Chapter 120: Pure Evil
Before Sasuke could utter another word, Senju Hashirama whirled toward them, his voice thundering like an avalanche. "You're all too relaxed! This isn't the time for idle chatter! Gather your chakra—now! We strike together and bring that beast down!"
"Sakura, thank you for healing me," Naruto said, his expression hardening with resolve. "Now, it's your turn to rest."
The First Hokage was right. The priority was the Ten-Tails. As for Renji... that could wait.
"No matter what happens," Naruto vowed, turning back to Sakura with unwavering determination, "I'll bring Renji back. Konoha is his only home—he belongs nowhere else!"
He flashed a grin. "Let's go, Sasuke!"
As they surged forward, Sakura's form flickered into existence right beside them.
"Sakura?"
"Do you think I'm just some weak girl, inferior to you two?" She challenged. "Is it true that among the Three Sannin, only Lady Tsunade fails to produce worthy disciples?"
Naruto fell silent, his gaze instinctively drifting to Renji, who leaned casually against a distant boulder. Of course he didn't think that. Renji was Tsunade's disciple, too.
"I am a member of Team Seven!" Sakura declared fiercely. "And I am Lady Tsunade's disciple!"
Naruto stared, stunned, before a warm smile crept across his face. "Alright!" He cupped his hands and shouted toward the figure in the distance. "Renji! Didn't we promise to fight side by side? Sasuke's back! Team Seven is missing only you!"
Every eye in the Allied Shinobi Forces turned toward Renji, the air thick with anticipation.
Renji stepped forward slowly, deliberately, pivoting to face them. His gaze swept over Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke like a predator sizing up prey. Then, a wide, unsettling grin split his face—as if he were gazing upon a troupe of pathetic clowns. Laughter erupted from him, wild and unhinged.
"Hahahahahaha..."
The manic cackling cut off abruptly, and Renji's voice rang out across the blood-soaked field, cold and cutting. "No. I never should have been in Team Seven to begin with."
The battlefield fell into a stunned silence. Confusion rippled through the ranks—no one could comprehend his words or that deranged laughter. A few sharper minds had already pieced it together, dread coiling in their guts.
But one refused to accept it. Naruto's smile froze, fracturing like glass. "Renji, stop joking! The real Team Seven—the complete one—is Renji Mahito, Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, Kakashi-sensei, and Uzumaki Naruto!"
Renji fixed him with a look of pure condescension, as if staring at a fool too stubborn to see the truth. It was pointless. Naruto would cling to his delusions forever.
Out of thin air, Hasumi Maki materialized beside Renji. Naruto's face twisted in shock and fury at the sight, but Hasumi Maki only beamed with radiant malice. 'What a fool.'
Under Naruto's blazing glare, Hasumi Maki draped an arm casually over Renji's shoulder, leaning in close with a mirroring grin. "Do you want me to kill them for you, brother?"
Renji glanced at him sidelong. "No need. I'll handle it myself."
"Alright!" Hasumi Maki waved mockingly at Naruto.
[Ding!]
[Human Malice Value detected: +10,000!]
[Cursed Energy converted to Chakra: +10,000!]
[Chakra (363,160,000 / 400,000,000)]
"Renji, what the hell are you doing?!" Naruto's mind reeled, unable to process the betrayal. He jabbed a trembling finger at Hasumi Maki. "He's the enemy!"
Sakura stood beside him, her face a mask of profound, silent grief—eyes brimming with unspoken sorrow.
"Enough, Naruto," Sasuke interjected, his tone icy and detached. "Renji and Hasumi Maki were never enemies. They... are brothers."
Naruto froze, as if lightning had scorched through him. His thoughts shattered into blank void.
"In fact," Sasuke continued, his expression unchanging, "from the very start, they aligned with Uchiha Madara. One joined Akatsuki... the other infiltrated Konoha."
Shikamaru reacted first, his mind racing ahead. He tore off his Jonin vest in a frenzy. "Ino, remove your vest. Now."
She complied, her gaze dropping to the inner lining—and there it was: the Flying Thunder God seal. Ice flooded her veins.
"Ino, link me to every ninja in the alliance. Can you do it?"
"I have to," she whispered, eyes squeezing shut.
In an instant, Shikamaru's voice boomed in the minds of the entire force: "Everyone, strip off your vests! Check for the Flying Thunder God mark! Renji... he may have planted one on every single one of us!"
[Ding!]
[Human Malice Value detected: +100,000!]
[Cursed Energy converted to Chakra: +100,000!]
[Chakra (363,260,000 / 400,000,000)]
...
[Ding!]
[Human Malice Value detected: +100,000!]
[Cursed Energy converted to Chakra: +100,000!]
[Chakra (368,160,000 / 400,000,000)]
"What now?!" a ninja cried out in terror.
"It's not just the vests!" another wailed, voice shaking. "I have it on my skin!"
"He's a medical-nin!" realization dawned like a nightmare. "Most of us... he's treated us all!"
