While Obito was quietly spiraling toward a mental breakdown, Ren and Yakushi Kabuto had already arrived at the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind.
A full month had passed—more than enough time to make preparations.
Especially with Danzō, that old bastard, hounding them like a death warrant.
With no other choice, Ren calculated the timing and decisively set out.
"So," Kabuto asked, looking out over the seemingly endless sea of yellow sand as icy wind whipped dunes into rolling waves,
"what are you planning to do next?"
"You said you wanted Sunagakure to resent Danzō. From the looks of it, you've succeeded so far. But how are you going to handle this negotiation?"
"Exactly how Lord Danzō wants it handled," Ren replied with a faint smile, tightening the scarf around his neck.
"Negotiations are important. If they go well, everyone's happy. If they don't, things get ugly. You know that as well as I do."
"What we need to do is simple—stick strictly to Danzō's maximum demands."
Kabuto's blood ran cold.
Negotiations always had ranges:
an ideal price, a bottom line, and the space in between for bargaining.
Starting straight from the ideal price?
That wasn't negotiating—that was deliberately blowing things up.
"Hey—are you insane?!" Kabuto snapped.
"If you're trying to leave me behind to take the fall, just say it! Don't pull this nonsense. You can use Flying Thunder God to escape—I can't! If Sunagakure explodes, I'm the one getting torn apart!"
"I'm not insane, and you won't die," Ren said flatly, rolling his eyes.
"We're just employees carrying out orders. We work for Danzō. If something goes wrong, responsibility goes where it belongs."
"And if I'm confident enough to do this, then I obviously have a reason."
"I'll tell you now—I have information they must want."
"And it's real."
"Real enough that they won't have a choice. We might even push the price down."
"You mean…" Kabuto froze, then his eyes sharpened.
"You're holding something even bigger?"
"And we keep stirring the pot?" he asked quietly. "Keep fanning the flames?"
"Stirring the pot?" Ren shot him a glare.
"This is called praising Lord Danzō's greatness and achievements."
"We're his loyal subordinates. Anything that happens is because of his will. What does it have to do with us?"
Kabuto instinctively adjusted his glasses.
He didn't think he could ever be this shameless.
"Fine, fine—I get it," he sighed. "I'll leave traces. Subtle ones. But what if you're wrong?"
"Then tell me—don't you want real authority?" Ren asked calmly.
"Don't you want to protect the orphanage? The director? People like them?"
Danzō believed he held Ren's leash—indoctrination, control, and fear.
But in truth, Ren held Kabuto's leash.
Kabuto hadn't been deeply brainwashed. He'd been sent out early as a spy, never implanted with a tongue seal, and never fully exposed to Danzō's inner machinery.
Ren knew Kabuto's nature, his potential—and his weaknesses.
That was why he'd chosen him.
"You've been away from the village too long," Ren continued.
"You don't really know Danzō. I do."
"And I promise you—he will do this."
"…You're confident," Kabuto muttered.
Then Ren handed him a kunai.
"This is?"
"Insurance," Ren said lightly.
"I don't know when, but I suspect Danzō will try to engineer a meeting between you and the orphanage director."
"Either you're sent to kill her… or she's sent to kill you."
"It's just a possibility—but being prepared never hurts."
"You're seriously twisted," Kabuto said dryly.
But he still accepted the kunai.
Then, with a crooked smile, he added,
"Am I the first male to ever get one of your kunai? You weren't like this back at the orphanage."
"Shut up," Ren replied instantly.
He nearly snatched it back.
Kabuto chuckled—then grew serious.
"One question. Iwagakure is far. Even if you get there, how much fighting strength will you have left?"
"That's what we're solving tonight," Ren said, gazing into the distance.
"Ready?"
"For what—"
Ren tossed a kunai to the ground and placed a hand on Kabuto's shoulder.
Buzz—
Chakra roared.
Kabuto's vision flipped violently. His stomach lurched as the world twisted inside out.
When his sight stabilized, nausea still gripping him, he realized—
They were inside a tower.
"Th-this is…?"
Ren was already shoving soldier pills into his mouth, breathing heavily.
"Rōran," he said between bites.
"I don't think I need to explain its history to you."
"I know this place…" Kabuto murmured.
Then his gaze locked onto the kunai embedded in the ground.
"That shape—this is—"
"Yes. The Fourth Hokage's kunai," Ren confirmed.
"He came here once. And sealed something."
"I dug through enough records and scrolls to reach a conclusion."
"A conclusion?"
Kabuto already knew the answer.
"There's something buried here," Ren said softly, smiling.
"Something that belongs to Rōran—but is also unclaimed."
"A massive chakra source."
"The Dragon Vein."
"Sunagakure has coveted it for years. They want its power."
"But tell me—what's better?"
"A harmless ally with no ambition… or a greedy one that might stab you in the back?"
"So, for Konoha's sake," Ren concluded calmly,
"it's better to cut off their ambitions at the root."
"..."
Kabuto was speechless.
He'd seen plenty of shameless people—including himself.
But someone who stole something this massive while dressing it up as righteous sacrifice?
That was new.
If you're going to steal it—just steal it, he thought bitterly.
Why dress it up so nobly?
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