"Where's the Senju clan's cook?"
Within the Senju compound, Black Zetsu's shadowy figure darted through the various residences.
It was dinner time, and every household was preparing food, leaving it uncertain who exactly was the cook Hashirama and Madara had spoken of.
In the end, it could only use the dumbest method—searching house by house.
Whichever home had the best-smelling dishes, that person had to be the Senju cook!
Black Zetsu crept silently into kitchens, secretly observing how the Senju clansmen prepared their meals.
"This one doesn't smell right. No way that's the cook."
With that, it sank underground again and slipped toward another house.
"This one's better… but let's see if there's another with an even stronger aroma."
Since this concerned its mother's meals after her release, Black Zetsu naturally couldn't afford to be careless.
No matter what, it had to find the best cook in the entire shinobi world!
To it, the greatest of filial sons, Mother deserved nothing less than the finest things in existence.
Moving quickly through the earth, Black Zetsu suddenly caught a strange fragrance.
"So fragrant…"
Though it didn't need food itself, its sense of smell was perfectly intact.
Even it found this aroma irresistible. This had to be the cook Hashirama and Madara had mentioned!
Following the trail of scent, Black Zetsu arrived before Tobirama Senju's residence.
The smell was drifting from here…
"Only skills like this are worthy of being Mother's cook!" Black Zetsu drew in a long breath of the delicious air, then concealed itself and slipped toward the kitchen.
It had to see for itself what this cook looked like.
Later, it could rescue them from Infinite Tsukuyomi's control.
If Madara's plan succeeded and Infinite Tsukuyomi was cast, everyone in the shinobi world would be bound by the God Tree and have their chakra absorbed.
Once drained completely, they would become White Zetsu.
Black Zetsu needed to know the cook's appearance first. That way, it could rescue them from the God Tree later.
Otherwise, a useful cook would become a useless White Zetsu—what a loss that would be.
...
Inside the kitchen, Jiraiya was washing vegetables while Orochimaru sliced them.
The two worked in tandem, saving Renya some time.
He only needed to stir-fry; the rest could be left to them.
This time, he intended to make extra, just in case Tobirama ended up with nothing to eat again like before.
"Renya-sama, your cooking smells amazing…" Jiraiya stared at the finished dishes on the table, drool practically spilling out.
"Idiot." Orochimaru gave him a look of disdain.
He had assumed Jiraiya, like himself, had come to learn—but it turned out Jiraiya was just greedy.
Dead last was dead last—he couldn't seize an opportunity even when it was right in front of him.
As he chopped, Orochimaru secretly watched Renya's every movement in cooking.
Such smooth, fluid motions—no wonder the food turned out so delicious.
Renya noticed Orochimaru's subtle spying but didn't mind.
Whether Orochimaru could learn or not was another matter, but even if he did, it was no loss.
That way, Tsunade wouldn't always pester him to cook for her.
Orochimaru could just cook in his place.
Renya deliberately slowed his movements so Orochimaru could observe more clearly.
Orochimaru's eyes lit up, watching every step intently.
Meanwhile, Jiraiya bent over the sink, washing vegetables, swallowing loudly from time to time.
None of the three noticed the pitch-black ooze silently forming on the wall behind them.
This was the cook?!
The moment Black Zetsu saw Renya's back, it remembered the little brat who used to trail behind Hashirama years ago!
So that brat was the cook Hashirama and Madara had spoken of!
Wait—wasn't that kid from the Uchiha clan?
It clearly remembered Renya's clothes bearing the Uchiha crest, and it knew he was an orphan adopted from the Uchiha clan by Tobirama.
So how had he suddenly become a Senju?
Black Zetsu stared hard at Renya's back. As time passed, its expression grew stranger and stranger.
Wait… this boy really did seem to carry Senju blood?!
Black Zetsu was startled by its own discovery. What nonsense was this?
Hadn't this boy once been an Uchiha?
And in just a few years, he had become a Senju?!
At that moment, it felt its entire worldview beginning to collapse…
In its thousands of years of existence, this was the first time it had encountered something so outrageous.
Someone who actually possessed both Asura's and Indra's bloodlines!
Even Madara, after fusing Hashirama's cells, didn't have Senju blood as strong as this boy.
Could it be… this brat was Hagoromo's illegitimate son?
No, impossible!
There had to be some hidden secret behind this!
Black Zetsu forced itself to calm down. No way was this boy Hagoromo's son…
It sank into deep thought, replaying the details.
Tobirama adopted Renya, then Renya somehow had both Uchiha and Senju bloodlines…
With time, Black Zetsu finally pieced together what it believed to be the truth.
There was only one explanation!
Renya was actually Tobirama Senju's illegitimate child!
For some reason—whether lust or drunken impulse—Tobirama had violated a woman of the Uchiha clan, leaving her pregnant.
But because of the blood feud between Uchiha and Senju, Tobirama had refused to take responsibility. That Uchiha woman had been forced to give birth alone.
And that child was Uchiha Renya!
The woman secretly gave birth, but in order to hide her pregnancy, she had no choice but to send Renya to an orphanage.
By the time Tobirama learned the truth, Renya had already grown up.
That explained why the boy had been an orphan.
Perhaps out of guilt, Tobirama later went to the Uchiha clan and adopted Renya.
On the surface, Renya was only his adopted son—but in reality, he was his flesh and blood!
...
"Heh… you think such a trick could fool me?" Black Zetsu sneered coldly.
It had lived for thousands of years. What kind of outrageous things hadn't it seen?
Even Tobirama's scandal wasn't much compared to some of the things it had witnessed.
Still, it hadn't expected Tobirama to be that kind of man. Truly, people could never be judged by appearances.
This truth could be told to Renya in the future, as a reward for becoming Mother's cook.
It was looking forward to the day this boy learned the truth!
An adoptive father turning out to be a biological father—how would the cook feel then?
Hahaha, it would be hilarious!
When the time came, it would share the story with Mother as well. Surely she'd be amused.
Black Zetsu congratulated itself on having uncovered the great mystery of Renya's parentage.
Meanwhile, Renya—busy at the stove with smoke rising from his pan—remained completely unaware that someone behind his back was weaving a scandalous tale about his lineage…
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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