264-Crying Over Spilt Blood

Renjiro's eyes narrowed as he stared at the newcomer, the eerie glow of the Ketsuryūgan burning from the man's eyes.

'I knew that Kumo was involved in this whole thing, but did they have to station a shinobi from the Chinoike clan here?' Renjiro thought bitterly.

The very presence of someone from the Chinoike clan was troubling—especially after all the blood that had been spilt in the massacre moments before.

Although the storyline involving the Chinoike clan came much towards the later end of the anime, Renjiro remembered it clearly. Their Kekkei Genkai, the Ketsuryūgan, was said to rival the Sharingan in power, specifically in its ability to control blood and cast terrifying genjutsu.

'Anyway, no need in crying over spilt blood.' Renjiro resolved.

This wasn't going to be a simple fight. Renjiro could feel the intensity radiating from the new entrant, and he knew that the Chinoike's affinity with blood put him at a serious disadvantage.

The entire room was soaked with the blood of those Renjiro had just killed, and Kawana would be able to manipulate it with ease.

"This matchup won't be a walk in the park," Renjiro muttered under his breath. His eyes flickered toward Kakashi, who was closer to the children they had rescued toward the exit.

Suddenly, a flicker of movement caught Renjiro's attention. Kawana Chinoike made a swift hand gesture, his Ketsuryūgan glowing brighter as all the blood that had been spilt on the ground began to quiver. Renjiro's eyes widened in realization.

"Beware of his abilities, more so the Genjutsu!" he shouted at Kakashi, but it was already too late.

The blood from Renjiro's earlier massacre coalesced into thick, serpentine whips, cracking violently through the air. The blood whips lashed toward Kakashi and the children.

In an instant, Renjiro's shadow clones darted forward to intercept the attack, their bodies flickering as they moved to protect the kids.

Kakashi reacted quickly, slamming his hands to the ground and creating a defensive mud wall. The earth rose between them and the whips, but the force of Kawana's attack was tremendous.

The whips sliced through the mud wall like it was paper, and one of the blood whips crashed into Kakashi, sending him flying backwards.

The crack of the blood whip was deafening, like a thunderclap, and Kakashi grunted as the force of the blow knocked the wind out of him. Three of Renjiro's shadow clones were obliterated by the attack, being dispelled, but their sacrifice ensured the children remained unharmed.

'He just had to arrive after I killed all these people,' Renjiro thought bitterly as he surveyed the blood-soaked room.

Kawana's ability to manipulate blood was going to be a serious problem. This was where the Chinoike clan thrived—when there was plenty of blood to use as a weapon.

Renjiro clenched his fists, 'Their genjutsu can't work on me, so I need to take care of this quickly,' he thought.

Without wasting another second, Renjiro darted toward Kawana, moving like a shadow through the blood-streaked room.

Kawana's Ketsuryūgan eyes tracked Renjiro's approach, and with another flick of his hand, he sent a wave of blood whips crashing toward him.

Renjiro's shadow clones, who had survived the initial onslaught, sprang into action. They weaved through the air with impressive speed, lightning crackling in their palms.

"Zzzzzzzt!"

The sound of Chidori ripped through the air as the clones slashed at the blood whips with crackling arcs of lightning, cutting them down before they could reach the children.

The sizzling sound of the lightning chakra evaporating the blood echoed through the room. Kakashi, still recovering from the earlier attack, looked up, his eyes widening in surprise as he saw Renjiro's clones wielding the Chidori.

'Did he learn a new jutsu?' Kakashi thought.

He had never seen Renjiro use the Chidori before, not even during their missions in the ANBU. Renjiro had been careful not to use it, not wanting to interfere with Kakashi's development. But now, in this desperate situation, Renjiro had no choice.

While the clones worked to neutralize the blood whips, Renjiro closed the distance between him and Kawana. Their movements became a blur of speed and precision, both shinobi exchanging deadly strikes.

Kawana's hands moved fluidly as he manipulated the blood around him, sending deadly tendrils of crimson toward the children whenever he saw an opening.

