"Renya, don't you know how busy I am?"
Shimura Danzō looked at Renya with dissatisfaction, his tone filled with helplessness.
He had been handling documents in his office when someone dragged him out here.
Didn't this guy know how precious his time was?
"Danzō, don't you want to see whether the new members of the Uzumaki clan are doing well at school?"
Renya wanted to check on Uzumaki Kushina, but didn't want to go to the academy alone.
So he coaxed and tricked Danzō into coming along.
"At the very least, you're the Ninja Academy's nominal principal, yet you don't care about the students at all."
"And you hardly ever show your face—just hole up in your office processing paperwork."
"If this goes on, who's even going to remember you as the Hokage?"
"You need to go to the academy from time to time to give speeches, so the students truly respect you from the bottom of their hearts, recognize you as the Hokage, and in the future serve the village better…"
Education had to start from childhood—once they grew up, it was too late.
Otherwise, how did the Will of Fire in Konoha manage to brainwash people so thoroughly?
Hearing this, Shimura Danzō's eyes flashed with a trace of helplessness.
This guy Renya had been nagging him all the way here.
But what he said did make a lot of sense…
Just as Renya said, he rarely appeared in public. Aside from giving a symbolic speech at the opening ceremony of the Ninja Academy, he almost never came here.
At other times, he never set foot in the academy.
"You're right. Let's go in."
Although Danzō knew Renya had ulterior motives for coming to the Ninja Academy, he didn't ask further.
"Hokage-sama!"
When the gate guard saw Danzō, he immediately opened the gate and let them through.
The two of them entered the academy smoothly.
"Has the Ninja Academy changed this much?"
Renya looked at the vast campus and couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
Back when he came here as a jōnin leading a team, the academy hadn't been this big.
Who would have thought that in just a little over ten years, its scale would have multiplied several times over?
If only he'd built school-district housing around here back then—he would've made a killing.
What a pity.
He hadn't thought that far at the time. It felt like he'd lost hundreds of billions.
If you didn't earn it, that meant you lost it.
"Say it—what exactly did you come to the academy to do?"
After wandering around the school with Renya for quite a while, Danzō finally couldn't hold back anymore.
He still had to return to deal with state affairs. Calling him overwhelmingly busy wouldn't be an exaggeration—how could he have time to stroll around the academy with Renya?
"I just want to find someone."
Renya scratched his head awkwardly and explained,
"But coming to the academy alone would've been a bit embarrassing, so I dragged you along."
To be honest, he was a little afraid of running into those old culture-subject teachers from back then.
Some memories were better left buried—he didn't want anyone else to know about them.
Last time, it was for this very reason that he waited until the Ninja Academy dismissed classes before going to take Tsunade and the other two away.
As for accidentally falling asleep and all that—it was just an excuse to cover things up.
Shimura Danzō: "…"
That's it? Just that?
He thought something big was going on—never expected it was just to find someone.
Didn't this guy know how busy he was?!
Although he really wanted to punch Renya's handsome face, he ultimately restrained himself.
Forget it. Since he was already here.
"Who are you looking for?" Danzō asked patiently.
"Uzumaki Kushina," Renya immediately said the student's name.
Originally, Renya planned to go straight to Minato's class to look for her, but things were different from the original story now—there wasn't just one Uzumaki student anymore.
If they weren't in the same class, he'd have to spend time searching.
And whether Kushina was even at the academy was another matter altogether…
Better to ask Danzō directly and save himself the trouble.
After all, he was the principal of the Ninja Academy—checking student records was just a matter of one sentence.
And this way, he wouldn't have to worry about running into those old culture teachers either.
"Alright, I know." Danzō, with a dark expression, led Renya toward the principal's office.
Although Danzō only held the title of principal, he still had a dedicated office.
Passing by the training grounds, Renya saw a group of red-haired students—clearly the new members of the Uzumaki clan.
From the looks of it, they'd all been assigned to the same class.
Just as the two reached the teaching building, they saw the head instructor already standing at the entrance to welcome them.
Shimura Danzō didn't bother with pleasantries and directly instructed him to find a student.
The head instructor immediately went to make arrangements.
During this time, Renya continued to nervously glance around, afraid of running into those old culture teachers.
"What are you afraid of?" Shimura Danzō asked with a strange expression.
He noticed that ever since Renya entered the academy gates, the man had become downright sneaky.
It felt like watching a thief.
He couldn't understand what Renya was so scared of.
"Haha, it's nothing. I'm fine."
Renya forced out a smile, his eyes darting everywhere.
Shimura Danzō: "…"
This guy had definitely taken the wrong medicine.
Before long, the head instructor led a small red-haired girl over to the two of them.
The girl had fiery red hair reaching her waist, a round face, and fair skin.
It was Uzumaki Kushina.
From a distance, she really did look like a tomato.
No wonder she was called "Tomato" by her classmates in the original story.
But now, they probably wouldn't dare call her that anymore—otherwise, they'd definitely be beaten by the other Uzumaki students.
After all, there were now hundreds of Uzumaki students.
Other students didn't dare provoke them at all.
"Hokage-sama, Renya-sama, this child is Uzumaki Kushina."
Kushina lowered her head, not daring to look at the two of them.
She didn't understand why the Hokage had summoned her alone.
Could it be that the matter of her beating up classmates had been discovered?!
But that really wasn't her fault—who told them to give her such a nickname?
Shimura Danzō didn't speak. He turned his head to look at Renya, his expression clearly asking whether this was the child he was looking for.
He couldn't understand why Renya would want to find a little girl…
Wait—this guy wouldn't have some kind of strange fetish, would he?!
All at once, the way he looked at Renya became extremely guarded, and he subconsciously stepped in front of Kushina.
He absolutely could not allow such a thing to happen—even if it was his friend!
Renya: "???"
What was wrong with this guy Danzō? Why was he looking at him like that?
Did he have something on his face?
"Hokage-sama, did you call for me because of something?"
Kushina raised her head and asked timidly.
She had already prepared herself to be criticized by the Hokage.
But as for beating up her classmates, she didn't regret it at all…
"Renya, do you have business with her?"
Shimura Danzō looked at Renya with vigilance, ready to arrest him the moment anything seemed off.
He absolutely would not allow Renya to walk down the wrong path!
"There's nothing now."
Renya only wanted to confirm whether Uzumaki Kushina had indeed arrived in Konoha.
Now that he'd seen her, there was naturally nothing else.
But the way he acted made it seem, in Danzō's eyes, like a classic case of protesting too much.
"Really… nothing at all?"