"Ōtsutsuki Kaguya?"
Ren gazed at the moon.
With almost absurd ease, he found the will hidden within the planet itself.
And the moment he sensed it, he already knew who it belonged to.
After all, within the moon, there was only one consciousness powerful enough to reach that level—
The mother of the Sage of Six Paths and his brother.
The progenitor of chakra in this world.
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
But Ren had no interest in disturbing her, let alone speaking with her.
From the standpoint of position alone, the two of them were absolute opposites.
Someone who wanted to hang all mankind from the Divine Tree was not someone Ren believed he had anything worth discussing with.
Of course, there was another reason as well.
Within this planet, he could also vaguely sense another soul observing him.
If nothing unexpected had happened, it was probably Ōtsutsuki Hamura, the one who would one day guide Hinata in the future.
As for the messy drama within that family, Ren only intended to watch it as entertainment.
Besides, to him, that whole family was basically a walking source of free points.
Now that Ren's strength had completed a true transformation, he had changed completely.
Even without taking things like the Flying Thunder God Technique or taijutsu into account, Bloodline Snare alone was already terrifying beyond reason.
"LV13 Bloodline Snare… just raising it one level already takes 91 free points. And I can't neglect my curse mark either…"
When he did the math, Ren found that one upgrade alone would now cost him over a hundred points!
And that was without even counting his Overall Physical Constitution and Chakra.
To put it bluntly, this round of evolution had nearly drained him dry.
For a moment, he suddenly understood why those Ōtsutsuki were so obsessed with devouring planets and treating the entire universe as their pasture.
"Taking even one more step forward really is absurdly difficult…"
Ren's current state was simply too strange.
In this form, the world itself had completely changed in his eyes.
If, in the past, seriously observing the world only let him see its outward appearance—
Then now, what he saw was something entirely different.
To put it a bit more mystically, the world he had once seen was a realm where the real and the unreal overlapped and intertwined.
But now, the world had become clear.
The whole thing resembled a flat plane.
And across that plane flowed all sorts of moving lines.
Those lines looked complicated, chaotic, and lacking any obvious order.
Yet in the end, they connected with one another in strangely coherent ways, weaving together one bizarre possibility after another.
Though many of those lines were still blurred, Ren could vaguely sense their meanings, their trajectories, and the possibilities of where they might lead.
And some of the simpler, thicker lines—
He could actually reach out and touch them.
Rewrite them.
Change everything.
With power this terrifying, with a state this monstrous, anyone in his position would find advancing another step unimaginably difficult.
Especially now that his life level itself had clearly been altered.
That alone had become another huge obstacle standing in his way.
Perhaps only endless life accumulation—condensed into the fruit of a Divine Tree—could allow him, and those so-called Ōtsutsuki, to continue moving forward.
"But I'm different from them."
Ren withdrew his gaze and stopped observing Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, who existed in that gap between reality and illusion.
"I don't need to devour life."
"After all… I'm a cheat user."
Then he lowered his gaze to himself.
Because he could feel that his current state had become somewhat unusual again.
"So this is what they call Six Paths Mode?"
He could clearly sense that his body had now fully fused all chakra together.
This was no longer the old state of Yin-Yang Release: Chakra Mode.
And what was interesting was that he had discovered there was no need to worry about its duration at all.
He had enough strength.
Enough chakra.
And enough physical constitution to sustain it.
As long as he wanted, he could maintain this state for as long as he pleased.
Even if he fought in this form continuously, there would be no issue whatsoever.
"It's just…"
Ren reached back and touched his hair, looking mildly speechless.
"My short hair actually turned into long hair…"
Still, with a slight ripple of chakra—
In an instant, that suffocatingly powerful aura around him began to recede.
The long silver hair rapidly vanished, turning back into short black hair, and the white robe on his body returned to its original appearance.
But the moment he reverted, Ren clearly felt his strength weaken.
