A few days passed, and Ren was finally standing in front of the Hokage after coming back to the village, recounting his encounter with the Kumo ninjas, when Danzo Shimura walked into the Hokage's office as if he owned the place.
"I heard Kumo attacked one of our ninjas, Hiruzen." He said steadily, with a flat tone, and Ren found himself involuntarily deadpanning at the man.
What did he mean by 'our ninjas'? The audacity of this bitch.
Sadly, this was the Hokage's office, and Ren couldn't exactly tell Danzo to leave. That privilege lay strictly with the Hokage, who...
"Yes. It is most concerning." The Hokage evenly said, releasing a puff of smoke from his mouth while ignoring that Danzo invited himself to the briefing. "They tried to recruit young Ren here, and it came to blows. Darui is dead. This could possibly spark further hostilities."
Yeah, he clearly wasn't going to send the old cripple packing.
Sigh. This was exactly why Ren was still so hesitant to trust Hiruzen Sarutobi despite many things indicating that he wasn't some incarnation of all evil of the Narutoverse like so many fanfictions tried to portray him as.
The changes the man had made to Konoha were overall quite good. They improved the lives of their citizens a lot. The man obviously deeply cared for his people and gave his all for them.
But then there was the fact he still didn't tell Danzo to fuck off at the first opportunity, and Ren had to stifle an annoyed groan.
This was going to be one of 'these' kinds of briefings, wasn't it?
How did Danzo even get here so fast? Ren literally entered the village and walked straight to the Hokage Tower to report what had happened to him. The only way for Danzo to get the information so quickly would be to... oh.
'The dipshit has spies in the Hokage Tower.' Ren realized and was astonished at the balls of steel Danzo must have. The Hokage was not stupid. If Ren came to this realization, then Hiruzen probably figured it out the second Danzo opened the door.
Yet, the old cripple didn't seem to care that his presence here was basically low-key admitting to his borderline treasonous actions.
Unlike in fanfics, there was no ROOT ANBU hidden in the Hokage's office. Nothing so blatantly obvious would be allowed, and it honestly wouldn't work anyway.
Despite everything, Hiruzen is still an S-rank ninja. He wouldn't miss some chunin crouching in his office. The sheer idea was moronic as hell.
But putting spies in the administration forces of the village that worked under the Hokage? Now, that was much easier to do. Some clerk, or gate guard, or a secretary of some clerk in this building must be reporting to Danzo.
He wouldn't have gotten here so fast otherwise.
Now that was making Ren depressed. The people working in the Hokage Tower were supposed to be vetted with the strictest oversight.
But from the way Hiruzen didn't even blink, this was probably not the first time something like this happened. Really. Who needs enemies with a friend like Danzo?
And to be fair, what could Hiruzen even do about it? Call him out? Danzo would just deny it and demand proof. Find the culprits? How? If the initial vetting process did not show anything amiss, then any subsequent one was most likely not going to reveal it either.
In fact, doing it was far more effort than it was worth, considering the most likely results would be unsatisfactory.
No. The only way for Hiruzen to nip this shit in the bud would be to smash Danzo's head with his staff but the monkey-loving old timer was not going to do that.
Was it any surprise that Ren felt frustrated?
He would have dealt with Danzo himself if it were easy. But if he attacked him in the open, then he would have the entire village after his ass. Danzo would spin it in a way to make Ren the bad guy.
If he tried to kill him secretly in one decisive strike and failed, which was very likely because of Danzo's Izanagi, he would find himself in a shadow war against Danzo, and the man would most likely target Hinata or Ino, or their families.
Ren wanted to avoid that at all costs. It wasn't just his hide that was on the line here anymore.
The option to reveal his crimes and have Konoha turn on Danzo was also unavailable. Konoha was still culturally Japanese. Respecting your elders was a big thing. Especially if said elders were on the council. Especially if said elders bled for Konoha and had gotten crippled in the service. You also do not poke at somebody's battle wounds. It just wasn't done. It went against every rule of etiquette the ninjas had.
