Chapter 14 — Returning to the Konoha Camp
"I'm sorry," Namikaze Minato said apologetically. "When I learned that your parents had fallen in battle, I was very worried about you. But the battlefield couldn't do without me."
Gekkō Ren replied coldly, "Brother Minato, we're in the middle of a war, and you're still so sentimental. I prefer the sunny you—the one like a little sun. That's the very reason Sister Kushina chose to be with you. You don't need to feel apologetic toward me. The ones who killed my parents were Suna ninja."
After speaking, Gekkō Ren raised his hand and tossed something to Minato.
Minato caught it. It was a specially crafted three-pronged kunai. Though it didn't carry the Flying Thunder God formula, it bore his signature. Gekkō Ren had once shamelessly insisted on getting one from him and even asked him to sign it.
"Gekkō Ren, you're still as smart as ever. Come back to the camp with us," Minato said with a bright smile.
What he had just said had been sincere—but it had also been a test. Gekkō Ren's changes were simply too great, both in strength and personality. Yet the exchange just now, along with the kunai in his hand, confirmed his identity. Though he had changed drastically, Minato was certain this was truly Gekkō Ren.
"Mm." Gekkō Ren gave a faint nod. "One Suna ninja escaped earlier. This place can't be used for an ambush anymore. And my information has already been exposed. It's indeed time to head back."
"Do you know who the Suna ninja that escaped was?" Minato asked with a smile.
"No idea. And no interest in knowing." Gekkō Ren answered indifferently as he continued collecting the fallen Suna headbands. "I'll gather my spoils. Brother Minato, you can have the others come out. No need to keep hiding."
"Whether you're interested or not, you're about to become famous. Very famous," Minato said, smiling as he looked at Gekkō Ren's small figure rummaging through the corpses. "The one who escaped was Suna's hero—elite jōnin, Scorch Release Pakura."
As he spoke, Minato gestured toward the distant forest.
"Swish, swish, swish, swish—!"
"Lord Minato!"
At Minato's signal, the nine Konoha ninja hidden in the forest immediately rushed out and arrived at his side. Their eyes were filled with astonishment as they stared at Gekkō Ren, who was still searching through the Suna corpses. This was clearly just a freshly graduated Academy student!
"He's Gekkō Ren, a Konoha ninja. A genin who just graduated this year. He's not an enemy," Minato explained.
A genin?
The other Konoha ninja had no idea what expression to wear. What village's genin could single-handedly slaughter over a hundred Suna ninja and force Suna's hero Pakura to flee? An out-of-control Jinchūriki, maybe?
"He really is one of our newly graduated genin. I've known him for years," Minato added with a smile.
The others exchanged glances. A powerful feeling surged in their hearts—the sense that they had lived their lives in vain.
"Alright, we'll talk about Gekkō Ren's situation after we return to camp," Minato continued, still smiling at their expressions. "For now, help check the bodies."
"Yes!"
The nine Konoha ninja responded at once, suppressing their curiosity as they began cleaning up the battlefield.
"Ren, once we're back at camp, I'll vouch for you," Minato said as he walked over to Gekkō Ren, helping search the Suna corpses. "Now that Pakura has escaped, your information will definitely be taken seriously by Suna. From now on, they'll target you specifically on the battlefield. You must be careful."
"I know." Gekkō Ren continued examining the items on a Suna corpse as he spoke. "Eliminating the geniuses of other villages—that's something every ninja village never tires of. Compared to death… I'd be more afraid of them avoiding me."
Ren has been hit too hard by his parents' deaths.
Minato fell silent for a moment before speaking again. "Ren, you weren't like this before. I don't want my friend to be consumed by hatred."
"Consumed by hatred?"
Gekkō Ren shook his head. "The world in my eyes lost its colors the day news of my parents' deaths returned. Now, only gray and white remain."
"Ren, besides your parents, you still have your friend Guy. You have Kushina, you have me, and other friends and classmates. You still have relatives within your clan," Minato continued gently. "And I believe your parents wouldn't want to see you like this either. Everyone would want you to step out of that gray-and-white world and see color again."
"I'm about done here."
Gekkō Ren did not respond to Minato's words. After tucking the explosive tags he had found into his clothes, he stood and walked over to where he had stored the Suna headbands earlier. He bundled all his spoils into a large cloth sack.
"...Sigh."
Watching Gekkō Ren's departing figure, Minato let out a quiet sigh. He knew it would take a long time to persuade him. Guiding anyone who had suffered such grief required time. In the end, Ren would have to step out of his sorrow and hatred on his own.
"There are so many Suna headbands!"
When Gekkō Ren took them out, the Konoha ninja—except for Minato—stared wide-eyed. There had to be nearly two hundred! Gekkō Ren had killed far more Suna ninja than they had imagined. And they had already found eight Suna jōnin among the corpses. Konoha truly had produced another terrifying genius.
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The journey back was mostly silent.
Though the other Konoha ninja tried to strike up conversations and get to know Gekkō Ren, his cold demeanor made things awkward. After hearing Minato's explanation, however, they harbored no resentment toward him. Instead, they subtly tried to cheer him up together.
Occasionally, jokes and laughter broke out during the return trip.
But throughout it all, Gekkō Ren did not show even the slightest smile. No matter what was said, his voice remained cold and detached.
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"Ren, wait here for a moment. I need to report the mission first," Minato said after they returned to camp and arrived at a simple wooden hut not long after entering.
Since Gekkō Ren did not belong to this camp, he had nowhere to go. Moreover, his situation needed to be reported. It wasn't appropriate to bring him along for the mission report, so he could only wait outside.
"I'll wait here, Brother Minato," Gekkō Ren nodded and casually found a spot to sit down.
The energy stored within him had dropped to less than four hundred points. If calculated carefully, it should barely be enough to support one intense battle. He needed to find a way to replenish more energy.
(While ambushing the Suna ninja, he had consumed energy—but also replenished it. Besides absorbing sunlight, Gekkō Ren had used Lightning Release techniques himself to recharge his energy reserves.)