Chapter 64: Second Hokage, I Heard You Have a Granddaughter?
"YES! FINALLY! A real mission!" Naruto Uzumaki shot up from his chair, all traces of boredom gone, replaced by pure, undiluted enthusiasm.
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[VIP Highlight: Tobirama Senju - "The boy's optimism is... noteworthy."]
Tobirama Senju (VIP5): Though intellectually... straightforward, the child possesses remarkable resilience. A useful trait.
Fū (Regular Viewer): Indeed. Children forced into the jinchūriki role from birth often succumb to bitterness. The Fourth's son maintains a bright spirit. If this humble monk's insight holds, this child may become a great unifier. Amitābha.
Minato Namikaze (VIP1): Naruto gets that from me! Ever the optimist!
"Kakashi-sensei, what's the mission?" Uchiha Sasuke's question was practical, cutting through Naruto's celebration. His dark eyes were fixed, analytical.
Kakashi didn't look up from his book. "Survival exercise."
"Survival exercise? What kind of mission is that? I've never heard of it!" Naruto's confusion was genuine.
"You'll understand when we begin." Kakashi finally lowered his book, his visible eye scanning the clock. "You have ten minutes to reach Training Ground 44, the Forest of Death. I'll be waiting. Don't. Be. Late."
A puff of smoke, and he was gone.
Naruto scratched his head vigorously. "What's with the secrecy? I still don't get it!"
"We should just go," Sakura said, already moving toward the window. "Ten minutes isn't long if it's on the other side of the village."
"Sakura's right," Sasuke agreed, his tone dismissive but his body already coiling to leap. "We move."
As one, the three new genin vaulted through the hospital window, heading toward their first true test as a team.
High in the oak tree, Ren finally stirred from his languid position against Uzuki Yugao. "Ah... freedom. After three days of stationary surveillance, my legs are about to mutate into roots. Senpai, shall we follow?"
Yugao's masked face turned toward him, and though he couldn't see it, he felt her exasperated sigh. "Then perhaps you should detach yourself from my person first."
"My apologies!" Ren grinned, not sorry at all, as he straightened up. "But you have to make allowances, Senpai! This is my first protracted surveillance op! Isn't it natural for a junior to seek... support from his experienced senior when fatigued?"
As he stood, his elbow accidentally brushed against her side.
Whoa.
The thought was instantaneous and entirely inappropriate for the mission.
Hyuga Hizashi (VIP1): SHAMELESS! ABSOLUTELY SHAMELESS! He just finished compromising my Hinata's virtue, and now he's accosting a female Anbu officer? The depravity!
Yuhi Shinku (Regular Viewer): Damn it! This kid's techniques are too smooth! I'm genuinely worried for my daughter's defenses!
Minato Namikaze: Thank every deity I had a son.
Uchiha Fugaku (VIP1): I share the sentiment. A small mercy amidst the tragedy.
Tobirama Senju: Young man, your... attentions are remarkably... indiscriminate.
Ren Arakawa (subvocalizing): You misunderstand, Lord Second. I merely wish to offer as many young women as possible the security of a caring home.
Hyuga Hizashi: IS THAT EVEN A HUMAN SENTENCE?!
Yuhi Shinku: YOU BEAST! NO—YOU'RE WORSE THAN A BEAST! That's three in as many days! At this rate, you'll have compromised every kunoichi in the village before the year is out!
Tobirama Senju: To be precise, it's potentially more. Recall the Yamanaka girl at the barbecue restaurant. Her interest was palpable. And as they say, the most determined pursuer is a woman with a target. If Ren were so inclined...
Uchiha Fugaku: And the Haruno girl he injured. Her greeting at the hospital held a certain... intensity. Likely a nascent fixation following a traumatic encounter.
Tobirama Senju: By my count, that's five potential interests. Impressive scope, I must concede.
Ren Arakawa: With great power comes great romantic responsibility. I shall strive to meet the challenge. Speaking of which, Lord Second... I've heard your granddaughter is quite remarkable.
The stream chat froze.
Tobirama Senju: ...Excuse me?
Ren Arakawa: Tsunade of the Sannin. Legendary medic, unmatched strength, inheritor of the Senju will. A formidable woman. And currently unattached, I believe?
Hashirama Senju (Regular Viewer): REN! Tsuna is DECADES your senior! And she... she may have... other commitments!
Uchiha Shisui (VIP2): With all due respect, First Hokage, when I died a few years ago, Lady Tsunade was still famously single. And traveling.
Hyuga Hizashi: That's true. And Lady Tsunade has maintained her... assets remarkably well. Her vitality, her... proportions...
Hashirama Senju: HIZASHI! YOU DARE?!
Ren Arakawa: Whistles innocently. I never took you for a connoisseur, Uncle Hizashi.
Hyuga Hizashi: ...I've said too much.
On the branch, Yamato cleared his throat, the sound like gravel shifting. "Focus. The targets are moving. Yugao, you take point on tracking. Ren, you're with me on perimeter sweep. Standard shadowing formation. Maintain radio silence unless compromised."
Ren's posture shifted instantly, all playful levity gone, replaced by the focused readiness of a predator. "Understood."
As Yugao melted into the foliage ahead, Ren fell into step beside Yamato, their movements synchronized and silent. The Forest of Death loomed in the distance, a wall of ancient, ominous trees.
Ren Arakawa (subvocalizing): Training Ground 44. Bell test. Where Kakashi breaks their spirits before (hopefully) rebuilding them as a team. And where I get to watch from the shadows while the dead argue about my love life.
He glanced at Yamato, whose masked profile gave nothing away. Wood Release user. Former Root. Danzō's pet project. What's his real objective here? Simple jinchūriki surveillance? Or something more?
As they ghosted through the village toward the forest, Ren felt the familiar, comforting weight of the many eyes upon him—not just Yamato's, but the dozens of spectral ones in the live stream, watching, judging, betting, and occasionally offering terrible romantic advice.
Just another day in the shinobi world, he thought, a faint smile touching his lips beneath the fox mask. Never a dull moment.
And in the Pure Land, Tobirama Senju massaged his temples, wondering how the conversation had veered from tactical observation to the marriage prospects of his wayward granddaughter, and why he was now, against all logic and propriety, vaguely considering the hypotheticals.
This boy, the Second Hokage thought with a mixture of horror and reluctant admiration, is a force of nature.