After leaving Konoha, Ren and his Suna tag-alongs did not rush. They ninja-hopped leisurely. It was a big difference.
If they were rushing, they could get to Suna in three days, just like Naruto did in canon. But at their pace, it was going to take them five days, maybe even an entire week of travel. And that was, too, much faster than the normal speed of civilian travel.
At the end of the first day, they were only halfway to the Land of Fire Borders, heading toward a small town to find an inn where they could pass the night. There was a tiny argument about camping in the woods.
Baki thought that entering the town was going to show their presence to any would-be pursuers or assassins, which, sadly, Ren had to admit was a reasonable concern. But he still disagreed. Anybody sent after them would be at least an Elite Jonin. And people at that level could find them, whether they camped in the woods outside of the town or spent the night in the inn.
In the end, Baki begrudgingly agreed with that point, even if he said he still thought it was stupid to blatantly show themselves like this.
Ren had to stifle an eye roll at the man, but his good mood refused to be ruined.
And why would it be?
Things were looking up for him. Everything was going great. Despite the small issues, Ren was genuinely happy with his life right now!
Orochimaru was dead. Kabuto was dead. Danzo was dead. Half of lifelong end-game goals were pretty much done. He was almost at the end of this bothersome, self-imposed campaign.
Without Orochimaru and Kabuto, there would be no Edo Tensei in the Fourth Ninja War. And Danzo's death absolutely obliterated even the last possibility of it happening. What was there not to like?
For the first time in a while, Ren felt he was winning.
Yes, the unpleasantness with Hiruzen and Konoha's politics was a total loss for him. It felt so surreal, he couldn't help but find the entire situation hilarious, even as he got his ass politically handed to him. He had to respect it.
But he wasn't really angry about it. It baffled Ino and, to a lesser extent, Hinata. But they didn't understand. To Ren, it didn't matter all that much. He'd like to think he didn't have ego problems where even the slightest setback would make him into a raging asshole, swearing revenge spanning several generations like some half-wit Chinese cultivation protagonist who forgot to take his morning mental medicine.
As annoying as Hiruzen's actions were, the man wasn't truly malicious. That was the actual difference between him and Danzo. Malice.
Danzo wanted to exploit people, no matter the cost to them. He was cruel and actively sought the most distasteful way of doing things in the name of efficiency.
Hiruzen... in Ren's opinion, the man was just doing what he felt he had to do to protect his interests. He was the man at the top of Konoha. And it was only natural that he wanted to protect his position. It was also natural that he wanted to have some say in the future of the village he spent decades protecting and cultivating.
From Hiruzen's perspective, it was his right after all the effort he gave the village. After wasting most of his life in service to it.
That was fair enough, in Ren's mind.
It's the reason why Ren's retaliation was a prank seal that gave the old monkey a kick in the ass, instead of planning how to ruin his life. If Temari were an unpleasant bitch, Ren would probably feel differently, but as things were, Ren didn't even feel that resentful for Hiruzen's machinations.
He knew Ino and Hinata saw things very differently. They took his schemes personally. Ino actually planned to make Hiruzen's life quite unpleasant in the future. And that was her right. Ren was aware that not everybody would feel so nonchalant about the situation, and Hiruzen did not screw with just him but also with the girls by proxy.
It was, again, only natural that they would have something to say about it.
But all these concerns seemed so... insignificant to Ren. For the longest time, he was preoccupied with preparing to deal with Orochimaru. And that was just the first step to real future trouble.
Now that the snake man was dead, a lot of the pressure Ren was feeling was alleviated. Weight fell off his chest, he felt on top of the world, and all that.
Ren only needed to deal with Nagato's Rinnegan, and it would be done. Destroying these eyes would completely ruin the plot for Zetsu. Especially since the Senju clan was kaput and the Uchiha clan was near kaput.
The possibility of another Rinnegan being created was pretty much nil. Even if it did happen, it would take decades.
And if things went wrong? Eh, Ren wasn't overly worried. What's the worst that could happen? Say, they manage to resurrect Madara via Rinnegan. That's pretty much the worst-case scenario curveball Ren could think of. But, so what?