That overwhelming sense of being able to bulldoze through everything was gone.
Still, as his power settled back, he noticed something else.
"The thing on my forehead… feels like it's getting stronger?"
On Ren's forehead was something like a horn.
From the very beginning, he had already noticed that a massive amount of chakra was gathering beneath it.
At first, there hadn't been much change.
But as his strength grew stronger and stronger, the power beneath that "horn" had become increasingly terrifying.
Just moments ago, while in whatever that form was—whether it was an Ōtsutsuki state or some sort of Divine Tree state—the sheer force of his power had caused him to ignore the changes beneath the horn.
But now, he could clearly feel it.
That energy was outrageous.
And there were already faint signs of mutation!
"This thing… don't tell me…"
Ren's lips twitched.
For some reason, he immediately thought of Ōtsutsuki Kaguya and Six Paths Madara.
This breakthrough hadn't caused any changes to his eyes.
Even though his sensory ability was now no weaker than any ridiculous dojutsu out there.
And as the initiator of the "new version," he didn't actually need eyes to improve himself anymore.
Still, there was a tiny bit of regret.
But given the current situation, a suspicion could not help but rise in his mind.
Don't tell me… I'm about to open a third eye?
The moment that thought appeared, even Ren himself found it weird.
But after thinking it over for a while, he shook his head and decided not to dwell on it.
At the very least, he had no interest in snapping off the "horn" on his forehead every time he entered Six Paths Chakra Mode.
Maybe in the future, the horn would separate on its own.
But that wasn't something for now.
"Alright. Time to head back."
Rolling his wrist, Ren quietly calculated the time.
Only then did he realize—
He had already been on the moon for more than a month.
That was far beyond his original estimate.
A whole month.
Nobody knew what direction the shinobi world might have taken during that time.
Especially now that Madara Uchiha had already been brought back with Impure World Reincarnation.
Ren was still waiting to see what kind of spectacle this bunch would produce next.
At the very least, it would let him seriously farm a nice wave of points.
And it would also let him see where the final course of this world was truly headed.
He raised a hand and let a strand of peculiar chakra flow into the Tenseigan.
At this moment, the Tenseigan had already gone dim.
Clearly, Ren had nearly drained it dry.
Even an ordinary person would have been able to see that it was close to falling apart.
And within it, the countless Byakugan embedded inside were visible in dense layers.
But under Ren's nourishment, the Tenseigan regained its vitality almost instantly.
Yet at the very moment its power recovered, Ren suddenly frowned and looked toward the distant sky.
In that instant, he discovered that he had quietly become connected to the Tenseigan itself.
And through that Tenseigan—
He seemed able to see, in the distant starry sky, two meteors slowly heading toward the shinobi world…
The evening wind drifted softly, and the silver moon illuminated the earth.
Outside a temple in the Land of Fire, space suddenly twisted.
The next moment, Obito stepped out from the distortion.
His scarlet eye swept across the surroundings.
At his feet, a completely pale figure suddenly emerged from the ground.
"Found him. He's in the innermost part. Very obvious—there's definitely Nine-Tails chakra in him."
"Mm."
Obito gave a slight nod.
This time, their target was the boy inside the temple—
Sora.
Honestly, it had been unexpected.
This information had been provided by a White Zetsu, which also told Obito that some people in the shinobi world had secretly been collecting the Nine-Tails' power.
Still, that wasn't a bad thing for him.
At the very least, it could save him a lot of time.
But Obito himself was burdened with worries now.
Obtaining tailed beast chakra might not be hard.
The real problem was everything else, and on that front, he still had no clue at all.
For example—
Orochimaru.
And Black Zetsu.
What exactly were those two doing?
He had no idea.
And this was not the sort of thing he could casually ask White Zetsu about.
Leaving aside the fact that White Zetsu had basically no brain—
The bigger issue was that White Zetsu was always mixed together with Black Zetsu.
