"Two hundred million, I've paid it."
Since this matter was just a misunderstanding, Renya naturally wouldn't refuse.
Two hundred million really meant nothing to him.
"Then thank you." Hiruzen smiled. "Once I finish handling the administrative work, I'll treat you all to a meal!"
Renya glanced at the pile of documents stacked on the desk and said irritably,
"You'd be lucky if you get off work before dark."
The Konoha Village in the original story wasn't as large as it is now. Even back then, handling documents took a long time—let alone the rapidly developing Konoha Village now.
With only one Hokage handling documents, the manpower was truly insufficient.
Konoha might be called a village, but its population had already reached hundreds of thousands.
So many things happen every day—it's no wonder the documents can never be finished…
"I'll try to speed things up." Hiruzen gave a bitter smile, knowing full well he couldn't finish all the paperwork before dark.
If he had known this would happen, he shouldn't have been fooled by Danzo back then. He could have enjoyed retirement early, yet ended up in such a miserable state.
What a regret!
Looks like putting retirement on the agenda is necessary. Otherwise, one day he might really die from overwork in the office…
"If it really doesn't work, just hire a few people to help you handle the administrative affairs."
Renya said this with some concern.
He was genuinely worried that Hiruzen might die young in the office—then Sarutobi Shinnosuke and Sarutobi Asuma would become orphans.
Hiruzen fell silent for a moment, then shook his head.
"Forget it. I can handle it alone."
Seeing this, Renya didn't say anything more.
He could roughly guess what Hiruzen was thinking—nothing more than not wanting to share the Hokage's authority.
Respect others' fate, let go of the urge to help.
As long as Hiruzen himself felt happy, that was enough…
Power is truly intoxicating. Otherwise, the Shadow Hokage in the original story wouldn't have constantly schemed to become Hokage.
It's just that Renya had no interest in it whatsoever.
He had witnessed the daily office life of the First through Fourth Hokage with his own eyes…
Every day was filled with the misery of handling administrative affairs—might as well bask in the sun with that time.
So he had never been interested in the Hokage position. Only those brainwashed by the Will of Fire since childhood would be obsessed with becoming Hokage.
The three disciples Renya taught since childhood would never develop such naive thoughts!
If being Hokage meant enjoying life every day, he might be willing to try it for a few days.
Unfortunately, becoming Hokage doesn't bring enjoyment—only endless work every day.
Even if others begged him, he would never agree!
After leaving the Hokage's office, Uchiha Kagami bid farewell to the two of them, as he needed to go handle matters in the police force.
Renya and Danzo went to the market together to buy groceries.
In the past, Renya used to handle such things himself. But ever since he started freeloading at Danzo's house…
Buying groceries, cooking, washing dishes—Danzo handled everything, while he only needed to enjoy life.
If it weren't for Senju Tobirama's request, he would have just lived at Danzo's place permanently.
Otherwise, going back and forth was really troublesome.
Fortunately, he had left a Flying Thunder God mark on Danzo, allowing him to teleport directly without going through all the trouble.
Who knows how long they would be traveling before coming back—hopefully not too soon. It'd be best if they stayed out for a few days, or his laid-back life would come to an end.
Although cooking a few meals wouldn't affect his laziness, not cooking at all was still better.
...
Somewhere in a forest of the ninja world.
Senju Tobirama and Uchiha Izuna sat by the riverbank, holding fishing rods and staring intently at their floats.
When Tobirama saw his float move, he immediately jerked the rod upward, pulling a large fish onto the shore.
"Uchiha Izuna, you're just a bit worse than me."
He looked at Izuna beside him, who had activated his Sharingan and was staring seriously, and spoke with smug satisfaction.
He used to go fishing by the river whenever he had free time. That inherently evil Uchiha Izuna was clearly a novice—how could he possibly outfish him?
"You're just lucky."
Izuna stubbornly retorted. With his Sharingan, he could clearly see many fish swimming underwater, yet none of them bit the bait on his hook.
"Another one."
Tobirama's smug voice came from the side, making him even more irritated.
Damn it, why won't any fish bite?!
"Uchiha Izuna, just admit defeat." Tobirama shook the two large fish in his hand. "You're not going to catch anything…"
"Just wait a bit longer, I'm about to succeed!"
Izuna refused to give up and continued staring at his fishing rod. He refused to believe that if Senju Tobirama could do it, he couldn't!
It must be that he hadn't found the right technique and method yet.
Seeing his stubbornness, Tobirama shook his head helplessly and began cleaning the fish.
Subconsciously, he also moved a bit farther away, just in case someone failed to catch any fish later and blamed him for making too much noise while cleaning…
After preparing the fish, he started a fire and grilled them.
Soon, the two fish were cooked.
Tobirama looked at Izuna, who was still staring seriously at the river's surface. After a moment of silence, he picked up one of the grilled fish and walked over to him.
"Want to eat?"
Izuna stared at the grilled fish with his Sharingan. He originally wanted to refuse, but his stomach growled in protest.
He hadn't eaten anything since noon.
His older brother and Senju Hashirama were staying in a cave, not caring about their survival at all—so they could only rely on fishing to feed themselves…
After a brief hesitation, he took the grilled fish, but didn't eat it immediately. Instead, he asked suspiciously,
"You didn't secretly spit on it, did you?"
Izuna seemed to recall some unpleasant memory, and his expression suddenly turned ugly.
Senju Tobirama: "…"
Was he that kind of person?
This guy was seriously underestimating him.
Although he had briefly considered doing something like that earlier, after thinking it through, wouldn't that just benefit the other party?
So he dismissed the idea…
"Suit yourself."
Tobirama said no more and got up, returning to the campfire.
He figured that guy wouldn't refuse anyway. After all, he had been fishing for so long without catching anything.
If he didn't eat, he'd have nothing but the wind to fill his stomach.
Unless he chose to admit defeat and use shuriken to kill fish.
But that was probably impossible…
Izuna looked at Tobirama's back, then at the grilled fish in his hand, and finally made up his mind to eat.
There was no way Senju Tobirama would dare do something so despicable and shameless!
...
Inside the cave.
Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara had somehow gotten hold of a deer.
"Madara, should we really not call them up to eat?"
Hashirama asked hesitantly.
Madara took a bite of the deer leg and said calmly, "If you can tolerate them arguing, then calling them up is fine."
"Then forget it."
Hashirama shook his head.
They had finally come out to have some fun—they didn't want to keep listening to people argue.
Letting them eat grilled fish down there wasn't a bad choice either…
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