Chapter 97: The Fox’s Claws

Ren’s dismissive aura was a physical weight in the air, a palpable contempt that made the three Konoha ninja feel like children challenging a mountain. His smirk was a blade, cutting through their fragile resolve.

“Arrest you?” Ren repeated, his voice a low, mocking drawl. “Is that the plan? A rather… ambitious fantasy, don’t you think? Though I highly doubt you possess the requisite ability.”

The taunt was the final spark. Kankuro, his pride and recent trauma ignited, stepped forward, his face a mask of fury. “Uchiha Ren! You’re the one who did that to me and Gaara! Thanks to you, I endured seventy-two hours of hell! It’s time we settled that debt!”

He moved to unsling the Crow puppet from his back, his fingers twitching with vengeful intent.

“Settle a debt?” Ren’s chuckle was devoid of all humor. “You? With what army?”

The insult was the last straw. But before Kankuro’s fingers could even touch the puppet’s straps, the world blurred.

There was no puff of smoke, no discernible movement. One moment, Ren was ten feet away, smirking. The next, he was directly in front of Kankuro, his hand clamped around the Suna ninja’s throat like a vice. The speed was so immense it defied perception.

Kankuro’s eyes bulged, all his bravado instantly replaced by sheer, choking terror. His hands flew up to claw at Ren’s immovable grip, his feet kicking uselessly at the air. A wet, gurgling sound was all he could manage.

“Kankuro!” Shikamaru yelled, his own hands flashing into the ram seal, his shadow stretching out towards Ren’s feet. “Let him go, now!”

Sakura dropped into a defensive stance, her fists clenched, but fear held her in place. Naruto was the only one who still pleaded, his voice cracking with desperation. “Ren! Stop! Please! Let him go! Don’t do this!”

Ren’s cold eyes flicked to Naruto, then back to the choking puppet-user in his hand. “You want him?” he said, his tone conversational. “Very well. He’s useless to me anyway.”

With a contemptuous flick of his wrist, he hurled Kankuro bodily towards the Konoha group. Shikamaru, anticipating the move, leaped to intercept, but the force behind the throw was monstrous. The moment he caught Kankuro, the impact was like being hit by a runaway wagon. He grunted in pain, the breath knocked from his lungs as both he and Kankuro were sent flying backward to crash into the canyon wall in a cloud of dust and shattered rock.

“Shikamaru! Kankuro!” Naruto’s cry was a mixture of concern and rising, hot anger. He whirled back to face Ren, his features contorted with a pain that was more emotional than physical. “How could you?! They were our comrades! How can you just attack them?!”

“Comrades?” Ren spat the word out like it was poison. “I have no need for such sentimental attachments. My association with you in Konoha was a passing amusement, a mask I wore. Nothing more. Your belief that we were ever ‘comrades’ is a pathetic delusion. It’s nauseating.”

“Liar!” Naruto screamed, his voice raw. “I don’t believe you! The you I knew wasn’t like this! You have to feel something!”

Ren’s answer was another blur of motion. He vanished from his spot and reappeared, his foot planted firmly on Shikamaru’s back, grinding the Nara heir into the dirt just as the clever ninja was trying to push himself up. A sickening crunch echoed, and Shikamaru cried out, a spray of blood misting the air from his mouth as Ren’s controlled yet brutal pressure inflicted serious internal injuries.

Ren looked directly at Naruto, a cruel grin plastered on his face. “So? What about this? Does this feel real enough for you, ‘comrade’?”

Something in Naruto snapped.

“BASTARD! LET HIM GO!”

The cry was raw, primal. In a blind rage, Naruto yanked a kunai from his pouch and charged, a textbook, reckless lunge born of pure fury.

Ren didn’t even shift his stance. As Naruto thrust the blade forward, Ren’s hand shot up, effortlessly catching Naruto’s wrist an inch from his chest. The movement was so casual it was insulting.

“Pathetic,” Ren stated, his voice flat. “Your form is riddled with openings. With skill like this, you couldn’t hope to even touch the hem of my cloak.”

“Damn it! Let go!” Naruto strained against the unbreakable grip, his face red with effort and rage.

“Naruto!” Sakura, seeing her friend in danger, finally overcame her fear. With a determined yell, she charged, her chakra-enhanced fist pulled back for a powerful blow.

“Annoying insect,” Ren muttered, not even bothering to look at her.

His eyes shifted. The familiar tomoe swirled and morphed into the stark, terrifying pattern of his Mangekyō Sharingan. He didn’t need a complex genjutsu; a basic, overpowering ocular suggestion was enough.

Sakura’s eyes met his crimson gaze for a split second. Her charge faltered. Her eyes glazed over, her body went rigid, and she collapsed to the ground like a marionette with its strings cut, unconscious before she even hit the dirt.

“SAKURA! YOU BASTARD!”

The sight of Sakura falling was the final trigger. A wave of pure, unadulterated rage erupted from Naruto. A violent, crimson chakra exploded out from his core, so potent and sudden that it actually broke Ren’s casual grip on his wrist.

The force of the outburst made Ren’s eyebrows raise in mild surprise. *So, the fox finally stirs.*

In that fraction of a second of freedom, Naruto lunged. Ren, his reflexes honed to perfection, simply pivoted and delivered a powerful kick to Naruto’s midsection, sending the boy flying across the canyon to smash into the opposite wall with enough force to crater the stone.

But Naruto didn’t stay down.

He pushed himself up from the rubble, his movements slow, deliberate. The furious screaming had stopped. He stood with his head bowed, his hands hanging limply at his sides. An eerie, ominous silence fell, broken only by the faint hiss of the bubbling, red chakra that now cloaked his body like a malevolent flame. It was a calm far more terrifying than his previous rage.

“How…” Naruto’s voice was a low, guttural growl, utterly unlike his own. It was layered, distorted, the voice of the beast within. “…dare you…” Updates are released by novęlfire.net

He slowly raised his head. His eyes were no longer blue. They were blood-red slits, the pupils contracted into vicious vertical lines like a predator’s. His canine teeth had elongated into sharp fangs that pressed against his lips.

“How dare you… hurt Shikamaru… hurt Sakura…”

The calm shattered.

“REALLY… UNFORGIVABLE!”

The roar that tore from his throat was deafening, a mix of human anguish and bestial fury. The red chakra flared violently, growing denser, more tangible. The air grew heavy with its malicious, overwhelming pressure.

On the ground, Shikamaru and a groggily awakening Kankuro could only stare in horror. This was a power they had only heard of in whispers—the power of a Tailed Beast.

Ren, however, didn’t look horrified. A slow, intrigued smile spread across his face, his Mangekyō Sharingan glowing with intense interest.

“Oh?” he murmured, his voice barely audible over the chakra’s menacing hum. “Now this… this is interesting.”

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