That alone was enough to make Obito suppress any urge to ask.
But even more importantly—
"What exactly was that chakra in the sky some time ago? And those lights…"
That sudden chakra eruption in the heavens had truly shaken the entire shinobi world!
That eerie and peculiar aura—
That sense of towering above all things—
It had spread everywhere, and Obito simply couldn't forget it.
He did not understand what had happened to this world.
Why had it suddenly become so unfamiliar?
Whether it was people or these bizarre events, all of it gave him a strange feeling of being unable to cope.
And the worst part was—
He couldn't even investigate it.
Because he had no idea where he was supposed to begin.
"What's wrong? Weren't we supposed to move?"
Seeing Obito stand there without moving for a long time, White Zetsu poked his head out and looked at him curiously.
"Also, I think we've already been discovered. If this keeps up, that won't be too good, right?"
"Oh?"
Obito came back to himself slightly.
Only then did he notice that the temple, which should have gone dark already, was now brightly lit.
A large number of monks were gathering, moving to surround him from all directions.
"A barrier?"
Obito didn't care about the monks at all. Instead, he glanced around with mild curiosity.
Beside him, White Zetsu nodded too.
"Probably a barrier. But their reaction was really fast."
"Pretty fast indeed."
Obito nodded, though he still didn't seem concerned.
He remembered that the strongest person in this temple was that monk—
A former guardian of the Fire Daimyō.
But to him, that wasn't a problem at all.
"Who are you?"
As Obito considered this, the man he had been thinking of stepped forward.
Chiriku stood alert, watching him carefully.
"You appear here in the middle of the night. What is your purpose?"
"Hand over the brat sealed with the Nine-Tails' chakra."
Obito did not bother with pleasantries.
The moment he said that, Chiriku's face turned ugly.
"Sora? Impossible. Who exactly are you, and what do you want?!"
"Impossible?"
Obito tilted his head, then nodded casually.
"Fine. I didn't think this would be solved peacefully from the start anyway."
He spoke as though it were no big deal at all.
"In that case, it'll probably be easier if I just get rid of all of you."
Inside Takigakure, in the Land of Waterfalls, Hiruko and Shinnō looked at the ninja lying all over the ground—
And then at Fū, the Seven-Tails jinchūriki, whose entire body was covered in wounds and whose breathing had become labored.
The two exchanged a glance and nodded.
"Looks like the mission is complete."
Shinnō smiled casually. At the same time, the wounds across his body began rapidly healing.
"But should we search this place properly? We might find some interesting information."
"Whatever. I'm not interested in these people's scraps."
Hiruko did not deny the idea, but his eyes remained fixed on Shinnō.
He had always craved all kinds of bloodline limits and abilities.
That way, he could use his Chimera Technique to absorb them completely and turn them into his own strength.
He had joined the Akatsuki partly because he couldn't beat the one who recruited him.
But also because Konoha had become far too dominant.
And since his own target was Konoha's bloodline limits, sooner or later he was bound to clash with Konoha directly anyway.
So he had not resisted joining.
"Works for me. I'm looking forward to finding something interesting."
Shinnō paid no attention to the way Hiruko was staring at him, nor did he care what the man was thinking.
He simply stood and walked straight toward the village.
"If I remember right, Kakuzu used to be from Takigakure. Maybe there's something useful to dig up here."
Then, as if the thought had just struck him, he asked casually,
"By the way, do you really think collecting tailed beasts to make some Ten-Tails is reliable?"
"Don't ask me. I have no idea."
Hiruko shook his head, then let out a cold snort.
"You're only worried because you stole Konoha's Eight Gates and are afraid they'll hunt you down. I really don't get what exactly you people are so scared of when it comes to Konoha."
"You've hidden yourself away for too long. Your perception of the world is shallow."
Shinnō shook his head.
He looked down on this teammate in his heart, but didn't mind explaining a little.
