"Renya, where have you been these past two days?"
In the Hokage's office, Shimura Danzō frowned as he asked.
Why hadn't this guy returned with the main force?
He had been skeptical of Orochimaru's earlier explanation and now wanted to hear the explanation directly from someone's own mouth.
Renya felt a bit helpless. The moment he returned to the village, he had come straight to the office to report in.
Yet he was still being questioned by Danzō about his movements.
Fortunately, he had already coordinated his story with Orochimaru, so he could brush it off easily.
"I went back to the Land of Rain to look for Jiraiya."
Shimura Danzō stared fixedly into Renya's eyes and asked in a low voice.
"Did you find Jiraiya?"
He carefully observed Renya's eyes, trying to detect any sign of lying.
Unfortunately for him, when it came to this, Renya was already a seasoned veteran.
How could he possibly be seen through so easily?
"I did. Jiraiya encountered three orphans in the Land of Rain, so he decided to stay and teach them ninjutsu, so that the three young ones could survive there..."
Renya described it vividly, as if he had witnessed it with his own eyes.
Shimura Danzō observed him for a long time, but failed to find any trace of deceit on his face.
Could it be that what this guy said was actually true?
Although the surface evidence suggested Renya wasn't lying, his intuition told him that Renya was definitely lying.
They had known each other for over twenty years. What kind of person this guy was—he knew that better than anyone.
But lacking any concrete evidence, he could only turn a blind eye.
"I'll tentatively believe your explanation," Shimura Danzō snorted coldly.
Renya simply smiled and didn't continue explaining.
What he said was the truth—there was no need to be nervous at all.
Jiraiya really was teaching three orphans in the Land of Rain...
One must know that the highest level of lying is selectively telling the truth!
Mixing truth with falsehood makes it impossible to detect.
"How did the battlefield feel?" Shimura Danzō didn't dwell on the matter any further and instead asked about Renya's experience on the battlefield.
He knew that Renya was unstoppable on the battlefield, even managing to kill three Kage-level powerhouses by himself.
It could be said that without Renya, the war would not have ended so quickly.
Normally, a war would drag on for several years.
"The environment in the Land of Rain is terrible. There's basically no sun over there."
Renya pulled over a chair, sat down, and began venting his grievances.
No sun at all, the battlefield food being terrible, the Three-Kage Alliance having no sense of honor.
Shimura Danzō listened silently to Renya's nonstop complaining, his face showing no sign of impatience.
Though inwardly, he couldn't help but complain that this guy mentioned sunbathing every three sentences.
He really didn't understand what was so great about basking in the sun.
Still, he said nothing. After all, Renya's merits were outstanding.
What was wrong with a great contributor getting a bit of special treatment?
If it were anyone else with such achievements, Danzō would definitely feel wary, worrying that the other party's prestige would surpass him as Hokage...
But this guy was Renya—there was no need to worry at all.
And the others didn't have Renya's level of prestige anyway, so there was even less to worry about.
As long as Renya was around, he could comfortably serve as Hokage for thirty years and then retire.
Renya truly deserved to be his best friend!
He believed that no matter what, Renya would firmly stand on his side...
This was the bond they had cultivated since childhood!
"If you don't like the environment of the Land of Rain, then when war breaks out in the future, we can choose a battlefield with plenty of sunlight."
Shimura Danzō said softly.
As the strongest village in the ninja world, Konoha designating a battlefield during war—
Wasn't that perfectly normal?
If anyone refused, then put the battlefield in their country!
Of course, the prerequisite was ensuring plenty of sunlight.
However, the war had just ended, and the other countries had witnessed Konoha's strength.
It was unlikely that any war would break out again in the next few decades.
Choosing a battlefield would have to wait until a future war erupted.
For now, saying it was just painting a pie in the sky.
"Danzō, you're simply a genius!" Renya couldn't help praising him.
How had he not thought of this at the time?
Otherwise, he wouldn't have had to suffer for two whole months.
Hearing Renya's praise, the corner of Danzō's mouth lifted slightly.
"What about the war reparations from the three villages—did you negotiate them on the battlefield?"
The victorious country naturally had the right to demand compensation from the defeated ones.
"No. Their envoys will come in person later. You can handle it then."
Renya shook his head. Negotiating compensation was, of course, something for the Hokage to deal with.
Why would he bother discussing compensation amounts when he had nothing better to do?
This kind of thing involved endless wrangling, eventually reaching a level both sides could accept.
As a military man, he hated this sort of thing the most.
Better to dump it on Danzō—after all, he liked handling government affairs.
"If there's nothing else, I'll head back."
There was still a mouth at home waiting for him to cook.
If he went back too late, someone would start nagging again.
Shimura Danzō watched Renya leave the office, then lowered his head and continued handling official affairs.
Hiruzen had just returned from the battlefield, so Danzō let him rest for a few days before coming back to assist with government work.
For two whole months, he had been reviewing documents alone.
To be honest, Danzō had already gotten used to it.
He suddenly felt that Hiruzen's position as Hokage's assistant was optional at best.
Whether it existed or not didn't seem to make much difference.
It seemed he needed to find a suitable opportunity to cancel Hiruzen's position.
That way, he wouldn't have to argue with him from time to time over conflicting ideals...
While enjoying a rare moment of peace at home, Hiruzen suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding.
...
Senju Tobirama's residence.
"Why didn't you come back together with Hiruzen and the others?"
Senju Tobirama narrowed his eyes as he looked at Renya walking into the courtyard.
His intuition told him that this kid had probably sneaked off to meet Uchiha Madara.
Intuition was a mysterious thing—most of the time, it was eight or nine times out of ten accurate.
Especially when it involved the innately evil Uchiha Madara!
Renya repeated the same explanation he had given in the Hokage's office.
Even though he spoke vividly, Senju Tobirama's expression didn't change much, and he still remained skeptical of the story.
Although he had no evidence, his intuition told him that this kid was lying.
Looks like he really had been led astray after all these years with Uchiha Madara.
It was all big brother's fault—why did he have nothing better to do than let Madara meet Renya?!
Now look at this—even with him, Renya wouldn't tell the truth anymore.
What kind of bewitching potion had Madara fed him?!
Seeing that after talking for so long, the old man still looked unconvinced, Renya felt a bit helpless.
Looks like this old guy Senju Tobirama wasn't as easy to fool as Danzō!
Sometimes, once the seed of suspicion was planted, no matter what you said, it sounded like an act...
There wasn't even the most basic trust left between people.
If Madara didn't believe him, fine—but now even this old guy didn't believe him.
How heartbreaking.
But it didn't matter—Renya had his own way!
"You're hungry, right?"
Upon hearing this, Senju Tobirama's expression finally changed.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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