Chapter 207: I Said What I Said and Then I Said It Again Louder With Corpses

Chapter 207 - I Said What I Said and Then I Said It Again Louder With Corpses The polished wooden doors of the council chamber loomed ahead as Hiruzen and Ren came to a stop, the old Hokage straightened his back and let out a slow exhale, his weathered hand brushing over his robes in one final act of composure. An ANBU shinobi appeared beside him with a flicker and, with practiced formality, pushed the grand doors open. "The Third Hokage has arrived." All heads turned. Inside, the full council had assembled, and the moment Hiruzen entered, everyone rose to their feet. Ren followed quietly behind, his steps light, his expression unreadable. Though only eleven, there was no trace of a child in his bearing. The council chamber, had undergone subtle changes in seating. At the head was the seat of the Hokage, where Hiruzen now made his way with his usual soft chuckle. To his right, seated already, was Danzo, cloak draped tightly, expression unreadable beneath the shadows of his hood. To Hiruzen's left sat Jiraiya, uncharacteristically serious. Beside Jiraiya were Koharu and Homura, followed by Utakata, and then the five civilian council members, each wearing composed but visibly nervous expressions. On the opposite side of the chamber sat the clan heads, beginning with Shikaku Nara, followed by Choza Akimichi, Inoichi Yamanaka, and then the rest, Aburame, Inuzuka, and other smaller clans. But perhaps the most striking arrangement lay at the other end of the table, directly across from Hiruzen. Three seats stood there, the central one marked for the Senju, the right for the Uchiha, and the left for the Hyuga. Ren walked forward, completely composed in his dark blue yukata and white haori, the Senju clan emblem gleaming faintly on his chest and back. His presence had already sent ripples through the village, but here, in the seat of politics, the weight of it fully settled. He reached the Senju seat and sat down with deliberate calm. His posture was casual, right leg crossed over the left, right hand gripping the armrest, chin propped on his left hand. His gaze, pale blue and sharp, swept briefly across the room but lingered on no one. Then, there was a flicker and Yoru appeared silently behind Ren's chair. Dressed not in his ANBU commander uniform but a more formal elder's clothing, he didn't speak, didn't bow, and didn't move. He simply stood still and silent. Several council members turned toward him in alarm. Koharu, eyes narrowing, was the first to speak. "The Senju may be the foremost clan of this village, yes, but the ANBU Commander is sworn to serve the village, not just a single bloodline." Ren tilted his head slightly, then replied in a calm, almost indifferent tone. "Under the village meeting laws set by my grandfather, a clan heir under the age of fifteen attending a full council session is permitted a councilor, regardless of their position in their village; provided they have the clan leader's approval and the Hokage's confirmation." As he spoke, Yoru reached forward from behind him and placed a parchment at the center of the table. Two seals shimmered faintly on the paper, one signed in Tsunade's name, and the other bearing Hiruzen's calligraphy, each reinforced by their chakra signatures, which made it unmistakably genuine. The scroll was passed down both sides of the table. The clan leaders gave it only a cursory glance before nodding. They were already well aware of the regulation. The civilian council, though less familiar with the finer points of shinobi protocol, also stepped back quietly after confirming the signatures. But the elders were not so easily swayed. Koharu and Homura both leaned forward, scrutinizing every inch of the document. Only after a lingering glance at Hiruzen, who gave a subtle nod, did they lean back in reluctant acceptance. Still, Koharu wasn't done. She fixed her sharp gaze back on Ren, her tone carrying a bite. "The Senju heir may indeed know the village laws but legal technicalities don't excuse vanity displays. That entrance at the village gates, parading through as if you'd returned from a war campaign, that was no mere formality. That was a spectacle, arranged to inflate your own name. Was it not just an abuse of power to boost your own image?" Ren almost laughed at the word "abuse of power." He didn't, but a flicker of amusement passed his face before he replied with an easy shrug. "But I didn't call for a parade. It's just my overwhelming popularity that brought everyone out to welcome me." Then, with a sly tone and a muttered edge that was just loud enough for the entire council to hear, "Guess not many people here know what that feels like." A few civilian council members looked away awkwardly. Some clan heads tried and failed to hide their smirks. Even Utakata raised an eyebrow, though it was unclear if he was tired of Ren's antique or was entertained. Danzo, however, ignored the mutter. His lone eye fixed sharply on Yoru, who stood silently behind Ren like a shadow given form. "How... incidental," Danzo said, voice low but cutting, "that one of the few people in the entire village who could secretly orchestrate such a public display... just happens to be standing behind you. And you expect us to believe it was purely due to popularity?" Ren didn't miss a beat. "Well, you're free to verify it. Go ahead. Ask every single person who was there if someone ordered them to show up." Danzo's fingers twitched under the table. "Then let the police force handle it." Ren tilted his head. "Oh?" he asked, then continued, deliberately slow, "But you can't use them, can you?" The room stilled and all eyes flicked toward Ren. "The Uchiha were present