Early morning, at Senju Tobirama's residence.
"Brat, where did you go today?"
Senju Tobirama leaned against the front gate, his red eyes staring straight at Renya.
He had returned from the office at night and had been waiting at the entrance until now.
Dawn was already breaking.
Renya hadn't expected this old man to wait outside the whole night, so he casually made up an excuse.
"I went to Yugakure to have a few drinks. When I woke up, it was already evening."
"You went to Yugakure to drink?" Senju Tobirama frowned, clearly not buying his story.
Renya didn't even have the habit of drinking. How could he possibly go all the way to Yugakure just to drink?
Wasn't that nonsense?
This brat was definitely hiding something from him!
Senju Tobirama walked up to Renya, leaned closer, and sniffed. His eyes flickered with surprise.
There was indeed the smell of alcohol—this brat wasn't lying!
"When did you learn to drink?" Senju Tobirama looked at Renya suspiciously. "Didn't you say before that you never touched alcohol?"
In truth, what he really wanted to know was—who exactly had Renya been drinking with?
But since Renya didn't say, he couldn't just press for an answer.
Renya saw through what he was thinking and explained:
"On a mission before, I saved someone in the Land of Hot Water. He insisted on thanking me for saving his life, so I had a few drinks with him."
Senju Tobirama silently watched Renya, his face expressionless, making it impossible for Renya to tell whether he believed the explanation.
He had thought up this excuse the whole way back, because only this kind of story could possibly dispel Tobirama's suspicions.
After a long silence, Senju Tobirama turned and walked into the courtyard, his voice drifting back.
"Next time you leave the village, remember to let me know. And… don't drink so much again."
"Got it, old man."
Renya let out a breath of relief. He had finally managed to get past this.
"Old man, are you hungry? Want me to make you a late-night snack?"
When someone does something they feel guilty about, they'll often try to make it up to the other person.
It wasn't that he wanted to hide the truth—it was simply unavoidable.
"Cook me a bowl of noodles."
"Alright."
By the time Renya finished cooking, dawn had fully broken.
"Brat, go back and rest. I'm heading to the office."
Senju Tobirama finished his noodles, then immediately stood and headed for the Hokage's office.
Because he had spent the entire night worrying about Renya's whereabouts, he hadn't been able to focus on paperwork, and now documents had piled up and needed to be dealt with quickly.
"Old man, aren't you going to rest?" Renya couldn't help asking.
This guy hadn't slept all night, and now he was going to the office to handle official work—wasn't that dangerous?
Don't tell me he'd become the first Hokage to die of overwork in the shinobi world.
"No need." Senju Tobirama's voice came from the courtyard.
What was one sleepless night?
Back when he was conducting experiments, hadn't he pulled all-nighters plenty of times and still processed documents the next day?
This kind of workload, he was long used to.
Seeing this, Renya didn't insist. He just stood at the doorway, watching Tobirama until his figure disappeared from sight, then turned back inside to sleep.
After all, he had nothing else to do—he could just take a nap.
That was the perk of not being Hokage. Otherwise, he'd be stuck in the office, drowning in paperwork.
The Hokage's seat wasn't meant for him. Better to pass it on to Shimura Danzō.
Wait… Danzō?
Renya was just about to fall asleep when he suddenly remembered the matter of Uchiha Madara.
He needed to tell Danzō and Koharu that from now on, they should go on missions together, not act separately like before.
Without him around, there was a real chance the two could end up mysteriously killed during a mission.
As for who would be behind it—there was no need to even think.
Renya was instantly wide awake. He rolled out of bed and hurried out the door.
He had to let his teammates know.
...
"Renya, what's wrong with you?"
At the entrance of the Shimura residence, Shimura Danzō opened the door with a dark face, clearly annoyed.
What was this guy up to now?
Coming over first thing in the morning to bother him.
He had just been dreaming about being appointed Hokage by his teacher. He hadn't even had time to savor the joy when he was rudely woken up.
His Hokage dream was shattered!
And it was all because of this bastard Renya!
Whether in reality or in his dreams, Renya was always ruining things.
If Danzō could beat him, he'd have already pummeled him.
But Renya had no idea he had interrupted Danzō's beautiful dream. Smiling, he stated his purpose.
"Danzō, our team hasn't carried out a mission together in years."
"Starting today, let's do missions together again."
"Missions together?" Danzō stared at Renya with a strange look.
He didn't know what nonsense this bastard was thinking, but in the end, he still agreed.
"Fine."
Their squad truly hadn't taken on missions together for a long time.
And the reason?
It all went back to a certain mission maniac three years ago…
That's right. Because that mission maniac always went off alone, without bringing his teammates, the rest of them just defaulted to taking solo missions too.
Renya felt helpless. Back then he didn't bring teammates because of Uchiha Madara. And now he was bringing teammates along—also because of Uchiha Madara.
Damn it, that guy really wouldn't stop bothering him!
Right now, he just wanted to fast-forward a few decades, to when Madara was lying in bed full of tubes. That would finally be peaceful.
But by then, he himself would already be in his forties or fifties.
Whether he could even live to see the Fourth Shinobi World War was another matter.
"Why are you still here?" Danzō glared at Renya irritably. He just wanted to drive this bastard away.
He was still hoping to go back to sleep and maybe pick up his dream where he left off.
This was his Hokage dream!
"Danzō, don't forget what I said." Renya gave one last reminder before turning and leaving.
Danzō immediately slammed the door shut, rushing back to his room and lying on the bed, hoping to resume the dream.
But this time, no matter how he tossed and turned, he couldn't fall asleep again.
"Damned bastard! Damn you!"
Angry roars echoed through the Shimura compound.
Renya, the true culprit behind it all, had no idea. Even if he knew, he wouldn't care.
Wasn't it just a Hokage dream?
One genjutsu could fix that.
If Danzō asked, Renya could make him Hokage in his dreams every single night.
Forget Hokage—even punching Senju Hashirama or kicking Uchiha Madara could be arranged.
Too bad Danzō never asked.
...
At this moment, Renya had already arrived at Utatane Koharu's house.
"Renya-kun, what brings you here?" Koharu opened the door, rubbing her sleepy eyes.
"Koharu, I came this time to…" Renya explained his idea in full.
Hearing this, Utatane Koharu didn't hesitate for a moment before agreeing.
Of course she wouldn't refuse such a good thing as doing missions together.
Seeing this, Renya nodded in satisfaction.
With this, Madara would have no chance to target those close to him.
What Renya didn't notice was the black cat crouched on a distant rooftop, watching everything unfold.