The concept of peace, Ren Yamanaka had decided, was an architectural illusion. It was a structure built on a swamp; no matter how beautiful the marble columns or how high the spires, the foundation was always sinking into the mud of history.
It was October 10th. The village of Konoha was bathed in the warm, golden hues of a late autumn sunset. The air smelled of roasted chestnuts and burning leaves. Civilians walked through the streets with an easiness that made the "Council" inside Ren's head twitch with irritation.
Look at them, Isamu, the Mist Sensor, hissed from his designated seat in the Memory Palace. They walk with their chins up. They have no peripheral vision. In the Mist, they would be dead in seconds.
They are assets, the Cloud Tactician countered calmly, turning a page in his spectral book. Economic generators. Their complacency is the product we sell.
They are sheep, Ryuichi Uchiha spat, his red eyes glowing in the dim library light. Waiting for the wolf.
Ren ignored them all. Or rather, he processed their input as background noise, a ticker tape of cynicism running at the bottom of his vision.
He stood on the highest spire of the Hokage Tower, crouching in the shadow of a gargoyle. He was clad in his full Anbu regalia: the grey armor, the black undersuit, and the porcelain mask with the red markings of a Captain. Beneath the mask, his face was expressionless. His mismatched eyes—the teal and the stolen Sharingan—were covered by a thin visor, but they were active.
To Ren, the village wasn't a collection of homes. It was a grid.
With the Byakugan (currently suppressed to a low hum but active in his right eye), he saw the chakra network of the village infrastructure. He saw the barrier team maintaining the sensory dome. He saw the Anbu patrols moving in their designated sectors.
With the Mist Sensor's range, he felt the emotional temperature of the population. It was warm. Too warm. Expectant.
Rumors had circulated that Kushina Uzumaki, the wife of the Fourth Hokage, was nearing her due date. The village loved them. Minato Namikaze was the hero who had ended the war. Kushina was the fiery heart of the village. Their child was a symbol of the new era.
Ren felt… nothing.
He analyzed the concept of "birth." Biological process. Painful. Messy. Result: New genetic data entering the system.
"Captain Chimera," a voice signaled through his comms.
Ren tapped his ear. "Report."
"Sector 4 is clear. Uchiha Police Force is engaging with a drunk civilian. Requesting instructions."
"Let the Police handle it," Ren said, his voice modulated to a metallic monotone. "Do not interfere with the Uchiha unless lethal force is threatened. We do not need a jurisdictional incident tonight."
"Copy that."
Ren stood up. The wind whipped his ponytail.
Tonight was dangerous. The Council knew it. The seal on a Jinchuriki was weakest during childbirth. Kushina held the Nine-Tails. If that seal broke…
Monster, Goro the Iwa Commander rumbled, shifting in his heavy chair. A Tailed Beast is a natural disaster. If it gets loose, walls mean nothing.
Then we don't use walls, Ren thought back. We use intelligence.
He leaped from the tower, falling into the twilight.
—————
The Yellow Flash
The summons came thirty minutes later.
Ren materialized in the Hokage's office. He didn't use the door; he used a high-speed Body Flicker augmented by the Magnet Release, manipulating the iron in the hinges to open and close them faster than the eye could track.
Minato Namikaze stood by the window, looking out at his village. He was wearing his white haori with the flames on the hem. He looked… human. That was the thing about Minato. He was the deadliest man alive, the Yellow Flash who had slaughtered a thousand Iwa shinobi in an instant, yet he radiated a warmth that made flowers bloom.
It disgusted Ren's Council. It confused them.
"Lord Fourth," Ren said, kneeling on the tatami mats.
Minato turned. His blue eyes were tired but bright. "Ren. Thank you for coming quickly."
"I am Anbu, sir. I am always here."
Minato smiled, a genuine, lopsided grin that disarmed most men. "Relax, Ren. You're not a statue. Take off the mask."
Ren hesitated. The Council debated. Tactician: Compliance builds trust. Do it.Ryuichi: Never show your face. It's a weakness.
Ren reached up and unclipped the porcelain face. He revealed his sharp features, his pale skin, and the eyepatch covering his right eye. His left eye, met Minato's gaze.