"Someone who could force Iwagakure and Kumogakure, two villages with hatred so deep they should never cooperate, into holding each other up—do you think that kind of person is simple?"
"And tell me, do you think you alone could defeat the Fourth Raikage and the Third Tsuchikage?"
"Not to mention the current leader, and people like Orochimaru."
"What's so impossible about that?"
Hiruko gave a cold snort, then simply closed his eyes and stopped responding.
Whether he could or not—
He knew the answer in his own heart.
Still, he had confidence in himself.
With the Chimera Technique, he could absorb endless bloodline limits.
And the more he absorbed, the stronger he would become.
If only I could obtain Wood Release…
"Never thought I'd have to get involved with the Fourth Mizukage again."
Inside the Land of Whirlpools, Jūzō Biwa and Itachi Uchiha walked through the forest, heading steadily toward the other side of the country.
Their mission this time was to capture the former Fourth Mizukage, the Three-Tails jinchūriki.
Jūzō felt rather complicated about this mission.
But at this point, he no longer had any room to refuse.
"You have extensive intel on the Fourth Mizukage. I can deal with tailed beasts. It makes sense for the two of us to carry out this mission."
Itachi's voice was calm and flat.
He merely glanced at Jūzō once before falling silent again.
Jūzō, however, shook his head with disdain and sighed.
"What a joke. Back then, I always thought I was in the right. Who would've thought that Mizukage had been controlled the whole time?"
"And now I've become an accomplice to the one who controlled him."
He laughed bitterly.
"Life really is unpredictable. No one could've imagined things would turn out this way."
"Yeah… it really is."
Itachi nodded faintly.
In truth, he was the one with the deepest feelings on that matter.
He had always thought he was doing the right thing.
He cooperated with Danzō.
Slaughtered his own clan.
He believed everything he had done was for the village, for Konoha.
But in the end, he found out—
He had been played by Obito Uchiha.
And now, he had become one of Konoha's greatest villains.
In fact, the entire shinobi world had already acknowledged one thing:
That he had betrayed Konoha long ago.
That everything he had done was for his own eyes.
That Uchiha Sasuke had been nothing more than a sacrifice—
Just a tool he intended to use to strengthen himself.
For his own sake, he had betrayed both clan and village, becoming a disgrace to the entire shinobi world.
That reversal had shaken him deeply for a time.
But he had eventually calmed himself again.
At the very least—
Sasuke was still alive.
Perhaps that alone made things not entirely hopeless.
"But speaking of it, Konoha is pretty interesting. They didn't kill your little brother and completely cut off your retreat."
Just as Itachi was lost in thought, Jūzō suddenly spoke again.
And there was the faintest trace of mockery in his tone.
"Shihara Ren has that Uchiha girl by his side, so the Uchiha clan was never truly destroyed."
"And your little brother is your backup set of eyes. Killing him would've been easy."
"But they left him alive."
Jūzō let out a low chuckle.
"They're probably planning to have your brother kill you with his own hands."
"I know."
Under his sleeve, Itachi's hand clenched slightly.
But he still nodded calmly.
"I'm waiting for that day as well."
"I'd really like to see that battle between you brothers. Just don't know whether I'll live long enough to witness it."
Jūzō shook his head and said no more, continuing forward at a leisurely pace.
His words left Itachi briefly dazed.
Only after a long while did he let out a quiet sigh.
He had a feeling—
That day was probably not far off.
And he had another feeling too:
Many things would not happen the way he expected.
He might be nailed to the pillar of shame forever…
Within the Land of Water, mist filled the air.
Orochimaru and Black Zetsu walked down a narrow path, and as they felt the haze drifting around them, Orochimaru suddenly asked in a low voice,
"You're sure the Six-Tails is inside Kirigakure? And you really don't need me to use Madara Uchiha?"
"Use him as little as possible. Don't forget—Shihara Ren may arrive at any moment."
Black Zetsu shook his head and answered calmly.
