The next moment—
Without warning, a terrifying pulse of ocular pressure rolled out.
Ren's once-ordinary eyes turned blood-red.
One tomoe.
Two.
Three.
Then the three tomoe linked together—
and that was only the beginning.
Whoosh—!
Ren curled his right hand slightly, and a miniaturized Murakumogiri appeared in his grip.
Silence.
Total, suffocating silence.
Shisui—who had been about to leave—froze mid-step. His face went slack as shock flooded his eyes.
He'd always thought Ren was a joke.
A clown wearing a ridiculous mustache mask to scare him.
But now…
it felt like the real clown was him.
"Three-tomoe Sharingan… no—this isn't right… This is…"
Shisui's throat went dry.
"Mangekyō Sharingan?"
"And that weapon… that's the same one from seven years ago… the one that 'mysterious man' used to suppress the Nine-Tails…"
"How is this possible? Why did Ren hide this so deeply? This is insane… this is—"
For a few seconds, Shisui genuinely felt like he was losing his mind.
And worse—
if Ren really was the masked man from the Nine-Tails disaster, then the implications were terrifying.
Back then, that mysterious man clearly had the power to keep the Nine-Tails suppressed.
Yet he had ultimately let it go—allowing it to rampage through Konoha.
Countless civilians and shinobi died.
Even the Fourth Hokage and his wife were lost.
Shisui shook his head hard, staring at Ren like he was seeing a stranger for the first time.
For the first time in his life—
the situation had slipped beyond Shisui's control.
"No… this can't be allowed."
He swallowed, voice trembling.
"I have to report to the Third Hokage. This changes everything… The Uchiha are hiding a monster…"
He took a step back, instinct screaming at him to get away.
Then—
maybe because he couldn't accept it,
maybe because he wanted to flee right now—
a violent surge of chakra erupted from him.
Shisui's black pupils turned crimson.
One tomoe.
Two.
Three—
and then his eyes twisted into a pinwheel shape, four blade-like points forming a shuriken-like pattern.
Mangekyō Sharingan.
The moment Ren "came clean," Shisui's emotions spiked hard enough to make his Mangekyō flare to life.
Shisui's face contorted, Mangekyō locked on Ren as he hissed through clenched teeth:
"Ren—what are you trying to do?"
"The Uchiha are about to rebel… are you planning to join them? To help them commit treason?"
Ren nodded, calm and cold.
"I won't pretend I'm deeply attached to this clan."
"But I remember one thing clearly."
"My surname is Uchiha."
"Not 'Konoha.'"
"Good."
Shisui's lips curled, and he suddenly laughed—loud, sharp, unhinged.
"HAHAHAHA—!"
"So that's what you are."
"A man with no Will of Fire… only narrow, selfish clan pride."
He stared at Ren like he was looking at a disaster that needed to be erased.
"Your strength is real… and you hid it for years."
"That alone proves you're ambitious."
The next instant—
Shisui forced even more power through his Mangekyō.
A green skeletal ribcage erupted around him.
It expanded—forming bones, then channels like tendons, then muscle-like chakra.
Armor locked into place.
A tengu-style helmet.
Wings unfurled behind it.
In seconds, a towering green giant stood over Shisui.
Susanoo.
Ren looked up at the green Susanoo, expression unchanged.
"Susanoo again."
He spoke like he was commenting on the weather.
"Shisui… do you really think I'm still afraid of that thing?"
Shisui's Mangekyō eyes were already webbed with blood vessels, tears of blood sliding down his cheeks.
But he gritted his teeth and held the Susanoo steady, voice ice-cold.
"You hid for years."
"I'm going to defeat you, expose you, and let Konoha's leadership judge you."
"Submit."
"Come with me to the Third Hokage."
"Kneel. Admit your sins."
"And I'll beg him to spare you."
Ren's smile was thin.
Hopeless.
"That's it, then."
He had once—just barely—hoped there was still something worth saving in Shisui.
Now he understood.
This man had been washed clean by Konoha's "righteousness" until nothing remained.
Ren dismissed Murakumogiri.
Then he slowly clenched his right fist.
Black Armament Haki crawled over his knuckles.
Over that came a layer of pale, shimmering force—like white light wrapped around iron.
Then, last, Ren's Sage Body chakra coiled over it all.
Layer after layer—stacked like armor plates.
A crushing pressure that made the air feel sharp.
And Ren raised that fist—
straight toward Shisui's towering Susanoo.
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