— — — — — —
"Whew…"
Seeing himself finally back to normal, Uchiha Renzo let out a sigh of relief. "That's enough closed-door training for now. From here on, I can just proceed with normal research steps."
He stretched slightly, then narrowed his eyes. "Time to deal with Danzo… and the Uchiha situation."
"And besides, the Kiri battlefield should be wrapping up too."
There was no benefit in dragging the war out any longer—it'd only hurt the Uchiha more. Renzo wasn't about to stand by while his clan kept dying for no reason.
The ones still fighting were the core strength of the clan—the backbone of their future.
"Master!"
Just then, Red Queen suddenly projected herself in front of Renzo and reported, "We've detected Black Zetsu on the Kirigakure battlefield. He's taken two Uchiha clan members with him—Uchiha Aiko and his older brother, Riko, who had just awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan before dying. "
"Also, their father was killed in battle. Aiko just awakened his Mangekyō as well. "
Following Renzo's previous orders, Red Queen had been secretly monitoring the battlefield through hidden detectors.
This wasn't the first time Black Zetsu had been spotted there. It had already happened twice before.
(A/N: First mentioned in Ch 134: Black Zetsu's Schemes, where his plan involving Aiko first began.)
Clearly, Uchiha Aiko was the 'replacement Obito' that Black Zetsu had selected. Both the deaths of Aiko's father and his older brother? Black Zetsu's doing, no doubt.
Renzo knew all this—but he didn't interfere.
After all, Black Zetsu needed a pawn to play with. As long as he had one, he wouldn't target Renzo or Obito directly.
And if this let him continue with his old Eye of the Moon plan? Even better. That's exactly what Renzo wanted.
He was just waiting for Black Zetsu to gather all the hidden players in one place so he could wipe them out in one clean sweep down the line.
Also, Renzo had his own curiosity about the Ten-Tails' chakra and Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
And in the future? He planned to take advantage of the Fourth Great Ninja War to unify the entire shinobi world and finally implement a total reform. No more senseless fighting. If others weren't sick of it, he sure was.
Wasn't exploring space a way better option?
He also wanted to drag Hagoromo—the Sage of Six Paths—out of hiding and destroy him.
From Renzo's perspective, the reason the shinobi world had been trapped in constant war for so many years was because Hagoromo was pulling strings from the shadows.
Sure, some people might roll their eyes at that level of conspiracy thinking. But Renzo fully believed it.
He didn't want anyone secretly controlling the fate of the world from behind the scenes.
The shinobi world—its future—should belong to him, and him alone.
Of course, he wasn't planning to be that shadowy puppet master himself. Nope. He needed the perfect scapegoat to take on that role.
And who better than Black Zetsu?
He'd do it all willingly—and take the blame for it, too. Renzo didn't even need to lift a finger to guide him.
"No, no… this isn't even scapegoating," Renzo grinned to himself, "He actually deserves the blame. "
Unlike those mindless transmigrators who stick religiously to the original storylines, Renzo wasn't bound by that nonsense.
He was strong enough to do whatever he wanted.
If he wanted to keep the original plot intact, he would.
If he didn't? He'd break it without hesitation.
At the very least, people he was close to—like Minato, Kakashi, and the others—he wasn't going to let them walk the same tragic paths as before.
Asuma, too.
That guy had shown good judgment and played things smart so far, and Renzo had always gotten along with him. No reason to turn on him.
The situation with the Third Hokage, though? That was a different story.
Besides, he wasn't planning to personally handle that anyway.
"Now that Black Zetsu's setup is done, it's time to bring the Kiri battle to a close. "
With that, Renzo vanished from the base in a flash.
...
A moment later, he reappeared near the Konoha encampment on the Kirigakure battlefield.
Using Transformation Jutsu to change his appearance, he quickly located Orochimaru's tent. Once he confirmed there was no one else inside, he teleported straight in.
"Who's there?"
Orochimaru stood up instantly, alert. But when he saw who it was, his brows lifted slightly in surprise. "Renzo-kun?"
Hearing that, Renzo dispelled the Transformation Jutsu and looked at Orochimaru with a puzzled face.
"How'd you recognize me? You shouldn't have been able to, right?"
"Hehe…"
Once Orochimaru confirmed it was really Renzo, most of his wariness melted away.