"Obito Uchiha has definitely begun to suspect us. I don't want him learning so soon that Madara Uchiha has already appeared."
"That boy… is gradually slipping out of control."
"Never thought you'd be wary even of him. I assumed the two of you had a very good relationship."
Orochimaru licked his lips, his face full of amusement.
"It seems there are still many secrets I don't know. Care to enlighten me on a few things I'm allowed to know?"
"You only need to understand one thing."
Black Zetsu glanced at Orochimaru and lied without even blinking.
"Everything we do is for peace."
There was no way he would tell the truth.
Some matters, no matter what happened, he would never reveal a single word about.
Of course, there were certain things he could hint at a little.
Like now.
"Still, I can give you one clue."
"Obito Uchiha is nothing more than our pawn. And clearly, he has his own selfish desires."
"You're smart, so you should already understand this—even the current leader of the Akatsuki is merely another one of our pieces."
"What we seek is true peace for this world."
"And the things you desire will only be possible once that peace has been fully achieved."
"Otherwise…"
Black Zetsu's voice remained perfectly calm.
"With you having summoned the First Hokage, do you really think Shihara Ren would ever let you go?"
"Peace…"
Orochimaru could not help shaking his head slightly.
Peace was far too distant a concept.
How could he not hope for it?
And yet, he understood human nature too well.
He had no faith at all in the "peace" Black Zetsu spoke of.
He knew these people had their own motives.
But that did not stop him from cooperating with them.
On the contrary—
He wanted to see what they were really trying to do.
And at the same time, he could study their secrets properly.
"But first… let's start with the Six-Tails."
Morning sunlight spilled over the earth.
Smoke rose along Konoha's streets as early shopkeepers opened their stores.
Students headed toward the Ninja Academy, some laughing, some miserable, as another busy day began.
Tsunade sat in the office looking bored.
But truthfully, her mood was not very good at all.
"That bastard Ren… runs off to the moon and doesn't come back, and he's still arranging things about Uchiha Sasuke from up there?"
Tsunade cursed inwardly as she recalled Kabuto coming to see her a few days ago, informing her that Sasuke was to be sent on a solo mission to find Uchiha Itachi.
Her first instinct had been to reject it outright.
But the moment she heard it was Ren's arrangement, she hesitated.
She knew Ren would never make pointless moves.
Even if she had no idea what exactly he was thinking, she had ultimately still approved the plan.
Still—
The man wasn't even here, yet he was still controlling everything…
"Why don't you just come back and be Hokage already? Honestly…"
Tsunade let out a sigh and decided not to think about the mess any further.
At the very least, Sasuke was not truly alone.
A whole group of Root shinobi were secretly following him.
Hikari wasn't among them, but the Root operatives themselves were all highly capable.
Otherwise, judging by Ren's style, he never would have trusted them that much.
And besides—
Tsunade knew perfectly well that those people were anything but ordinary…
"And on top of that, so much has happened in the shinobi world, but there's still no sign of him. What exactly is that brat doing?"
Tilting her head, Tsunade continued thinking to herself.
That endless radiance had spread across the entire shinobi world.
That overwhelming chakra had blanketed the sky itself.
Under its influence, even the Land of Rain, a country that had never once stopped "crying," had seen its rain come to a halt.
Though that power had carried an unprecedented sense of divinity, that very same influence made it even more terrifying.
"What exactly was that…"
Tsunade murmured softly.
Unknown things like that were impossible not to wonder about.
But deep down, she already had a suspicion.
That this matter was probably inseparable from Ren.
"That chakra carried his presence… could all of this have been his doing?"
"Although I'm not sure which matter Sensei is referring to, if you mean the chakra that erupted into the sky… then yes, it probably was me."
Just as Tsunade was sinking into thought, a voice suddenly sounded beside her ear.
That voice made her freeze.
Then she jerked her head up in disbelief.
There he was.
