Chapter 582: Chapter 582: Failed Escape
Seeing Renya’s resentful gaze, Shimura Danzō finally realized the seriousness of the situation a little too late.
He had never expected that Mito-sama summoned him not to discuss Renya beating elders in the Warring States era timeline, but to talk about marriage arrangements.
Thinking back to what he had said earlier, he wished he could slap himself several times.
"Mito-sama, you misunderstood—"
"Hm?" Uzumaki Mito suddenly raised her voice before he could finish.
Danzō immediately shut his mouth, on the verge of tears as he looked toward Renya.
He really didn’t know! Tsunade hadn’t explained anything clearly on the way here. Who could have imagined they were being summoned to have partners arranged for them?!
"You may leave now. I’ll first pick a few suitable girls for you. When the time comes, I’ll arrange meetings for you."
Uzumaki Mito gave them no chance to explain and simply waved her hand, dismissing them.
If she let them stay any longer, they would definitely change their minds. Better to finalize everything before they fully reacted.
Though unwilling, Renya and Danzō could only leave dejectedly.
Tsunade watched their departing backs and silently sighed.
Sorry, Renya-sensei and Danzō-san.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to warn Danzō—her grandmother had secretly instructed her not to tell Shimura Danzō.
If he had known, he wouldn’t have come at all.
"What the hell were you thinking?!" Renya asked with a dark expression.
He never expected his good friend of so many years to stab him in the back over something like this.
"I didn’t do it on purpose! I thought Mito-sama called me because of the Warring States timeline..." Shimura Danzō said weakly.
If he had known Uzumaki Mito planned to arrange a partner for him, even beating him to death wouldn’t have made him come, much less agree with her earlier remarks.
Now look what happened—one small mistake, and both his and his good friend’s entire futures had been dragged into this mess.
"What do we do now?"
"How about... we go out and lie low for a while?"
"I think that works. Worst case, we just travel to another timeline again!"
Just as the two were preparing to run away, they ran into Uchiha Kagami and the others at the entrance of Konoha.
"Where are you two going?" Hiruzen asked with a half-smile.
He had been ordered by the First Hokage-sama and Mito-sama to guard the village entrance and prevent certain people from running away.
Sure enough, he had barely arrived when two little mice appeared.
Seeing Renya and Danzō’s pale faces gave Hiruzen a satisfying sense of revenge.
Hmph. Who told you two to go traveling without bringing me along?
Now karma has caught up with you!
"You two shouldn’t think about sneaking out," Koharu said with a smile.
Unwilling to marry women they didn’t like, these two grown men were even trying to elope together.
It seemed the two of them were true love after all!
Although she had always secretly shipped them, she also knew that men with men wasn’t proper!
Renya and Danzō were already in their thirties. They couldn’t keep fooling around together forever—they naturally needed to find partners, marry, and have children.
If they truly couldn’t let go of each other, they could always secretly hang out behind their partners’ backs...
But they definitely couldn’t continue acting so openly like now.
After all, once they had families, they would need to restrain themselves. Otherwise, the influence would be bad.
"Mito-sama said that until your lifelong matters are settled, don’t even think about secretly leaving the village," Mitokado Homura adjusted his glasses and relayed Uzumaki Mito’s instructions.
Renya and Shimura Danzō: "..."
The older generation really was wiser—their plans had been predicted long ago.
It seemed sneaking out of the village wouldn’t work. They would have to think of another method.
If it truly came to it, they could tell Mito-san that the real reason they didn’t like women was... an issue with their orientation.
Renya was truly going all out just to avoid marriage—even coming up with something like this.
This excuse was far too explosive. It absolutely couldn’t be used unless there was no other option.
Although it could serve as a reason to avoid marriage, saying it aloud would completely destroy his reputation.
Especially—how would all these former classmates look at him afterward?
Right. He could first let his good friend Danzō use the excuse to test Mito-san’s reaction.
If it worked, he could imitate it later. If not, he could think of another plan.
As for tricking Danzō into claiming he was more interested in men than women—even if it ruined his good friend’s reputation—Renya felt no guilt at all.
If Danzō hadn’t acted like such an actor earlier, would things have developed this far?
What was wrong with letting him make a small sacrifice?
Meeting Renya’s gaze, Danzō subconsciously shivered. That bad premonition returned again.
Based on his understanding of his good friend, this guy was definitely plotting something involving him again.
"You two shouldn’t stand around here," Uchiha Kagami joked. "Since you have time now, go back and dress yourselves up. Maybe in a few days you’ll be meeting your blind date. Make yourselves look handsome and leave a good impression."
Renya and Danzō: "..."
It seemed sneaking out of the village was impossible.
Renya actually could have used Flying Thunder God to escape, but once he realized Mito-san was completely serious, running away lost its meaning.
Avoidance alone couldn’t solve anything. Better to meet the girls first and then find a way to refuse later.
He could simply say he wasn’t interested. Mito-san couldn’t possibly force him into a relationship, right?
If necessary, he could have Danzō speak first and claim he actually liked men...
Once it succeeded, he would immediately copy the strategy!
As for how to trick his good friend into saying something like that—Renya found it extremely easy.
He only needed a little guidance to make the other willingly say it himself.
"Danzō, why don’t you want to get married?"
In Renya’s view, his good friend probably avoided marriage because he had always pursued power and never had time to think about relationships.
But now that he had already become Hokage, he should logically have considered marriage long ago—yet he had never shown any intention of doing so.
Shimura Danzō glanced at him sideways. Instead of answering immediately, he asked back,
"What about you? Why don’t you get married?"
"I’m not interested in women. Otherwise, I would’ve married when I was younger," Renya said.
All these years, he had never met a woman he liked. In fact, he barely knew any women at all.
The only female he was familiar with was Utatane Koharu from their old squad.
Shimura Danzō’s eyes flickered, and he subconsciously nodded.
"I’m the same... not interested in women."
The two parted at the crossroads and returned to their respective homes.
...
Senju Tobirama’s residence.
"Kid, I heard your aunt is arranging partners for you."
Senju Tobirama rarely left the laboratory, yet upon seeing Renya enter the courtyard, he spoke with clear schadenfreude.
Back then, he had been relentlessly pressured into marriage by his sister-in-law. Seeing Renya now reminded him of his past self.
Renya: "..."
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