Which was very convenient for Danzo who was a war veteran hero who was crippled in the line of duty twice over and served his village 'faithfully' for his entire life and had a high political position in the village and kept many connections with the Daimyo's court, the nobles, and the merchants.
If Ren, a random chunin, demanded Danzo to show his crippled arm and eye? He would be laughed out of the council room with his career over. Danzo would not even need to say a word. The other councilmen would send Ren packing for him because they would feel offended that he dared to bring it up.
It might not appear so, but Danzo had his cover figured out perfectly. There wasn't much that could be done about him politically.
Ren would need Hokage's backing for such an attempt, but he wouldn't get it because just saying a demand like that could severely damage Hiruzen's standing with the clans and civilians alike.
And the kicker? Ren couldn't even be sure they could catch Danzo with his pants down with such a request. Unlike in the stories from his past life, Danzo in real life was not a brain-dead idiot.
For all Ren knew, the arm might be detachable, and there really might be nothing under that black, baggy kimono Danzo constantly wore to hide his 'missing' limb.
As for his Sharingan eye? Yeah, as if people did not change eyes left and right in the Narutoverse. Danzo probably never brought it into the council chambers or anywhere near a public place.
After all, if the multitude of Hyugas never discovered it over the years, then Danzo probably did not have these upgrades constantly on his person.
Somebody would have noticed long ago. Evading Byakugan was nigh impossible, and the Byakugan users usually saw even things they did not want to see just because they entered their field of vision. If there was something fishy to be found about Danzo's crippled status, then it would have been discovered long ago.
Not to mention, Ren actually needed Danzo to live. At least until the Konoha Crush happened. His most immediate goal was to end Orochimaru and Kabuto in one fell swoop. And that event would be the best opportunity he would ever get.
No Edo Tensei meant no Madara coming back to life as an unkillable zombie with nigh infinite chakra reserves and Rinnegan, who could spam Shadow Clone plus Perfect Susanoo or throw meteorites left and right like nobody's business.
Frankly, Ren would prefer Madara coming back to an actual real life than having his Edo Tensei version running around. At least, that way, he could run out of chakra and would be constrained to human limits. There would be no Shadow Clones, plus a perfect Susannoo combo for him in that state. There would be no meteorite spam. Injuries would not instantly regenerate. Killing blows would stick, too.
No. Human Madara was way more manageable and, most importantly, killable.
Edo Tensei Madara was the nightmare mode Ren would love to avoid.
Ren was afraid that prematurely killing Danzo would make it harder for Orochimaru to organize the invasion. And if he aborted the plan, that would have been disastrous. When would Ren get such a golden opportunity to assassinate him again?
Ren knew it was coming. He could prepare. He could plan. He could litter the battlefield with hidden seals before the fighting even started. He had the home-field advantage.
And he wasn't going to give it up just because Danzo was being annoying.
Unfortunately, Orochimaru was simply the bigger fish to fry in this situation, and as deeply as Ren desired to wring Danzo's neck, the momentary satisfaction just wasn't worth the chance at killing the Snake Sannin and Kabuto.
Edo Tensei could not be allowed to be utilized in the upcoming war. Even as a seal master who would have a massive advantage against the Edo Tensei zombies, Ren still didn't want to face it. He would rather no-sell that entire plot direction before it could become an issue.
Unaware of Ren's inner turmoil, Danzo frowned when he heard Hiruzen's words. "Recruit?" He asked, giving Ren a long measuring look.
His expression didn't betray anything, but he wasn't happy about it. He paid them with a proxy for an S-rank assassination mission, and they tried to recruit the target?
Danzo inwardly scoffed. This was why clients never chose Kumo as their preferred choice of hidden village to employ. They were honorless, shameless swines who could not do what they were paid for.
Utterly disgraceful!
But it was fine. He would have preferred if Ren died. But there was success even in failure. He would get the report of Ren's fight with the Kumo ninjas, and it would reveal more of Ren's abilities.
Plus, Ren was now fully on Kumo's radar, with a grudge the size of the Hokage monument forming between him and the Kumo leadership. The Fourth Raikage was not a patient or forgiving man. That alone meant that Danzo got his money's worth.