Ren had appeared silently before her, standing there with a smile on his face.
That smile carried a strange kind of warmth—
One that made people feel instinctively at ease.
Even more unusual was the fact that Ren now seemed completely merged with nature itself.
Every move he made seemed to carry the rhythm of the natural world.
"You…"
Tsunade stared blankly for a long moment before finally recovering herself. Then she deliberately put on a stern face and said,
"So you still remembered how to come back, huh? Damn it, do you know how I've been spending this past month? Uchiha Hikari nearly annoyed me to death!"
"Sorry, sorry."
Ren smiled as he slowly walked toward her.
"After fighting Uchiha Madara last time, I gained some insights. And with Sensei's… help, I made even more progress."
"So I needed time to properly sort through what I'd comprehended from that battle. That's why I went to the moon."
He gave a small shrug.
"I just didn't expect it would take that long."
"My help?"
Tsunade blanked for half a second.
Then she instantly realized what he meant.
"Shut up! Don't spout nonsense. I'm your teacher!"
"Yes, yes. Sensei."
Ren nodded and kept walking toward her.
That immediately made Tsunade panic a little.
What exactly was this bastard planning to do?
Fortunately, it seemed as if Ren had just remembered something, because he suddenly stopped.
That made Tsunade quietly let out a breath of relief.
But in the very next second, her expression turned utterly dumbfounded.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Ren suddenly raised his hand and lightly clapped a few times, then smiled and said,
"Everyone, you've worked hard. I need to discuss something privately with the Hokage-sama."
"I'd appreciate it if you could step out for a while. Sorry for the trouble."
"Yes, Lord Hokage's Aide."
One after another, the hidden ANBU inside the Hokage's office appeared.
They bowed seriously to both Ren and Tsunade, then—
Under Tsunade's disbelieving stare—
Quickly withdrew from the room.
In an instant, only Ren and Tsunade remained inside the office.
"You…"
Only after the last ANBU had left did Tsunade seem to recover from the shock.
She raised a trembling finger at Ren.
"What do you think you're doing? A Hokage's aide interfering in the Hokage's affairs? Even the ANBU listen to you now? This is overstepping!"
"A Hokage's aide interfering in the Hokage's affairs isn't that just Konoha tradition?"
Ren smiled carelessly as he walked over, speaking at the same time.
"In the First Hokage's era, the Second Hokage was his aide. Didn't he constantly interfere in the First's matters?"
"In the Third Hokage's era, Danzō was also a Hokage's aide. He did the same kind of thing."
"And in the Fourth's era, the Third was basically the aide, so he—"
"Shut up! Stop twisting nonsense around!"
"But that's still the truth."
The truth…
Tsunade looked at Ren as he drew closer and closer.
Her emotions became complicated all at once.
And worse—
She couldn't even really deny what he was saying.
Because if she looked back over Konoha's history, it really did seem like Hokage aides interfering in Hokage business was an old tradition…
But the problem was—
Her relationship with Ren was not exactly ordinary!
"You don't need to worry about Sasuke's matter. There are people following him. Nothing will go wrong."
Yet just as the distance between them shrank to less than a meter, Ren suddenly stopped and spoke with a smile.
"That kid wants revenge. And it's not just him—quite a few people feel the same way. Besides, Uchiha Itachi's crimes are far too serious."
"He's lived this long because I was giving Uchiha Sasuke a chance."
"A good environment for growth. And also a new pair of eyes."
Ren's smile deepened slightly.
"After all, that boy's potential is much greater than people imagine."
"You think that highly of him?"
Tsunade unconsciously leaned back a little, finally easing up just slightly before asking,
"He's grown well enough, and he's been trained by the Uchiha, but does he really have the means to confront Itachi Uchiha?"
"Forget everything else—his eyes are nowhere near the Mangekyō stage. Sending him after Itachi now, isn't that a little too rushed?"
For an Uchiha, whether or not they had awakened the Mangekyō was practically the difference between two completely different levels of existence.
