[Uchiha Clan Grounds]
[Meeting Room]
By the time Renogku's shadow clone came over, Kakashi was already here waiting anxiously.
"Rengoku-sama, the Third Hokage said you dug up Rin's—"
Renogku cut him off directly, "That's right. I dug up both of their graves. You have a problem with that?"
Kakashi, recalling what Renogku had said before, felt a flicker of panic, "Rengoku-sama, why did you dig up Rin's grave?"
Renogku's expression was a faint half-smile, "Don't you already know?"
Kakashi's face suddenly went pale. If it had been anyone else, he wouldn't have believed it.
But Renogku was from the Uchiha clan.
"Rengoku-sama, you're joking… right?"
Kakashi had just been saved by Renogku, so he didn't dare speak too harshly. His tone carried more pleading than defiance.
Renogku frowned slightly, then stared straight at Kakashi, "Have you forgotten what I told you before?"
Meeting Renogku's cold gaze, Kakashi gradually steadied himself.
His mind began to work quickly again.
Renogku sat down, fingers tapping on the table at an unhurried pace.
Kakashi had been flustered because he cared too much.
Once he calmed down to think, he knew Renogku wouldn't do something meaningless.
"…I'm sorry, Rengoku-sama. I was being rash," After regaining his composure, Kakashi apologized.
Renogku neither confirmed nor denied it, "Have you forgotten your teammate's dying words?"
Kakashi shook his head quickly, "Please rest assured, Rengoku-sama. I'll investigate this matter myself."
Only then did Renogku nod slightly. Kakashi wasn't completely hopeless.
"I told the Third Hokage that Rengoku-sama had accepted a commission from the priestess Miroku to bring Shion here."
Renogku's tapping fingers stopped. He stood up and said to Kakashi, "I have a use for Rin's body. As for what that is, I won't tell you now."
"But for the moment, I'm not going to use it yet."
Renogku paused, only continuing after seeing Kakashi holding himself in check, "When the time comes, I'll have you watch from the side."
Although Kakashi very much wanted to know, there was nothing he could do right now.
He could only wait.
"Go do what you should be doing first. Like I said before, when you can accept all of this, then come find me."
Hearing Renogku's clear dismissal, Kakashi could only get up and take his leave, "Rengoku-sama, I'll think it over before I come back."
Renogku said indifferently, "Whether you think it through or not is your business. I won't change the order I do things in."
"Yes… I understand."
———
Renogku's real body was still at the school. When he learned that one of his shadow clones was free, he immediately split off another one, but this one carried much more chakra.
This shadow clone was going out to do real work.
Itachi had already scouted ahead some time ago, passing information back via a crow.
It wasn't too convenient for him to act alone.
Now that Renogku's clone was available, they could handle the matter together.
———
[Fire Temple]
In Renogku's plan, the artificial Nine-Tails jinchuriki here, Sora, was an important part.
In the past, Itachi had worked in Anbu, and his infiltration skills were top-notch.
He had already been in hiding outside the temple gates for several days.
Following Renogku's orders, he had come first to gather intelligence, and to see how best to kidnap the target.
The Fire Temple's iron gates and the two statues beside them formed a massive barrier.
Only chakra of the unique Sage lineage possessed by the temple monks could pass through. Otherwise, the statues had to be destroyed.
Even Itachi couldn't slip inside without being noticed.
Renogku's shadow clone moved at high speed. Under the cover of night, the ground itself became a high-speed passage through his Shadow Escape Technique.
With the target's location confirmed, Renogku didn't take any detours. Using Shadow Escape in a straight line, he reached the Fire Temple in just one day, and quickly found Itachi.
"Sorry, senpai. I even had to trouble you to come in person," Itachi looked slightly ashamed, he couldn't even handle a small task Renogku had given him.
Renogku patted his shoulder, "It's my standards that are too high. I've made it difficult for you."
Then he continued, "Tell me the intel on this place."
"Yes," Itachi laid out the information he'd gathered in detail.
Renogku rubbed his chin. In his memory, this gate had been smashed open with a single punch by Kakuzu.
But that was the brute-force method.
"No problem. We'll wait for morning. After I sneak in, you wait outside for a day. At night, blast open the gate and set a fire to cause chaos."
"I understand, senpai."
———
[The Next Morning]
Two villagers pushed two carts of vegetables to the gate.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
They knocked in a practiced rhythm and waited.
Creak!
The massive hinges groaned as the gates opened.
Two monks appeared. The villagers quickly stood straight, "Master, this is yesterday's delivery of vegetables."
The monks pressed their hands together in thanks, "Much appreciated."
As one monk took the cart handles, one of the villagers suddenly stumbled straight into the gate.
Thud!
The whole gate gave a muffled boom.
At that moment, the shadow beneath the villager's feet twisted slightly.
"Hey! Are you alright?", Startled, the monk bent down to check. By then, Itachi had already slipped in over the top of the gate.
The villager shook his head. In that instant earlier, something had grabbed his foot, but now he just had a lump on his head from the impact.
"Thanks for your concern. I was probably just too tired."
Not knowing what had really happened, and preferring to avoid trouble, the villager let it go.
After slipping through the gate, Renogku quickly hid himself in the shadows of the tree canopy inside the courtyard.
Clearly, the barrier had no effect on Shadow Escape.
Generally, it would take someone on the level of one of the Sannin to detect it.
With no such people inside the temple, it wouldn't be easy to discover him.
Once hidden, Renogku patiently lay in wait for the target to appear.
Monks gradually began to fill the courtyard, first for morning prayers, then martial arts practice.
Renogku scanned the crowd for a while before spotting his target—Sora.
This boy was the artificial Nine-Tails jinchuriki created by Kazuma.
Proof that this world had both great filial sons and utter beastly fathers.
Kazekage Rasa needed no comment, but Kazuma was just as bad.
He knew full well that turning Sora into a Nine-Tails jinchuriki would kill him, but didn't care in the slightest.
Even though Sora was his own son.
By this point in time, the seal on Sora had already erupted once, causing great chaos inside the Fire Temple and killing many people.
So naturally, Sora was treated exactly like Naruto had been in the past, with cold stares, disdain, and bullying.
And Sora was just as unaware of the truth as Naruto had been.
Growing up in that environment, he had developed a strong defensive mentality.
In the original timeline, it was because Naruto shared the same pain that they became friends.
But right now, Sora was just a seven-year-old child.
Here, he had no friends, only pain.
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