at the gates in large numbers. If the Uchiha Police Force investigates an event involving their own clan there's an obvious chance of bias." He let the words hang for a moment. Then leaned forward slightly. "So maybe we send the ANBU instead? Or ROOT? Let them go from door to door, interrogate the civilians, drag questions out of every single person who showed up. Make them feel like suspects. Turn a moment of pride into something they start to fear." He stared directly at Danzo now. "Every. Single. Person." The silence that followed was heavy. Danzo didn't blink, but he didn't reply either. It was Shikaku Nara who finally broke the stalemate, rubbing the back of his neck as he spoke in a tired tone that barely masked the strategic intent behind it. "Honestly, I think the turnout at the gates, intentional or not, was a good thing." All eyes shifted toward him. "Ren's fame until now has mostly spread under the name Ren Takahashi. His involvement with the Senju wasn't known to most outsiders. But now, every foreign spy watching the village just saw a crowd gather and declare him the Senju heir." Shikaku's expression hardened slightly. "You don't need to be a diplomat to understand what that means. The moment word spreads beyond our borders, other nations will hesitate. Because now, it's not just another powerful shinobi they have to worry about, it's the revival of a legacy clan." He added, "So, the Nara clan approves of what happened at the gate." The other clan heads murmured in agreement. Choza nodded, "Akimichi too.". Inoichi followed with a quiet, "Yamanaka too." "Uchiha aprooves too." Fugaku added. Even the civilian council members looked more at ease. Danzo's lone eye swept across the room, but with the majority clearly in support, he let out a sharp snort and leaned back without another word. The tension eased slightly. Shikaku turned back toward Ren. "That said, how's the situation in the Mist? You mentioned a few names earlier, but is the actual state of their internal affairs that bad?" Ren gave a short nod. "If the reports I received are accurate, and they usually are, then yes. Mangetsu Hozuki and Kisame Hoshigaki clashed directly after our exit. That kind of conflict between top-tier shinobi doesn't happen unless the power structure is collapsing." He paused for a beat. "A civil war has begun in the mist." There was a visible wave of relief across the room. Even Koharu, ever skeptical, relaxed slightly at that. Because civil war in the Mist meant one thing, a major threat among the Five Great Nations was tearing itself apart. For the Leaf, it mean time to reinforce, to maneuver, and to redirect resources away from their eastern border. Seeing the way the council had relaxed, the shoulders that had dropped, the soft sighs of relief, Ren remained still for a moment, then finally broke the quiet. "I understand that the result is what everyone hoped for. But there's something that still needs to be said." The mood in the room shifted. Clan leaders, elders, and council members turned to face him. Some leaned forward. A few, like Shikaku and Inoichi, already had a faint idea of what was coming. Ren's gaze locked directly on Danzo. "Someone tampered with our network in the Mist. Because of that, the village's plan was exposed. Our infiltration was compromised. And the number of losses we suffered was far higher than it should've been." The words fell like stones into water, splashing into silence that rippled across the room. Danzo said nothing. His face remained perfectly still. Koharu, however, didn't miss Ren's direct line of sight. She raised her voice in that same cold tone she always used to cover for Danzo. "Is the Senju heir blaming his own failure in protecting the agents on someone else, just to avoid responsibility?" Ren's eyes flicked toward her with something like pity. Then, without a word, he reached into his storage scroll and unsealed a wrapped body. It landed with a muted thud near Inoichi's end of the table. The council room fell utterly silent. Ren's voice was flat as he continued, "He was one of the agents we found. Or what was left of him." Even Koharu didn't respond immediately. Inoichi looked at Shikaku, who nodded once. Then he turned to Hiruzen. The old Hokage remained silent, but gave a small, deliberate nod. With a tired breath, Inoichi stood. He placed one hand flat against the table, chakra flowing smoothly outward, creating a thin water-like mirror across the surface. His other hand came to rest atop the agent's head, fingers splayed. A moment later, the Yamanaka Clan's Memory Echo Technique activated, and the water mirror shimmered. The air shimmered. Flickering images bloomed across the mirrored surface like a dream made real. The council watched without speaking. Scenes of misty forests, coded scrolls, tense meetings in the dark all the way from the agent's final moments to the past. It continued until there was a block. The memories jolted, blurred, and a bright seal flared across the vision, jagged and crude, like a scar carved in chakra. Inoichi focused and the seal pulsed on the mirror, so that everyone could see what kind of seal it was. Then he let the technique fade. The water mirror collapsed with a shimmer of light, and he stepped back. Silently, he resealed the body and pocketed it but he didn't speak. He didn't have to. Everyone in that room, every clan head, every elder, even the civilian council, had seen it. Ren leaned forward slightly, fingers still resting lightly on the table. His tone was almost polite. "We all saw the seal. No one here doubts its origin." And yet, there was no proof. No direct link to Danzo just as always. Danzo, for his part, remained perfectly composed. He didn't flinch or twitch. He