Tsunade's sheer astonishment seemed to be exactly what Ren had expected.
"Although I fought Danzō tonight, that alone isn't enough to prove he's the mastermind behind all this," Ren explained calmly. "But the truth is, this matter didn't need to be 'proven' at all." He paused, his gaze steady on Tsunade. "You wouldn't actually think Sarutobi Hiruzen truly believed Shimura Egawa controlled all these events tonight, would you?"
"You mean…" Tsunade was so shocked she could barely form words.
"Of course, Sarutobi Hiruzen knew that all these things tonight were orchestrated by Shimura Danzō behind the scenes," Ren elaborated, his voice even. "All the members of the Root organization were cultivated by Shimura Danzō. And even though there's no visible Root organization in the village anymore, its members have been secretly operating this entire time, still following Shimura Danzō's commands." Ren's eyes held a subtle edge. "He just doesn't want to blame Shimura Danzō for this."
"So… Shimura Egawa really was just a scapegoat?" Tsunade asked, her voice laced with disbelief.
"That's right," Ren confirmed, nodding. "The punishment against Shimura Egawa was simply Sarutobi Hiruzen expressing his dissatisfaction with Danzō's secret operations; it was merely a warning. In fact, even if he knew everything was Danzō's doing, he wouldn't truly punish him."
"Why, why?! I don't understand!" Tsunade exclaimed, growing agitated. The sheer volume of information Ren had delivered tonight was overwhelming. "Sarutobi-sensei knows all this is wrong! He clearly knows all this is being done behind the scenes, so why does he still protect that guy?! Why does he let him cause trouble in Konoha?!"
"Because Sarutobi Hiruzen is too indecisive," Ren stated, his tone tinged with a quiet critique. "Shimura Danzō is his former friend and his current right-hand man, so even if Sarutobi Hiruzen knew what he was doing behind his back, he would never be willing to actually eliminate him."
In Ren's opinion, while Sarutobi Hiruzen had held the position of Hokage for the longest period in Konoha's history, he was, in essence, the most flawed Hokage. He had completely misunderstood the Will of Fire that Senju Hashirama had upheld when establishing Konoha Village. Where the leaves dance, the fire burns bright. The fire will continue to illuminate the village and allow new leaves to sprout. The First and Second Hokage had dedicated their lives to Konoha's peace, and for most of his tenure, Hiruzen Sarutobi seemed to pursue peace similarly. However, he lacked a crucial element: courage. Because he constantly looked forward and backward, perpetually hesitating, he was unable to make truly correct decisions, leading to a regrettable series of incidents in Konoha Village.
If he had insisted on Tsunade's idea and integrated medical ninjas into every ninja team, perhaps Tsunade's younger brother wouldn't have died on the battlefield due to delayed treatment.If Orochimaru's forbidden technique experiments had been truly discovered, and he had obeyed the Ape Demon's command to eliminate Orochimaru on the spot, perhaps there would be far less war in this world.If, during the Nine-Tails' rampage, the one who had desperately sealed the Nine-Tails hadn't been the Fourth Hokage but Sarutobi Hiruzen, perhaps under the Fourth's leadership, Konoha would be a different scene today.If he had stood firm when Kumogakure kidnapped Hinata and threatened the Hyūga clan to hand over Hyūga Hizashi, he could have defended the innocent Hyūga clan. Instead, Hizashi was sacrificed.
To seek true peace wasn't about avoiding war or blindly retreating. It was about adhering firmly to one's principles and ideals. If an intruder appeared, they must be punished! It was precisely because Sarutobi Hiruzen had been hampered by his own indecision and procrastination that the internal affairs of this village had become so muddled! The Sannin left Konoha, the Fourth Hokage sacrificed himself, Hyūga Hiashi committed suicide, Uchiha Itachi exterminated his clan—each of these events, while seemingly unrelated to Hiruzen Sarutobi on the surface, had occurred due to his perceived incompetence.
Just like now, even if he had already guessed that the real culprit behind all these events tonight was Danzō, he wouldn't truly investigate it to that point. Instead, after Danzō introduced a scapegoat, Shimura Egawa, he hastily declared the matter understood.
"Damn it! How could this happen!" Tsunade slammed the table, her chest heaving, a vein throbbing on her forehead. "I can't wait to go to Shimura Danzō's house right now and beat that old man into the ground!"
At this point, Tsunade seemed to suddenly recall something. She looked at Ren with a strange expression. "So tonight, why did you leave early? How did you end up clashing with Danzō?"
Ren explained truthfully, "Danzō brought a group of people and rushed towards my house. I guessed they might want to do something to my family, so I intercepted them halfway."
"The street… on Northwest Street? Was that your doing?" Tsunade's eyes widened in surprise. "Shimura Egawa's son, Shimura Yōkawa, you didn't… kill him too, did you?"
"Shimura Yōkawa? I don't know who that is," Ren replied calmly, shaking his head. "If he was among those people, he should have been eliminated. Tonight, everyone died, except for Danzō, who used Izanagi to escape my grasp."
Gulp.
Tsunade swallowed hard. She couldn't help but reach out and give Ren a thumbs-up. "I only just realized… you're the real ruthless one!"
Danzō met him… it can only be said that Danzō had no foresight, and this was his bad luck. From Tsunade's perspective, Ren was now an even more terrifying existence in Konoha Village than even Sarutobi-sensei.
"But that guy Shimura Egawa is locked up, otherwise he won't let it go if he finds out you killed his son," Tsunade said with a hint of schadenfreude. "As for that guy Danzō, I'll go give him another beating later. Take it easy!"
"No, I've already taken my revenge," Ren stated, a faint smile playing on his lips.
"You, how did you get revenge?" Tsunade suddenly felt a chill creep up her spine. She quickly picked up the water glass on the table and took a sip, trying to calm herself. She had a hunch that whatever Ren said next would definitely not be trivial…
"I burned down the Shimura clan compound."
"Pfft—!"
Tsunade suddenly spat out all the water in her mouth. Then she stood up abruptly, leaped onto the nearby wall, and gazed in the direction of the Shimura clan compound. Sure enough, the fire blazed brightly, its raging inferno clear enough to see even from across most of the city. The previous Tsunade had been too busy escorting Shimura Egawa to prison and then rushing back to Ren's house; she hadn't even noticed that the Shimura family's compound had caught fire!
Tsunade hurriedly turned, her eyes wide with a hint of horror as she looked at Ren. At this moment, she finally realized one crucial thing: anyone in the whole village could be messed with, but one must never, ever provoke this kid, Ren! He is terrifying!