— — — — — —
"Phew…"
Fugaku had to take several deep breaths to calm himself down again. Then he looked at Renzo and said, "Alright, explain. What did you mean by Uchiha pawns, and who the hell is Black Zetsu? Why does Madara being dead mean Zetsu is on the move?"
"Ah… that's a whole other story," Renzo said, shrugging. "I'll skip the details for now. Just know this—there's a shadowy figure pulling strings from behind the scenes. He's got his hands on a Uchiha and guided him into awakening the Mangekyō."
"What?!" Fugaku nearly lost it again. "Another Mangekyō? One of our clan members awakened it? Since when did Mangekyō Sharingan become so damn common?!"
He felt like his brain was about to explode. Just from today's revelations alone, he'd already had his fill of world-shattering drama.
Thank goodness Renzo had set up a soundproof barrier around the tent beforehand, or they'd have drawn a crowd for sure.
Renzo just shrugged again. "As long as you know how to awaken it and have the right conditions, it's really not that rare anymore."
"Anyway, the main thing is—you're in the loop now. When the time's right, I'll give you the full picture."
"Oh, and here—" Renzo suddenly pulled out an eyepatch and tossed it over. "Take this. Just wear it and use your chakra to activate it. It'll give your eyes a little boost of ocular power. Easy."
"But I suggest you wait until later to use it. Your Mangekyō chakra isn't drained yet, so overloading might do more harm than good."
"I'm off. Don't forget what I told you. After this, you should reach out to Orochimaru."
"I'll be waiting for good news from the village."
And just like that, Renzo disappeared with Flying Thunder God, vanishing from the tent.
"…He really just left?" Fugaku stared down at the eyepatch in his hand, completely speechless. "That brat! Drops a bomb full of secrets, then just vanishes like it's nothing? Seriously?!"
What, am I just a side character to help move the plot along now?
"And he even said being clan leader is too much of a hassle… and he doesn't even want that?"
Fugaku sighed. "What a punk."
He could already tell—if Renzo thought being clan head was too much work, there was no way he'd go for the Hokage title.
Shame, really. If Renzo was even half as powerful as he claimed, becoming Hokage wouldn't have been impossible at all.
Though… Fugaku was mostly convinced already. At the very least, Renzo was far beyond his own level, and stronger than Orochimaru or even the Third Hokage.
— — —
Half a day later…
SWOOSH!
Renzo teleported to Renzo's underground base, bringing Minato and Kushina along with him.
"Welcome, Minato bro! Kushina sis! This is my private lab!"
The moment they arrived, Renzo smiled and spread his arms out like a proud host.
The two looked around, stunned at the massive underground hall, with long corridors stretching into the shadows.
Just ten minutes earlier, Renzo had suddenly popped into their home and casually invited them to "come talk."
Now here they were, having left shadow clones behind in their place, and being shown around this secret facility.
"Kid, you really pulled this off, huh?" Kushina said, wide-eyed. "Wait—this place… is it still within Konoha's borders?"
If it was… this was wild.
Pulling off something this huge right under Konoha's nose? And no one even knew?
Kushina couldn't help but think—if Hiruzen or Danzo ever found out, their faces would be priceless. The drama alone would be worth it.
Still, she wasn't going to sell Renzo out. Not just because of the entertainment value, but because this guy had done a lot for Minato's team, and clearly trusted Minato a lot.
"Don't ask too many questions," Minato said with a helpless smile, shaking his head and glancing at Renzo with an apologetic look.
He already knew where they were.
He'd sensed his Flying Thunder God marker the moment they arrived—this base was buried a few kilometers outside of Konoha, deep underground.
But he wasn't going to mention that. Renzo had trusted him by bringing them here. Unless Renzo betrayed Konoha one day, Minato would keep that trust.
"It's okay," Renzo said with a smile."I don't mind you two knowing. Besides, I didn't activate any space-blocking seals, so I figured you'd be able to guess, Minato."
"Anyway, follow me. There's a lot we need to talk about today."
He led them straight into one of his specialized labs—the one focused on Uzumaki bloodline research.
As soon as they stepped inside, Kushina immediately let out a surprised sound. "Huh?"
Her gaze locked onto something in the middle of the lab—specifically, a little creature curled up comfortably in an open nest. It was none other than Eevee.