But Renjiro was always there, intercepting the attacks with precise counter-strikes, his Sharingan predicting Kawana's every move.

"You're not getting anywhere near those kids," Renjiro growled as he deflected another wave of blood spikes with his swords, the metal gleaming as they sliced through the air.

Kawana sneered, Renjiro had misunderstood his actions. He wanted to retrieve the kids and not kill them.

With a swift hand seal, Kawana attempted to detonate the corpses strewn across the floor, hoping to create chaos and a distraction. But Renjiro's shadow clones were faster. They dashed toward the bodies, their hands crackling with Chidori, and in rapid succession, they neutralized the corpses.

The room shook from the force of the explosions being diffused, the walls trembling under the strain. Dust and debris rained down from the ceiling, and for a moment, Renjiro felt the ground beneath him shift.

His clones were doing their best to contain Kawana's bloody onslaught, but the situation was growing more dangerous by the second.

'Where is Yano?' Renjiro's clone thought in frustration.

If Yano were here, they could have dealt with Kawana much more easily. The mission was spiralling out of control, and Renjiro knew they couldn't keep this up for long.

Meanwhile, Kawana's mind raced as he continued his assault. 'I wanted to hold back to see if they had another person they were working with,' he thought, his blood-soaked fingers twitching as he formed more hand signs.

'But it doesn't look like they do. I need to kill them before they take the kids. Getting these children and the Sharingan back to the village would be a major win for us. But I need to be careful with this Uchiha.'

Kawana's eyes narrowed as he focused on Renjiro. His Ketsuryūgan glowed ominously, the blood vessels around his eyes bulging as he prepared to unleash his clan's powerful genjutsu. But just as he began weaving the genjutsu's intricate layers, Renjiro smiled grimly.

"Your genjutsu won't work on me," Renjiro said confidently, his Sharingan spinning faster as he met Kawana's gaze head-on. But as he spoke, a cold sweat suddenly trickled down his back.

Something was wrong. His heart pounded in his chest, and a surge of foreign chakra coursed through his body.

Without warning, Renjiro felt something deep unlock within him, and he involuntary opened all the three gates he had access to. The power surged through him like a dam bursting, and in an instant, his three-tomoe Sharingan shifted into four-tomoe.

Kawana's eyes narrowed as he felt the shift in Renjiro. But before he could react, Renjiro appeared behind him, his twin swords already drawn.

Kawana barely had time to turn before Renjiro's blades plunged into his abdomen. The cold steel pierced through Kawana's flesh with deadly precision, the sound of metal sinking into flesh echoing through the room.

Kawana gasped, blood spurting from his mouth as he staggered, his hands trembling as they tried to reach for the blades.

"You—" Kawana wheezed, his voice barely above a whisper.

But Renjiro wasn't done. With a grim expression, he channelled lightning chakra through his swords, and the blades crackled with electricity. Kawana's body convulsed violently as the electricity surged through him, his muscles seizing up as the shock overwhelmed him.

"Bzzzzt!"

The sound of crackling lightning filled the air as Kawana's life was extinguished. His body went limp, his eyes losing their crimson glow as the light faded from them.

Renjiro withdrew his blades, and Kawana's lifeless body crumpled to the ground, hitting the blood-soaked floor with a dull thud.

As Kawana's body hit the ground, Renjiro suddenly dropped to his knees, gasping for breath. His vision blurred, and a sharp pain shot through his head.

Clutching his temples, he let out a pained grunt as foreign memories began flooding into his mind. Images flashed before his eyes—memories that weren't his, emotions that didn't belong to him.

"What… what is this…?" Renjiro whispered through gritted teeth, the pain intensifying with every passing second.

The power of the Chinoike's bloodline and the strain of his own newly evolved Sharingan were taking their toll on him. Renjiro's vision swam as the room around him seemed to spin. He clutched his head tighter, trying to make sense of the chaotic influx of memories that assaulted his mind.

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