Everyone grew curious when Renya didn't hide anything.
They exchanged glances and eventually nodded in agreement.
"Renya-kun, can you tell us which girl you like?" Koharu Utatane suddenly asked.
The others immediately turned their attention toward him, eager to hear his answer.
"The girl I'm interested in..." Renya trailed off, pausing mid-sentence. With a confused expression, he looked at the group.
"What are you all talking about?"
These guys were acting all jittery from the beginning, and now they were asking such bizarre questions?!
Could it be that being on the battlefield for too long had left them overstressed, triggering some kind of mental reaction?
No, that couldn't be it. Even if that were true, there's no way all five of them would crack at once!
And they're all shinobi with solid mental resilience.
Shimura Danzō, noticing Renya's "pretended" confusion, snorted coldly.
"Stop trying to hide it. We've already seen right through you!"
"Renya, just be honest with us. Which girl made you stay away from camp for more than ten days?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen chimed in, echoing Danzō's view with increasing conviction.
"Yeah, Renya-kun, how far have things gone between you two?"
Children in the shinobi world matured early, and things like this were hardly taboo.
Besides, they were all around fourteen or fifteen—it's only natural to be curious about these things.
Even Uchiha Kagami couldn't resist asking.
Seeing everyone talking at once, Renya finally caught on, his face darkening as he fell silent.
Damn it, who the hell started this rumor?!
For the past ten days, he'd been working himself to the bone developing a poison to counter those brutes. He hadn't even had time to rest, spending his days researching or out catching "lab rats."
After all that effort, someone dared to spread the rumor that he'd snuck off to find a girlfriend?!
These idiots seriously had nothing better to do!
"Heh... Yeah, I did leave camp to find someone." Renya replied with a cold face.
Hearing that, everyone instantly perked up, not noticing the stormy look on his face at all.
"Renya-kun, so whose daughter is sh—"
Before Hiruzen could finish, he noticed Renya's dark expression and immediately stopped.
Crap! he thought to himself.
He instinctively gulped and slowly edged away from him.
The others sensed the shift in atmosphere too and quietly scooted back.
Only Danzō was still rambling on.
"Hmph! I knew it! I was the first to say it, and I was right all along!"
Hiruzen and the others looked at the smug Danzō with pity. Poor guy's done for.
Suddenly, Danzō realized something was off.
"Why is everyone so quiet?"
The group lowered their heads, staring silently at the fire in front of them as if they hadn't heard a word.
"Renya, what's with them...?"
He turned to ask Renya, only to be met with a pair of scarlet, three-tomoe Sharingan.
His body froze—he'd been caught in a genjutsu.
So it was Danzō who spread the rumor, huh?
No wonder. Even at this age, he'd already mastered the art of rumor-spreading, making fiction sound like truth!
No wonder Sakumo Hatake chose to end his life...
Now that the rumors had come back to bite him, there was no way Renya was letting Danzō off the hook. He had to teach him a serious lesson!
...
Inside Danzō's genjutsu world — the Hokage's office.
"I've gathered you here today to announce something important," said Tobirama Senju. "It concerns the successor of the Hokage..."
Danzō, Renya, and Hiruzen stood at attention.
"Over the years, I've been closely observing Danzō's outstanding performance. His results have consistently impressed me," Tobirama said with clear approval on his face.
Danzō clenched his fists in excitement, breathing a little faster.
"Thank you for your praise, Tobirama-sensei!"
He hadn't expected Tobirama-sensei to have been watching him all along. It looked like the Hokage seat was about to be his.
"Renya, Hiruzen, I expect you to learn from Danzō going forward. Understood?" Tobirama said gently.
"Understood..."
Seeing the frustration on their faces, Danzō felt a wave of satisfaction. His grin nearly reached his ears.
Hahaha! I've always said I'd become Hokage!
Renya, Hiruzen—just watch how the village flourishes under my leadership!
Just as Danzō was basking in self-satisfaction, Tobirama announced:
"Starting today, Renya will be the Third Hokage, and Hiruzen will be the Fourth."
Danzō's mind went blank.
"Tobirama-sensei, what do you mean?!"
Tobirama didn't even glance at him. He simply placed the Hokage hat on Renya's head and left the office.
"Tobirama-sensei! Sensei, don't go!"
Tears welled up in Danzō's eyes. He'd clearly performed better than the other two—why couldn't he be Hokage?!
"Hahaha!" Renya and Hiruzen couldn't help bursting into laughter.
"You... What are you laughing at?!" Danzō shouted angrily, pointing at them.
"You two did something, didn't you? That position was supposed to be mine!"
Renya and Hiruzen exchanged glances and laughed even harder.
"Damn it, you bastards!" Danzō roared and swung his fist at them.
But just as he took two steps, a pair of Anbu appeared and blocked his path.
"Throw this man who attempted to assassinate the Hokage out of the building!" Renya waved his hand.
The Anbu immediately dragged Danzō out of the office.
"Let go of me! Let me go!"
Danzō was tossed out of the Hokage building. He knelt on the ground in frustration, tears streaming down his cheeks.
"Why... why did it turn out like this..."
He couldn't understand why Tobirama-sensei hadn't chosen him. He was clearly the most capable!
Tap, tap, tap—
Footsteps approached.
Danzō saw a pair of feet before him. He instinctively looked up.
Tobirama Senju stood before him, arms crossed, staring down.
"Tobirama-sensei, why didn't you let me become Hokage?!" Danzō clung to Tobirama's leg, full of grievance.
Tobirama's eyes flashed with disgust.
"The one thing I hate most is people who spread rumors about their comrades," he said coldly.
Danzō froze.
For some reason, he suddenly remembered that time years ago on the battlefield when he'd speculated that Renya was off chasing girls...
"People like that don't deserve to be Hokage!" Tobirama declared sharply.
"And you, Shimura Danzō, are exactly that kind of person!"
"But that was just a guess! I wasn't spreading rumors..." Danzō felt like his world was collapsing and hurriedly tried to explain.
Tobirama ignored him. He pried Danzō's hands off and turned to leave.
"Tobirama-sensei! Sensei! Sensei!"
Danzō watched his teacher walk away, his face full of despair.
...
Back in the real world.
"Ugh... I was wrong... I really was wrong..."
Everyone looked sympathetically at the sniveling, sobbing Danzō, unsure of what horrors he'd just experienced in the genjutsu.
The corner of Renya's mouth curled upward.
As expected, genjutsu really was the best way to deal with Danzō.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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