Panic surged through the ranks like wildfire, soldiers clawing at their gear in desperation.
Renji's voice sliced through the frenzy, calm and mocking. "Stop wasting your energy, idiots. Struggling against those marks is pointless."
The chaos hushed to a deathly stillness.
"Do you think I only left Flying Thunder God seals?" A devilish smile crept across Renji's face, twisting his features into something inhuman.
He raised his hands lazily, fingers dancing as he activated dormant soul marks hidden within fifty allied shinobi at random.
In a heartbeat, those fifty contorted in agony—their eyes bleeding crimson, guttural roars escaping their throats. Minds shattered, they lunged at their former comrades like rabid beasts.
"Ishida! Ishida, snap out of it!"
"Seigen! It's me—your teammate!"
Heart-wrenching screams filled the air as allies were forced to cut down their own, blades slick with familiar blood.
"Why are you doing this?! Renji Mahito! You monster!"
[Ding!]
[Human Malice Value detected: +100,000!]
[Cursed Energy converted to Chakra: +100,000!]
[Chakra (368,260,000 / 400,000,000)]
...
The Cursed Energy surged effortlessly to 370,000,000. Betrayal fed it far better than mere violence ever could.
"So," Renji drawled, that same demonic grin widening, "still planning to resist?"
"I don't believe it!"
The voice rang out, clear and unyielding—not Naruto's, but Sakura's.
She advanced a step, her emerald eyes blazing with defiant trust. "I refuse to believe you'd attack us. Everything you've done before... it couldn't all have been a lie."
A large, warm hand settled gently on Sakura's shoulder. She whirled, tears glistening. "Tsunade-sensei! You believe in Renji too, don't you?"
Tsunade's clone smiled softly. "Silly girl. Of course I do."
Then, beneath Sakura's horrified stare, the figure melted and reshaped—Tsunade's face dissolving into Renji's own, smirking back at her.
"Sakura, watch out!" Naruto's Nine-Tails chakra arm lashed out in a desperate grab.
The clone vanished, reappearing instantly at the real Renji's side.
In the same flicker, the Kakashi clone, the Might Guy clone, and the Gaara clone teleported to join him—aligning perfectly.
"What... what is this?!" Naruto bellowed, voice raw with disbelief. "Why did Granny Tsunade turn into Renji?! Kakashi-sensei, Guy-sensei, Gaara... why are they all with him?!"
"The Hokage is his clone!" Shikamaru's shout pierced the air as the horrific puzzle clicked into place. "Kakashi-sensei, Might Guy-sensei, Gaara... they could all be his clones!"
"What?!"
"How?!"
"What about the real Kazekage?!"
"Yes, bingo—well done, Shikamaru! HAHAHAHA!" Renji's laughter exploded, manic and triumphant. "All this time, you've been obeying my clones like fools! But don't worry—the real ones are still here. See? They're doing just fine."
From his ninja pouch, he withdrew grotesque, twisted modified humans. They thudded to the ground, swelling grotesquely into massive, snarling abominations.
"Tsunade, Kakashi, Might Guy... and Jiraiya," Renji announced with a grin, gesturing to his macabre display. "They're all right here. As for Gaara—he died the moment his Tailed Beast was extracted. My clone took his place."
He dangled tiny, doll-like figures of the other Kage. "Lord Raikage A, Lord Tsuchikage Onoki, Lord Mizukage Mei Terumi... oh, and so many more. Any missing faces? Dead allies? They might be in here—AHAHAHAHA..."
[Ding!]
[Human Malice Value detected: +10,000,000!]
[Cursed Energy converted to Chakra: +10,000,000!]
[Chakra (380,160,000 / 400,000,000)]
[Ding!]
[Human Malice Value detected: +10,000,000!]
[Cursed Energy converted to Chakra: +10,000,000!]
[Chakra (390,160,000 / 400,000,000)]
...
[Ding!]
[Human Malice Value detected: +10,000!]
[Cursed Energy converted to Chakra: +10,000!]
[Chakra (400,170,000 / 400,000,000)]
[Ding!]
[Chakra amount has exceeded Ōtsutsuki Kaguya's total Chakra absorption index of the Ninja World. The Chakra amount index has now been updated.]
[Chakra index is Ōtsutsuki Shibai (10,000,000,000)]
'Ōtsutsuki Shibai?' Renji mused inwardly, his grin sharpening to a predatory edge. 'Fine. I'll reach that level soon enough.'
"RENJI!"
"RENJI MAHITO!"
Fury erupted from the Allied Forces in a deafening roar.
"HOW COULD YOU?!"
"I'LL KILL YOU!"
"AVENGE LORD RAIKAGE!"
The mob surged with rage, cries crashing like waves.
Naruto stood frozen, staring at Renji—the metallic tang of blood flooding his mouth as he bit down in shock.
'Renji... you're pure evil,' his mind fractured under the weight. 'How could you do all these horrifying things?!'
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