Danzo loved his baby so much, and usually, he was used to pampering him, but today he was beaten—and beaten badly!
He felt like he was about to explode with rage, barely able to control the savage power roiling within him. This was Konoha, his territory, and someone had the audacity to bully his son?
As for Danzo's reaction—Ren had guessed it right. He quietly observed the conference room. Each patriarch he looked at subconsciously shrank back.
Though the upper echelons of Konoha vaguely knew Danzo spoiled Ren, they hadn't expected it to reach this level. Danzo looked like he was ready to erupt.
A real Kage-level powerhouse in the Hokage building... The only one who could stop him now was Sarutobi.
As the patriarchs began mentally groaning, Ren found his target: dressed in the traditional black fan-marked uniform—Uchiha Aida, Fugaku's father and current Uchiha Patriarch.
"It's him!"
Ren pointed at him. Several nearby clan heads hastily shifted away from Uchiha Aida, fearing Danzo's rising bloodlust. Aida stood up, brows furrowed.
"Lord Danzo, did your son mistake the attacker? I've been in this room all day and haven't moved. How could I have hurt him?"
Though wary of Danzo, Aida couldn't afford to lose face for the Uchiha. Elite Jōnin or not, Danzo wouldn't dare attack openly in the Hokage building. Sarutobi would intervene.
Danzo clenched his fists, hesitating. His son's injuries looked fresh, but Aida had indeed been at the meeting the entire time. Just then, Ren pouted and muttered aggrievedly:
"It was his son, Uchiha Fugaku, who beat me! An Elite Chūnin bullying a freshman at the Ninja Academy! Father... Dead monkey... you have to stand up for me!"
"WHAT! Dead... Dead monkey?! Cough—cough—you brat, who are you calling dead monkey?!" Sarutobi choked and coughed violently, his face reddening.
The white-haired man behind him burst into unrestrained laughter.
"Hahahaha! Dead monkey! It fits too well! Dead monkey!"
"Shut up, Jiraiya!"
Sarutobi glared daggers, causing Jiraiya to clamp his mouth shut with both hands, shoulders still shaking.
"Enough, Sarutobi. Let's settle my son's matter first!" Danzo's tone was low, chakra leaking dangerously, though the burning fury in his eyes dimmed.
"Ghost brat, how dare he lay hands on my son!"
Danzo knew Ren well. The boy's pride was immense. If he truly lost a fight, he'd suffer in silence and take revenge quietly.
For him to come here, looking aggrieved of all things? That alone told Danzo everything.
But Danzo said nothing. He had long wanted an excuse to deal with the Uchiha. Today, an opportunity had arrived.
The meeting promptly disbanded. No one wanted to be caught in the crossfire. One by one, clan heads filed out, urging Sarutobi to handle the mess.
The last to leave was Nara Shikaku's father. He cast Ren a meaningful glance.
Ren returned it, prompting a slight nod before the Nara patriarch stepped out and quietly closed the door.
Only Ren, Sarutobi, Danzo, Uchiha Aida, and the Sannin remained.
Tension thickened the air. Aida wore a stone mask. Danzo pretended to stay furious. Sarutobi rubbed his temple, caught between both sides.
"Little Ren, tell me, why did Uchiha Fugaku bully you?" Sarutobi asked gently, gaze soft with the weariness of an old rival-turned-comrade.
He knew Danzo loved Konoha like himself. But where Sarutobi led with ideals, Danzo led with steel.
Sarutobi held no ill-will toward Ren. He even taught at the Academy, partly to guide him. But the kid was impossibly arrogant, always pressing his buttons.
And yet Ren, knowing this, dared to nickname him dead monkey.
Ren pouted deeper, blinking hard to force tears—but nothing came.
The elders saw right through him. Sarutobi and Danzo had metaphorical black lines across their foreheads. Aida remained stone-faced. Tsunade looked entertained, arms folded. Jiraiya gave Ren a silent thumbs-up. Orochimaru watched, eerily calm.
Ren cleared his throat dramatically.
"Well, it's like this. Mikoto is my benchmate. Because of my overwhelming handsomeness, charming conversation, and unmatched elegance, Mikoto's admired me for a long time. Just yesterday, she begged me to marry her. But I'm a decent man. I couldn't possibly kidnap a seven-year-old loli! So I pretended to agree to be her temporary boyfriend so I could dump her later without breaking her heart."
He paused, dead serious. "Naturally, as a boyfriend, I had to hold her hand. And that's when Cannon Fodder #1 walked in and..."
Ren continued speaking fluently, not a hint of shame.
Sarutobi's jaw dropped.
Even Danzo's eye twitched, a vein bulging on his temple.
Ren was pretty—he got that from his deceased mother. But the rest? The self-proclaimed charm? Mikoto's obsession? A decent man?
Pah!
Everyone else could only sigh.