But maybe he could put in some effort to curb Ren's threat, too?
"And what, pray tell, were you doing over there, chunin Ren? Meeting with Darui of the Black Lightning, the Raikage's most trusted ninja?" Danzo coldly asked, trying to bring suspicion on Ren, who frowned after hearing his words.
"I was on a mission. Duh." Ren flatly said, but Danzo was not satisfied.
He turned toward the Hokage. "Hiruzen, my confidential sources state that Ren stole information from the village and intended to sell-"
"Sources you will no doubt not disclose," Ren interrupted him with a scoff, followed by an eye roll, "yet you expect me to defend myself against their imaginary claims."
Really? Was he really trying to use the ninja version of 'Trust me, bro.' on him?
Well, Ren had to admit that it wasn't a bad plan. Mission scrolls usually tend to get destroyed in similar situations. Not to mention, Darui possessed the mission scroll Ren would have needed to prove his innocence.
The records of said mission in the village were no doubt already turned into ash. Probably the second after Ren left the village. Ninjas gonna ninja.
It wasn't that unexpected for Danzo to believe Ren didn't possess it. Because why would Darui give it to him if he was there to kill him in the first place, right?
And without said mission scroll, Danzo's claims would have at least some sort of effect. Even if the Hokage shut them down.
Sadly for the cripple...
"Then it is a good thing that Ren managed to bring back the mission scroll that proves he was indeed there on a sanctioned mission from Konoha. It seems we have a serious security breach on our hands." Hiruzen gravely stated, completely ignoring Ren's previous rude interruption aimed at Danzo.
Danzo's lips only twitched minisculely upon hearing that Ren brought back the scroll, and he lightly nodded. "I see. I must have been mistaken, then." He offhandedly admitted as if accusing Ren of treason was some sort of harmless prank.
Ren's fingers twitched, and he had to fight a quick but brutal inward battle to prevent himself from throwing a kunai at the old dipshit.
But Danzo didn't even give him enough time to throw a rude remark at him in return. "Still, his presence there is suspicious. For all we knew, he might have been in league with the spies. He should be properly screened to ensure his loyalties. I heard he is a good friend and tutor of the Yamanaka heiress. Maybe the Yamanaka clan could be a good neutral party for this endeavor?"
Ah. Yes. That, at least, sounded like a reasonable suggestion. Offering a neutral third party was also smart, and it seemed that Danzo was trying to distance himself from the matter.
But Ren was aware the man had that Yamanaka lackey whose name he had already forgotten.
"Fuck you. Not gonna happen, you dipshit." He exclaimed with a snort, shocking Danzo with his crass words as Hiruzen chuckled but stayed silently observing the situation while enjoying the cinema.
"The only person I'd let touch my mind is Ino." Ren said, not outright refusing the possibility of screening because that would have been suspicious in itself, but he also showed he wouldn't just accept some random Yamanaka rummage through his mind.
As 'reasonable' as that suggestion sounded, it was way over the top. It was rude and insulting. So, Ren responded in a similarly childish manner.
Ino was not yet a kunoichi of Konoha. But she was Yamanaka. And she... well, Ren didn't have any delusions. Danzo definitely knew that Ren was poking her with his secret kunai on the regular basis. Ino wasn't one to keep such a thing secret, and unlike Hinata, she liked her public showcase of affection.
But Ren's partial acceptance was still a 'reasonable' compromise.
And Danzo didn't like that. His eyebrows scrunched slightly in frustration, and his voice grew harsher. "As an Elder of Konoha, I order you to-"
But Ren just scoffed, not letting him finish. "As an Elder, you have a position in the village's political scene! Not in its military command structure, so why the fuck are you trying to order me around, you senile retard? Do you not know where your competencies start and where they end? No wonder the Second Hokage didn't choose you as his successor if you don't know something elementary like that." Ren mockingly said, causing Danzo to finally break his poker face and sneer while Hiruzen's lips quivered and his eyes mirthfully glinted.
"Watch your mouth. I am an Elder of this village. Show some respect, chunin!"
But Ren just cheekily grinned, "Then act like it, you old crippled washed-up has-been!"