On the road back to the village, Renya discovered that among his three disciples, only one was left with him now.
"Sensei, Tsunade is behind us together with Kato Dan."
Orochimaru said respectfully.
The three of them had been assigned to a more distant battlefield and had never had the chance to come see their teacher.
Renya turned his head to look back, and sure enough, he saw Tsunade and Kato Dan within the crowd.
The war had ended very quickly, and with Konoha's overwhelming strength, Kato Dan did not die in battle like he did in the original story.
And Nawaki had just graduated from the Ninja Academy and had absolutely no need to participate in this war.
The current Konoha had no need to send genin to the battlefield.
Naturally, Nawaki would not be blown to death by an explosive tag trap like in the original story…
Watching Tsunade and Kato Dan chatting and laughing together, Renya knew that Jiraiya had no chance anymore.
Right, where was Jiraiya?
Orochimaru saw the confusion on his teacher's face and hurriedly explained.
"Jiraiya previously encountered several orphans and plans to stay in the Land of Rain to teach them ninjutsu, so he didn't come back with us."
Even though he felt that Jiraiya was being a bit too meddlesome, he didn't say anything more.
Renya raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.
If his guess was correct, those orphans should be Konan, Yahiko, and Nagato, right?
Although the Uzumaki clan had not been exterminated thanks to Renya's intervention, that didn't mean Nagato had been born within the Uzumaki clan.
His mother should have been an Uzumaki clanswoman who had ended up living elsewhere.
According to the plot, Nagato should have been born in the Land of Rain from a very young age.
And in the original story, Jiraiya stayed in the Land of Rain to teach the three children.
It was just that without that old man Madara's interference, Nagato no longer had the Rinnegan.
If he did have it, Renya would have already run over to dig his eyes out.
Looking at it this way, there was no need to worry about Jiraiya dying at the hands of his own disciple in the future.
Without the interference of Danzo, Hanzo, and Obito, the Akatsuki would never walk the path of corruption.
Besides, collecting the tailed beasts was his job anyway.
Even if the Akatsuki did become corrupted, it would be useless—they were still more than ten years too early.
As long as that old man Madara was dealt with, he could rest easy from then on.
As for the future Ōtsutsuki invasion, that wasn't his problem to deal with.
Whenever he thought of Uchiha Madara, Renya felt a headache coming on.
To be safe, he could only delay things for a few more years, and then tell him the truth later.
Even if things came to blows, it wouldn't matter.
If anyone was to blame, it would be Black Zetsu, who had directly tricked that old man Madara into limping down the wrong path.
Renya had been in the ninja world for decades and had never once seen Black Zetsu.
Where exactly was that guy hiding?
Renya had no idea that Black Zetsu was hiding not far from him at all.
"Hehehe, I didn't expect this chef to be so capable—he's already captured two tailed beasts in such a short time."
Black Zetsu hid in the shadows, his eyes gleaming as he stared at the chef.
When Renya finished collecting all nine tailed beasts and revived Mother, he would definitely praise him properly in front of her!
The chef wasn't just superb at cooking—he was also participating in the plan to capture tailed beasts.
Black Zetsu believed that the investment he made back then had been absolutely correct!
With just a bit of insignificant money, he had found a chef who also doubled as a powerful enforcer.
It was simply a great deal!
He believed that after Mother was revived, she would like the chef he had prepared.
Perhaps, in the future, the chef could even help Mother fight against the Ōtsutsuki clan.
The more Black Zetsu looked at Renya, the more satisfied he felt. He could only say that his luck was good to have encountered such an all-capable chef as Renya.
...
Three days later, Konoha Village.
News of the frontline's victory in the war had already spread throughout the entire village.
On this day, countless civilians came of their own accord to welcome the returning troops.
Even the Third Hokage, Shimura Danzo, personally came to welcome the triumphant return of the forces.
Perhaps because no one was stirring up public opinion behind the scenes, Renya had never encountered the kind of unruly civilians seen in the original work.
All the villagers he encountered were extremely respectful and adored him.
He was very satisfied with this point.
"Danzo, long time no see!"
Hiruzen looked at Danzo standing at the very front and greeted him cheerfully.
Not seeing Danzo for two months really did make one miss him a little!
Utatane Koharu and the others also smiled and greeted him.
Shimura Danzo merely nodded symbolically in response, his gaze constantly searching through the crowd for a certain figure.
Unfortunately, after looking for quite some time, he found nothing.
This couldn't help but make him frown.
"Hehe, Danzo, are you looking for Renya?"
Hiruzen leaned over to his old friend's ear and said mischievously.
Danzo directly ignored Hiruzen's exaggerated expressions and said flatly.
"Where is Renya?"
He had looked for quite a while just now and indeed hadn't discovered any trace of Renya.
Now it seemed that Renya hadn't returned together with the main force.
Did something happen along the way?
"I won!" Utatane Koharu revealed a smile. "I told you Danzo would ask about Renya's whereabouts the first chance he got!"
"I didn't expect you and Hiruzen to actually guess right…"
Mitokado Homura and Uchiha Kagami looked a bit helpless.
They had made a bet on the way over about whether Danzo would ask about Renya's whereabouts first thing.
In the end, Koharu and Hiruzen guessed it right.
It seemed they had underestimated the relationship between Renya and Danzo…
"Enough. Where exactly is Renya?"
Shimura Danzo didn't care about their bet at all. He only wanted to know where Renya was.
Why hadn't he returned with the team?
"Renya said on the way that he had something to take care of and might only be back in a day or two."
Hiruzen explained. In truth, he also didn't know what Renya had gone to do.
They hadn't had time to ask before Renya had vanished without a trace.
Upon hearing this, Shimura Danzo couldn't help but frown slightly.
What kind of stunt was Renya pulling again?
"After Renya-sensei learned that Jiraiya hadn't returned, he went back to the Land of Rain to look for Jiraiya's whereabouts."
Orochimaru stepped forward and spoke.
As his teacher's disciple, it was only natural for him to help cover for his teacher.
Moreover, Renya had given him instructions before leaving.
"So that's how it is."
Shimura Danzo calmly looked at Orochimaru, then finally nodded slightly.
Orochimaru maintained a smile throughout.
He only needed to be responsible for finding an excuse for his teacher. As for whether the Hokage believed it or not, that wasn't his concern.
As for where Renya had really gone?
That was something only the person involved knew.
...
"Poison Master, are you serious?"
Hanzo of the Salamander looked at Renya with a complicated expression and asked in a deep voice.
On the scroll Renya had left behind were the words [Come in three days; there is an important matter to discuss.]
He knew that Renya needed him to do something, but he hadn't expected it to be capturing tailed beasts!
"I'm not joking. I need you to capture tailed beasts for me."
Renya looked at Hanzo seriously.
"I hope you won't disappoint me…"
Only by pulling Hanzo into the fold could he lower that old man Madara's guard.
And thus successfully delay for time…
After a moment of silence, Hanzo of the Salamander nodded.
"I understand, Poison Master."
Although he didn't know the specific reason, in order to uphold his promise, he could only agree.
And this scene was witnessed by White Zetsu, who was hidden in the darkness, watching everything unfold.