— — — — — —
After that, Tsunade and the others finished watching the scene of Renzo absolutely wrecking the Third Raikage.
The way he went at it—cold, brutal, relentless—made him look more like a final boss villain than a hero. Even Nara Shikaku and the others couldn't help sucking in a breath.
"Damn, kid… you don't mess around," Minato muttered, his eyelid twitching.
"Well, isn't that how you're supposed to treat an enemy?" Renzo shrugged like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Then he looked at everyone and continued, "Anyway, now that you've seen everything for yourselves, I'm sure you get the gist of what happened."
"To sum it up—Third Raikage's been beaten into the ground. I left him crippled. And the Eight-Tails? Sealed. Kumo took a heavy hit."
"Oh, and those few thousand Kumo shinobi who crossed into Earth Country? Yeah… they're probably not making it back either."
"So yeah. Things are looking real bad for Kumogakure."
He paused, then added with a grin, "And that's exactly our opening."
"Now comes the tricky part—how do we squeeze as much benefit out of them as possible, without completely collapsing their village? We want them just strong enough to go fight Iwagakure and bleed each other out. That's your job, Shikaku."
He didn't need to say more. Renzo trusted Nara Shikaku, especially when it came to tactics and negotiation.
The Nara Clan had always produced brilliant minds.
Shikaku now—and his son, Shikamaru, in the future—were the best examples of that legacy.
"Yeah. Got it. Definitely a golden opportunity," Shikaku nodded seriously.
"By the way... the Third Raikage's still alive, right?" Tsunade asked, a little hesitant.
Because from the footage, the old guy looked real bad. Honestly, she wasn't sure how he was still breathing.
Renzo smiled. "Relax. I patched him up."
"He won't be dying anytime within the year, I promise."
"But hey—we did agree I'd leave him crippled, and yep, he's definitely wrecked. He's not throwing punches anytime soon."
Nara Shikaku: "…"
Yamanaka Inoichi: "…"
Namikaze Minato: "…"
Tsunade gave Renzo a big thumbs-up. "Ruthless. I like it."
Honestly, Renzo had played it perfectly.
A dead Raikage? That'd stir up hatred and vengeance from Kumo, make peace talks a nightmare, and ruin their chances of getting proper war reparations.
But a living, broken Raikage? Way more useful.
He could be used as leverage. A bargaining chip. And more importantly, he'd ensure that Kumo still had skin in the game—especially in their upcoming fight with Iwa.
"Renzo-dono, you really thought this through from every angle. Honestly… you could probably handle the negotiations yourself."
Shikaku gave a dry chuckle.
Renzo waved him off. "Ugh, no thanks. That kind of stuff's way too much of a headache. Way too much brain work."
"You guys can take care of it—especially you, Shikaku. You've got the reputation. I've heard all about you."
What could Shikaku even say? He just smiled wryly.
Renzo was probably stronger than even the First Hokage at this point. And when power like that tells you to get to work, well—there's not much room for arguing.
"Alright, let's get moving," Renzo said, turning to Minato. "Ready, bro?"
"Always," Minato nodded.
"Wait! Take me with you!"
Just then, Kushina ran up and latched onto Tsunade's arm.
"Eh? Kushina, you wanna come too?" Minato looked surprised.
"Mhm! I wanna get out and stretch my legs a bit. It's been ages since I left the village!" She looked at him with puppy eyes. "You're not gonna say no, right?"
Minato hesitated for half a second, then smiled softly. "Of course not."
He remembered how she used to be confined for her own protection. It made his heart ache a little.
"Konoha owes you so much, Kushina. Go have fun. With Tsunade-sama and Renzo around, you'll be perfectly safe."
He leaned in with a wink. "Just come back soon. I'll miss you."
"Ugh, you two are gross." x2
Tsunade and Renzo both said at the same time, visibly cringing.
"Alright, enough lovey-dovey nonsense," Renzo grinned. "Everyone grab on. We're heading out!"
He casually slung an arm over Tsunade's shoulder, then held out a hand to Shikaku.
Shikaku walked over and let Renzo grab his shoulder, then reached out to grab Inoichi's hand.
"Let's go!"
In the blink of an eye, the four of them vanished from the Hokage's office in a flicker of light.
— — —
Two days later
The representatives from Kumogakure arrived.
Shikaku and Tsunade took over the negotiations as planned.
Meanwhile, Renzo kept his promise to Kushina. As soon as they arrived, he released a small portion of the seal on Killer Bee—just enough to let Kushina and the Nine-Tails, Kurama, meet the Eight-Tails, Gyuki.
"So this is the Iron Armor Seal? It kinda reminds me of one of the Uzumaki clan's sealing techniques..." Kushina looked around the sealing space with curiosity, taking it all in.
