Moonlight hung high over Konoha.
In the dimensional space above the Hokage Monument, half of a pale, Venus-flytrap-like face tilted with curiosity as it stared at Obito.
"I don't get it, Obito," the white half said, baffled. "Why are you interested in that kid?"
He didn't understand Obito's motives—but he also didn't really care. After all, even that "black guy" never understood Obito either.
"I'm not interested in him," Obito said, shaking his head. "He's just a slightly capable ordinary person."
The White Zetsu was foolish, sure—but these things had stayed with him in his darkest moments. Obito didn't mind talking to him.
"What I'm interested in is his teammate—Uchiha Shisui."
Obito's voice was calm.
"And a new toy I've found."
"Didn't you call him a 'seed' last time?" the white half asked, confused.
But when he noticed Obito's glance, he immediately waved his hand with a dumb grin.
"Alright, alright—toy, seed, whatever. Doesn't matter!"
"…Mm."
Obito withdrew his gaze and gave a short nod.
At that moment, the black half of the plant-like creature spoke, its voice measured and sharp.
"You intend to use that brat to influence Uchiha Shisui… perhaps even Uchiha Itachi?"
"That's the idea," Obito admitted without hesitation.
"Uchiha Itachi has already awakened his eyes with my help, but that isn't his limit. And Shisui—if nothing unexpected happened—already has the Mangekyō."
Obito's tone remained casual, but the intent beneath it was chilling.
"So it would be a waste not to try."
"Whether it's figuring out what Shisui's Mangekyō ability is… taking his eyes… testing if I can pull him away from Konoha…"
"Or pushing Itachi even further."
"None of that is off the table."
The creature nodded. The plan was workable.
But there was one obvious issue.
"Not bad," the black half said. "So how do you plan to do it?"
That single question—
made Obito fall silent.
Because he honestly hadn't decided yet.
Sometimes Obito's "planning" was nothing more than impulse dressed in inevitability.
Like the Nine-Tails Incident—born from a chance overheard sentence about Kushina being the previous jinchūriki.
The silence stretched.
The black half reacted quickly, smoothing it over.
"Perhaps you moved too fast," it said. "We don't know enough about this boy yet. Gather information first, then decide."
"…Mm. That's fine," Obito said at last.
—
"Achoo."
Konoha.
Inside a yakiniku shop, Ren suddenly sneezed.
Yugao glanced at him, concerned.
"What's wrong—catching a cold?"
"No idea," Ren said, shaking his head. Then he smiled.
"Maybe someone's talking trash about me."
"You idiot…" Yugao blurted, half amused, half exasperated. "Who would be that bored?"
"Joking," Ren said easily. "Here—try what I grilled."
Before Yugao could refuse, Ren dropped a piece of meat into her bowl.
Her ears warmed instantly.
"I can do it myself. People are watching."
Ren leaned in slightly, voice light.
"Then when nobody's watching—?"
"Stop talking nonsense."
Yugao's face reddened. Ren just smiled and didn't press further.
As an old hand, he knew this truth well:
Sometimes, being shameless was the correct move.
And he wasn't joking earlier with Kabuto about living properly.
He wasn't going to go overboard—but he'd come to this world. Was he really supposed to live like a monk?
That said, Ren understood priorities.
Right now, what mattered most was inheriting Danzō's "legacy."
But that didn't mean he couldn't prepare a little for himself along the way.
And Konoha's specialties come in all varieties… it'd be a waste not to taste them, Ren praised himself silently.
Besides, isn't this me doing a good deed as best I can?
His gaze shifted to the others in the private room.
Tonight was originally supposed to be a small celebration for their three-man team—
but Shisui still hadn't arrived for some reason.
And after the Root incident earlier, two more people had joined them.
Kakashi came to express thanks…
and he brought the person they'd just helped rescue—now renamed from "Kinoe" to Tenzo.
Tenzo still looked stiff and cautious, but he seemed oddly closer to Ren.
After all, they used to be "colleagues," even if they barely spoke back then.
"Ren-kun," Kakashi said with an easy smile, completely unfazed by Ren and Yugao's little back-and-forth.
"Thank you again for what you did this afternoon."
Tenzo quickly followed, awkward but sincere.
"Thank you too—Owl… uh, Ren. If it weren't for you, I don't think I could've gotten out so cleanly."
"Don't thank me," Ren said, smiling as he nodded to them. "It was Hokage-sama's order."
Then he added,
"And stop calling me that code name."
"And… congratulations on getting out of that place."
He continued grilling while casually feeding Yugao more meat, then paused and looked at her.
"Still, this is weird. Why isn't Shisui-senpai here yet? He's usually the fastest to assemble—why's he late today?"
"Huh? You don't know?" Yugao said softly.
She pressed her lips together, then decided to pretend she hadn't noticed Ren's shameless serving routine.
"After we were dismissed, he said it's rare to have time off, so he wanted to go train with his younger brother."
"So he'll probably come later tonight."
"…Younger brother?"
Ren's expression turned strange.
Shisui's little brother—
That meant Uchiha Itachi, didn't it?
The one who slaughtered his entire clan.
"Speaking of it," Yugao continued, unaware of the storm in Ren's head, "Shisui-senpai's brother is a genius."
"He graduated from the Academy at a really young age—almost broke Kakashi-senpai's record."
"And I heard he's about to take the Chūnin Exams."
"…"
Kakashi scratched his head, not expecting the conversation to swing back onto him.
After thinking for a moment, he spoke honestly.
"Personally… I don't think leaving the Academy early is necessarily a good thing."
"In the Academy, you can make more friends."
It wasn't preaching—Kakashi meant it.
His own life had been brutal. He'd even wanted to give up on himself.
But in the end, it was the friends he'd once looked down on—
who dragged him back from the edge.
"That depends on the person," Ren said with a shrug. "Besides… he's an Uchiha."
The Uchiha had extreme personalities. And Itachi was basically raised alongside Shisui.
He could use shadow clones to "attend class" while running off to train with Shisui—clearly he didn't value classmates at all.
And even if Itachi wanted to stay—
his mentally questionable father probably wouldn't allow it.
The kind of man who, even when he had the ability to resist, chose to do nothing and watched his entire clan get slaughtered by his precious son…
Ren—being a normal person—couldn't pretend to understand that thinking.
"But… speaking of the Uchiha…"
Ren's eyes narrowed slightly as a memory surfaced.
"I remember there was another insanely strong Uchiha…"
"…who was buried underground."
Talent mattered. Ren always valued talent.
Maybe, in the future, he could try finding that person.
But just as he was thinking—
someone knocked on the sliding door of their private room.
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