"The Gedo Statue?"
Hearing the system's mechanical prompt, Uchiha Ren was stunned for a moment before letting out a quiet laugh.
It really was true—whatever he happened to be thinking about, the system would hand it to him.
It was almost absurdly considerate.
Originally, Ren's plan had been simple.
Once he had gathered most of the tailed beasts, he would move against Iwagakure and Kumogakure, force Black Zetsu, the masked Uchiha Obito, and Uchiha Madara into the open, kill them, seize the Gedo Statue, and then revive the Ten-Tails.
After that, he would crush Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, Hamura Ōtsutsuki, and Hagoromo, unify the shinobi world, and become its one true king.
But now—
there was no need to go searching for the Gedo Statue anymore.
The system had simply rewarded him with one directly.
And not only that—
it was a Gedo Statue that he could control perfectly.
That was far too satisfying.
"Now I'm only missing the Four-Tails jinchūriki and the Six-Tails jinchūriki."
The next moment, Ren's lips curved slightly as he murmured to himself,
"The Fifth Mizukage, Terumi Mei, has already used her position to issue the order for the Six-Tails jinchūriki, Utakata, to report to Konoha."
"That leaves only the Four-Tails jinchūriki, Rōshi."
At that thought, a trace of smugness appeared in Ren's eyes.
That was right.
After Kirigakure submitted to Konoha and the Fifth Mizukage, Terumi Mei, had thrown herself completely behind him, the Six-Tails jinchūriki, Utakata—who had been hiding in the Land of Water—became a political sacrifice.
Ren had found and suppressed him with almost no effort at all.
And in the end, after Terumi Mei mediated the situation, Utakata agreed to go to Konoha of his own accord.
As for the condition—
it was simple.
His disciple, Hotaru, would be allowed to live in Konoha, enjoy all the village's benefits and treatment, and receive the best education Konoha could offer.
Ren, of course, agreed immediately.
With Konoha's current resources, nurturing one more shinobi was effortless.
Besides—
in the original course of events, Hotaru could be considered a true genius.
She was absolutely worth cultivating.
"The Four-Tails jinchūriki, Rōshi, has probably been hidden away by Uchiha Madara."
Ren frowned and fell into thought.
The situation in the shinobi world had already been completely overturned.
Especially after the Rain Village, Takigakure, Kirigakure, and Sunagakure all submitted to Konoha, the undercurrents beneath the surface grew even more violent.
And when he thought about the forces still gathering in the shadows—Iwagakure, Kumogakure, Black Zetsu, Uchiha Obito, Uchiha Madara, and the Ōtsutsuki who could appear at any time—Ōtsutsuki Hamura, Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo, Ōtsutsuki Urashiki, Ōtsutsuki Kinshiki—
even Ren, who had already stepped into the Six Paths realm, felt a headache coming on.
"Forget it. If trouble comes, I'll deal with it when it arrives."
"Now that I have the Gedo Statue, even without the Four-Tails, my plan can still move forward."
After a long moment, Ren finally took a deep breath and stopped thinking about it.
"System. Show me my status panel."
Ding…
Generating Host status panel…
Status panel generated successfully.
Host: Uchiha Ren
Age: 23
Permanent Check-In Region: shinobi world
High-value rewards obtained through cumulative sign-ins:
Whitebeard Template (One of the Four Emperors) [100% Unlocked]
Six Powers (Mastered)
Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation
Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu
Observation Haki [Top-tier]
Armament Haki [Top-tier]
Conqueror's Haki [Top-tier]
Hashirama Senju's Sage Body (Fused)
Supreme Grade Blade (One of the Twelve): Murakumogiri
Eight Trigrams Palm: Rotation
Lightning Chakra Mode
Chidori
Rasengan
Hand Seal-Free Healing
Sealing Technique: Reaper Death Seal
Five Release: Great Barrage Jutsu
Moon Breathing
Sun Breathing
The five basic Breathing Style branches: Water, Lightning, Flame, Stone, and Wind
Yin–Yang Release
Perfect Sage Mode
Secret Technique: Earth Grudge Fear
Hero Water (No Side Effects)
Yin–Yang Power
Gedo Statue
…
Next check-in location: The Dragon Vein of Ancient Loran (Unactivated)
Check-in time: 1 minute
Note: Checking in at refreshed system locations yields abundant rewards. If the Host checks in at the Dragon Vein of Ancient Loran, the Host will be able to absorb the legendary Dragon Vein and revive an entirely new Ten-Tails.
"…What?"
Bang!!
Ren scanned the panel quickly, and for once, clear shock appeared on his face.
He truly had not expected this.
The next sign-in location was actually Ancient Loran.
And even more absurdly—
the system had given him a friendly little reminder that by using the Dragon Vein, he could revive an entirely new Ten-Tails.
Didn't that mean he could practically ignore the Four-Tails altogether?
As for what the Dragon Vein was, there was hardly any need to explain it.
Put simply, it was the pulse of the earth itself—a place that contained chakra far greater than anywhere else in the land.
If mishandled, it could destroy the entire world.
In the old records, Naruto's team had once been sent there by the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade, and through the Dragon Vein had traveled into the past, where they joined forces with Minato Namikaze to defeat Mukade and save the ancient kingdom of Loran.
"Ancient Loran should be deep in the desert of the Land of Wind, right?"
It didn't take long for a faint smile to return to Ren's face.
There was nothing more to say.
Now that he was the Fifth Hokage, there was obviously no need for Naruto's team to get involved in anything.
As for the Dragon Vein—
he would graciously take it for himself.
Of course—
before that, he needed to find the Sunagakure rogue shinobi, Mukade.
And judging by the current point in the timeline, Mukade should not have defected from Sunagakure yet.
That made things much simpler.
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