[Commercial Street]
While Kakashi was spacing out,
The nearby voices brought his thoughts back.
Kakashi saw Rengoku standing with three little girls in front of a goldfish scooping stall.
He didn't know Haku and only categorized all three of them as little girls based on their skirts.
"…Do you like it? If you like it, then play," Seeing that all three were a bit interested, Rengoku directly paid the owner and let them scoop goldfish.
Karin targeted a fat goldfish and chased after it with her paper scoop.
Just as the goldfish was about to be lifted out, splurt!, the paper scoop tore.
The goldfish flopped back into the water.
"Ah! Shishou, it fell down!"
Rengoku laughed while watching from the side, "You won't catch it like that."
Karin puffed up in anger, "Shishou, I want to try again!"
The small stand owner didn't know Rengoku personally, but he recognized the Uchiha clan outfit.
At this moment, he enthusiastically asked, "My lord, do you need more scoops?"
Rengoku took out money again, "Each of you gets three scoops."
This kind of game is best enjoyed in moderation. If you just throw money at it, it loses its appeal.
Karin got two more paper scoops, while Haku and Hotaru both had three in their hands.
Seeing that Haku and Hotaru still hadn't started and were watching how others did it, she immediately became anxious, "No fair! Shishou, just now shouldn't count, I want one more scoop!"
Rengoku pointed at Haku and Hotaru, "Each gets three. No cheating."
"Hmph!", Seeing that acting spoiled didn't work, Karin pursed her lips but didn't say anything.
She saw that Hotaru and Haku had both crouched down and started scooping.
So she quickly ran over to see how they were doing.
When Hotaru scooped goldfish, her movements entering and leaving the water were very gentle, and she only chose small ones.
All three paper scoops got torn and she caught fourteen small goldfish.
Haku, on the other hand, selected the prettiest goldfish. Although he only caught four, his expression showed he was clearly satisfied.
After learning something from watching them, Karin crouched down to scoop goldfish too.
Kakashi first cautiously checked to see if there were any ANBU nearby, then walked over to Rengoku's side.
"Rengoku-sama."
Rengoku raised one hand to indicate "wait a moment".
He didn't speak, didn't turn his head, and didn't even shift his gaze.
He just watched as Karin stacked two paper scoops together, aimed at that fattest goldfish, and scooped it up in one go.
Although she only caught that one goldfish, she was obviously satisfied.
"Ehehehe! Shishou, I caught it!"
Rengoku patted Karin on the head, "Looks like you're quite clever."
Karin put her hands on her waist, "I had my eye on that fat one from the start, so I had to catch it."
"All right, let the shopkeeper bag it."
The three girls handed their bowls to the owner. The owner put the water and fish into bags and handed them over, even giving them some fish food as a bonus.
These goldfish were bred by the shop owner himself and weren't worth much. The durability of the paper scoop had already been calculated in advance.
No matter how you scooped, the owner wouldn't lose money.
People were just here for fun.
Watching the three children excitedly take the goldfish, Rengoku finally turned his head and asked Kakashi, "What is it?"
Kakashi hesitated, then spoke, "There is something I'd like to ask for Rengoku-sama's help with."
Rengoku formed a hand seal, and a barrier spread out.
The range wasn't big, just enough to cover Rengoku and Kakashi.
Kakashi immediately felt silence around him, unable to hear any outside sounds.
"Speak. No one outside can hear it."
Kakashi was a bit surprised that Rengoku was also proficient in sealing and barrier techniques.
But he went straight to the point and told him about Shirakumo Saeko.
That the Third Hokage would do such things, Rengoku felt it was quite normal.
After all, it was basic operation.
"I can't extend my hand into the Konoha hospital, but you can go to Tsunade for this."
Kakashi wasn't familiar with Tsunade and didn't know her well, so he asked Rengoku first, "Would Tsunade-sama be appropriate?"
Rengoku nodded, "You can trust Tsunade's character. The authority over the hospital is already in her hands."
"She's just been too lazy to actually manage it."
"Go and tell her that you suspect someone in Konoha is still conducting human experimentation."
"If you haven't been discovered, you can keep working under the Third Hokage."
"If you can't stay out of it, then side with Tsunade. The Third Hokage doesn't have many cards left."
Kakashi bowed slightly, "Thank you very much, Rengoku-sama."
Rengoku waved his hand and dispelled the barrier. In an instant, the outside sounds returned to Kakashi's ears.
"Shishou, Shishou… I want to eat that!", Karin pointed at a takoyaki stall and waved at Rengoku.
Rengoku patted her head indulgently, "All right."
———
As for Kakashi's matter, Rengoku didn't pay it any more attention.
If Kakashi couldn't handle even this, there was no way he could become Sixth Hokage in another timeline.
However, Hyuga Sota still came to the school specifically to report the follow-up.
After Kakashi went to find Tsunade, the justice-loving Tsunade smashed the hospital wall open that very night, and rescued all the people imprisoned in there.
Most of those people turned out to be family members of ANBU or Root members.
But the Third Hokage pushed all responsibility away and placed the blame on Koharu.
Since the guards there were originally Koharu's people.
Koharu claimed it was done to keep Danzo's Root in check, and that since they had food and water there, it didn't count as imprisonment.
Although the matter ended without further result, Tsunade decided to personally control the authority over the hospital.
———
On another front.
After the Mizukage, together with Rengoku's clone, made a big scene at a port in the Land of Lightning, he didn't immediately return.
Instead, he began to target and attack Lightning Country ships.
Although Kumogakure organized several counteroffensives, on the sea the mobility of the Three-Tails Isobu was still very strong.
At the very least, the Eight-Tails Gyuki couldn't stop two tailed beasts at once.
In the past, Water Country merchants had to keep their heads down when doing business.
Faced with Kumogakure's extortion, they had no way to resist.
Sometimes they took risks on sea trade and still made almost no profit.
Now with the Mizukage and Rengoku's clone backing them up, the two Yaguras supporting them, Water Country's maritime trade gradually improved.
After losing two counteroffensives against the Mizukage, Kumogakure also began attacking Water Country merchant ships.
With heavy losses on both sides, peace talks began.
Under the pressure of Yagura and his clone, the Land of Lightning was forced to pull back.
Both sides' jinchuriki agreed to stop attacking merchant ships.
With the Mizukage and Rengoku's clone protecting them, the Water Country's ships began following trade routes to farther places.
Doing their best to earn money for the Water Country and restore the strength of the Water Country and Kirigakure.
After taking the position of advisor elder, the Uchiha surprisingly went into dormancy instead of acting immediately.
After handing several important topics to Orochimaru, they began to quietly wait for the right time.
[Winter passed, spring came, year after year—]
[—More than two years passed silently.]
Rengoku turned 20 years old, and Naruto and the others were now 10.
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