— — — — — —
Minato smiled and nodded, saying, "Renzo's abilities go way beyond what you know, Sensei. Seriously, he's a genius that surpasses even the First Hokage!"
"Not only that, he's kind-hearted, visionary, and sharp as hell."
"Take a look at these documents — all of this intel? He swiped it straight from Danzo's Root headquarters!"
"Oh, and by the way, the whole plan to take down Danzo, even pushing for the Third Hokage to step down? That was his idea, too."
Honestly, from Minato's perspective, with Renzo's strength and intelligence, he was probably the most qualified person to become the Fourth Hokage.
But… what a shame.
He had actually asked Renzo once, and Renzo just flat-out refused, saying he didn't like dealing with troublesome things or all the boring political nonsense.
And he was really firm about it.
"Hm?" Jiraiya rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "You're saying Renzo was the one who wanted to bring down Danzo and the Third? Then what's he after? Don't tell me he's just doing it out of the goodness of his heart."
Because if he wasn't getting anything out of it, why go to all that trouble helping Minato?
No way a guy like him would jump through so many hoops just for fun.
Jiraiya had long since outgrown his naive younger days. After seeing the darkness both inside and outside the village, he knew better than to trust that kind of thing blindly.
"Oh, I know what he wants! He told me himself," Minato said with a smile, picking up on his teacher's doubts.
"Renzo just wants me, after I become Hokage, to treat the Uchiha clan fairly. Get rid of all those unfair policies that have been targeting them."
Jiraiya waited for the rest.
"..."
But Minato had already finished speaking.
"That's it?" Jiraiya asked, raising an eyebrow.
Minato nodded. "Yup. That's all."
"Doesn't that sound… a bit too simple?"
Jiraiya frowned slightly.
Minato chuckled. "Sensei, do you really think that sounds simple, especially with how things are in Konoha now? Or with the way the Third's been running things?"
His eyes grew serious as he looked up at the sky. "You've seen more than I have, Sensei. You should know this — ever since the Second Hokage's time, there've been targeted surveillance and suppression policies aimed at the Uchiha."
"I don't know exactly what the Uchiha were like back then, so I won't judge whether the Second Hokage was right or wrong."
"But the thing is, those policies never changed. If anything, they got worse under Danzo and the Third Hokage. Is that really okay?"
"What have the current Uchiha done wrong? Have they ever done anything truly unforgivable to Konoha? Aren't they part of the village too?"
Jiraiya was momentarily at a loss for words. "Well… I guess, yeah, you're right. They really haven't."
"Even if a lot of people dislike the Uchiha running the Konoha Police Force — that was something the Second Hokage deliberately handed to them."
Back in the day, he'd talked about this with Tsunade and Orochimaru. None of them were fools.
Even the more clear-headed members of the Uchiha clan probably knew the Police Force position wasn't exactly a favor.
But it was the only real, official authority the Uchiha were allowed to hold. What else were they supposed to do? Just give it up?
If they had, Danzo and the Third would've been thrilled — finally an excuse to strip away even that, completely kicking the Uchiha out of any position of power in the village.
It was like being handed a poisoned bait and still being forced to swallow it with a smile.
No outsider could ever truly understand the bitterness of that.
Thinking it through, Jiraiya couldn't help but start feeling a little sympathy for the Uchiha.
Clearly, now that he was starting to question the Third Hokage's decisions, he was also shedding the biases left behind by the old generation… and finally starting to see the Uchiha for who they really were.
"That's exactly how it is," Minato nodded seriously."The Uchiha have endured years of unfair treatment, and still, they've never acted out. I think that shows incredible restraint and rationality."
"It's Konoha that owes them — not the other way around."
"That's why I agreed to Renzo's request. Once I become Hokage, I'll do my best to overturn those outdated policies, and give the Uchiha a truly fair environment."
"Renzo told me I'm the only one who can pull it off. That's why he's willing to support me — and I'm willing to help him, too. It's mutual."
