7: Ant

Ant

"Arrogant. For such a weak shinobi to have grown this conceited… I guess that peace can also have its disadvantages sometimes. Who would've thought?"1

Having fought opponents on levels these kids couldn't even fathom, this display of fabricated ego left his mouth with a bitter taste. If there was one thing he hated as much as a weak Senju, it would be a cocky ant.

"What did you just say?!"

Ren thought he heard wrongly. Him? Weak...? Furious, his face reddened as he clenched his fists tightly, producing cracking noises.

His words filled with contempt, Jun continued belittling Ren.

"Weren't you listening? Or are you deaf? You're a weakling… A puny ant. Your confidence is mere bravado, in order to cover up your countless insecurities. Do you think you're powerful? Take a closer look at yourself. You're not even worthy of me speaking to you."

"...!"

Jun's words rendered everyone speechless. It was too big a change from his previous self for them to accept... Just a few hours ago, he was just cowardly trash!

Worried, Aito pulled on his brother's shirt. He didn't know where Jun was getting his confidence from, but from the looks of it, he wouldn't get out of this one with light injuries!

"Aniki… Please calm down… If you continue, he might actually kill you!"

"Hahaha! You should listen to your weak little brother! Boss, listen to the brat speaking sense into him, he's gone crazy! The beating he received earlier must've caused him brain damage!"

"Heh, it does seem like it... I'll admit, you surprised me there. Who would've thought that the eternally useless Jun would finally grow some spine? Sadly for you, I need to vent some of this accumulated anger…"

Smiling viciously, Ren took a few steps forward and extended his hand, reaching for Aito's collar. The latter froze, scared shitless.

Before he could even touch him, Jun wrapped his hand around Ren's wrist.

"Hm...? Trash that dares to touch me? Watch as I- Ah!"

His sentence was interrupted by a painful scream as Jun twisted his wrist, making his body contort in an attempt to prevent it from breaking. Noticing the grip loosening, he took the opportunity and retreated a few steps.

Watching him from a distance, Jun looked at him with disgust.

"Just that and you're already running away? As your ancestor, I'm utterly disappointed... Who brought you up? To produce such a weak-minded Uchiha... Sigh..."

"Arrgh! You little…"

"Boss!"

Behind him, the other Uchiha youths worriedly ran up to him, offering help.

"Stay back! I'll take care of him myself... Its just Jun!"

Although he didn't want to admit it, Jun had perfectly locked his wrist just then. If he had exerted even a little more strength, his hand would probably be unusable right now.

Making eye contact with him, Ren noticed a drastic change. Instead of fear, Jun's eyes were now filled with contempt, making him wonder what happened. Did he really hit him too hard last time around, causing him to go nuts?

Next to Jun, Aito was in disbelief. Seeing his brother gain the upper hand against Ren, a small flame lit up within him... It was hope.

"You got lucky... This time, don't think you'll escape. I'll make you experience hell."

Furious, Ren clenched his teeth and faced Jun with a malicious expression. He'd have to remind him of who the boss was around here.

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