He sat back down with a smirk and said, "You clearly used Flying Thunder God just now. No way was that Body Flicker—it's not that fast or that stealthy. "
"Plus… I sensed a familiar presence from you. "
That was just his snake instincts talking.
"You really are sharp as ever, huh."
Renzo chuckled and shook his head.
Orochimaru shrugged. "Only because you didn't bother hiding yourself properly, Renzo-kun. If you had, I probably wouldn't have noticed a thing. "
"I can tell though—you've changed again. Way more than I expected. Let me guess… sealed your power away?"
He eyed Renzo with an intense curiosity.
If he wasn't sure he'd lose a fight—and if cooperation wasn't more profitable than turning on him—he would've tried dissecting Renzo ages ago. The kid was improving way too fast, and he was shrouded in way too many secrets.
More importantly, this guy's research ability had already left him, Orochimaru, in the dust.
Just the scraps Renzo had shared about genetics and biotech were enough to make Orochimaru's brain tingle with excitement. He couldn't even begin to imagine what kind of level Renzo himself had reached.
"Still got that sharp intuition, huh, Uncle Snake?" Renzo smiled. "I made a breakthrough in Sage Techniques. A bit too flashy, so I had to suppress it with seals for now. "
"Anyway—how's the mission to wipe out Danzo's Root going?"
That was one of the reasons he dropped by.
"Don't worry, Renzo-kun," Orochimaru smirked, pulling a scroll from his robe and tossing it over. "Seventeen targets. Not a single one left. All quietly eliminated. This scroll has the proof. "
Renzo tapped a finger on the seal. Effortlessly breaking through it, he sent a strand of spiritual energy inside, scanned everything, then retracted it.
He looked up and nodded. "Everything checks out. Nice work, Uncle Snake. "
"Tch tch. " Orochimaru clicked his tongue in amusement. "As long as you're satisfied. Honestly, even your casual tricks never fail to shock me. That thing with the seal…"
"You might even outclass Kushina in the fundamentals by now. "
I mean, how many people could just poke a space-sealed scroll and instantly read the contents?
"Haha, not bad, right?" Renzo grinned. "If you hadn't been distracted by boring wars and actually focused on seals full-time, you might've reached this level too. "
There was a deeper meaning in his tone.
"Oh?" Orochimaru raised an eyebrow. He instantly picked up on the real message behind those words.
"Looks like you want to end this war, Renzo-kun. "
"It has dragged on long enough. I'm sick of it too. It's time to bring it to a close. "
"Oh, right. I actually prepared a little gift for you. Hope you'll like it. "
With that, Orochimaru pulled out another scroll and tossed it to him.
"Oh?" Renzo took a look, and his face lit up. "Now this is something I'm genuinely interested in. Thanks, Uncle Snake. Let me give you something in return. "
Inside the scroll were corpses of ninjas from the Kaguya clan, the Hozuki clan, and the Yuki clan of Kiri. Two bodies from each clan, all intact, all Jonin-level.
Definitely not a small gift.
Renzo thought for a second, then flipped his hand, pulling out a vial—an ultra-encrypted version of the Uzumaki Sage Body serum, crafted through his creation cheat. He handed it to Orochimaru.
"I'd recommend you inject it directly. Don't waste your time trying to reverse-engineer it. You know how it is—my stuff doesn't crack that easily. "
This was more than just a gift—it was an investment.
Renzo really hoped Orochimaru would focus on real research instead of his usual chaotic nonsense. And he was thinking of recruiting him one day too.
Gotta feed the man some benefits first, right?
"Oh?" Orochimaru took the vial curiously, licking his lips as he examined it. The life force it radiated was rich—almost intoxicating. "Mind telling me what this is?"
Renzo grinned. "I call it the Uzumaki Sage Body Bloodline Elixir. "
"…What?"
Orochimaru was so stunned he started trembling, staring at Renzo, then back at the vial in his hand. "You mean—"
"Yep. Exactly what you're thinking. "
Renzo nodded. "It's based on the Uzumaki's bloodline. I broke it down and restructured it into this serum. Once you take it, you'll gain the Sage Body and Kekkei Genkai of the Uzumaki clan—zero side effects, fully integrated. "
"So? You satisfied with your return gift?"
.
.
.