The man is scary, sure. But he was so badass in the anime only because he was brought back through Edo Tensei. He was so invincible because he had infinite chakra, could regenerate from anything, didn't need to concern himself with protecting his body from harm, and did not tire.
Without all of that? Welcome to the world of ordinary mortals, Uchiha bitch.
He might be the strongest S-rank ninja. But that five Kage versus Madara fight would have gone very differently if he weren't an Edo Tensei zombie.
Maybe he would have still won, and maybe not. Who knows? But he would definitely not have come out of it unscathed.
Flinging around those meteors? Maybe living Madara could still do that. But he would have to say bye-bye to more than half of his chakra in one go.
The thing was, unless you are an Edo Tensei zombie, actions have consequences. Chakra is finite. Injuries pile up. Stuff like that. Ren had the confidence that he, Ino, and Hinata were going to get strong enough that they could pose a challenge to a living Madara.
And if not, he could always somehow sic Gate of Death Gai at Madara before he managed to become the juubi jinchuuriki. Gai evaporated half of Madara's body in the anime, and he only survived because he was in his Six Path Mode, or whatever it was.
If the man was actually alive and without the juubi? That would be a fatal blow. End of the line. Arrivederci.
Yes. Without the threat of Edo Tensei, the world seemed so much brighter. Ren had confidence that he could deal with anything thrown at him.
It was a misguided feeling. He knew that. But Sage, he was going to bask in it at least for a little while. He earned it! Edo Tensei was gone!
With an easy-going smile on his face, he followed the Suna ninjas into the town.
...
And while Ren was feeling giddy, far away in one of Orochimaru's hideouts, in the room that belonged to the deceased snake user, Zetsu suddenly rose from the ground just as Obito materialized in the middle of the room.
"So, this is it?" Tobi asked in a deep tone as he turned toward two wooden coffins. "The bodies of the first and the second Hokage."
"Indeed. For some reason, he never summoned the coffins during the battle despite the obvious preparations." The black part of Zetsu spoke.
Tobi's eyes subconsciously looked over the seals etched into the wooden surface. He inwardly nodded. Yes. That was very weird. From what he knew of Orochimaru, the man would throw them at Sarutobi at the first opportunity, if only to take a perverse glee at having his teacher see the desecrated bodies of his own teachers and predecessors.
"I wonder what he wanted to do with them." Tobi muttered and, for a moment, pondered it. Orochimaru was not a man who would make preparations such as these without having a damn good plan.
But then, Tobi shrugged. It didn't matter. They were here because these bodies would be a good present for Sasori. Now that Orochimaru was dead, there was no reason not to loot his bases.
Zetsu and Obito always knew their locations. Sasori did not have just that Kabuto boy under Orochimaru's employ. The man was far too meticulous not to have contingencies.
Plus, Orochimaru was truly arrogant, thinking they would be unable to locate his Akatsuki ring if he just sealed it up and threw it into his closet. He was wrong. As usual. Tobi sneered under his mask.
The space around the coffins swirled, sucking them inside Tobi's Kamui.
With that done, Tobi turned around toward Zetsu, who was curiously reading some documents from Orochimaru's table.
"Did you find something interesting?" Obito asked, causing Zetsu to look at him and owlishly blink in a very creepy way.
"... No. Just some documents about his research into the Wood Release." The black Zetsu explained, causing Obito to lose interest.
Half of his body was made of Zetsu, which gave him a Wood Release of his own. Anything Orochimaru came up with was going to be a fair amount inferior to what he already possessed. Obito did not feel any reason to care about this research.
He dismissively nodded, "I see. In that case, I will leave you to sort through the documents. Report anything of interest when you are done." The space swirled again, and just like that, Obito was gone.
For a few seconds, Zetsu stared with a blank face at the empty spot where Obito had stood a moment ago, but then his face split in a massive, malicious grin as he abruptly turned back toward the table and grabbed another document.
"Edo Tensei, heeh~?" He giggled.
---
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