"You seem… anxious, Lord Hokage," Ren observed.
"Is it that obvious?" Minato laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm about to be a father, Ren. I've faced entire armies and felt calmer than I do right now."
Ren stared at him. "It is a standard biological function. The medical survival rate is 98%."
Minato's smile faltered slightly. He looked at Ren, really looked at him.
Ren knew that Minato was a sensory type. Not on Ren's level of scope, perhaps, but Minato's perception was acute. He could sense intent.
"You've changed, Ren," Minato said softly. "Since Kikyo Pass. Since the Anbu recruitment."
"I have evolved," Ren corrected. "The village needed a better weapon."
"The village needs people," Minato said, walking back to his desk. "Not just weapons. When I look at your chakra… it feels heavy. Like you're carrying a graveyard on your back."
Ren felt a spike of alarm. The Vault rattled.
He knows! Isamu shrieked. He senses us!
"I carry the memories of the fallen," Ren said smoothly, reciting a line he had prepared for this exact conversation. "Every Anbu does. We bear the darkness so you can stand in the light."
Minato held his gaze for a long second. The air in the room grew heavy. If Minato decided Ren was a threat, Ren knew—according to the Tactician's calculations—he would be dead in 0.4 seconds. Minato was faster than the Sharingan could track.
But Minato sighed and the pressure vanished.
"I trust you, Ren," Minato said. "Hiruzen trusts you. Danzo… well, Danzo utilizes you. But I want you to know that under my administration, you aren't just a tool. If you ever need to talk… about the weight… my door is open."
"Thank you, sir," Ren lied.
"Tonight is critical," Minato said, his voice hardening into command mode. "I am moving Kushina to a secure location outside the village barrier for the birth. It is a top-secret S-Rank operation. Only myself, Biwako, Taji, and a select Anbu detail know the location."
"You want me on the detail?" Ren asked.
"No," Minato said. "I want you on the village perimeter. If anything happens… if anyone tries to enter the village while I am away… you are the first line of defense. You have the best sensory range in Konoha. I am entrusting the safety of the sleeping civilians to you."
Ren bowed low. "I will not fail you."
"I know," Minato said. He turned back to the window. "Whatever comes tonight, Ren… protect them."
Ren replaced his mask.
"By your will, Lord Fourth."
He vanished.
As he moved through the air, the Council chattered. He is soft, Goro grunted. He is sharp, the Tactician argued. He sensed the multiplicity of our soul. He just chose to interpret it as 'burden' rather than 'abomination'.He is dangerous, Ryuichi whispered. If he finds out what we really are, the Flying Raijin will be the last thing we see.
—————
The Red Police
Ren landed in the western district, near the gated entrance to the Uchiha compound.
The sun had set. The shadows were lengthening.
The Uchiha Police Force was out in force. They wore their high-collared uniforms with the fan symbol emblazoned on their backs. They moved with an aggressive swagger, checking identification papers of merchants closing their stalls.
Ren perched on a utility pole, watching.
Ryuichi: Look at them. Preening peacocks. They don't know they are being caged.
Ren saw a commotion near the gate. A squad of Police officers had cornered a group of civilians who were celebrating too loudly.
"Disperse!" the lead officer shouted. "This is a restricted zone after dark!"
"We live here!" a civilian argued. "You Uchiha think you own the streets!"
The officer grabbed the civilian by the collar. "We keep the streets safe, you ungrateful worm!"
Ren recognized the chakra signature of the officer. It was jagged, hot, and painfully familiar.
Kaito Uchiha.
Ren dropped from the pole. He landed silently between Kaito and the civilian.
"Officer," Ren said, his voice cool and detached behind the mask. "This is unnecessary."
Kaito froze. He looked at the Anbu Captain. Even though Ren wore a mask, Kaito knew the posture. He knew the chakra signature, even if it was warped now.
"Captain Chimera," Kaito sneered, dropping the civilian. "I didn't know Root dogs were allowed off the leash."
"Go home," Ren said to the civilians. They scrambled away, terrified of the Anbu.
Ren turned to Kaito.
Kaito had changed. The desperate, insecure boy from the war was gone. In his place was a radical. His eyes were hard, the three-tomoe Sharingan spinning lazily even though there was no combat. He wore his resentment like armor.