And over the years, Tsunade had learned quite a few Uchiha secrets as well.
For example—
She knew what lay beyond the Mangekyō.
It was good that Itachi was still alive.
His eyes could eventually be given to Sasuke, creating an even stronger pair of eyes.
But the problem was that Sasuke currently had no way to obtain that power.
"It's not rushed. I know his problem, and I also know how to deal with it."
Ren shook his head and gave her a mysterious smile.
"This time's breakthrough wasn't ordinary for me. My control over certain powers has improved tremendously."
"For example…"
As he spoke, Ren took another step forward.
At the same time, his hand came to rest on Tsunade.
At first, Tsunade didn't react.
But the moment she sensed his movement, she instinctively tried to pull away.
Yet as soon as Ren's chakra entered her body, she froze completely.
That vast chakra flowed into her, constantly stirring the Yang Release power within her body.
And under Ren's control, she discovered that her Yang Release was steadily strengthening, growing, and then feeding back into her own flesh.
"You…"
Tsunade's eyes widened.
Yang Release was one of the most mysterious forms of power in existence.
Before this, when Ren wanted to accomplish something like this, he had needed to rely on the chakra of the Tenseigan.
But now—
He was doing it effortlessly.
And his control was even more precise than when he had used the Tenseigan over the last three years!
Chakra control had never been simple—
Especially the control of another person's chakra.
And this was Yang Release, one of the most mysterious powers of all, something ordinary people couldn't manipulate at all!
What was this?
How far had this bastard grown now?
"This is only part of what I gained this time."
Ren smiled lightly, then looked at Tsunade's stunned expression and continued,
"Yang Release. Yin Release. At their root, they're still chakra."
"And as long as it's chakra, then fundamentally it's all the same—regardless of attribute."
"So if the essence is the same, controlling it won't be difficult, Sensei."
"Essence… chakra…"
Tsunade understood every individual word Ren said.
But when put together, the meaning felt almost alien.
In Ren's eyes now, all forms of chakra had become something like this?
Even Yin Release and Yang Release?
Just what level had he stepped into?
But very quickly, Tsunade snapped awake.
Because she realized Ren was getting closer again.
"Hey. I'm your teacher, you—"
"I know. And I should thank Sensei for helping me reach this step."
Ren smiled as if it were nothing at all.
He moved behind Tsunade, his hand still resting on her shoulder, and before she could speak again, he continued,
"And I've thought about the uses of One's Own Life Reincarnation."
"This breakthrough gave me insight into many things."
"And that gave me an idea."
"Chakra's uses are far more extraordinary than we imagined. Especially some special jutsu—they're very interesting."
"We already possess Impure World Reincarnation. So why can't I try using One's Own Life Reincarnation to revive someone who was summoned through Impure World Reincarnation?"
"One's Own Life Reincarnation… and Impure World Reincarnation together? Is that even possible?"
Tsunade lifted her head and looked at Ren in disbelief.
Ren nodded directly.
"It's not impossible."
"The transformation of life is complicated, but if pure chakra is used as the foundation, many impossible things can become possible."
"Yang Release is the basis."
"And once Yang Release reaches a certain level, you can sense the burning of the flame of life."
"As long as that flame is ignited, life itself can complete the full conversion."
"I think One's Own Life Reincarnation has that potential. We should test it properly."
The flame of life.
The complete conversion of life.
Hearing that, Tsunade didn't know what to say for a moment.
If things truly worked the way Ren described, then it might really be possible to bring some people back!
"And I already have my first batch of test subjects in mind."
Seeing Tsunade sink into silence, Ren continued speaking.
"For example, Sakumo Hatake."
"And the Fourth Hokage and his wife."
"Of course, the Fourth's case will probably require some preliminary work first. But none of that is a real problem."
"I see…"
Tsunade's thoughts became chaotic.
