Renjiro exhaled through his nose, his red locs swaying slightly from the dissipating force of the earlier explosion. His gaze flickered toward Hiruzen, his analytical mind still processing the situation.
Renjiro turned to him, breaking the silence with a simple but pressing question.
"Now what is our next move?"
Hiruzen took a moment before answering. His sharp eyes scanned the ruins, the weight of command heavy on his shoulders.
"We can't really leave like this," he said at last, referring to the obliterated base.
"And we also can't be late for the summit," Minato added, his arms crossed.
Renjiro resisted the urge to scoff.
'Well, you could've thought about that before destroying the base.'
He didn't say it out loud, though. The last thing he needed was to have a philosophical debate with the Hokage on battlefield decision-making.
Instead, he watched as Hiruzen performed a subtle hand sign, and then reached into a storage seal. With a flick of his wrist, he retrieved a small wooden box.
Renjiro's sharp eyes took in the details immediately. The box was unassuming, made from polished oak, its surface smooth but well-worn from years of use. It wasn't heavy, either—Hiruzen lifted it effortlessly with one hand, suggesting it wasn't packed with tools or weaponry.
Minato caught it as the Hokage tossed it to him. His brow furrowed as he cracked open the lid.
The moment he saw what was inside, his entire expression sank.
Renjiro didn't need to activate his Sharingan to know something was wrong. He had been watching Minato closely, and the way the Jonin's fingers stiffened around the edges of the box, the subtle tension in his jawline—he didn't like what he saw.
And it wasn't hard to guess what was inside.
Minato let out a quiet sigh before speaking.
"Are we going there right now?"
Hiruzen shook his head, already catching on to what Minato was referring to.
"No," he said. "We have to take care of this situation here first." He gestured toward the wreckage of the destroyed base.
Minato seemed like he wanted to say something—his lips parted slightly, but after a moment of hesitation, he pressed them back into a thin line.
Hiruzen raised a brow. "What? Do you want more soldier pills?"
Minato shook his head before closing the wooden box. "This will do," he said, his tone carefully neutral. He then straightened and looked at Hiruzen. "Who do you need me to bring from the village?"
Hiruzen gave a knowing nod. "Jiraiya."
Minato nodded once before disappearing in a yellow flash.
The silence that followed was deafening.
The ruined base smouldered behind them, its remains barely recognizable beneath the thick layers of dust and charred debris. Occasionally, the wind would pick up, carrying the acrid scent of burnt wood and lingering chakra residue. The night sky above them had fully darkened, the stars a stark contrast to the destruction below.
Renjiro resisted the urge to sigh. With Minato gone, that left him alone with Hiruzen. Someone he was not really a fan of.
Despite himself, he studied the Hokage carefully. Hiruzen stood with the patience of a man who had seen countless battlefields and made countless hard decisions. His posture was relaxed yet firm, his hands folded neatly behind his back. Even in this desolation, there was an air of quiet authority around him, as if destruction and war were things he had learned to accept rather than lament.
And yet, Renjiro wasn't sure how he felt about that.
There was something unnerving about a leader who could make a call like that without hesitation. To destroy an entire base, regardless of the lives that may have been inside.
His thoughts were interrupted when the Hokage finally spoke.
"You remind me of your mother sometimes," Hiruzen mused, his gaze lifting toward the sky.
Renjiro blinked, slightly taken aback by the unexpected remark.
His mother?
For a brief second, his mind conjured up fragmented images—first his own memories as Ethan, something that he wished he lost, then other memories that weren't originally his. A woman with fierce eyes and an even sharper tongue.
It was strange, knowing he had never met her and yet feeling as though he had.
Hiruzen continued, his voice carrying a note of nostalgia. "She had a way of seeing through people. A skill that many underestimated, but one that made her formidable. I see that in you, too."
Renjiro, who had nothing better to do, indulged the Hokage's attempt at small talk. All he knew was that Renjiro's mother was not a shinobi, but it seemed otherwise.
"I'll take that as a compliment," he said, his tone neutral but edged with curiosity.
"It was one," Hiruzen confirmed.
For a while, neither of them spoke. The crackling of embers filled the void between them, the heat of lingering flames warming the cool night air.