"You patrol our borders like we are the enemy," Kaito hissed, stepping closer. "The Hokage goes off to have his brat, and he leaves the Anbu to watch us? Does he think we'll try something?"
"The Hokage trusts the Police to maintain order," Ren said. "You are failing that trust by harassing citizens."
"Order?" Kaito laughed bitterly. "We are pushed to the edge. The elders whisper about us. They say our eyes control the Fox. They fear us, Ren."
Kaito leaned in. "And they should."
Ren's own Sharingan (the left eye) spun beneath his visor. He analyzed Kaito. Threat assessment: Radicalized ideology. Emotional instability. Combat potential: Special Jonin. Danger to village: Moderate rising to High.
"You are playing a dangerous game, Kaito," Ren said. "Rebellion is not a path to glory. It is a path to extinction."
"Better to burn out than fade away," Kaito spat. "Isn't that what you did? You burned away everything that made you human just to get strong. Tell me, Ren… when you look in the mirror, do you even know who you are?"
"I am the guardian," Ren said. "And you are a security risk."
"One day," Kaito whispered, "the Uchiha will take back what is ours. And when that happens, I hope you're standing in my way. I've been training. I want to take back the eye you stole."
Kaito turned and signaled his squad. "Move out!"
They marched away, leaving Ren alone under the streetlamp.
He will die, Ryuichi said in the Vault. He talks of revolution, but he lacks the conviction to kill his own heart. He is weak.Friends are liabilities, Ren answered. Data indicates he will likely be purged.
Ren turned and leaped away. He had a perimeter to guard.
—————
The Anomaly
It was nearly midnight. The moon was high and full, casting a pale, milky light over the village.
Ren sat on the Great Gate of Konoha, looking out into the dark forest.
Everything was quiet. Too quiet. Even the insects had stopped chirping.
Isamu: Something is wrong. The air pressure dropped. Goro: The earth is trembling. Micro-tremors. Not tectonic. Resonance.
Ren stood up. He activated his full sensory suite.
Byakugan (Right Eye): Scanning the chakra spectrum for miles. Sensory Sphere (Mind): Expanding a net of pure Yin chakra. Nature Energy Perception (Trace): Reading the wind.
He felt it.
Three miles to the north. A distortion.
It wasn't a chakra signature in the traditional sense. It was a hole. A void in space-time that opened and closed in a heartbeat.
Space-Time Ninjutsu, the Tactician analyzed instantly. Similar to the Flying Raijin, but… darker. More stable.
And then, through the rift, came a chakra signature that made the Council scream.
It was ancient. Malicious. A density of hatred so potent it felt like nuclear fallout.
The Nine-Tails? Isamu gasped. But the extraction… it's happening?
Ren's heart hammered. Minato had said the location was secure. But if Ren could sense a space-time breach, then the security had failed.
"I need to report this," Ren said aloud.
He formed a hand sign. He was about to shunshin to the Elders' compound.
But he stopped.
A cold calculation washed over him.
The Tactician spoke up, his voice echoing in the library. Wait. Think, Chairman.
If you report this now, what happens? You tell Danzo or Koharu that you sensed a space-time anomaly.They will ask how.You will have to reveal the extent of your sensory amalgamation. You will have to reveal the depth of your power.And even if you tell them… can they stop it?Minato is already there. If the Yellow Flash cannot stop the intruder, can the Elders?
No, Ren realized.
Furthermore, Ryuichi added, his voice silky. If you intervene now, you are just a messenger. A dog barking at thunder.But… if you wait…If the disaster happens…The village will be in chaos. They will need a savior. They will need a leader who can handle the catastrophe.
Ren stood on the gate. The moral choice was to scream, to sound the alarm, to rush to Minato's aid.
But Ren Yamanaka was dead. The Ship of Theseus was steered by the Council.
And the Council voted for Opportunity.
"They wouldn't believe me anyway," Ren rationalized, his voice cold. "They dismissed me at the academy. They dismissed me as a battery. They won't listen until the sky falls."
So he sat back down.
He watched the north.
He waited for the sky to fall.
End of Chapter 13.