simply sat still, glancing toward Hiruzen with a calmness that was almost theatrical. Ren watched the room's subdued reactions carefully, then gave a slow nod. Behind him, Yoru stepped forward silently. Without a word, the ANBU Commander unsealed a scroll from his hip pouch and unfurled it across the table's length. With soft thuds, body after body appeared on the table, cleaned and preserved, but unmistakably corpses. The room stiffened. Several members leaned back instinctively. Wrinkles of disgust crossed the civilian council's faces. A few clan heads narrowed their eyes. Even though they were trained killers, this was a place where words took precedence and not bodies. Koharu's voice came sharp and fast. "This is a council meeting, not a morgue." Ren didn't even blink and just nodded. "I agree. But I thought you all deserved to see something firsthand." He gestured lightly to the bodies. "These aren't unknown corpses. You've all heard of the assassination attempt on me last year. These were the ones behind it. Each and every one." There were murmurs around the table. "And more importantly..." Ren's voice sharpened, "Each one bears the same memory-blocking seal that we just saw on the agent from the Mist." He turned slightly toward Inoichi. The Yamanaka Head let out a long, weary breath and nodded. Again, he placed his hand on the nearest corpse's head. The table shimmered, the water mirror forming once more. The seal flared across the memory stream, identical in shape and structure to the one seen just moments earlier. Another corpse. Another seal. Another undeniable connection. The murmurs grew louder. Ren raised his hand gently, still seated in his slouched position and the room quieted. "Just one more thing." With a flick of his wrist, two kunai slid from hidden sleeve holsters and vanished into the air before anyone could even track them. The room gasped, then went still. There were two thumps and two bodies collapsed forward across the table from above. They were guards but not just any guards. Root operatives. Ren didn't move. He simply stared ahead. Then Danzo's chakra flared like a drawn blade. "How bold of the Senju heir," Danzo snapped, rising slightly. "To commit murder in front of the Hokage himself, has the little power you've tasted already gone to your head?" Ren's eyes didn't move from Danzo. His tone, however, was cold. From his grip on the chair's armrest, he raised a single finger. And in the next moment, Ren's chakra burst outward like a tide, dense and suffocating. The entire chamber tensed under its weight. But it wasn't a reckless flood, it locked onto Danzo. The war hawk faltered for a moment, sweat pricking his brow as he felt his own chakra being pressed down and being subjugated. His body trembled under the strain as Ren spoke. "Sit down, Elder Danzo." The words weren't loud. But they felt like a blade across the neck. "I am... finding it very hard to restrain myself." Danzo clenched his jaw. His hands twitched as he glanced sideways, toward Hiruzen. But the Third didn't move. Didn't speak. Didn't even look at him. He was letting it happen. Danzo's teeth ground together. But finally, slowly, he sat. The tension eased and Ren retracted his chakra. A few members exhaled in relief. Some still looked winded, minor clan heads with sweat at their temples, civilians too stiff to speak. Only Jiraiya and Hiruzen remained visibly unfazed. Ren ignored them all as he began, "These two," he said, gesturing toward the freshly-killed Root operatives, "were Elder Danzo's guards. And I've killed them, here in this hall, in front of all of you, for one reason." He leaned forward slightly. His tone remained eerily calm. "To prove my point." He paused for effect, then continued. "If I'm wrong, I'll give up my claim as Senju heir and step down from my jonin post. I'll willingly let a seal be placed on me, one that removes my will, my mind, my name. I'll become a tool for the village. For Elder Danzo." The room froze. Gasps came from the civilian side. Even among the clan heads, there were a few shocked glances. The gamble was massive and borderline insane that even Shikaku thought, 'How does he have so much confidence?' But Ren wasn't bluffing, and that made it worse. He didn't take his eyes off Danzo as he continued: "Inoichi-san. Please read their minds." Danzo's jaw twitched. He glared at Ren with open hatred now, but he didn't move. He didn't make a move because he couldn't as everyone was watching. If he objected now, it would be taken as guilt before proof. Inoichi's hands were already moving. Another shimmer of the mirror jutsu. Another mind, however the result was the same as before. The same seal flared. Twice. Silence. No one was surprised. Not a single person. They had all known it. For years, decades, even. But this, this was proof. Not implication, not rumor but proof that Danzo was involved in everything that happened. Ren leaned back again, utterly composed. His voice was soft. "So, Elder Danzo..." He raised an eyebrow. "Will you tell us everything willingly?" He glanced toward the dead Root bodies on the table. "Or would you prefer we break the seal and see everything for ourselves?" Danzo said nothing. But for the first time in the council's long history, he looked cornered. And everyone knew it. ~~~~~ {The scene after the council meeting would be even more interesting.} {Update- The scene really was great that the usually silent pat-reon readers started to comment and engage regularly from then on.} {If you want, you can support me on pat-reon} {Thanks Sero4k and Lucas Spada for supporting me on pat-reon} { h t t p s : / / w w w . p a t r e o n . c o m / Z e e n o n } {You know what else} {280 Stones = Extra Chapter} {STONES!!!!}