"I'll be back, Sasuke," Ren stood to his feet, waving off Sasuke's attempts to stop him.
Mildly unnerved by Ren's confidence, Sasuke's hand instinctively lifted upward to stop him. His mouth opened in an attempt to call him back—but no words escaped him.
This was the man who, by all records, should be dead—yet he was right in front of him.
This was the man that the world had deemed worthy of the title, "Ghost of the Mist"—a direct callback to the legendary Uchiha Madara—once hailed as the Ghost of the Uchiha.
With nothing more to say, Ren left the Uchiha compound. A new idea began to formulate in his head—gears had started to turn in the crevices of his brain.
The time was now right.
"I had left you alone because I had prior engagements," the words, barely a whisper, held unmistakable power behind them. The weight of those words hung deeply in the air—despite no others being able to hear.
Or so one would've thought.
In a flash, Ren's figure disappeared from his spot—a small cloud of dust left in his wake.
On the top of a tree, a masked ANBU hid carefully within its confines. Taking refuge on a branch, the ANBU's chakra remained completely hidden—an effort to avoid detection.
His gaze on Ren began to falter—the latter completely vanishing out of sight. A bead of sweat flowed down his forehead as fear began to creep in.
The ANBU's face, once resembling a bright hue, had been transformed completely—appearance turning pale from mere despair.
"You're doing a pretty bad job at keeping watch over me, you know? You're not supposed to let me find you so easily."
An arm slung itself around the ANBU's neck casually. Lips bordering the corner of his ear, the voice was sweet—sickly so.
A well of spit gathered at the corner of his throat—an instinctive gulp forced upon him.
Sweat began pouring over him like a broken dam. His body felt an uneasy fiery sensation which he couldn't explain—and it originated from the man behind him.
Overcoming his fear, the ANBU pushed forward—his neck turning to the side. His eyes caught the sight of Ren—an amused smirk playing across the confines of his lips.
Ren's arms lay over each other, crossed together—his facial expression showing slight signs of disappointment rather than wariness.
The ANBU's mind was filled with inner turmoil as he contemplated his options.
Should he speak up? Try to explain himself?
For a moment, the ANBU's mouth opened ever so slightly—a sentence about to pour out. But before a word could even escape his lips, his gaze caught the eyes of Ren—cold, sterile…wrong.
The ANBU, the one assigned to monitor and keep track of Ren, had gone from elite predator—to prey.
His mouth lay open like a useless hinge—unable to close—unable to utter a single syllable.
The shadows around him began to outstretch in his vision. The sun elongated and became the moon—then faded away into crystalline substances.
Color drained from the world into that of a pale white hue. Animals, trees, plants, and all traces of life melted into a black substance, resembling ink, before disappearing into the void.
His body, no longer standing upright, stared upward at the seemingly endless white sky. The ANBU's limbs refused to follow his own commands—breath absolutely steady—but all traces of autonomy escaped him.
Footsteps resounded in the empty void—not loud—but purposeful and controlled. In the bleak world, only a single being lacked the loss of color—a disease which plagued even the ANBU—whose body was weighed down by his own sins.
As the footsteps echoed louder and louder, the silhouette of Ren slowly became more and more visible. And once his face appeared in sight—his eyes barely glanced at the ANBU.
Walking a fair distance away from him, the ground began to mold upwards—a chair forming in its wake—one which Ren readily sat upon.
"Let's begin, shall we?"
The sound of fingers snapping against each other sounded rather loudly. And almost immediately, the ANBU's vision began to blur.
Shadows which shouldn't exist in this world started to pull themselves together—leaving an eerie sensation to gather in the poor man's body.
Seconds passed, silence followed.
But then…
A shrill scream broke the still silence like it was glass.
Another scream.
Then another.
Then another.
And another.
His gaze was filled to the brim, memories of his entire life replaying at speeds beyond even his comprehension—but the genjutsu forced him to witness it all.
The death of his parents to the Nine-Tailed Fox.
The emotion he felt when he couldn't save his wife from enemy ninja.
The death of his entire Chuunin squad.
The passing of his Genin squad—along with their sensei.
The failed mission he went on as a young ninja.
The destruction of the village during Orochimaru's attack—along with the death of the Third Hokage.
All of these failures and many more, replayed in his head over and over and over again.
The emotions and sensations he felt at those times hit him like a freight train—along with the corresponding memories.
In less than five seconds, his life had been watched and rewatched exactly 1,584 times.
The ANBU's eyes, once filled with life and hope, began to dull—fully alive…yet fully dead.
"I doubt you can even hear me, but I'll speak anyway." True to his words, the ANBU held no reaction—but as to whether he could hear or not was left to be seen.
"As I'm sure you're aware, this is a genjutsu of my own creation." A dignified tone held itself in Ren's words—that devilish smile never wavering.
"This is my first time actually using it. So how does it feel?" His voice turned hollow—exemplifying the emptiness within.
"Weighed down by your own sins?"
But the response the ANBU gave actually shocked Ren—not really.
"Please…I beg you…end my life," the ANBU's voice was hoarse from his constant screams. Tears began to flow down his broken face—a mark of a man who had lost purpose.
"I've lost everything, my wife, my comrades, my parents, my teacher—I have nothing more to live for. I'm a failure—a useless piece of trash which never should've been born," his wails and sobs echoed even louder, and somewhere in his heart—he hoped Ren would comfort him.
"Please, answer me. Am I… worthless?"
Ren's face morphed slightly, his mocking smile dissipating—replaced by a completely serious expression.
"Yes. You are worthless."
…
In the aftermath of it all, the illusion eventually broke—but so did the man trapped inside.
As for what later happened to him, none can tell.
On the treetop outside of the Uchiha mansion, Sasuke had caught sight of Ren simply standing there—and engaged in conversation.
"I saw you interacting with that ANBU. What was that about?" Sasuke asked.
"Nothing much." Ren's shoulders shrugged slightly. "He was bothering me a bit, so I taught him a lesson."
Sasuke slowly nodded, not pursuing the conversation any longer. But then a question was asked.
"So what do you plan to do now?"
"I'm gonna hunt a certain snake."
In a flash, his body disappeared, materializing on a building not so far away—glancing over the village one last time.
"I didn't feel a thing. Even through all his screams—I felt hollow. And yet I watched him break. Completely."
Ren's senses began to outstretch, his chakra expanding across the entire village. He could very easily sense it—Sasuke training in the courtyard—and Naruto who was still asleep.
"I thought… I felt something with them. Warmth, nostalgia, even longing. But it wasn't real. Just illusions my mind created… to trick me into believing I'm still human. But I'm not—not anymore."
A pause. His eyes narrowed slightly, the thought gnawing at him.
"My humanity—it's gone and it's never coming back. I can neither call myself a human nor a tool. I am far more than that—I am… a monster."
Silence… nothing but silence. But then, he continued.
"And that fact unnerves even me."
CHAPTER END