At first, Black Zetsu didn't notice anything wrong with Renya.
It was only by accident one day that, after observing closely, it realized something about Renya's body wasn't right.
Sometimes, after Renya fell asleep at noon, he would seem to become a completely different person. His aura and behavior would undergo a complete transformation.
After secretly observing him for a long time, Black Zetsu learned that whenever Renya fell asleep, there was a chance another personality would emerge.
That personality wouldn't stay for long—only about half an hour…
And the first thing Renya did after waking up was always to head to the Hokage's office to chat with Senju Tobirama. After that, he would return home and lie down on his chair again.
Overall, the impact on Renya himself wasn't severe, but Black Zetsu worried that the "chef's illness" would get worse and worse.
If that personality ever completely replaced the real chef, it would be a disaster!
Would that personality even know how to cook? Could it cook well?
If it did, that would be fine. But if not, then the chef it had painstakingly found for its mother would be gone!
"Why is this happening?" Black Zetsu muttered, unable to figure it out no matter how hard it thought.
It had overheard a conversation between Renya and Senju Tobirama once—apparently, this was connected to one of Tobirama's experiments. But the exact details were unclear.
Damn you, Senju Tobirama!
If my chef can't cook for Mother anymore, you'd better be ready to die!
Just imagining a future where Renya couldn't cook made Black Zetsu want to kill Tobirama.
How could he ruin such a good chef like this?!
No matter what, it had to find a way to eliminate that alternate personality from Renya.
Perhaps… Mother would know a way to fix this.
Before that, though, it would try to handle it on its own—to see if the problem could be completely cured.
In its thousand years of existence, this was the first time Black Zetsu had ever encountered such a situation.
It was all Tobirama's fault! Why did he have to study its chef of all people?!
If the chef couldn't cook anymore, it would never let Tobirama off the hook. It could easily set up a plan to send him on his way.
And if that didn't work, it could always ask Uchiha Madara to kill him.
Madara would surely be delighted to avenge the chef…
Black Zetsu glanced at Renya, who was busy working in the kitchen, then sank quietly into the ground.
Don't worry, chef. I'll cure your illness!
...
Hokage's Office.
"Bang!"
The office door was pushed open, and Renya walked in carrying a lunch box.
"Hey, old man, I keep telling you—you should just retire already. Handling documents every single day… is that really fun?" Renya said as he placed the food on the desk, his tone full of confusion.
Strange… Why did it feel like he'd said that before?
Hearing this, Senju Tobirama stared at Renya for a long moment, almost thinking that "that guy" had come to mess with him again.
Fortunately, the one standing before him was indeed the Renya he knew.
"Old man, why are you staring at me like that?" Renya pouted. "I'm just telling the truth. Working all day long with paperwork—only a fool would actually enjoy being Hokage."
Here, by "fool," he specifically meant those Konoha shinobi who had been brainwashed by the so-called Will of Fire since childhood.
Wait… hadn't he said that before too?
Renya frowned slightly. He honestly couldn't remember saying those words recently.
But he didn't think much of it—he'd said similar things plenty of times before. Maybe he was just remembering wrong.
Senju Tobirama: "…"
Case closed. That guy and Renya were one and the same!
Other than their personalities, they were practically identical in every other way.
Or rather, that other personality was more like a naturally wicked Uchiha, while this boy was the foster son he'd raised since childhood.
Whatever the truth, Tobirama was determined to completely eradicate that other personality from Renya's body!
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"Old man, why aren't you saying anything?" Renya waved a hand in front of Tobirama's face.
He couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about Tobirama today…
"Ah, I just got distracted," Tobirama said, picking up his soup bowl and taking a sip.
"tsk, you weren't daydreaming about some lady, were you?" Renya asked with a teasing grin.
This thick-browed old man always claimed he'd never marry, yet here he was spacing out, probably thinking about someone!
"Cough, cough—!" Tobirama nearly choked on his soup, glaring at him furiously. Was this kid really not that guy in disguise?
No, that other one would never say such ridiculous things. The Renya before him was definitely the real one.
"Hahaha, just kidding!" Renya laughed, waving his hand.
Lately, he didn't know why, but he found it funny watching this old man get flustered.
"Kid, if you've got nothing better to do, help me review these documents," Tobirama said, tossing a file in front of him.
"Shouldn't you be making Danzō do this kind of thing?" Renya muttered, but he still flipped open the folder.
What even was this stuff?
Was he really supposed to review this? He didn't even know where to start!
"Old man, you should let Danzō and Hiruzen handle this kind of thing," Renya said, closing the folder and tossing it back.
He'd rather go home and sleep than deal with paperwork.
Speaking of which… he was starting to feel sleepy again.
He'd been living a laid-back life for so long that he got drowsy whenever he had nothing to do.
When there's nothing else to do after eating—take a nap.
When there's nothing to do after waking up—take another nap.
When there's nothing to do all day—just lie in bed and sleep!
Lately, though, he seemed to be getting even sleepier than usual.
Tobirama noticed and couldn't help but show an "of course" expression. Even if Renya's personality had changed, he was still that same boy who got five points on written exams.
That other personality and this one differed only in temperament.
At least things weren't as bad as he'd feared…
Still, he needed to find a way to destroy that other one. He couldn't let it keep occupying Renya's body.
After all, the whole situation was his fault.
"Hiruzen and Danzō won't be reporting in until tomorrow," Tobirama said.
Otherwise, he could've had them handle the paperwork while he slacked off under the guise of "evaluating" their performance.
Once Danzō could handle administrative duties—with Hiruzen's help—
He could finally retire in peace and focus entirely on fixing Renya's condition.
"Just retire already. You're not getting any younger—why keep grinding like this?" Renya said softly.
Fifty wasn't exactly young anymore. The rest of his life should be about enjoying it.
Like himself—he'd been "lying flat" for years now, and every day felt great.
Tobirama smiled faintly. This kid and that other one were incomparable. The Renya he'd raised actually cared about him, while the other one just wanted him dead.
No matter what, he couldn't allow that other personality to keep existing!
If that thing ever fully replaced Renya, it would be a disaster.
"Yeah, I know," Tobirama nodded. "Once Danzō is ready, I'll announce my retirement."
He no longer had any interest in paperwork—all he wanted now was to cure Renya's condition as soon as possible!
If anything ever happened to Renya, he'd never forgive himself.