— — — — — — —
"That's right! Sensei is absolutely right!"
Renzo also chimed in, "We can't disobey orders! Besides, the front lines of the Iwa-nin battlefield have stabilized."
"Reinforcements have arrived, and with Orochimaru-sama and Minato-Sensei there, things shouldn't go wrong."
Kurenai added, "Asuma! Stop being so stubborn!"
"Fine!" Asuma sighed in frustration, reluctantly nodding in agreement.
But he still muttered under his breath, "But once I get back, I'm definitely going to have a word with him! If I don't get a proper explanation, he can forget about convincing me! Hmph!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say," Renzo shrugged.
After all, this was just a father-son issue between Asuma and the Third Hokage.
There was no way the Third would actually beat Asuma to death, right?
After that, Renzo and his team went to inform Minato and the recently arrived reinforcements led by Fushie.
"I see," Minato said with a regretful sigh. "I was actually planning on having you join me on the next important mission, Renzo. With you, the success rate would have been much higher. Now I'll have to figure out an alternative."
It wasn't that Minato didn't understand the deeper implications behind this sudden recall order.
He may not have much experience with internal politics, but he wasn't naive either.
That being said, he wasn't in a position to interfere in such matters right now.
"Alright! But Minato-Sensei, be careful! And Kakashi, Rin, Obito—you guys too!" Renzo stepped forward and patted each of them on the shoulder, discreetly infusing a small trace of chakra into them.
Well, except for Minato—there was no way he could plant a failsafe on someone as sharp as him.
Not to mention, with his Flying Thunder God technique, Minato didn't really need it.
Orochimaru, however, seemed to have noticed something, a flicker of intrigue flashing through his snake-like eyes.
"We're off!"
"See you again!"
With that, Renzo and his team turned to leave.
Orochimaru, oddly enough, followed them out of the tent, walking alongside Renzo. In a low, raspy voice, he murmured, "Renzo-kun, don't slack off once you get back. Our agreement still stands. I hope that next time, you'll bring me a surprise."
"As for the materials you requested, once you return to Konoha, summon the White Snake. It will guide you to one of my bases where you can collect them. You're free to use the equipment there as well. I have high expectations for you…"
That's right.
Unbeknownst to the others, Renzo had secretly formed an alliance with Orochimaru.
Over the past four days, Renzo had presented him with half of a genetic research document as a bargaining chip, securing an agreement for collaboration.
According to their deal, in exchange for a complete version of the genetic research and assistance in an experiment related to Hashirama's cells, Renzo would receive the Flying Thunder God technique, ten samples of Hashirama's cells, and a summoning contract with Ryuuchi Cave's Snake.
If things went smoothly, future collaborations were certainly on the table.
Of course, the Hashirama cells he'd receive weren't the original, pure ones—those were in Danzo's possession.
The ones Orochimaru had were samples obtained from Danzo, unable to proliferate infinitely but still incredibly valuable.
Renzo nodded slightly. "Of course, Orochimaru-sama. I won't let you down. Until next time."
Satisfied, Orochimaru stopped following them.
Renzo and the others quickly picked up their pace, heading back toward Konoha.
"What were you talking about with Orochimaru? Since when did you start getting involved with him?" Asuma asked curiously as they traveled.
"Kids shouldn't ask too many questions," Renzo grinned mischievously.
Asuma's eye twitched. "You bastard! You can be so irritating sometimes! Fine, don't tell me! I don't even care! Anything involving Orochimaru can't be anything good anyway!"
It was obvious Asuma didn't have a good impression of Orochimaru—he was even a little afraid of him.
"Renzo-kun, Orochimaru-sama feels dangerous. You should be careful," Kurenai warned softly.
"Yeah, she's right," added Yūhi Shinku.
"Alright, alright," Renzo waved dismissively. "I'm not an idiot. It's just a simple deal. I'm helping him with a bit of research. Lately, I've been interested in genetics. That's all."
Seriously, did he look that easy to manipulate?
If he and Orochimaru ever came into conflict, who would come out on top was still up for debate.
And besides, why was Orochimaru's reputation already so bad?
His human experiments hadn't even been exposed yet!
Maybe it was just because he had such a creepy face…
"Genetics? What's that?" Asuma asked, looking lost.
To be fair, it wasn't just him—both Kurenai and Shinku looked equally confused.
After all, the concept of genetics didn't even exist in the Shinobi world yet. Renzo had essentially invented the term.
"Even if I explained it, you wouldn't understand. Just focus on running," Renzo said dismissively.
"Oh, and once we're back, I'll be holding the second round of training for you and Kurenai. Your progress is too slow! If you can't even protect yourselves, don't expect to be of any help to me!"
"The future is full of danger, and you need to at least be able to survive."
Asuma: "..."
Kurenai: "..."
Shinku: "..."
The three of them fell into silence, feeling a mix of frustration and shame.
For Asuma and Kurenai, it was the sting of falling behind.
For Shinku, it was pure embarrassment—this was supposed to be hisjob as their sensei, yet Renzo was the one handling it better than him.
"Am I even needed as their teacher anymore?" Shinku couldn't help but wonder.
...
After six days of travel, they finally arrived back in Konoha, weary but unharmed.
Upon their return, they were immediately summoned to the Hokage's office.
"Renzo, you're back!"
The Third Hokage stood up warmly to greet them, his face full of relief. "It's good to see you all safe. I was really worried about you!"
"I feel terrible about sending you on such a dangerous mission. But at the time, I had no other choice. There was no one else available."
"Thankfully, you all made it back safely. From now on, take a good long break. I'm granting your team a six-month leave. No missions for the next half-year. After that, we'll see where we stand."
Even Renzo felt a bit uncomfortable with how overly friendly the Third was acting.
As for Kurenai, Asuma, and Shinku—they were even more unsettled.
As for the so-called six-month vacation?
Renzo had already anticipated this when he first received the recall order. So he wasn't surprised—he simply played along, pretending to be delighted.
After all, isn't that how any normal kid would react to getting a long break?
"So this is the Third's plan..."
Shinku sighed internally.
Was he really resorting to political suppression against a kid?
Even though he had expected this, it was still disappointing.
.
.
.