Konoha.
After finishing special training with Kurenai Yūhi and Yūgao Uzuki, Uchiha Ren killed time by strolling through the newly rebuilt parts of the village with the two girls.
Maybe because Kurenai was stronger than in canon, her father hadn't died during the Nine-Tails Incident this time.
They chatted as they walked, and before long, Ren escorted Kurenai and Yūgao home one after the other.
On the Way Back
As he headed toward the Uchiha district, Ren watched the village slowly regain its pulse.
"Konoha's been rebuilt… and Hiruzen Sarutobi is back in the chair," he muttered. "What a joke."
It hadn't even been a month since the disaster.
But the moment Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi resumed office, talk about Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze became a taboo. Even civilians avoided saying his name.
Just like the White Fang back then—praised one day, condemned the next.
"People leave… and the tea goes cold," Ren sighed.
The longer he lived in Konoha, the clearer the rot became.
The Hokage faction wore the Will of Fire like a banner… but what they practiced felt colder—more like calculation than conviction.
A normal Kage would think: We have someone strong—good. The village is safer.
Konoha's high-level thinking was often the opposite: We have someone strong—dangerous. Control him. Remove him.
Ren exhaled through his nose, unimpressed.
The Empty Clearing Outside the Uchiha District
Ren soon reached a quiet clearing with hardly anyone around.
He stopped.
"Orochimaru," he said calmly. "Come out."
Puff—!
A white snake on a distant tree erupted into smoke—transforming into a tall, slender man.
Orochimaru's eyes gleamed as he smiled. "You noticed me a long time ago, didn't you? As expected of a Uchiha Elite Jōnin."
"I did," Ren said flatly.
Orochimaru studied him with open fascination.
"I've watched you for years," he said. "And I still don't understand why you refuse to develop the Sharingan."
His snake-like gaze sharpened with envy.
"The Uchiha's eyes are a gift people would kill for. Awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan, and you reach heights most shinobi can't touch in a lifetime…"
Ren only smiled faintly.
You're seeing what I allow you to see.
He didn't bother with pleasantries. "Say what you came for."
Orochimaru's expression didn't change.
"Nothing much. Just…"
Whoosh—!
Without warning, he snapped his mouth open and spat out a blade—an airborne sword that shot straight for Ren's chest.
Ren didn't even blink.
"Boring."
His Observation Haki had already read it.
He clenched his fist and punched forward—
BOOM!
The air cracked like glass.
The flying sword detonated midair, shattered into fragments.
Orochimaru's smile widened. "What a perfect body…"
Ren's voice went cold. "Orochimaru. Are you trying to die?"
He leaned in slightly, the threat in his tone unmistakable.
"Don't get ideas about my body. If you do, you'll die ugly."
Orochimaru laughed—low and eerie.
"Don't misunderstand. I'm here to invite you."
He spread his arms as if it were obvious.
"Leave Konoha with me."
Ren stared at him for a second, genuinely thrown off.
"…Are you out of your mind?"
They barely had any history. They'd hardly spoken before. And now Orochimaru was asking him to defect like they were old comrades.
And worse—Ren couldn't stop the chill crawling down his spine at what Orochimaru eventually became.
No thanks.
Orochimaru's excitement flared instead of cooling.
"Your taijutsu is absurd," he said, voice rising with fervor. "If you come with me, I'll research your Sharingan properly. I'll implant Hashirama Cells into you. I'll even help you awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan."
His eyes shone like a fanatic describing salvation.
"Your power will undergo a complete transformation."
Then he added, as if sealing the deal:
"Besides… the Uchiha are being suppressed now. Stay, and you'll end up on the village leadership's blacklist sooner or later."
His smile sharpened.
"And you may not know this—Danzō is obsessed with Uchiha eyes."
"So really… this village isn't worth staying in."
Ren listened, then chuckled.
"Sorry," he said lightly. "Not interested. And I'm not leaving Konoha right now."
Orochimaru froze.
For a second, it was like he forgot how to breathe.
Ren turned away. "I'm going back to the Uchiha district."
Orochimaru hesitated, then sighed.
"Your perspective is too small," he said quietly. "Don't regret it."
Ren didn't look back.
"I won't."
And he walked off.
If he didn't have the System, maybe he would've considered working with Orochimaru. In the entire shinobi world, Orochimaru was one of the few whose thinking sometimes resembled a modern mind.
But Ren did have the System.
He didn't need to gamble on a snake.
Behind him, Orochimaru watched with genuine regret in his eyes.
"…Fine," he murmured. "Suit yourself."
A Few Days Later
Konoha was hit by another shock.
One of the Three Sannin—Orochimaru—was exposed for conducting human experiments.
He defected.
Not long after, Jiraiya—recently returned to the village—left again.
By his own words, he was going to track Orochimaru down… and bring him back.
With Minato gone, Orochimaru gone, Jiraiya gone, and Tsunade still absent—
the era of Konoha's Three Sannin effectively ended.
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