"It probably is." Renzo's voice echoed in the space as a projection of his consciousness appeared beside her.
"When the Land of Whirlpools was destroyed, Kumo took a lot of Uzumaki techniques. Wouldn't be surprising if they 'borrowed' and modified some."
With his Eternal Mangekyō, the seal was completely transparent to him. He'd already analyzed and cracked it using his ocular powers and omniscient insight.
He even compared it to the sealing techniques Kushina had traded him from the Uzumaki clan—and sure enough, he found several similarities.
Hearing that, Kushina's expression immediately darkened. She let out a cold snort. "I knew it. The fall of the Uzumaki clan wasn't just bad luck—those bastards from Kumo were involved too, huh?"
Her voice was laced with anger. "One day, I'll get to the bottom of all of it. And when I do, every last one of those culprits is gonna get what they deserve! Hmph!"
She hadn't forgotten what happened to her clan. Not for a second.
Just then, they all noticed the Eight-Tails inside the sealed space—and before anyone else could speak, Kurama jumped right in, smug as hell.
"Well, well, if it isn't the Eight-Tails!" the fox sneered. "Heard you got smacked around real bad recently—like, picked up like a baby chick and all that. Must've been rough, huh? Is it true?"
Gyuki: "…"
"…Ugh. Of course it's you." Gyuki let out a sigh. "You really came here just to make fun of me, didn't you?"
He glanced at Kurama, half-annoyed and half-wary.
Something felt off about this Nine-Tails. A little too bouncy. A little too chatty.
"Wait a sec… did you get influenced by your Jinchūriki?" Gyuki muttered, sneaking a glance at Kushina.
After all, the vibe here reminded him way too much of Killer Bee's cringy, tone-deaf rap lyrics. At first, Bee's antics made him want to vomit… but somewhere along the way, he'd kinda gotten used to it.
…Hell, he'd even started to think some of it was kinda catchy. Kinda.
Kurama flashed a sharp grin, still smug as ever. "Ding ding ding! That's right—I came all this way just to clown on you!"
"Remember back when we got captured by Hashirama and Madara? You wouldn't shut up about me getting manhandled by that damn wood-style freak."
"Feeling a bit of déjà vu today, aren't you?"
"Don't worry—I'll make sure every single Tailed Beast hears about the epic humiliation you suffered today! Heh heh heh…"
Gyuki: "…"
"…Wow. You are so petty. Seriously. You've held onto that grudge for decades?"
The ox-tailed beast groaned, a cold sweat forming on his brow.
And then—
"YO~ Yo~! BAKA-YARO, KONOYARO!"
Suddenly, Killer Bee's consciousness materialized, right on Eight-Tails' giant nose. Striking ridiculous poses and rapping nonsense, he looked around the space in confusion.
"Who are you people, yo~? What's going on, yo~? Why are you in my headspace, yo~?"
Then, his eyes locked onto Renzo, and his tone changed.
"Wait a sec! I know you! Yo, you damn BAKA-YARO! You're the jerk who sealed me and the Eight-Tails, right? Yo yo yo—what the hell are you doing here?! Yo~?"
"…And what happened to my bro?! Yo~?"
Renzo: "…"
Kushina: "…"
Kurama: "…"
The three of them stared at this walking fever dream of a man.
Yo, your ass.
This guy was completely nuts. How could anyone talk like that?
Kurama turned his sharp eyes toward Gyuki and asked flatly, "This guy is your Jinchūriki? How have you not gone insane yet?"
"I heard you even achieved that perfect harmony state or whatever. That means you actually accepted him—willingly?"
"Tell me the truth. Was it because you got sick of his rapping? Or did his awful speech pattern brainwash you over time?"
"…Or both?"
Kurama's eyes narrowed with suspicion. Sympathy? Maybe. But mostly… pity. And a little disgust.
"So you actually like this stuff?"
Eight-Tails' giant face turned red as he snapped back, "None of your business! Like you're any better!"
"From the moment I saw you today, I could tell something was off. You act way too upbeat—like some happy-go-lucky puppy!"
"Did the Nine-Tails… turn into a dog?"
Kurama froze.
"…What did you just say?"
Every single hair on his body stood on end. He practically exploded.
"You're the dog, you mutated octopus freak!"
"Not only do you look weird, but now even your tastes are gross!"
"You've officially embarrassed all of us Tailed Beasts!"
"I swear, I'm gonna spread the word about all your cringe behavior. Every single Tailed Beast is gonna hear about this, mark my words!"
With that, Kurama bolted out of the sealed space—then went ahead and manually shut down the outer-world communication from Kushina's seal.
He didn't even give Gyuki a chance to clap back.
That was some world-class sneakiness right there!
Truly… next-level Kurama.
.
.
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