If that really worked, then in the future, after defeating her grandfather again and reclaiming control, perhaps she could also…
And if her grandmother, Uzumaki Mito, could be revived as well, then…
"Hm?!"
But right as she was thinking that, Tsunade suddenly sensed something off.
She lowered her head sharply, staring in disbelief at Ren's hand.
Then she raised her eyes and glared at him.
"What are you doing?! I'm your teacher!"
"I know, I know. But didn't you say you never should have accepted me as your disciple? I think you were absolutely right."
"Y-You…"
Looking at Ren's completely shameless expression, Tsunade's eyes widened.
She hadn't expected the boomerang to come flying back like this.
That instantly left her both annoyed and amused.
Truthfully, Tsunade herself knew that she didn't actually feel much resistance deep down.
But this bastard Ren—
Couldn't he at least look at the setting first?
This was the Hokage's Office!
"You idiot! I'm the Hokage!"
The moment that thought flashed through her head, Tsunade straightened her face and deliberately put on an angry expression.
But the second Ren heard that, his eyes lit up.
"That makes it even better!"
"?"
"Sensei, do you remember what I once said?"
"??"
"I'm the man who's going to become Hokage!"
"…"
That line—
Could it seriously be interpreted that way too?
Tsunade's eyes went wide, her head instantly filling with question marks.
And just then—
There came a knock at the Hokage Office door.
"Tch. The Land of Whirlpools really isn't peaceful at all."
Within the Land of Whirlpools, Sasuke looked at the bandits sprawled on the ground.
He casually flicked the blood from the ninja blade in his hand, then immediately continued rushing forward.
Killing a few bandits along the way meant nothing to him.
Even though he had always carried out missions together with Kakashi's team, the missions Konoha assigned them were never easy ones.
Naruto might still cling to the idea of avoiding killing whenever possible—
But Kakashi absolutely did not.
As someone who had come out of the ANBU, the first thing Kakashi had taught Sasuke was this:
Dead enemies are the safest enemies.
On top of that, Sasuke had also received that brutal combat education from Root.
He was not soft-hearted.
Of course, it might also have been Indra's chakra taking effect.
Ever since witnessing Ren and Madara Uchiha's battle, Sasuke had constantly felt the power within him expanding.
At the same time, the way he faced enemies had become colder and colder.
Once he identified someone as an enemy—
He showed no mercy at all.
"Next… it's Uchiha Itachi."
Among everyone in the world, there was no one Sasuke wanted to kill more.
He would never forget that night.
That cruel scene.
The sight of his entire clan being destroyed.
And even more than that—
He would never forget the complicated gazes all those remaining Uchiha in Root cast toward him.
Though he had already earned the recognition of those surviving clan members, there was still one hurdle in everyone's heart that none of them could step past.
Uchiha Itachi.
"This time… I have to kill you."
Sasuke muttered inwardly.
Endless hatred surged through him, anger and resentment tangling together until his eyes turned an even deeper crimson.
Under that stimulation, his eyes slowly began to rotate—
As if they were on the verge of connecting into one.
And yet, something still seemed to be missing by just a single breath.
That final step remained forever out of reach.
Fortunately, Sasuke did not dwell on it too much.
Because his mind was filled with only one thing—
Uchiha Itachi.
"Faster. Faster!"
"Their target is the Fourth Mizukage. I have to get there before them!"
"I absolutely cannot be late!"
As that thought flashed through his mind, Sasuke's speed increased sharply.
And while he raced forward without pause, he suddenly sensed a strange burst of chakra ahead.
In an instant, he accelerated even more.
At the same time, the scarlet light in his eyes became even brighter.
Finally—
When he arrived at a ruined stretch of land, a man wearing a black cloak patterned with red clouds appeared before his eyes.
At that very moment, the fury and hatred in Sasuke's heart reached their peak.
He practically ground his teeth as he shouted,
"Uchiha Itachi! I finally found you!"
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