Gekkō Hayate kept glancing at Genma, trying to signal something.
Kazuma and Yamashiro Aoba also seemed uncomfortable, though Aoba's expression was hard to read due to his sunglasses.
"A kid…"
Genma Shiranui looked at Tenten sitting across from Ren, clearly feeling a bit troubled. He knew he couldn't involve a little girl in what they were planning.
The dango they had ordered was slowly brought to their table. The spread looked quite plentiful, but none of them touched it.
Outside, the night had grown deep. Passersby occasionally walked by the shop's entrance, and the lively noise of the bustling street stood in stark contrast to the quiet inside the shop.
Tenten finally couldn't eat any more. She placed a half-eaten skewer of dango back on her plate and, after taking a sip of her drink, sighed in contentment.
"Full?" Ren asked.
Tenten nodded but looked at the remaining skewers on her plate with a slightly troubled expression.
"Brother Ren, are you really not going to eat?" Tenten asked, looking at him.
"Why don't you just take it home?"
"But if my mom finds out, she'll scold me again..." Tenten mumbled, thinking to herself.
"Just put it in your fridge. I'll come by tomorrow to finish it."
Ren sighed but didn't refuse.
"Boss, the bill please."
After Ren paid, Tenten, carrying the takeout bag, was the first to leave the shop. As Ren stood up, he glanced at the four figures at the nearby table, who were still sipping their tea, their dango untouched.
"So, we're just letting this go?" Hayate asked, watching Ren and Tenten exit the shop.
"What else can we do? We can't exactly fight in front of a kid," Kazuma replied, helplessly.
"Exactly, we're not thugs," Aoba added.
Genma finally picked up a skewer of dango and took a bite.
"Let's follow them and see."
As they walked along the street back, Tenten, full from her meal, bounced ahead joyfully, still carrying the food bag. She occasionally jumped on sewer grates or kicked small bits of trash along the road.
"Brother Ren."
She suddenly turned around, hands behind her back, her face full of smiles.
"If tomorrow were the end of the world, who would you want to spend your last day with?"
Ren was startled, snapping out of his thoughts.
"What?"
"You know, if tomorrow were the end of the world, who would you want to spend your last day with?" Tenten repeated.
"What kind of question is that?" Ren said nonchalantly. "The end of the world isn't going to happen."
"Yes, it could!" Tenten insisted confidently. "Like, what if the moon fell down or a big bad guy wanted to destroy the world..."
"I wouldn't let the moon fall. If a bad guy wanted to destroy the world, I'd defeat him," Ren replied calmly.
Tenten puffed out her cheeks in frustration.
"I'm asking you a question! Just answer it already!" she shouted.
"Why are you asking me this?" Ren asked, exasperated by her persistence.
"Our teacher asked us this today and made us write down the name of the person we'd want to spend the last day with."
This scenario felt oddly familiar...
Ren thought, wondering if all teachers were conspiring together, asking the same questions.
"And what did you write?"
"Why do you care about what I wrote? I'm asking you!" Tenten huffed.
"Hurry up and answer!"
"Answer what?"
"Answer the question I asked!" Tenten was growing frustrated.
Ren raised an eyebrow slightly. "Does the answer matter that much?"
"Well... fine, whatever! You're so annoying!" Tenten snapped, stomping off in a huff.
But after a short distance, she turned back and handed the bag of food to Ren.
"Here, put it in your fridge."
Ren's expression turned a bit odd. Watching her still fuming face, he suddenly placed his hand on her head.
"If tomorrow were the end of the world..."
Tenten froze on the spot, feeling the warmth on her head, strangely not pushing his hand away.
"For the last day, I'd prefer..."
Tenten's head drooped slightly, clutching the bag tighter.
"To spend it alone."
"…"
A mischievous laugh echoed in her ears. She looked up to see Ren's face wearing a teasing, almost playful, smile.
Her expression shifted from shock to embarrassment, then anger, and finally, it settled into a blank stare.
This idiot...
She clenched her fists, knowing she couldn't beat him, but still irritated. She raised her leg and aimed a hard kick at Ren's knee.
Ren easily dodged with a slight shift of his body, taking the food bag from her hand at the same time.
Tenten took a few deep breaths before turning away.
"Hey, it's the end of the world tomorrow, and you're just going to leave me behind?" Ren called after her.
"You can die alone!" she yelled back, walking farther away.
Ren glanced at the bag in his hand, standing in the middle of the street as people passed by.