Finally, Renjiro decided to steer the conversation into something more meaningful.
"Was it really necessary to destroy the base?"
Hiruzen's expression didn't change.
"Yes," he said simply.
Renjiro studied him, waiting.
There was more to that answer.
Hiruzen turned, his sharp gaze scanning the ruins once more before he elaborated.
"The base was taken over by Kumo shinobi," he explained. "The likelihood of them keeping our stationed men alive was low."
Renjiro felt something tighten in his chest, but he said nothing.
"And even if they did," Hiruzen continued, "we couldn't risk walking into a trap."
His voice was calm—too calm. There was no hesitation in his words, no remorse. Only the weight of cold, practiced logic.
"They would've anticipated our retaliation," Hiruzen said. "If I left the base intact, we could've been walking into an ambush."
Renjiro's fingers curled slightly at his sides.
It made sense.
It was an efficient, tactical move. One made by a seasoned leader who understood war far too well.
But even so, it was… unsettling.
This had been a Konoha outpost. Their comrades had been stationed here.
Their own people.
Yet, rather than verify their status, Hiruzen had chosen to erase the entire base.
Renjiro's gaze flickered toward the wreckage. If any of their allies had still been alive when the explosion hit, they hadn't survived.
Cold.
Efficient.
Maybe Practical.
Renjiro let out a slow breath. "I see."
And he did.
That didn't mean he liked it.
Another pause settled between them before Renjiro turned to face Hiruzen directly. His dark eyes, still flickering with remnants of tension, narrowed slightly.
"Why did you protect me?" he asked. "Why not just give in to Kumo's demands?"
Hiruzen didn't react. His expression remained carefully neutral.
"Is that what you think I should've done?"
"No," Renjiro replied immediately. "But I'm curious."
He had already speculated the reason behind the Hokage's decision. But Renjiro still had to appeal to this man and keep playing a role he has set the moment he first met Hiruzen.
The Hokage exhaled through his nose, crossing his arms behind his back.
"Kumo asking for you was a ploy," he said plainly. "Even if I had given in to their demands, they would've found another excuse to come at Konoha."
Renjiro blinked.
That was…
Disappointing.
'And here I was expecting some heart-to-heart speech about how I'm part of Konoha and how we don't negotiate with terrorists,' Renjiro thought dryly.
Hiruzen's response was logical, pragmatic.
But it lacked any sense of sentiment.
Maybe that was why Renjiro found himself feeling oddly dissatisfied.
Before he could continue the conversation, a familiar surge of chakra flooded the surroundings, briefly disturbing the debris as Minato reappeared—this time, with Jiraiya in tow.
The Sannin looked completely unbothered by the situation, casually flipping through a book in his hands.
Renjiro barely had to glance at the title before he felt the urge to groan.
"Icha Icha Paradise."
Of course.
Jiraiya's brow lifted when he noticed the way Renjiro visibly cringed. "What? It's a literary masterpiece," he defended, closing the book with an audible snap.
Minato, who had already briefed him on the situation, stood by with his arms crossed.
"Alright, sensei, what do you need me to do?" Jiraiya asked, rubbing the back of his head.
Hiruzen wasted no time.
"We need to rebuild this base and reinforce its defenses," he said. "Shinobi must be stationed here—Jonin, particularly those from shinobi clans."
Jiraiya arched a brow. "You expecting another Kumo breach?"
"We'll ensure that doesn't happen again," Hiruzen said simply.
Renjiro, arms still crossed, glanced between them.
"So we're waiting for the clearance of our neighbors before we move?"
Hiruzen smirked slightly before turning toward Minato.
The knowing look on his face made Minato immediately wary.
Minato frowned. "What?"
Hiruzen's smirk grew.
"I'm sure you haven't used any of those soldier pills yet," he remarked.
Renjiro immediately knew where this was going.
Minato let out a long-suffering sigh.
A second later, before either Renjiro or Jiraiya could protest, he placed a hand on both of them—
And in a flicker, they were gone.
Left alone amidst the ruins, Jiraiya stood in place for a moment before sighing.
He cracked open his book again, flipping back to his last page.
"Could've at least let me finish my chapter," he muttered.
=====
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