Uchiha Renji gave Takeda Hayato a letter of recommendation as he left, asking him to come to the Guard Corps the next day. If Ayazaki Haruto agreed, he could join the Guard Corps as well.
Having secured Orochimaru and received the heartfelt feedback from the civilian shinobi, Uchiha Renji was in an excellent mood. He thought he deserved a proper wedding holiday and a little shameless fun.
Just as he was about to reach for Uchiha Meimei with a grin and a playful paw, someone knocked at the door.
Uchiha Renji opened the door and was stunned. It was the Fourth Elder of the Uchiha clan, the famed "Silver Wolf" Uchiha Ginlang. Uchiha Renji stepped aside quickly and invited the elder in.
The Fourth Elder looked at Uchiha Renji with a faint smile. "Young Renji, don't be nervous. My grandson lives next door. You should drop by and get to know the neighbors. But I actually came with business to discuss."
"Elder, yes, of course. I just moved in. I was planning to invite the neighbors over soon. Whatever it is, say it and I'll handle it," Uchiha Renji said, patting his chest confidently.
The Fourth Elder laughed. "If we had more young people like you in the clan, I could die in peace. The new Guard Corps reserves have finished training, but because of all our plans there aren't enough open posts. Think of a place for those brothers who are not quite top-tier."
"I might have an idea," Uchiha Renji answered after a moment.
"Oh? Come on then. Let's hear it," the Fourth Elder said, leaning forward with interest.
Uchiha Renji explained, "Our clan has treasuries here and in the Land of Fire, places that used to be guarded by family-appointed keepers. Why not form a unit of Golden Guards — let the somewhat less-capable clan members serve as guardians for those vaults and also escort family trade caravans between Konoha and the Land of Fire? We can assign competent commanders from the Guard Corps to lead them. As the clan's wealth and caravan traffic grow, we will need a permanent armed unit to protect assets. Instead of constantly reallocating shinobi from other duties, we form a department to specialize in this."
The Fourth Elder was speechless for a moment, then slapped Uchiha Renji on the shoulder with a booming laugh. "Your brain is sharper than your father's. He only ever spouted nonsense. I'll go talk to the Great Elder right away."
The Fourth Elder was a straightforward, ardent man. In his youth he led charges and fought fiercely; those under him became like wolf cubs. People said he truly lived up to his name, Silver Wolf.
Uchiha Renji breathed out and, feeling pleased, headed back inside. He closed the door, locked it, and grinned a little too happily as he walked toward his house.
"Meimei, what are you doing?" he asked, seeing her clutching something in her hand, face flushed.
"Ha, secrets," she answered, shyly pulling the object closer.
Uchiha Renji reached for it playfully, expecting the usual little struggle and the chance to be cheeky. Instead Meimei pushed the object—essentially a white test strip—into his hand and snuggled into his arms.
Uchiha Renji took a closer look. Two red lines showed up on the strip.
He froze.
This was the result he'd been dreaming of. He was going to be a father. He was ecstatic and panicked at once. "I'm going to be a dad! I'm going to be a father! Quick, tell Mom!"
Grabbing Meimei, he leapt to the roof and ran toward his mother's house, shouting at the top of his lungs.
"Mom! Mom! Quick!" he cried.
"Stop yelling. You're waking your brother," Uchiha Lan called from inside, holding a small child.
"I'm going to be a dad! You'll be a grandmother!" Uchiha Renji waved the test strip like a trophy.
Meimei facepalmed at him and thought he was an absolute fool for brandishing the test strip in public. But Uchiha Lan dashed out and, seeing the result, started fussing over Meimei, ruffling her hair and praising the girl as if she were the best daughter-in-law in the world.
Within a day the whole clan knew, thanks to Uncle Shuai's enthusiastic spreading of the news. He bragged about his son's good health, his dutiful daughter-in-law, and shouted the good news down the street. Uchiha Renji ate it all up, grinning like an idiot.
Uchiha Renji also got more good news from Blackpaw via the Seven-Tails. The Seven-Tails had led Danzo's people and the ninjas from the Cloud Village into a clash, and when it left they had turned on each other. It sounded like it got pretty ugly.
That was a welcome development, but Uchiha Renji knew mere chaos wasn't enough. He still wanted to hurt Danzo more directly if he couldn't kill him, he wanted to take teeth and fingers. He remembered the original wood technique experiments that Danzo and Orochimaru had secretly worked on. He planned to team up with Orochimaru to set a trap, smear dirt, and keep Danzo occupied and under pressure for years.
For now the partnership with Orochimaru was still in its infancy and needed to be accelerated. He also planned to drive a wedge between Danzo and Orochimaru, to manufacture petty conflicts that would distract both. A scientist obsessed with immortality would hate to be constantly dragged into political squabbles; Uchiha Renji wanted to make Orochimaru's life so annoying that he would be easier to handle.
First things first: finalize the school and the research institute, organize an opening ceremony, invite Orochimaru to speak, and purposely leave the Hokage out. If Orochimaru was invited publicly and the Hokage was not, that would inflame old grudges between master and student. The more friction, the better. Keep bothering him until he's exhausted with the politics and stuck in the lab again.
That, Uchiha Renji thought, would be a lot of fun.
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