Minato would become the bridge between the Uchiha and the rest of the village. Help both sides understand each other. Slowly but surely, guide the Uchiha to truly become part of Konoha again — accepted by everyone.
And really, that's part of a Hokage's job, isn't it? What kind of Hokage relies on oppression and fear to keep power?
What kind of village is built on crushing its own clans and pushing its geniuses into corners?
Jiraiya fell silent at that, letting out a soft "Hmm…"
After thinking it over, he nodded and said, "If that's really the case, then this kid Renzo… he's honestly someone worth trusting. Seems like he's got a pretty sharp mind too."
He paused for a beat before continuing, "I think I'll go meet him in person. Give him my own judgment after we talk. What do you think, Minato?"
He needed to see it with his own eyes. Only then would he feel truly at ease.
"Of course, no problem," Minato said with a smile. "But it's probably best not to let the Third or Danzo find out. Want me to set up the meeting for you?"
Things were still pretty tense right now, after all. If Jiraiya just went to Renzo out of nowhere, it'd definitely raise some eyebrows.
"Oh?" Jiraiya paused for a second, then suddenly realized, "Right… I wasn't thinking. Yeah, sounds good. You handle the arrangements. The sooner, the better."
He was eager to confirm things for himself.
"Then give me a sec," Minato said. "I'll get in touch with Renzo now. If everything goes smoothly, you two should be able to meet real soon."
As he spoke, Minato raised his left hand and tapped twice on the communication band on his wrist.
Then, speaking clearly into it, he said: "Red Queen, connect me to Renzo. See if he's free and can come over to my current location."
This was a gadget Renzo had given him. Super handy for staying in touch.
Right now, Renzo had already launched over a dozen satellites into orbit around the Shinobi World, covering nearly the entire continent. Communication was crystal clear almost everywhere.
"Understood, Lord Minato!" a female voice answered instantly from the device.
"Huh?" Jiraiya blinked, curiosity immediately piqued. He leaned closer to get a better look at the gadget on Minato's wrist.
"What's this? A girl's voice? Kinda sounds like Tsunade when she was a kid. Am I hearing things?"
"Eh?" Minato looked a bit surprised, then laughed awkwardly. "Sounds like Lady Tsunade? I think that might be a stretch…"
"This is a communication device Renzo designed. It lets you talk to someone over really long distances. He said it can work from thousands of kilometers away, as long as the signal's stable."
Minato had been blown away by it the first time he used it—just like Jiraiya was now.
"Wait, seriously? Thousands of kilometers?" Jiraiya was stunned. "That's wild! Man, I wonder if I could get one too?"
He wasn't just shocked—he was seriously tempted.
Imagine if Tsunade, Orochimaru, or even all those lovely ladies he'd met while traveling could each have one. He'd be able to chat them up whenever he wanted! Wouldn't that be the dream?
"Oh? That's not out of the question, Jiraiya~"
A voice suddenly chimed in from the other side of Minato—and there was Renzo, smiling as he joined them.
"???" Jiraiya turned and stared. "When did you get here? Don't tell me… you know Flying Thunder God too?"
"Yep," Renzo nodded casually.
"Wha—?!" Jiraiya's eyes went wide. "I was just kidding! You actually do know it? Wait, you mastered it?!"
He immediately looked suspiciously at Minato. "Don't tell me you taught him?"
"That wasn't me," Minato replied with a helpless smile, shaking his head. "Sensei, did you forget? When the Third forcibly summoned Renzo back to the village that time, one of the rewards he gave, based on Renzo's contributions, was access to the Flying Thunder God technique."
"I definitely mentioned it to you before."
"Oh—!" Jiraiya's eyes widened again. "Now that you mention it… yeah, I think you did. Totally forgot."
Still, he stared at Renzo, visibly impressed.
"Not bad, kid. You actually managed to learn a jutsu even I couldn't. You really are something else."
Jiraiya gave Renzo a curious once-over.
This kid just popped up and dropped a bombshell like it was nothing.
Yeah, he definitely wasn't normal.
.
.
.