"Did you agree to Hashirama-san?"
Renya sat across from Senju Tobirama, placed the noodles on the table, and asked cautiously.
In his view, he must be overthinking it.
This old guy doesn't get along with Madara-sama, so how could he possibly agree to go traveling together?
That's right, he definitely just hadn't fully woken up, so his brain started wandering!
Looks like he shouldn't get up so early tomorrow.
"Mm."
Senju Tobirama didn't say much. He picked up his chopsticks and started eating the noodles in his bowl.
The taste was as good as ever.
It had been a long time since he had eaten such delicious noodles in the morning.
"You scared me. I knew you wouldn't possibly—"
Renya let out a sigh of relief upon hearing this, but before he could finish speaking, he suddenly realized something.
"Wait, you really agreed?!"
This old guy is willing to travel together with Madara and leave the village?
Why does that sound so absurd?!
If it weren't for Senju Tobirama personally confirming it, Renya would have thought whoever said it hadn't woken up yet.
But now the truth was right in front of him—there was no denying it!
To be honest, he was really curious how Hashirama-san managed to persuade Tobirama.
Logically speaking, aside from doing experiments, this old guy had no other interests.
If there was anything else he liked, it was probably eating the food Renya made.
Senju Tobirama quickly finished the noodles in a few bites. Under Renya's curious and expectant gaze, he took a tissue from the table and wiped his lips.
Only after finishing all that did he speak unhurriedly.
"I've been doing research in the laboratory all this time. For the sake of my health, it's indeed necessary to relax appropriately."
Naturally, he couldn't tell Renya that he was worried about Renya going off with Uchiha Madara.
Renya, his elder brother, and Madara—none of them were easy to deal with.
Even one of them was enough to give someone a headache.
If all three left the village at once, it would be troublesome if they caused any incidents.
Especially the inherently evil Uchiha Madara.
After discovering that the "Eye of the Moon" plan was a false scheme, who knew what outrageous things he might do to realize his ideals?
And Renya and his elder brother didn't have much in the way of brains—they might easily be tricked by Uchiha Madara into doing something foolish.
If things reached an irreversible point, he would end up having to clean up the mess again.
Most importantly, Senju Tobirama didn't like Renya being alone with Uchiha Madara.
Not long after he left last time, Uchiha Madara came back to life.
Who knows what ridiculous things might happen this time…
Tobirama would definitely go along on this trip, so he could monitor Uchiha Madara along the way and prevent him from tricking the other two into doing something stupid.
And maybe enjoy life a bit while he was at it.
Though enjoyment was secondary—the main goal was to keep an eye on Uchiha Madara.
Of course, he didn't reveal all his thoughts.
Looking at Renya, who suddenly seemed enlightened, Senju Tobirama knew this foolish kid was easy to fool.
"So that's how it is!"
No wonder Senju Tobirama agreed to Hashirama-san.
Turns out he had learned to enjoy life!
Not bad—teachable indeed!
If this old guy had grasped the essence of taking it easy like him earlier, he would have traveled the entire ninja world decades ago.
Instead of staying cooped up in the laboratory all day.
But realizing the importance of taking it easy now wasn't too late. Given his physical condition, he could probably relax like this for decades more without a problem.
Wait!
Renya stared at Senju Tobirama as if he had noticed something.
"Why do I feel like you've suddenly become younger?!"
At first, he didn't notice, but upon closer inspection, it was indeed the case.
The wrinkles on Senju Tobirama's face seemed to have decreased, and his complexion looked much better than before.
What kind of joke is this?!
Everyone else is getting older—so why is this old guy getting younger instead?!
Something's off—very, very off!
This old guy must have conducted some unknown experiment behind his back!
"The research materials you brought back contain some methods to delay aging."
Seeing Renya's shocked expression, Senju Tobirama explained calmly.
Yakushi Kabuto's research materials included Orochimaru's human experiments and his plans for achieving immortality.
Among them was even the Living Corpse Reincarnation technique.
Renya suddenly understood.
So it was Orochimaru's work from the original story!
That made sense.
In the original story, Orochimaru was obsessed with immortality, so it was only natural for him to develop methods to slow aging.
But delaying aging could only extend life slightly—it was far from the immortality he sought.
That's why he later developed a secret technique like Living Corpse Reincarnation.
With these materials, plus the terrifying research talents of Senju Tobirama and Orochimaru, replicating and improving them would definitely not be a problem.
That's why this old guy had become somewhat younger.
If the two of them continued researching, they might even truly find a way to achieve immortality.
Although Renya believed that birth, aging, sickness, and death were natural laws, if the two of them could break those laws, he would definitely welcome it.
After all, who wants to die when they can live?
Not everyone is like Uchiha Madara, who could awaken the Rinnegan on his own and then control someone else to use Rinne Rebirth to revive himself.
Speaking of the Rinnegan, Renya felt annoyed!
Madara-sama had clearly promised to give him the eyes, but after taking them back, he never mentioned returning them.
Clearly, the inherently evil Uchiha Madara had no intention of keeping his promise.
But Renya didn't dare to ask for them back, so he could only let it go.
Oh well—who told him to respect his elders?
Senju Tobirama raised an eyebrow as he watched Renya's constantly changing expression.
Early in the morning—what nonsense is this kid thinking about now?
"Renya! Renya!"
At that moment, Senju Hashirama's voice came from outside the house.
The two walked out and looked in confusion at Hashirama, who was standing in the courtyard.
"Big brother, what is it?"
"Hashirama-san, why are you looking for me?"
They didn't understand why Hashirama came so early—could it be that they were setting off on the trip right now?
"Have you seen Madara?" Senju Hashirama said. "I haven't seen him all morning."
He had gotten up early, bought breakfast, and went to Madara's room to call him to eat.
But there was no response. When he opened the door, the room was empty.
So Senju Hashirama didn't even have time to eat breakfast before rushing over to find Renya and ask about his best friend's whereabouts.
Renya and Tobirama: …
They didn't know what to say.
Hashirama-san / Big brother was making a big deal out of nothing.
Uchiha Madara isn't a child—he's not going to get kidnapped.
Maybe he's just wandering around the village; when it's time to eat, he'll naturally come back.
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