Chapter 91: Seizing the Source
The system's description of the Garel Stone's potential echoed in Ren's mind—a symphony of power, regeneration, and eternal youth. It wasn't just a desire that ignited within him; it was a cold, absolute necessity. This power could not be left to chance or fools. It had to be his. Completely.
But the stone in his hand was just a key, a single drop from an ocean. The true prize was the source itself: the sealed Garel ore vein. His memory, hazy from a life once lived watching stories unfold on a screen, supplied a crucial detail: the vein wasn't just buried; it was concealed by a powerful seal, hidden away from the world.
*If it's sealed, there must be a key. A release mechanism,* he thought, his sharp eyes scanning the chaotic cavern. The air was still thick with dust from Hyde's final destruction. His gaze swept over shattered rock and ancient architecture until it landed on a raised dais. Upon it sat a strange, intricate device of crystalline and metallic components—it looked almost like a complex astrolabe or a forgotten scientific instrument.
*There. That has to be it.*
He crossed the chamber in a few swift strides, examining the device. It was covered in unfamiliar glyphs and symbols that spoke of a lost civilization's craftsmanship. He ran his fingers over its cool surface, searching for a switch, a lever, anything. But its operation was a mystery, its design too alien.
"Useless," he muttered under his breath after a few minutes of fruitless probing. Patience, a virtue he often employed for larger schemes, was in short supply for this. He recalled a fragment of memory—in another version of events, a certain loud-mouthed blond ninja had accidentally triggered this very mechanism through brute force.
*If it worked for him...*
"Enough of this. Time for a more direct approach."
He took a step back, chakra flaring around his leg, and delivered a powerful, precise kick to the center of the ancient device.
The effect was instantaneous and catastrophic.
The device shattered into a hundred pieces. For a heartbeat, there was silence. Then, a deep, groaning rumble emanated from the very bedrock beneath his feet. The entire mountain shuddered violently. The cavern around him became a death trap as massive chunks of the ceiling broke free and crashed down around him. The ground itself pitched and buckled, fissures snaking across the floor, revealing terrifying depths below.
A low hum began to resonate through the chaos, growing in intensity until it was a deafening roar. High above, the very rock of the cavern ceiling began to *liquefy*, transforming into a massive, swirling sphere of shimmering, light-blue energy. It bubbled and churned, radiating such immense, raw life force that the air itself felt charged with power. This was the heart of the Garel vein, unleashed from its ancient prison, its unstable energy threatening to detonate and scoured the landscape clean.
*So this is the source of life itself,* Ren thought, a fierce, triumphant grin spreading across his face. He had to shield his eyes from the intense glow. *Magnificent. And it will all be mine.*
But he couldn't admire it for long. The energy was growing more volatile by the second. The mountain was tearing itself apart.
*My space. It has to hold.*
He focused his will, pushing his mental energy to its limit. Over the years, his personal dimensional space had expanded significantly, growing from a small closet to a vast area the size of two full training grounds. It was a void waiting to be filled.
Raising a hand towards the colossal, bubbling orb of energy, he poured his chakra into the spatial technique. A distortion appeared in the air around the Garel source, a visible warping of reality. The very light in the cavern bent towards this distortion.
With a final, immense effort of will, Ren made a grasping motion.
The sound was like the air being sucked out of the world. The gigantic sphere of liquid energy vanished, swallowed whole into the pocket dimension he commanded. The terrifying pressure in the air vanished. The violent shaking of the mountain ceased abruptly, leaving behind an eerie, ringing silence. The only evidence of the cataclysm was the devastation it had left in its wake—the collapsed ruins and the deep fissures in the ground.
Inside his personal space, the Garel vein hung suspended in the void, a captured star, its potent energy now his to command.
Ren stood amidst the settling dust, his breathing slightly heavy from the exertion. A low, triumphant laugh escaped his lips.
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**Outside the Ruins**
Naruto stumbled out of the collapsing tunnel, the old man slung over his shoulder. A shadow clone followed, carrying the weakened Tem. The world outside was chaos—the ground was shaking itself to pieces, and boulders were crashing down from the cliffs above.
"Whoa! What the heck is going on?!" Naruto yelled, ducking as a car-sized rock smashed into the ground nearby. "What happened in there?!"
"This... this is it!" the old man moaned in terror, clutching onto Naruto. "The Garel rampage! The seal has been broken! The vein has been unleashed!"
"Rampage? What does that mean?!" Tem asked, his voice strained with fear and exhaustion.
"It means the energy will keep expanding until it consumes everything! It could destroy half the country! There's no stopping it... only one way to destroy the vein itself!"
"How?!" both Naruto and Tem shouted in unison.
"Beneath the vein... there is a special summoning technique. It requires the blood of our royal family. Placing a hand on its center will summon the Cavern of Time and Space—a void that devours everything. It was placed there as a last resort... but the one who activates it... will be consumed along with it."
Tem's eyes widened. A look of grim resolution settled on his features. This was it. His chance for atonement. For redemption for the crimes he'd committed under Hyde's control.
Without another word, he shoved Naruto's shadow clone away and turned, sprinting back towards the crumbling entrance of the ruins.
"Tem, wait! What are you doing?!" Naruto yelled, his real self dropping the old man gently and giving chase.
"This is my chance to make things right, Naruto!" Tem shouted back, not slowing down. "Get out of here! You don't need to see this!"
"Like hell I will! I'm not letting you do this alone!" Naruto cried, his voice cracking with desperation. "I never give up on a friend! That's my nindo!"
Their frantic exchange was cut short.
Suddenly, the violent earthquake stopped.
The terrible groaning of the mountain ceased.
The rain of rocks dwindled to a few last pebbles, then nothing.
An unnatural, deafening silence fell over the landscape.
Naruto and Tem skidded to a halt, staring in confusion at the now-still ruins.
"Huh?" Naruto mumbled, looking around. "Did... did it stop?"
"Impossible," the old man whispered, trembling as he got to his feet. "The rampage cannot be stopped once begun... unless..."
Unless the source of the rampage was simply no longer there.