Rumors travel faster than kunai.
By midday, whispers had already spread through Konoha.
A tremor beneath the Uchiha district.
ANBU movement at night.
The Hokage summoning both the Uchiha clan and Danzō in the same chamber.
No official statement was made.
Which meant something serious had happened.
Behind sealed doors deep within Root territory, Danzō stood alone.
The chamber was darker than usual.
The experimental asset Ren had destroyed lay in fragments across a stone table. Carved seals cracked. Flesh inert.
Danzō studied it without emotion.
"Failure due to adaptive recoil," a Root analyst reported quietly.
"Natural energy interference insufficient."
Danzō's cane tapped once.
"He learns through pressure."
"Yes."
"Then apply a different kind."
The analyst hesitated. "Lord Danzō… the Hokage has placed restrictions."
Danzō did not turn.
"The Hokage has placed restrictions on Root."
A pause.
"But not on evolution."
He stepped toward a second sealed door in the chamber.
One that had not been opened in years.
"Begin Project Kagebane."
The analyst's breath caught.
"That program was discontinued."
"Reactivate it."
The door seals began unlocking slowly.
Meanwhile—
Training Ground 7.
Hiruzen stood calmly with his hands behind his back.
Ren stood opposite him.
No Root.
No Danzō.
Only the Hokage.
"Show me," Hiruzen said.
Ren raised an eyebrow slightly. "What part?"
"The part that breaks stone."
Ren shrugged lightly.
He stepped toward a reinforced wooden post.
Compressed.
Released.
The post exploded into splinters.
Hiruzen did not flinch.
"Again."
This time, Ren allowed the Hokage to observe his body carefully.
Hiruzen's eyes sharpened slightly.
"It's not chakra enhancement," he murmured.
Ren shook his head.
"No."
Hiruzen stepped closer.
"Your chakra flow… bends around impact rather than reinforcing it."
Ren tilted his head.
"You're close."
Hiruzen exhaled smoke from his pipe slowly.
"Does natural energy interfere with you?"
Ren's expression shifted subtly.
"You noticed."
Hiruzen's gaze sharpened.
"Yes."
Ren nodded once.
"It compresses the elasticity."
Silence.
Hiruzen understood the implication immediately.
"So you have a weakness."
Ren smiled faintly.
"Everything does."
Hiruzen studied him for a long moment.
Then he said something unexpected.
"I can teach you about natural energy."
Ren blinked once.
Not shock.
Interest.
"Why?"
"Because if you don't understand it," Hiruzen said calmly, "someone else will use it against you."
The drums rolled faintly.
Doom.
Ren nodded slowly.
"Fair."
Elsewhere—
Uchiha compound.
Several clan radicals gathered quietly.
"You saw what he did," one whispered.
"He stood against Root openly."
"He embarrassed Danzō."
"He survived."
Eyes turned toward Fugaku.
"He could be leverage."
Fugaku's voice was even.
"He could be disaster."
The radicals bristled.
"We cannot remain passive while Root targets us."
Fugaku's gaze hardened.
"We will not ignite a war because of pride."
But even as he said it—
He knew something.
Ren wasn't pride.
He was disruption.
And disruption could either fracture the village—
Or realign it.
Night fell.
Ren returned home quietly.
The district was calm.
Too calm.
The drums were soft tonight.
Doom.
He paused mid-step.
The air felt… off.
Not chakra.
Not natural energy.
Something colder.
A shadow moved behind him—
Faster than Root.
Silent.
A blade formed of condensed darkness swept toward his neck.
Ren bent backward instinctively.
The blade passed inches from his skin.
Not metal.
Not chakra.
Something else.
The attacker stepped into the lantern light.
Masked.
But not Root issue.
Different design.
Different uniform.
Black with red thread along the edges.
Ren's eyes narrowed slightly.
"New experiment?" he asked calmly.
The masked figure did not answer.
It moved again—
This time splitting into three identical silhouettes mid-strike.
Ren's eyes flickered.
Illusion?
No.
The air pressure changed with each one.
They were real.
He compressed and released forward—
His fist passed through one.
Shadow.
The second struck his ribs.
The impact didn't stretch.
It felt… hollow.
Cold.
The third slammed a palm into his chest.
Not chakra absorption.
But something draining.
The drums faltered slightly.
Doom…
Ren's brow furrowed.
This wasn't physical force.
It wasn't chakra suppression.
It was siphoning.
The three figures converged again into one.
The masked shinobi stepped back.
Observing.
Analyzing.
Ren exhaled slowly.
So this was Danzō's response.
If physical recoil failed—
Attack the source.
The masked shinobi formed a strange hand sign.
Dark tendrils spread across the ground beneath Ren's feet.
Shadows stretched unnaturally.
Ren's body compressed—
Released—
The shockwave tore the tendrils apart.
But they reformed instantly.
The attacker lunged again.
This time, Ren grabbed the arm directly.
Elastic fingers wrapped tight.
The arm felt solid—
But unstable.
Ren tightened his grip.
The masked shinobi's body flickered.
Not illusion.
Fragmentation.
Ren understood.
"You're not fully real," he murmured.
The masked figure tilted its head slightly.
Then—
Its mask cracked open.
Inside—
No face.
Only swirling darkness.
Ren's eyes sharpened.
Project Kagebane.
Though he didn't know the name—
He understood the intent.
Weaponize shadow.
Bypass elasticity.
Drain instead of collide.
The shadow entity lunged again—
Ren allowed it to strike—
Compressed—
And instead of releasing outward—
He redirected inward.
The siphoned energy hit compressed elasticity.
And snapped back violently.
The shadow form shattered like glass.
Fragments dissolved into smoke.
Silence returned to the street.
Lantern light flickered normally again.
Ren stood alone.
Breathing slightly heavier now.
The drums steadied.
Doom.
So.
They escalated.
Good.
He wiped faint black residue from his sleeve.
It evaporated.
Behind him—
From the rooftop—
Itachi watched silently.
He had seen everything.
Ren didn't turn.
"You're going to keep following me," Ren said calmly.
Itachi stepped down lightly.
"That wasn't Root."
Ren nodded.
"No."
"What was it?"
Ren's faint smile returned.
"A new cage."
Itachi's eyes narrowed slightly.
"They won't stop."
Ren looked up at the night sky.
"Neither will I."
Far away—
In a dark chamber—
Danzō listened to a report.
"First Kagebane unit destroyed."
Danzō's eye did not flicker.
"Deploy more."
The analyst hesitated.
"They are unstable."
Danzō's voice was cold.
"So is he."
The drums rolled once more.
Slow.
Persistent.
Waiting.
Doom.