Late at night, the vast majority of people had already gone to sleep.
Shimura Danzo avoided the patrolling ninja and left the tent alone, heading toward the small grove.
The tent flap of the neighboring tent was gently lifted. The Second Kazekage, Shamon, watched Danzo's departing back and fell into deep thought.
At this hour of the night, what was the Hokage running out to do?
During the day, the mysterious man Renya Uchiha had infiltrated the Allied Shinobi Forces' camp, and at night, the Hokage Shimura Danzo was sneaking out of the camp.
Who was he secretly going out to meet?
So hard to guess!
For the sake of currying favor with Konoha, and also for the sake of his own life, Shamon decided it was better to pretend he hadn't seen anything.
Otherwise, if Renya found out, he definitely wouldn't end up with a good outcome!
...
In the small grove not far from the Allied Shinobi Forces' camp.
Shimura Danzo looked around but did not see any sign of his good friend. His brows furrowed slightly.
Didn't that guy Renya say he would be waiting for him in the grove tonight?
Now that he had arrived, there was no one to be seen.
He had reason to suspect that unreliable guy had most likely fallen asleep by accident.
Being late was completely normal for Renya.
Since he was already here, he might as well wait a bit longer.
Thinking this, Shimura Danzo leaned his back against the tree trunk, closed his eyes, and waited patiently for his good brother to arrive.
No one knew how much time passed before faint footsteps suddenly appeared in the silent grove.
Finally here.
He slowly opened his eyes. Under the moonlight, a figure wearing a white mask, clad in a black robe with long hair, was slowly walking toward him.
It was none other than Renya, who was impersonating Uchiha Madara.
"I'm sorry, Danzo." Renya took off his mask and scratched his head embarrassedly. "I was basking in the sun this afternoon and ended up falling asleep by accident."
He really hadn't meant to stand Danzo up; it was just that the afternoon sun had been too warm.
On top of that, without Tobi providing a wake-up service, accidentally oversleeping was perfectly normal...
Wasn't he here the moment he woke up?
As for Renya's reason for being late, Shimura Danzo had already anticipated it, and no expression appeared on his face.
"Tell me—what exactly happened?"
All this time, he had never had the chance to ask what had really happened between Renya and Uchiha Madara.
As well as the direct connection between capturing the tailed beasts and the Eye of the Moon Plan.
"Uchiha Madara ordered me to capture the nine tailed beasts..." Renya concisely recounted his experiences during this period.
As for things that he theoretically shouldn't have known—such as the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and the Ten-Tails, which Madara had never mentioned—he did not bring them up.
After all, he couldn't be sure that even after sending Tobi away, there weren't other White Zetsu watching from the shadows.
Inviting Danzo here was, in essence, just a reunion between old friends.
Revealing too much would easily alert the enemy.
Renya planned to delay for a few more months and then completely fall out with Madara.
Shimura Danzo's expression turned somewhat ugly upon hearing this.
That naturally evil Uchiha Madara really was threatening Renya into capturing the tailed beasts!
If he knew Madara's hiding place, he would definitely lead the Allied Shinobi Forces to attack immediately.
Unfortunately, Renya had no intention of telling him.
"Tobirama-sensei has returned to the village to warn Lady Mito," Shimura Danzo suddenly said.
"So that's how it is." Renya realized.
No wonder he hadn't seen that old bastard Senju Tobirama today.
So he had already returned to Konoha.
But that was for the best—Aunt Mito really did need protection.
The current Madara couldn't be judged by common sense; who knew whether he was secretly preparing some backup plan.
Being cautious was never wrong.
"Renya, are your injuries okay?" Shimura Danzo's gaze fell on Renya's loose black robe.
Some time ago, he had personally seen Renya get hit by three kunai.
He wondered whether the wounds had fully healed.
"I'm fine. I recovered a few days ago—otherwise Madara wouldn't have let me come capture the tailed beasts," Renya said with a smile.
"Mm." Shimura Danzo nodded.
The atmosphere in the grove began to grow strange, and for a while, neither of them spoke.
Two grown men didn't really have much to talk about to begin with.
And meeting secretly in a grove in the middle of the night—if word got out, the impact definitely wouldn't be good.
"Renya, are you confident you can stop Uchiha Madara?"
After a moment of silence, Shimura Danzo asked the question he cared about most.
If Renya wasn't confident in dealing with Uchiha Madara, he could completely seek their help.
Although Uchiha Madara was extremely powerful, that didn't mean he could remain powerful forever!
One could look at the former God of Shinobi, Lord Hashirama—now he was nothing more than a frail old man in the twilight of his life.
Surely Uchiha Madara wouldn't be in much better shape.
As long as everyone united, it might not be impossible to stop him.
Renya saw through his friend's thoughts and smiled reassuringly.
"Leave this matter to me. Don't worry yourself over it."
Regarding Madara, he had never considered involving anyone else, unless it truly became unavoidable.
Otherwise, he preferred to handle it alone.
In a few more months, he could let Madara return to the village to retire.
After being away from home for thirty years, it was time to go back.
Then he could spend his days in the village basking in the sun with Uncle Hashirama, playing a bit of shogi, leisurely passing his final years, and occasionally bickering a few times with that old bastard Senju Tobirama.
That was far better than spending his last days alone in a dark, damp underground space...
"As long as you're confident, that's fine." Shimura Danzo nodded.
All along, both he and Teacher Tobirama had been worried that Renya was being oppressed by Uchiha Madara and unable to resist.
But now it seemed that wasn't the case.
Renya already appeared to have devised a plan to deal with Uchiha Madara. All they needed to do was quietly watch and wait for the day the plan succeeded.
Although Renya's academic performance wasn't great, his combat talent was unquestionable.
And this guy was cautious to the extreme, never doing anything without confidence.
Since he had confidence, that meant things were basically stable.
"So you're deliberately stalling for time?" Shimura Danzo suddenly realized.
With Renya's strength, even if he weren't a match for the Allied Shinobi Forces, he shouldn't have been discovered so easily.
This could only mean that he was deliberately dragging things out!
Renya merely smiled and didn't offer much explanation.
"Uchiha Madara is on his last legs, right?"
In Danzo's view, Renya's stalling could only mean that Uchiha Madara didn't have much time left.
He just needed to endure a bit longer, and Madara would die on his own!
Renya: "..."
How did Danzo even arrive at that conclusion?
If Madara were really about to die, he would have already gone all out.
Why would he still listen to his orders to capture tailed beasts?
It could only be said that Danzo's imagination was too rich.
"Alright, it's getting late. I'm leaving."
Renya had no intention of staying longer; everything that needed to be said had been said.
It was time to withdraw, lest staying too long arouse Madara's suspicion.
"Be careful, Renya."
Shimura Danzo watched Renya's departing back and spoke softly.
"Okay."
The latter raised his hand and waved casually, and then his figure vanished in an instant.