If this fleeting opportunity could be seized!
If everything proceeded exactly as Minato envisioned!
And if the alliance with the Land of Water through the hidden ties with Kirigakure and the cooperation of the Daimyo's son, Sugaya Ryuzoji, was truly solid—
Then this act would undoubtedly rewrite the world order!
Ren fell silent for a long moment before lifting his head to gaze blankly at Minato.
"You weren't brainwashed by Danzo... you truly want to kill the Lightning Daimyo for this?"
"Turning the Daimyo's son, allying with Kiri... You left Kakashi behind and hid here alone just to plot these two things?"
"Yes!"
Minato Namikaze nodded, offering Ren a warm smile that felt like the June sun, or perhaps the lingering glow of a setting sun at dusk.
"For this, I will become a traitor to the world!"
Ren fell into silence once more. After taking several deep breaths, he looked at Minato again, his jaw tightening and his expression gradually twisting into a mask of anger.
"After you kill the Daimyo, Konoha will have no place for you. Your dream of becoming Hokage will shatter into a thousand pieces. Even so, you're still going to do it?"
"If you become a rogue ninja, what happens to Kushina? As someone intimately close to a traitor, she is still a replaceable vessel for a Tailed Beast—a Jinchuriki, a tragic existence! Have you even considered Kushina for a single second?"
Minato's smile vanished. He didn't speak, a shadow of guilt crossing his face.
Beyond that, Ren wanted to scream: If you do this, what about your unborn son? What about the Savior who is supposed to balance this world?!
Damn it, is this timeline really going to give us an Akatsuki version of Naruto?!
For a long time, the room was thick with a shared, heavy silence. Finally, Minato took a deep breath. He stepped forward and placed his hands on Ren's shoulders, smiling with the difficult grace of a man entrusting his final legacy.
"This is exactly why I am glad. That in this moment, in this foreign land, I was able to see you again!"
"With your record at Hell's Valley, the unspoken merit of what I am about to do, and Lord Orochimaru's favor..."
"In the coming upheaval within Konoha—as we face the wrath of the Great Daimyos and a brief four-nation war—you will be the one called upon."
"Appointed in the hour of defeat, commissioned in a time of crisis—"
Minato spoke each word with solemn, immovable resolve.
"Ren Uchiha, become the Hokage!"
"Do it for me, for Kushina, and to fulfill the dream we could not finish!"
Ren's head snapped up in utter shock. Hearing such an absurd proposition, his brain stalled for a significant amount of time.
Me? The Hokage?
At the mere thought of that title, Ren instinctively shuddered. What flashed through his mind wasn't a heroic scene of him wearing the Hokage robes amidst cheers or standing atop a utility pole with a kunai facing a beast.
Instead, he saw: mountains of paperwork that never ended even when he was exhausted to the point of collapse, the miserable daily life of never being able to go home, a fake smile plastered on his face for political theater, and...
The wrinkled, sour faces of the "Konoha F4" elders riding his back.
No way. You want me to do THAT?
I'd rather kill the Lightning Daimyo in your place, dattebayo!
Ren was about to reflexively refuse when—
Thump, thump, thump...
The sound of rapid, urgent footsteps echoed outside the door.
BANG!
The room door was slammed open by a small, fair hand!
"Konoha ninjas, there's urgent news!"
A familiar, clear voice—slightly out of breath but carrying a sharp, decisive tone—rang in Ren's ears.
Ren instinctively turned around. Standing at the door was a girl in a blue qipao-style top, a black corset, and a dark cloak. She removed her bamboo hat, letting her long, auburn hair cascade down. Her emerald-green eyes constricted in shock the moment they landed on Ren.
It was Mei Terumi—the girl who had saved Hidan, raided the execution grounds earlier that day, and inadvertently caused the collapse of the Tenshu Pavilion.
Ren was stunned. So the Kirigakure contact Minato was talking about was her?!
"You—"
"You—"
Both spoke at once and then froze, neither expecting to see the other. Words hung on their lips, turning into hesitation.
At that moment, Minato saw Mei and the young man behind her, Mangetsu Hozuki, who carried a blade the size of a door and looked at Ren with clear hostility. Minato's eyes lit up with relief.
"You've arrived!"
He then gestured toward Ren. "Ren, let me introduce you. This is the envoy from the Land of Water I've been in contact with, representing the Kirigakure Elder, Genji—"
"Ahem, no need for introductions." Ren glanced at Mei standing at the door and the menacing Mangetsu behind her. He coughed to hide his awkwardness. "We... already know each other."
"Oh? Is that so? Then that makes things easier!"
Minato looked between them, sensing a strange atmosphere. He didn't know what had happened, but the way the genius girl from Kiri looked at Ren seemed a bit... resentful? It was a look not unlike the one Kushina sometimes gave him.
But business came first. He looked at Mei urgently. "Envoy, you came in such a hurry. What happened?"
Mei glanced at Ren's permanently closed eyes, her heart feeling a dull ache, but she knew this wasn't the time for sentiment. She took a deep breath.
"There are two pieces of news. One good, one bad."
She looked at Ren first, struggling for a moment before speaking with difficulty. "The bad news, Ren... Hidan, whom I found and placed under protection, has gone missing."
Ren's brain jolted. So Hidan was with Mei all along! Talk about a small world! But the second half of her sentence hit him like a cold shower.
"Missing? How?"
Mei's expression was grim. "Yes. Under the strict watch of four Kiri guards, he vanished without a trace. No signs of a struggle. It happened this afternoon while we were in the inner city verifying the intel Minato gave us."
Minato turned to explain to the confused Ren: "That intel came from Fugaku. As I mentioned, he provided the channel to contact the Daimyo's son. Only a clan with a thousand-year history like the Uchiha, who worked with the Lightning Daimyo before the villages were built, has the direct connections to reach the high-level officials of Lightning."
Ren nodded in realization. This connection was likely the reason for the Uchiha's guarding mission at Hell's Valley to begin with. Fugaku Uchiha's cooperation with Minato was limited to providing this channel; he wouldn't dare do anything more.
Having delivered the bad news, Mei turned to Minato, her small face hardening with gravity. "As for the other matter—which is technically the good news—"
"Minato Namikaze, the channel you provided is valid."
"We have successfully contacted the Daimyo's son, Sugaya Ryuzoji. He has agreed to our terms."
"Now, come with me. This nobleman... wants to grant you an immediate audience!"
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