The night was as deep and dark as ink. The villagers of Sunagakure had drifted into the most peaceful, sweet dreams.
In Kaza's luxurious mansion, Danzo stared at the Kazekage hat on the table, his gaze growing increasingly obscure. His thinking had begun to evolve under Rinjin's unconventional rhetoric.
For normal people of this era, hearing Rinjin's words would only be frightening. But was Danzo a normal person?! Obviously not.
This old codger had been on an endless path of falling into traps ever since he first encountered Rinjin in Konoha's nineteenth year. On this point, Danzo could proudly thump his chest and declare: "I've stepped in more pits than you've walked roads!" How cheeky~
But years of battling wits with various traps had honed his thinking to extreme agility. Frankly speaking, Danzo had turned pit-dodging into a passive skill! This also made him far more cautious and careful in his dealings than his original counterpart.
Fugaku, stirring up trouble in the village under the Uchiha name—did he ever interfere? No! He couldn't even be bothered to give him a second glance!
When Root was being wandered through like someone's backyard by Rinjin, did he ever retaliate? No—he was too busy trying to avoid him.
When Sarutobi Hiruzen made mistakes, did he kick him while he was down? No! He even helped Hiruzen clean up his messes.
In Rinjin's view, this old codger Danzo had already been fully trained—tricking him held no interest anymore. So, one final trick.
Watching Danzo's increasingly euphoric expression, Rinjin smiled and shook his head before walking out the door. He felt completely at ease leaving Sunagakure's affairs to Danzo. This precious fool had been properly cultivated.
Since he couldn't bear to involve his friends and family in these schemes and conspiracies, Danzo—who was clever and enjoyed shady dealings—had become his assistant.
As Sarutobi Hiruzen put it so well: "He's in the light, Danzo's in the shadows." Since this "shadow" was so useful, why not borrow it for himself?
Just as Danzo himself had said: create opportunities for Sunagakure's people, pave a visible path for them. So why not pave a path for Danzo too—a road to becoming the ultimate puppet master, the path he'd most likely enjoy.
Even if he knew he was being used, so what?! After all, Rinjin was only opening the path—the choice to walk it was Danzo's own.
Most importantly, Rinjin didn't care if Danzo's scheming abilities surpassed his own. Setting aside how his understanding was still limited by his era, none of that mattered. Those shadier than him weren't as tough; those tougher than him—well, there weren't any currently, and probably never would be.
Those who play with tactics all have dirty hearts~
After entrusting Sunagakure's affairs to an enthusiastic Danzo, Rinjin left behind a clone and brought his wife Tsunade—who had devolved into a complete couch potato—back to Amegakure.
The next day, in the village chief's office at Amegakure's Rain Tower: Rinjin lounged leisurely on the sofa, holding a book and reading with a serious expression.
This book was the latest work by the youngest Minami sister. Departing from her previously lively, cute, and slightly mischievous writing style, the overall tone was quite dark. Clearly, either something had happened at home, or this young author had been sent razor blades by readers.
The title: "My Puppet Senior Brother and Withered Junior Brother"
After a general overview, Rinjin roughly understood what had transpired. Though there was no Danzo or Hanzō, Yahiko had still been turned into a puppet, and Nagato had been drained into a husk by the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
He wasn't surprised by these three's fate. Nagato'sRinnegan had never belonged to him from the beginning. Given that, how could Madara possibly allow someone to use his Rinnegan to play second fiddle to some orange-haired kid?
So Yahiko's death was almost inevitable—Hanzō and Danzo were merely tools. And tools could be replaced.
However, Rinjin vaguely remembered that Nagato should have summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path after Madara's death, when Obito infiltrated Akatsuki. Why had the timeline advanced?
When Nagato summoned the Demonic Statue, would he also summon old Madara along with it? Wasn't old Madara connected to the statue? Pull up the radish and bring up the mud?
Muttering to himself, a vivid scene suddenly formed in his mind: Enemies all around, the air thick with murderous intent. Konan supported Yahiko's corpse, crying incessantly. Nagato, eyes blazing with fury and legs blown off, formed hand seals and slapped the ground. "Summoning Technique: Portable Toilet!"
Then the mighty Demonic Statue of the Outer Path burst from the ground, slapped its hands down and roared at the sky— only to have a white-haired old man dangling from the white tubes protruding from its chest, flailing his arms and legs in terror.
At this thought, Rinjin couldn't hold back and burst out laughing. Well, there goes ten years of accumulated virtue~
Regardless, things had changed. Whether it was a good or bad change didn't matter—it was quite amusing.
What he didn't know was that old Madara had long since stopped caring about other matters. Worried that after his death, the incompetent Obito would be tricked by Rinjin, he decided to handle everything that was originally Obito's responsibility himself. Most crucially, when this happened, White Zetsu had been monitoring Rinjin in Sunagakure the entire time. Taking advantage of Rinjin being busy with his own affairs, old Madara decided to go all out.
On the sofa in the village chief's office, Rinjin contentedly put down the book. Going downstairs, he found Rii yawning on the first floor and asked: "Where's that Mei girl?"
Hearing this, Rii wiped the tears from her eyes without any regard for her image, smacked her lips, and replied: "She should be at the village training ground. Ever since I took her to Kirigakure last time, she's been locking herself in the training ground all day, training relentlessly. Oh, big brother, when can that successor you mentioned take office? Didn't you always say power breeds corruption, and absolute power breeds absolute corruption? I've been in this village chief position for decades—I'm about to rot! Please let me retire quickly!"
Hearing this, Rinjin chuckled and gave him an eye roll. "Wait a bit. I currently have two candidates—let me consider them carefully."
With that, he strolled leisurely toward the training ground on the south side of the village.
On the way, Rinjin counted on his fingers, carefully calculating the candidates for the second generation. Rin Nohara was one option. This girl was decent—she'd grown up with Mei Terumi and Shizune, was heavily influenced by Mei, and her loyalty to Konoha was mediocre. In the future, she could represent the village in a love-hate relationship with Obito!
As for the second candidate, he was a pleasant surprise for Rinjin: Uchiha Shisui. This kid, in Amegakure—a place full of monsters and demons—had surprisingly not gone astray.
Thinking of this, Rinjin's lips curved into a Versailles-style bitter smile. "Ah, having too many excellent candidates is really troublesome~"
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