"Hmm?"
Hearing the last name, Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes flickered slightly. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but swallowed the words back, then nodded.
"Alright."
After securing the book of sealing, the two came outside. Books and scrolls on the surrounding shelves were visible everywhere. Seeing this, Ren's eyes showed a thoughtful expression. He then stopped and called out to Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was ahead of him.
"Wait, old man!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi stopped and turned around, looking at Ren and saying calmly.
"What is it?"
"Cough, cough!"
Ren coughed twice, then raised his hand to point at a bookshelf not far away, smiling.
"Uh, how about we discuss something else, old man? Can I bring a few of my subordinates here to study for a while?"
"Huh?!"
Hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately became agitated, stroking his beard and glaring.
"Brat, don't go too far! Even Jonin aren't allowed to enter the secret jutsu vault casually. You want to bring people in?!"
This room contained almost all of Konoha's secret jutsu and techniques. To learn them, one could only exchange them with their mission merits.
Normally, it was heavily guarded. Besides the two visible Anbu, there was also a small team lurking in the shadows nearby, and various barrier Sealing Jutsu were everywhere. This showed how important this place was to Konoha.
Now, Ren actually said he wanted to bring three people in at once, so it was no wonder Hiruzen Sarutobi was so agitated.
"If we can't enter, we can't enter. Why are you getting so angry?"
Ren rolled his eyes, then scanned the surroundings with his gaze, a thoughtful expression in his eyes.
"Alright, let's go if there's nothing else."
Hiruzen Sarutobi said grumpily and was about to turn and leave, but Ren spoke up again.
"If we can't come in, can I exchange it with my merits?"
"Oh?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi paused, narrowed his eyes, and said.
"How do you want to exchange it?"
Ren spread his hands and grinned.
"I'll pick a few scrolls here and exchange them with the merits I've accumulated from missions over the years. That should be fine, right?"
Ever since Ren became a Ninja, he had saved all the merits from his missions. The Ninjutsu that Genin and Chunin could exchange for were not as good as the "salary" Orochimaru used to give him.
After being promoted to Jonin, because he was still in the war, he didn't have time to use them, so he kept them all. He had originally planned to find an opportunity to use them, and now was the perfect time.
"You can."
This time, Hiruzen Sarutobi agreed very readily. He then walked to a nearby window, looked at the scenery, and waited for Ren.
"Let me see…"
Ren didn't waste time. He walked to the bookshelf and immediately started looking through the A-rank Ninjutsu.
Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't have to wait too long this time. After Ren walked around the room, he had seven or eight books and scrolls in his hands.
Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't say much when he saw Ren like this. He just turned and walked out, while Ren followed behind, carrying a pile of things. The two walked out the door and then disappeared around the corridor corner under the gaze of two Anbu.
Back in the Hokage Office, Hiruzen Sarutobi called another Anbu to record everything Ren needed to exchange. He then had the Anbu take the books and scrolls and leave. When he returned, he had two storage scrolls in his hands.
"Are you satisfied now?"
Looking at Ren, who was beaming in front of him, Hiruzen Sarutobi put down his pipe and said grumpily.
"Yes, yes, thank you, old man."
Ren put away the scrolls with a satisfied expression, then looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was smoking, and asked curiously.
"By the way, old man, how many of my merits are left?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi bit his pipe, picked up the document that the Anbu had just delivered, and after reading it, he said.
"Less than half."
"That's still good."
Ren nodded slightly, then raised his hand and waved at him, smiling.
"Then I'll be going now, old man."
Watching Ren walk out the door, Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly spoke, saying slowly.
"Don't forget."
The door was already closed, but a voice still came from outside.
"Don't worry!"
"Phew."
Hiruzen Sarutobi picked up a document from the table. Looking at the familiar face on it, the various bloody pictures below, and the long string of text reports, his face couldn't help but become heavy. He murmured.
"Orochimaru…"
On the other side, Ren was naturally unaware of all this. He hadn't even left the Hokage Building when he was stopped by a familiar voice.
"Brother Ren!"
"Huh?"
Ren looked in the direction of the voice and soon saw Shisui walking quickly towards him, wearing a Konoha Ninja vest and holding a scroll. It seemed he had just returned from a mission.
"Shisui!"
Ren waved his hand and chuckled.
"Long time no see."
After their last parting on the Kirigakure battlefield, the two had not seen each other again for over three months.
Before, after he killed Danzo in the Land of Rain, he headed for the Kirigakure battlefield. Who knew he would encounter the infiltrating Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist on the way, plus a series of subsequent events, which caused the two to miss each other until now, when they finally reunited.
Ren looked at the scroll in Shisui's hand and asked.
"Submitting a mission?"
"Mm."
Shisui nodded, then turned and walked away, his voice drifting back.
"Brother Ren, please wait a moment."
A minute later, Shisui returned, the scroll in his hand gone.
Ren looked around, then turned and walked out.
"Let's go outside first. We can talk as we walk."
This was the mission hall, very noisy, not a good place for a chat or catching up.
After reaching the street, both of them happened to be a bit hungry, so Ren simply took Shisui into a barbecue restaurant. After ordering a bunch of random dishes, they started chatting while waiting for the food.
"So, you came back the day before yesterday, huh?"
Ren rested his arm on the table, picked up his cup, took a sip of tea, and said slowly.
"Yes, Hidden Mist Village has already sent people to the front lines to seek peace, so we were recalled by the Village."
Shisui placed the short sword he was carrying on his back to the side, held his teacup with both hands, and smiled.
"Huh, Hidden Mist Village finally couldn't hold on anymore?"
Hearing this news, Ren was a bit surprised, but after thinking for a moment, he felt relieved.
After all, Hidden Mist Village was the party with the greatest losses in this war. Not only were their Ninja casualties heavy, but even half of the Village's foundation was taken by Ren.
And their pillar, the Third Mizukage, was even angered into hospitalization, leaving the Fourth Mizukage Yagura to shoulder the burden alone.
It could be said that Hidden Mist's current overall strength was already similar to that of Sunagakure, which was at the bottom of the Five Great Villages in terms of strength.