"Bushi?"
Eevee seemed to sense something familiar about Kushina's chakra. It opened its eyes, stood up, and tilted its head curiously. Almost like it was asking: Who are they?
Kushina slowly walked up to it. Seeing that Eevee wasn't resisting, she gently scooped it up into her arms, holding it like a little plush toy. She ran her fingers through its soft fur and quietly examined the chakra flow inside its body.
After a few moments, her bright red hair lifted slightly as her chakra surged, and she turned her head with a mischievous smile, looking straight at Renzo. "Hey, little Renzo... mind telling me why this adorable little puppy has the Uzumaki clan's bloodline limit?"
What the hell did this guy do?!
"Eh?"
Minato was the first to react—his face frozen in shock as he looked back and forth between Kushina and the little Eevee in her arms, then over to Renzo who looked... way too calm.
He turned to Kushina, unsure whether to laugh or panic. "Wait, what? Are you serious? This little… uh, whatever-it-is, has your clan's kekkei genkai? Are you sure about that? Couldn't it just be a mistake?"
"Or maybe…" he trailed off, eyes shifting to Renzo again.
Yeah… now he was starting to get a feeling about why they'd been called here today.
His expression darkened slightly.
He really hoped this wasn't going where he thought it was. Because if it was… he honestly didn't know what he was going to do.
"Ahem!" Renzo cleared his throat and raised both hands like a peacekeeper. "Okay okay, calm down—both of you! I wouldn't have brought you here if things were that bad. Just take a seat, alright? Let me explain everything properly."
"Hmph!" Kushina snorted, flipping her hair as she sat down with Eevee still in her arms. "I'd love to hear what kind of excuse you're going to come up with. Don't tell me this little puppy is actually some shameful lovechild between a runaway Uzumaki and a dog or something?"
"Kushina!" Minato practically choked, giving her a look of absolute disbelief. "Seriously?! Where do you even get this stuff? That's… that's so messed up, I don't even know where to start!"
Wow. Imagination on overdrive.
There's no way something that ridiculous was real… right? RIGHT??
This was clearly a research facility, and if this Eevee really had Uzumaki blood, then it had to be a result of some kind of experiment.
Minato could only hope that Renzo hadn't crossed the line—like hurting or exploiting a real Uzumaki orphan. If that had happened… he honestly didn't know what to do.
"BUUUUUIIIII!!!"
Suddenly, the little Eevee in Kushina's arms puffed up and let out an indignant cry.
It flailed its tiny paws at both Kushina and Minato, clearly offended.
"I'm not a puppy! I'm something way more awesome!"
"—The one and only Uzumaki Eevee! (〃▽〃)"
Unfortunately, Uzumaki Eevee couldn't talk, so all Kushina and Minato heard was an angry 'Buuuiiiii!'
Kushina and Minato: "…"
"…This little guy's pretty smart, huh?" Kushina chuckled, scratching the top of its head. "Is it… trying to argue back? So Cute~"
"That's actually what I was about to explain," Renzo said, grinning. "First of all, it's not a puppy."
"This is Eevee—part of a rare and mysterious species. It's got impressive chakra control and even knows some ninjutsu. You could think of it as a kind of special summon beast."
Yup—this wasn't your average Eevee. With Renzo's help, it had successfully fused Pokémon power with regular chakra.
It was something completely unique.
"Eevee, huh? A special summon beast?"
Kushina and Minato nodded thoughtfully.
Kushina smiled warmly and patted its fluffy head again. "So your name's Eevee, huh? Well hello there! I'm Uzumaki Kushina. You can just call me Kushina!"
She looked the creature over with affection. "Since you've got Uzumaki blood… how about from now on, we call you Uzumaki Eevee? Sound good?"
Minato: "…"
Minato: "Wait, seriously?! Kushina, don't you think you're getting way too into this?"
He was officially out of words.
"What's the big deal?" Kushina said cheerfully. "Eevee clearly has Uzumaki blood—and I checked, the purity's super high! Honestly, it's even stronger than mine!"
She gave Renzo a pointed look, eyes narrowing slightly.
Just what kind of crazy stuff had this guy done?
How was it that a tiny little furball had purer blood than her—a full-blooded Uzumaki?
Unbelievable.
.
.
.