama. He used genjutsu. He didn't control the zombie perfectly, but he disrupted Orochimaru's command tag for a split second.
Danzo unleashed a massive Wind Style: Vacuum Blast, cutting through Hashirama's forest.
Ren capitalized.
He moved to the center of the chaos.
He clapped his hands. The sound was like a thundercrack.
"Secret Art: The Great Maw."
It wasn't a technique. It was the manifestation of the Memory Palace into the real world. A Genjutsu of such density it became physical.
The roof turned black. The library shelves rose from the tiles.
Hashirama, Tobirama, Minato, and Orochimaru looked around, confused. They were standing in Ren's mind.
"Welcome," Ren said, standing at the head of the infinite table. Behind him stood his Council.
"This…" Hashirama looked around, impressed. "This is a powerful mental construct."
"It is a prison," Ren said.
"And you are the inmates."
Ren didn't fight them. He absorbed the connection. He attacked the Edo Tensei tags directly with his mind.
He ripped control away from Orochimaru.
"No!" Orochimaru shrieked as his connection severed. "Impossible! Your mental fortitude… it exceeds a Tailed Beast!"
"I am Legion," Ren said.
He turned to the three Hokage.
"I cannot send you back to the Pure Land," Ren told them. "Because Orochimaru's jutsu is flawed. If I release you, you dissipate, but the chakra lingers. I cannot waste it."
Minato looked at Ren. He saw the pain, the burden, the graveyard.
"You really did it, Ren," Minato smiled sadly. "You carried it all."
"I am sorry," Ren said.
He opened the Gate.
He consumed the Edo Tensei chakra constructs.
He ate Hashirama's Wood Style potential. He ate Tobirama's Water Mastery and Space-Time Theory. He ate Minato's speed reflex (again, but stronger).
The three legends dissolved into light and flowed into books on the shelves.
Finally, Ren turned to Orochimaru.
The Sannin was trapped in the mindscape, stripped of his summons. He looked small.
"You wanted immortality," Ren said. "I will give it to you."
Ren grabbed Orochimaru by the throat.
"You will live forever. In the Fiction Section."
CRUNCH.
Ren consumed Orochimaru.
He gained the knowledge of forbidden regeneration, the Curse Marks, the secrets of genetic splicing.
The mindscape shattered. Reality returned.
Ren stood on the roof. The coffins were gone. Orochimaru's empty skin lay on the tiles.
Ren breathed. He felt immense. He felt divine.
Hiruzen stared at him, horrified. Danzo looked at him with envy. Shisui looked at him with pity.
"It is over," Ren said.
—————
The Blitz of Wind
The invasion wasn't just Orochimaru. The Sand Village had betrayed Konoha, manipulated by the Sannin. Their forces were attacking the walls.
"The Sand is attacking!" an Anbu shouted.
Ren looked at the horizon.
"Shisui, Danzo. Secure the village. I will handle the desert."
Ren leaped.
He didn't run. He flew.
He arrived at the front lines where the Sand army was assembling siege weapons.
Ren hovered in the sky.
"Surrender," Ren's voice boomed.
The Sand Commander laughed. "One man? Fire the ballistas!"
Ren raised a hand.
"Wood Style: Deep Forest Emergence."
He used Hashirama's power. It was crude compared to the First, but powered by Ren's massive reserves, it was enough.
A tidal wave of trees erupted from the barren earth, swallowing the Sand army's siege engines, crushing their tanks, and entangling thousands of shinobi in seconds.
It wasn't a battle. It was landscaping.
Ren descended to the trapped Sand Commander.
"Your Kazekage is dead," Ren pointed (he knew Gaara was the new key). "I am the Fifth Hokage. You have two choices. Surrender and become a vassal state of Konoha. Or I turn this forest into a graveyard."
The Commander looked at the forest that had appeared from nowhere. He looked at the god-like figure hovering above him.
He dropped his sword.
"We surrender."
The "Konoha Crush" had lasted less than three hours.
—————
The New Seats
That night, Ren returned to the Library.
He walked to the head of the table.
There were three new chairs. Ornate. Golden.
Hashirama Senju.Tobirama Senju.Minato Namikaze.
The spirits of the previous Hokage sat there. They weren't enslaved like the others; they were resigned.
"You walk a dark path, Fifth," Hashirama said, his face grave.
"Darkness is required to see the stars," Ren replied.
"You desecrated our rest," Tobirama said. "But… your efficiency saved the village. I cannot argue with results."
"Ren," Minato said softly. "Are you still in there?"
Ren looked at his hands. He felt the writhing snake of Orochimaru locked in the deepest dungeon below. He felt the god-like power of the Wood Style humming in his veins.
"I don't know," Ren admitted.
He sat down at the head of the table.
He was stronger than ever. The strongest shinobi in history.
But as he looked at the ghosts of the men he idolized, now reduced to advisors in his head, he felt a terrible loneliness.
He had eaten his heroes.
And he was still hungry.
End of Chapter 22.