Uchiha Madara's eyes lit up slightly — this was actually a pretty good suggestion.
The real reason he'd thought about inviting Renya to leave with him in the first place was because the kid's cooking was excellent. If he kept him by his side, he could enjoy good food every day.
Since Renya wasn't willing to leave with him, Madara could accept the alternative — having the kid come over occasionally to cook for him…
With his strength, sneaking into Konoha was a simple matter anyway, as long as he avoided being noticed by Mito and Tobirama, those two with sharp sensory abilities.
"Fine," Madara said succinctly.
Senju Hashirama let out a sigh of relief when he heard Madara agree.
Good thing Madara didn't try to force Renya to leave with him. He didn't even dare imagine what Tobirama's reaction would be if he learned the truth.
If Renya had gone with Madara, there was a high chance Tobirama would find out about their faked deaths.
Hashirama still wasn't ready to reveal his identity…
After all, even Tobirama didn't yet have the power to stop Madara.
He planned to reveal himself openly only after successfully persuading Madara to abandon the "Eye of the Moon" plan.
...
"Hashirama-san, are you still leaving the village?" Renya suddenly asked.
Hashirama instinctively glanced at his close friend, then nodded slightly.
"Mm. We still have to leave Konoha."
This time, he'd only happened to pass through the Land of Fire, and dragged Madara along just so they could taste Renya's cooking — and incidentally, check in on Mito and Tsunade.
Now that half of that was done, the other half was visiting his family.
But he worried that sneaking home would alert Mito, which would expose the whole fake-death plan.
For a moment, he actually hesitated…
"Renya, how are Mito and little Tsuna these days?" Hashirama asked with a bitter smile.
In the end, he gave up on visiting them directly and could only inquire about their recent situation.
Renya noticed Hashirama's hesitation.
"Hashirama-san, actually, Mito-san already knows about your fake death."
"What?!" Hashirama's eyes widened. "Mito knows?!"
Impossible. He'd hidden it so well. That night, Mito shouldn't have noticed anything unusual.
"It was the Nine-Tails who told Mito-san..." Renya explained what had happened that night.
Madara glanced at Hashirama in surprise. He hadn't expected even Hashirama's closest loved ones didn't know about his fake death.
This guy had really gone to incredible lengths just to find him.
...
"Haha, so that's how it is." Hashirama scratched his head with a sheepish grin. "So Mito already knows the truth, huh…"
That meant he could openly appear before her now, right?
Suddenly, Hashirama shot up from his chair.
"Madara, wait here. I'm going home to see Mito."
With that, his figure flickered and disappeared on the spot.
Madara watched his friend's departing back, then shifted his gaze toward Renya.
Renya felt increasingly uncomfortable under Madara's silent stare.
What… was this guy planning to do?
Hashirama-san, hurry back!
Right now, he absolutely didn't want to be alone with Uchiha Madara…
Madara's brows furrowed slightly. He couldn't shake the feeling that this kid's bloodline wasn't pure.
Could he be the result of a union between an Uchiha and another clan?
Renya couldn't stand the pressure of Madara's gaze anymore and decided to find an excuse to leave the living room. Being stared at like this was unbearable.
"Madara-sama, I'm going to make breakfast now. Would you like a serving too?"
It was just a polite gesture — Madara had already eaten earlier.
Renya expected to be refused, but unexpectedly, Madara nodded.
"Alright. Make me one."
Renya: "???"
Didn't this guy just have a meal?
Why did he still want breakfast?
If he hadn't seen Madara nod himself, he would've thought he misheard.
"You have a problem with that?" Madara asked when he noticed Renya frozen in place.
What was this kid standing around for? Did he not hear him clearly?
Even though he'd eaten two full bowls of rice earlier, his stomach was already rumbling again.
Since the kid had offered, why would he refuse?
And who knew when Hashirama would be back anyway — he might as well enjoy some breakfast while waiting.
He could also use the opportunity to see just how good this kid's breakfast-making skills really were.
Renya quickly snapped out of his daze.
"No problem, I'll get started right away."
Without another word, he cleared the dishes from the table and hurried into the kitchen.
Madara watched Renya's retreating back, picked up his teacup, and took a slow sip.
This kid was honestly wasted following Tobirama.
Too bad Renya didn't want to leave with him. Tobirama had really lucked out.
Still, Renya had just said that if he wanted a meal, he could come over anytime.
Madara began considering finding a hideout somewhere near the Land of Fire. That way, whenever he craved good food, he could reach Konoha quickly.
But sneaking into Konoha constantly would be troublesome. And with his identity, if he was ever caught entering Tobirama's house, the consequences would be disastrous…
Which meant there was only one solution — he'd have to make the kid come to him.
Madara planned to have Renya sign a summoning contract later. That way, whenever he wanted a meal, he could just have a summoning beast bring the kid over.
That would greatly reduce the risk of being discovered.
Not only would he get delicious food, but he also wouldn't have to worry about exposing his identity. Two birds with one stone!
Meanwhile, busy in the kitchen, Renya had no idea Madara was plotting against him.
He hadn't eaten all morning — everything he'd cooked had been devoured by Madara and Hashirama.
Now he was kneading dough, planning to use the leftover beef to make beef buns.
There was no helping it; this was all the food they had left.
After half an hour of hard work, he finally made six beef buns.
Renya stared at the steaming buns in the bamboo steamer and sighed helplessly.
Hopefully, Madara-sama wouldn't eat too much…
He'd been busy since morning and still hadn't had a single bite.
Out in the living room, Madara caught the rich aroma drifting from the kitchen and swallowed unconsciously.
Just the smell of the buns was making him hungry again — probably because he hadn't eaten anything at all yesterday.
This kid's cooking was the real deal. Just smelling it made it impossible to resist.
When it came to culinary skills, Uchiha Madara was willing to call him the strongest!
Under Madara's expectant gaze, Renya finally emerged from the kitchen carrying a basket of steaming buns.
"Madara-sama, the buns are ready."
Madara looked at the steaming buns on the table and couldn't help swallowing hard.
"Madara-sama, I'll start eating then," Renya said as he grabbed two buns without hesitation and started devouring them hungrily.
He was terrified of eating too slowly and having a certain someone snatch them away…
Madara's lips twitched. This kid was overthinking it.
He, the so-called Shura of the shinobi world, would never fight a kid over food.
If anyone heard about that, wouldn't he lose all dignity?
Madara silently watched as Renya finished all the buns.
"Madara-sama, aren't you eating?" Renya finally noticed Madara hadn't touched any.
"I'm not hungry."
As he spoke, Madara pulled out a scroll and placed it on the table.
"Kid, sign this scroll."
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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