He put away all expressions on his face. His house was nearby, but instead of heading home, he turned in a different direction.
Under the clear night sky, the village remained peaceful and quiet.
Ren walked away from the bustling center toward the outskirts of Konoha, nearing the forest. Few people came here.
He stopped in an open space, one hand in his pocket, the other holding the bag of food.
After a while, the wind blew by, rustling through the area.
"Not coming out?" Ren suddenly asked.
Moments later, four figures emerged from the shadows where they had been hiding.
"When did you notice us?" Genma asked, still chewing on his senbon, his hands in his pockets, his expression neutral.
"Just now."
"Yeah, right," Genma scoffed. "You led us here on purpose. You probably noticed us back at the shop."
"You knew, so why ask?"
"…"
Genma felt irritated. The more he looked at this young boy, the more annoyed he felt.
"You want to fight?" Ren asked directly.
"You're ruining all the lines I had planned," Genma said slowly.
"Oh, sorry for that," Ren replied casually.
Ren's attitude made Genma angrier. He growled, "Aren't you even curious about why?"
Ren: "If I ask, will you stop fighting?"
"…"
Genma's eyes darkened. "Are you scared? Don't worry, we won't hurt you too badly. Afterward, you can report us to the Konoha Police Force. At most, we'll get a few days in detention and apologize. Hokage-sama won't punish us harshly for someone like you."
Ren remained calm. "I won't report you."
Genma sneered, "Too late for that. You should regret messing with people you shouldn't have."
Ren sighed.
"You talk too much."
Swish!
Kazuma, unable to hold back any longer, rushed forward, deciding to attack Ren directly.
Without using any weapons, he aimed a strong punch at Ren's chest, keeping his approach swift and straightforward.
Ren remained calm, easily sidestepping the powerful punch.
Seeing his initial attack fail, Kazuma quickly followed up with a flurry of strikes, using both fists and feet. His taijutsu was impressive, each move sharp and quick.
But none of his strikes landed. Despite his intense barrage, Ren, holding the bag of food in one hand and keeping the other in his pocket, dodged everything effortlessly.
Kazuma felt increasingly frustrated, as if Ren was toying with him. Fueled by anger, he swung his right arm in a sweeping motion, only to realize that Ren had disappeared from his sight.
Suddenly, he felt a weight on his shoulder and glanced over to see Ren standing on top of him.
Kazuma hastily raised his arm to strike, but Ren gracefully leaped off and landed nearby.
"Is that all you've got?" Ren asked flatly, unimpressed.
Chūnin level, maybe better than some, but still mediocre.
"You might as well join in," Ren said, turning to Genma and the others, his tone calm.
Their faces darkened. Being looked down upon like that was infuriating.
"All at once!" Genma ordered. Aoba and Hayate quickly drew their weapons—kunai and a katana.
The four of them prepared to attack Ren together, but just as they were about to move, Ren spoke again.
"Forget it."
They froze, unsure of what Ren was going to say next, but his following words only made them angrier.
"If you don't refrigerate dango soon, it'll spoil."
He was referring to the bag of food in his hand, the dango he'd taken from the shop. They all remembered it, and during the fight with Kazuma, Ren hadn't even used both hands.
Whoosh!
Genma spat out the senbon from his mouth, sending it flying toward Ren at high speed.
The needle gleamed in the night, piercing through Ren's body and embedding itself in a tree in the distance. Genma was momentarily surprised before realizing that Ren's body had turned into a shadowy figure.
What's going on...?
The four of them were filled with confusion. As they tried to find Ren again, they suddenly realized that their bodies were immobilized by an invisible force. They couldn't move a muscle.
"Binding Jutsu... It's a Binding Jutsu!" Aoba shouted in shock.
"Genjutsu?!"
"When did he cast the hand signs?!" Genma was shaken. Had they really been toyed with so easily?
The next moment, Ren appeared in front of him, coldly staring him down.
"What made you think I didn't cast the signs?"
Before Genma could react, Ren's body dissolved into flames, a scorching heat engulfing Genma's vision, turning everything red.
"No... No!"
"Ahhhhhh!!!!"
Screams pierced the silent night, full of agony and despair, one after another.
Ren glanced at the four fallen figures. Though their bodies were unharmed, their eyes were vacant, lifeless.
So weak.
He turned away, leaving without a second thought.
In no time, the Konoha Police would be alerted by the commotion.
Ren didn't want to deal with the hassle.
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