Early morning, at the hot springs inn.
Hashirama carefully tucked the sleeping Tanihana into his arms, his bamboo pack stuffed full with fish cakes the proprietress had forcefully given them.
These were snacks for Tanihana to eat along the road.
Renya had changed back into his black combat gear, fastening sword at his waist.
The two of them left Yukigakure together, side by side.
"Renya, where to next?" Hashirama said. "I've heard the Cloudfall in the Land of Lightning is spectacular, or maybe the mirage in the Land of Wind?"
Tanihana poked her head out from his robes, looking at Renya with a curious expression.
Renya thought for a moment.
"Hashirama-san, how about we go check out the Land of Water?"
The Land of Water was the only island nation among the Five Great Nations. Its geography was somewhat similar to an island country from his previous life.
Being an island nation, its seafood was said to be exceptionally delicious.
He wanted to taste the seafood there first—there was still plenty of time to visit the other countries afterward.
"Haha, sounds good to me," Hashirama said with a laugh. "The First Mizukage's Water Release techniques were legendary. Maybe you'll be able to improve your own Water Release while you're there."
Renya didn't respond—he wasn't good at Water Release, and frankly, he wasn't very interested in it.
As a member of the Uchiha clan, he naturally preferred Fire Release.
He pulled out a map from his ninja pouch and slowly traced the coastline with his finger, tapping the spot marked Kirigakure.
"Hashirama-san, let's head out now. If we move fast, we can make it there today."
On the map, Kirigakure lay in the southeast corner of the Land of Hot Water.
They would need to travel to the edge of the Land of Hot Water and then take a boat across to the Land of Water.
With that, Renya began to lead the way using the map.
Hashirama suddenly remembered Renya's past attempts at navigation and quickly said,
"Renya, maybe I should lead the way instead."
Without waiting for a reply, he snatched the map from Renya's hands and took the lead.
Renya looked helpless and let out a quiet sigh.
Prejudice in people's hearts really is like a mountain…
All he did last time was veer slightly off-course—was that really such a big deal?
...
The two didn't travel very quickly, taking frequent breaks along the way.
It wasn't until dusk that they reached the border of the Land of Hot Water.
By that time, there were no more boats on the water. They would have to spend the night there and wait for the boatmen to resume work the next morning.
The Land of Water was a major exporter of seafood.
Every morning, fishermen from neighboring countries would head to its coast to purchase high-end seafood, which they would then resell inland for a profit.
...
That night, the campfire crackled.
Hashirama tossed more firewood onto the flames. Tanihana, curled up like a ball of fluff, had somehow crept back into his arms, her damaged tail resting lightly on his wrist.
He glanced over at Renya, who was rummaging through his ninja pouch. The boy's fingers brushed past sharp kunai before finally settling on a row of small, distinctively shaped bottles.
"Renya, what are those?" Hashirama squinted and leaned in closer. Tanihana peeked her head out too.
Under their curious gaze, Renya straightened up and placed a few bottles on the ground, a confident smirk tugging at his lips.
"Hashirama-san, these are poisons I've been developing over the years." He picked up one of the bottles. "This one's called 'Heart-Eater.' It's colorless and tasteless. Just the tiniest bit on a wound is basically a death sentence."
Tanihana had been sniffing curiously at the bottles, but upon hearing that, she jumped into Hashirama's arms in fright.
"And what about the rest of these?" Hashirama pointed to the others on the ground.
"These? They're all 'Heart-Eater,'" Renya said.
Hashirama's mouth twitched. The bottles were all different colors—he'd assumed they had different effects.
But no—same poison, just packaged differently.
Noticing Hashirama's expression, Renya gave a helpless shrug.
He would have loved to develop more types of stronger poisons, but he didn't have the means.
Creating highly toxic poisons wasn't something you could do overnight.
Just refining 'Heart-Eater' had taken him over a hundred iterations. He didn't even have time to try making new types.
And making poisons was expensive. Each experiment cost a lot of money.
Nearly all the money Renya had earned over the years had gone into poison research.
Still, he was quite satisfied with his work.
Back when he fought Kakuzu, a single scratch from a poisoned blade had been enough to infect him with a deadly toxin.
But Renya still felt the poison worked too slowly.
If it had acted faster, Kakuzu wouldn't have survived at all.
With a sigh, Renya muttered, "Sigh… Still not strong enough…"
Hashirama stared at him with a strange look.
Not strong enough?
He suddenly remembered something Tobirama had said a long time ago.
[Big Brother, I think this jutsu is still too weak.]
And after that, Tobirama just kept diving deeper into forbidden jutsu…
No matter how much Hashirama tried to dissuade him, Tobirama wouldn't budge.
Now Renya had gone down the path of poison research instead.
Neither of them ever gave him a moment's peace…
Hashirama let out a sigh of his own, full of regret.
If only he hadn't let Tobirama adopt Renya back then.
Such a good kid, completely corrupted by Tobirama.
He still remembered the look in Renya's eyes back then—full of yearning to grow stronger…
Thinking that, Hashirama glanced instinctively toward Renya.
The flickering firelight lit up Renya's face in flashes. He stared down at the small bottle in his hands, eyes burning with obsession.
Hashirama: "…"
That fiery gaze—it was exactly the same as Tobirama's when he was researching forbidden jutsu.
Truly Tobirama's protégé through and through.
Hashirama didn't even know whether to laugh or cry anymore.
He was starting to feel like Renya was just a mini Tobirama…
Right then, Renya was imagining himself taking down Six Paths Madara with a well-timed dose of poison, completely unaware of Hashirama's expression.
He believed that as long as he kept researching, he would one day create an even stronger poison.
Ideally, a poison he could fully control—one that would kill instantly on command.
Then all he'd have to do is poison the water supply, and he could decide who lived or died.
Of course, that was just a fantasy.
At Renya's current level, he wouldn't be able to create something like that in ten lifetimes.
"Renya?" Hashirama couldn't help but speak up.
Renya snapped out of his daydream.
He looked a little resentfully at Hashirama—he'd just been immersed in his fantasy of becoming the Strongest Poison Master in the Shinobi World, and now it was ruined.
Noticing his gaze, Hashirama was baffled.
Why was Renya looking at him like that?
"Sigh." Renya sighed, packed away his poisons, and laid down on the ground.
Time to sleep—everything is possible in dreams…
"Good night, Hashirama-san."
With that, he closed his eyes and quickly drifted off to sleep.
Hashirama was clearly shocked by how fast he'd conked out.
"Youth really is great—you can just fall asleep like that."
If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he'd have thought Renya had taken knockout powder or something.
Because only knockout powder could have this kind of effect…
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