"Renya, you're back."
Uzumaki Mito spoke softly, not even turning her head.
With her powerful sensory abilities, she had long since sensed Renya's arrival.
Renya walked up beside Mito and stood silently, gazing at Hashirama's grave without saying a word.
Hashirama's "death" had naturally left Mito-san heartbroken.
If he didn't know the truth, he would have felt sorrow too.
Uzumaki Mito lowered her gaze to her husband's grave. This small mound of earth without even a tombstone was where the God of Shinobi, Senju Hashirama, had been buried.
The wind lifted the white strands at her temple. The sorrow in her eyes was impossible to hide.
Renya quietly watched Mito in her grief, feeling a storm of conflicting emotions inside.
If not for his promise to Senju Hashirama, Renya would've told her the truth right then and there.
But this was Hashirama's choice—Renya had no right to interfere.
Maybe once he found Madara, he would return to the village and reunite with his wife.
There was also another possibility: he would never find Madara and die somewhere along the way.
After all, his body hadn't truly recovered. Death could come at any moment.
No one could guarantee that Hashirama would survive.
If Renya told Mito the truth now and gave her hope that her husband would return, and in the end, he never came back… wouldn't that only deepen her grief?
Sometimes, having hope and then losing it is even crueler than facing the truth.
The anticipation in one's heart stretches out time, making every second feel soaked in the illusion of a wish fulfilled.
Better to live with harsh truth than drown in sweet delusion.
After all, Renya had no way of knowing whether Senju Hashirama would return to the village alive.
With that thought, Renya gave up on telling Uzumaki Mito the truth…
Uzumaki Mito just stood there, dazed, staring at her husband's grave, as if lost in memories of their time together.
Renya simply stood in silence, not wanting to disturb her.
Then, Mito suddenly asked Renya a question.
"Renya, is Hashirama really dead?"
Renya's entire body tensed, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end.
A fleeting look of panic and tension flashed through his eyes.
What does Mito-san mean by that?!
Could she have already known about Hashirama-san's faked death?
No... this has to be a bluff…
It's been so long—there's no way she could've discovered the truth.
If there was ever a time when it might have been exposed, it would have been the night of the faked death.
As long as she hadn't sensed anything unusual that night, then the secret was safe!
Just as Renya was about to explain, Mito's next words caught him completely off guard.
"That night, I sat beside Hashirama's body the entire night…"
She paused for a moment before continuing,
"Hashirama really isn't good at lying."
"Mito-san, what… what are you talking about?" Renya feigned confusion.
He had a strong feeling that Mito was fishing for a reaction—testing him.
"Before I left the room, I sensed a faint heartbeat in Hashirama. That's when I knew something wasn't right, so I stepped out for a while."
Uzumaki Mito looked at Renya with a gentle smile.
"When I returned to the room, his pulse had vanished."
"Mito-san, maybe you were mistaken in your sensing," Renya offered quietly.
As long as there was no concrete evidence, he would never admit it.
Faced with Renya's reply, Uzumaki Mito didn't say yes or no.
"Renya, do you know how long Hashirama's Wood Clone lasts after it stops receiving chakra?"
She held up three fingers. "Three months. That's the maximum a Wood Clone can maintain itself."
Renya's pupils shrank sharply at her words. A ridiculous thought flashed through his mind.
She couldn't have dug up the grave, right?!
If that were true, Hashirama's faked death would definitely be exposed!
"People can't come back from the dead…" Renya swallowed nervously, trying to calm her. "Mito-san, please calm down."
Uzumaki Mito nodded in agreement, her expression calm.
"I know people can't come back from the dead… but what if the person isn't actually dead?"
Renya's face darkened. He said in a low voice,
"Mito-san, are you seriously going to dig up Hashirama-san's grave?"
"Yes. I know Hashirama isn't dead. If you won't tell me, then I'll see the truth for myself."
"Fine, go ahead and dig." Renya didn't stop her.
He was gambling—that this was just a bluff.
As long as Mito didn't actually dig up the grave, the truth wouldn't come out!
"Renya, did you really think I had no evidence?" Uzumaki Mito chuckled softly. Her chakra surged violently.
From the look of things, she really was about to destroy the grave.
Seeing this, Renya let out a helpless sigh. He knew the secret couldn't be hidden any longer.
"Mito-san, when did you find out the truth?"
A sly, victorious smile appeared on Mito's face. She said gently,
"Renya, I never found out."
Renya: "???"
He'd been played.
Still too young after all.
Experience wins—the old are indeed wiser.
Seeing Renya's dumbfounded expression, Uzumaki Mito laughed and explained,
"Well, not entirely. It was the Nine-Tails who told me that Hashirama wasn't dead…"
"The Nine-Tails?!" Renya's eyes widened in shock.
So that's how the secret was exposed—it was that damned Nine-Tails stirring up trouble!
Tailed Beasts can sense the chakra and emotions of those around them.
At the time, the Nine-Tails had sensed Hashirama's emotions!
How could a dead man have emotions?!
The Nine-Tails had instantly guessed that Senju Hashirama had faked his death to escape.
And to get revenge on Hashirama, it told Uzumaki Mito what it sensed.
Only back then, Mito hadn't believed it.
She thought the Nine-Tails was just trying to cause trouble and ignored it.
But as time passed, she began to notice things felt off.
Combined with the Nine-Tails' explanations, she gradually came to believe Hashirama wasn't truly dead.
These past few days, Mito had been coming to the grave often—struggling with whether or not to dig it up.
And then Renya just happened to arrive…
It turned out, the Nine-Tails hadn't lied. Hashirama really wasn't dead!
After hearing her explanation, Renya was at a loss for words.
He and Hashirama had planned for everything—except for the Nine-Tails interfering.
Great. Now the whole plan was exposed.
Renya was seriously tempted to strangle the Nine-Tails.
...
In the sealed space.
The Nine-Tails looked at Renya's frustrated expression. Its nine tails swayed cheerfully behind it, clearly in a great mood.
A deep, rumbling laugh echoed as smug satisfaction radiated from it.
Because of Uchiha Madara, the Nine-Tails had developed a hatred for every Uchiha!
If not for Uchiha Madara, it wouldn't be sealed in this place to begin with.
Of course, Senju Hashirama and Uzumaki Mito weren't any better!
Especially that bastard Hashirama!
Saying its power was too dangerous—then casually sealing it away.
It was exactly this resentment toward Hashirama that led the Nine-Tails to tell Uzumaki Mito the truth.
Its only goal was to sabotage Hashirama and the Uchiha brat's plan.
It didn't even know what the two of them were plotting or why Hashirama had faked his death.
It just wanted to stir up trouble. That's all.
...
"Hahaha! You damn little Uchiha brat, I saw right through your schemes from the very beginning!"