Konoha and Kumogakure had signed a peace agreement, finally bringing an end to the two-year-long war.
At this point, the only remaining conflict in the shinobi world was the ongoing war between Kirigakure and Iwagakure. Mizukage Hōzuki Gengetsu and Tsuchikage Mu were fighting so fiercely that their very brains were almost about to spill out.
In Renya's memory, the two of them ended up dying together during the First Great Ninja War…
How long would the war between those two villages continue?
Renya didn't really care about that. What mattered to him now was that he had successfully changed the fate of Senju Tobirama.
Originally, after the First Ninja War ended, the old man was supposed to head to Kumogakure to sign the peace treaty.
But at that time, the Gold and Silver Brothers—Kinkaku and Ginkaku—staged a coup. They ambushed and killed the Second Raikage, gravely injured Senju Tobirama, and led Kumogakure's elite to hunt down the Konoha delegation.
To give his disciples a chance to escape, Tobirama had chosen to stay behind and buy them time.
And in the end, he was killed by Kinkaku and Ginkaku…
When Renya first set off for the Land of Lightning during the war, he was already thinking about how to change Tobirama's tragic fate.
If Senju Hashirama's death could be rewritten, then surely Senju Tobirama's destiny could also be altered!
He began thinking of solutions. Since the old man had been killed by Kinkaku and Ginkaku, then the answer was simple:
Just find a way to kill them first.
So, when he encountered the Gold and Silver Brothers, his first thought had been—
For Senju Tobirama's safety, he had to kill both of them!
From the very start of the battle, Renya knew he wasn't a match for the two, but instead of retreating, he looked for an opportunity and successfully killed Ginkaku.
With Ginkaku dead, Kinkaku's threat was significantly reduced, and after several hard-fought battles, Renya finally managed to kill him as well.
Sure enough, with both Kinkaku and Ginkaku gone, Tobirama faced no danger during the peace negotiations.
Although there were still assassination attempts by the Second Raikage and Kakuzu, they were easily neutralized.
Renya gazed at Tobirama's back, falling into deep thought.
The old man was now in his forties. With his physical condition, as long as he avoided any severe injuries, living another twenty to thirty years shouldn't be a problem.
In the Warring States period, when the average life expectancy was barely thirty, reaching sixty or seventy would make Tobirama extraordinarily long-lived.
After all, lifespan was tied to strength. The stronger one was, the fewer dangers they faced, and naturally, they lived longer.
Deaths from natural causes were rare; most shinobi died at the hands of their enemies.
In the original timeline, had Tobirama not been killed, living to sixty or seventy purely by lifespan wouldn't have been an issue.
As long as the old man survived, many of Konoha's future disasters could be avoided.
Renya firmly believed that under Tobirama's governance, the village would grow stronger and stronger. When that time came, he could finally relax and enjoy a peaceful retirement.
...
The only real regret Renya had from this war was—
He hadn't awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Wasn't there supposed to be a high probability of awakening it under life-and-death situations?
He had nearly been killed several times, yet there was no sign of awakening at all!
Maybe it required the death of a loved one to trigger it…
Renya subconsciously glanced at Shimura Danzō and Koharu Utatane. If either of them died, that should be enough to trigger his awakening.
Walking at the front, Danzō and Koharu suddenly felt a chill run down their spines.
They turned their heads at the same time, only to see Renya staring intently at them, as if plotting something…
"R-Renya-kun… what's wrong?" Koharu's voice trembled slightly.
For some reason, she had this strong feeling that Renya was planning something bad involving them.
Danzō's pupils suddenly contracted. In Renya's gaze, he caught a fleeting trace of cold ruthlessness.
By the time he snapped out of it, his back was already drenched in cold sweat.
What the hell was this guy thinking?!
It was the first time Danzō had seen Renya like this…
No—that wasn't true.
This was the second time!
He suddenly recalled that conversation years ago, when Renya had been sitting inside the carriage.
"If you two died right in front of me, would I be able to awaken my eyes?"
Back then, Renya hadn't bothered hiding the killing intent in his eyes. It was as if he had truly considered killing them just to trigger his Sharingan's evolution!
This bastard… he couldn't be thinking about the same thing again, could he?
The Uchiha clan really gave him headaches…
As expected, they were all dangerous people!
Danzō instinctively clenched his fists. Even Renya—someone who had lived and trained alongside them for years—could suddenly lose control like this. Not to mention those other, even more extreme Uchiha…
It seemed clear now: if he ever became Hokage, he would need to immediately eradicate the Uchiha clan to prevent them from causing irreversible damage to the village in the future.
As for Renya…
Even though he had no idea what was going on inside the man's head, Danzō believed Renya wouldn't harm his comrades.
Among the entire Uchiha clan, the only two he trusted were Renya and Kagami. Their characters were the only ones worth respecting.
As long as neither of them posed a threat to the village, he would turn a blind eye.
But if either of them ever endangered the village, then for the sake of its safety, he would have no choice but to kill his dear friend with his own hands.
...
Hearing Koharu speak, the others stopped and turned to look back.
Renya's drifting thoughts were pulled back to reality.
He shook his head and explained, "It's nothing. I was just thinking about something."
"Renya-kun, you really scared me just now," Koharu said, still rattled.
"Sorry about that, Koharu." Renya gave a bitter smile.
Seeing nothing unusual, Senju Tobirama called for everyone to continue moving forward.
Renya irritably brushed his bangs aside, silently cursing this damned world.
He had always thought of himself as a normal person, but his thoughts just now made him realize something unsettling—he was slowly being assimilated by the shinobi world.
Being a shinobi meant living with a blade's edge against your throat, licking blood off the knife every day. Constantly existing under extreme pressure inevitably led to various psychological problems.
That was the true reason why the shinobi world produced so many troubled children…
At the start, all he had wanted during the First Great Ninja War was to gain enough strength to protect himself—to avoid dying as cannon fodder.
But as time went on, he unknowingly started craving more and more power.
He hadn't even realized this change until just now, when he subconsciously thought about using Danzō and Koharu's deaths to awaken his Mangekyō Sharingan.
Only then did he realize… he had deviated from his original intention.
In this world, the weak could only helplessly wait for death. Especially in times of war, even hoping to survive was an extravagant dream for the powerless.
When faced with overwhelmingly strong enemies, the weak had only one fate: death.
This cruel world had slowly pushed Renya into desiring greater strength without him even noticing.
And for the Uchiha clan, the fastest path to power was undoubtedly awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan.
If he had it, he wouldn't need to waste so much time and effort developing powerful poisons.
Renya forcefully shook his head, trying to throw out those dangerous thoughts.
Becoming stronger was fine. Awakening the Mangekyō was fine too. But he couldn't take such an extreme path to get there.
If he couldn't awaken it naturally, then so be it.
It wasn't like this power was absolutely necessary!
At worst, he'd just research even stronger poisons. That would also boost his strength.
If he became stronger through such extreme means, then how would he be any different from those fanatical Uchiha extremists?
Having thought it through, Renya no longer felt frustrated. Instead, he felt oddly at ease.
Walking at the front, Senju Tobirama noticed the change in atmosphere behind him and allowed himself a faint smile.
It seemed Renya hadn't chosen the extreme path in his pursuit of power.
This kid… really hadn't let him down.