Konoha — Root base.
Danzō studied the report in his hand. That face of his—unchanging for what felt like ten thousand years—now showed the faintest trace of excitement.
"Shihara Ren… no. Senju Ren, is it?"
News of Uchiha Obito appearing in Konoha had reached him quickly.
As the Hokage's advisor, he could learn—and handle—most matters within the village.
Even if something didn't technically require his involvement…
If he wanted it, he could still insert his hand into it.
Obito's appearance hadn't made Danzō move.
With ANBU on-site, why should Root go die for nothing?
During the Nine-Tails incident, he hadn't sent Root to the front lines either. Instead, he'd done what he believed was the correct choice—
keeping the Uchiha under watch, preventing them from making a move.
Looking back now, the order seemed foolish.
But who could've known whether Obito had some connection to the Uchiha clan?
Still, Danzō couldn't help feeling a twinge of regret.
Not going meant he hadn't seen Ren use Wood Release with his own eyes.
But regardless—
The frontline report that arrived in his hands was detailed enough.
"Unbelievable. I thought only 'Kō' possessed Wood Release."
"And yet Ren… awakened Wood Release on his own?"
Power gained through transplantation could never compare to power that awakened naturally.
One was foreign.
The other was innate.
The difference in control and compatibility was obvious—so the results would naturally differ.
Danzō moved quickly. The moment he understood what had happened, he immediately pulled Ren's file.
Unfortunately, the record was thin.
Ren was a war orphan. His parents were Konoha shinobi—both dead.
Beyond that, there was no detail worth speaking of. Only "Konoha shinobi" and "killed in action." Anything earlier was a blank.
It couldn't be helped.
Konoha had only existed for fifty or sixty years.
Many systems had been built piece by piece.
And with constant wars in earlier years, missing records were normal.
"As long as I can confirm he is unquestionably Konoha's, that's enough."
"It's just a pity… I can't find whether his line has any surviving relatives."
He'd checked genealogies for only one reason—if Ren could awaken it, perhaps blood relatives could too.
But even if he couldn't find any, it didn't matter.
The most important thing now was how to secure Ren completely.
"That Hiruzen… using 'training' as an excuse to keep him locked inside ANBU."
"Not giving me a single opening."
"How hateful."
Just thinking about Ren's current situation made the joy on Danzō's face disappear.
Wood Release meant too much to Konoha.
Otherwise, that old friend of his would never have forcibly dragged "Kō" away from Root.
Now that Ren had Wood Release…
How could Hiruzen possibly let go?
"Still… Ren isn't the same as Kō."
Danzō's gaze gradually sank into something darker.
Kō was a true orphan—raised entirely inside Root, with no ties outside.
But Ren was different.
He was also an orphan, yes—but he grew up in the orphanage.
He had bonds.
And on top of that—
Ren carried Danzō's Cursed Seal.
As long as he held those two points properly, Ren wouldn't dare betray him easily.
"There are two more things to watch."
"One is Uchiha Shisui."
"The other is Uchiha Obito."
Shisui possessing the Mangekyō had shocked Danzō—
And immediately stirred up a thick, hungry desire within him.
That power could never be allowed to remain in Uchiha hands.
With such power, the Uchiha would go mad.
And worse, it could become the spark that birthed another Uchiha Madara.
He would not allow unstable Uchiha to possess such a weapon.
And Obito having Wood Release—
That, too, made him deeply wary.
Wood Release leaking out… and appearing in an Uchiha body?
Unacceptable.
"Obito must be hunted faster."
"A plague like that cannot be allowed to live."
Danzō made his decision.
No matter what, Obito had to be eliminated.
And his corpse had to be recovered and studied.
Only then could Obito's Wood Release be understood—
And only then…
"…can it be transplanted."
"Konoha's power must remain in Konoha."
Danzō clenched his fist—then suddenly thought of something.
"Wait. According to the report… a tree appeared in Lōran."
"That was Wood Release."
"Then…"
He immediately judged it likely that Obito had gone to Lōran.
The man was probably trying to steal Lōran's power.
But then Danzō's mind cooled again.
Attacking Lōran and stealing power…
Was that not, in a way, also helping Konoha?
And Ren's negotiations going smoothly…
really did have something to do with Obito's actions.
"Hmph."
"Seems I should thank you, Uchiha Obito."
— — —
"Yugao… you're the one doing my checkup?"
"At a time like this… you should use code names."
"And aren't you the one who likes calling me 'senpai'?"
"But you told me not to call you that."
Inside the ANBU base, Ren sat on a bed in a private room, smiling as he looked at Yugao—who wasn't wearing a mask.
After meeting the Third Hokage last night, Ren had been kept in ANBU.
Shisui was also kept there.
ANBU living conditions were far better than Root's.
In Root, it was always a crowd packed into one room, sleeping on the floor.
In ANBU, at least there were beds.
And because their situation was special, Ren and the others were placed in separate rooms.
Compared to Root, it was heaven.
What Ren hadn't expected was this—
After fighting all night, he planned to sleep in.
Instead, Yugao knocked and dragged him awake.
Yugao had been learning from the medical unit, and she was Ren's teammate.
Having her examine him was completely normal.
"During working hours, use the code name," Yugao said, shaking her head. She couldn't even be bothered to correct him further.
She placed a hand on him, green chakra blooming as she focused on her work.
But she still couldn't help glancing at him, voice lowering.
"I didn't expect you to be that strong… that was Wood Release."
"So what if it's Wood Release?" Ren blinked. "Doesn't Tenzo have it too?"
Then he casually reached out and laid his hand over Yugao's—right on top of where she was examining him.
"What are you doing?" Yugao jolted.
Ren answered with perfect righteousness.
"Senpai, your hand is a little cold."
"That makes me very uncomfortable."
"You—!"
Yugao wanted to pull away.
But she still had to finish the exam.
She glared at Ren—who tilted his head and stared at the ceiling like an innocent man—then sighed and stopped arguing.
"Don't move your hand around. If the exam isn't accurate, it'll be bad for you."
"I know, I know," Ren said with a grin.
He didn't move, and Yugao finally relaxed.
Meanwhile, Ren used the opportunity to check what he'd gained last night.
"Yin–Yang Release Training Insights…?"
To be honest, when he first saw it, he'd been stunned.
If he remembered correctly, this was something Madara taught Obito—how to control Yin Release and Yang Release.
But Ren already possessed both.
He'd already externalized them.
He'd even "turned passive into active," able to use them deliberately.
So what was the point of this "insight" now?
Between the reporting afterward and the flood of Wood Release scrolls he received after moving in, he hadn't paid much attention to the reward.
But now that he looked—
He realized he'd misunderstood.
"An insight is an insight. Yin–Yang Release is still Yin–Yang Release."
"But this… isn't Obito's."
"It's Black Zetsu's."
Whether it was Madara or Black Zetsu, they both trained Obito with the same principle:
always hold something back.
Everything Obito learned was half-baked by design.
With Kamui, half-baked was already enough to dominate the shinobi world.
But what Ren obtained—
Was the complete version.
Much of it matched his earlier guesses.
But inside it was something far more valuable:
information about fusing Yin Release and Yang Release.
That was the key.
That was the truly crucial part.
"Yin–Yang Release…"
Ren's eyes gleamed.
Even if he couldn't fuse them right now—
Having the insight was like having a formula, just like Wood Release and Scorch Release.
Which meant that once the timing was right in the future…
He could copy the formula again.
Ren's smile deepened.
"Looks like I really should thank you…"
"…Uchiha Obito."
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