Oh, it's Ren. Good morning," Mito greeted the two with a warm smile.
Beside Mito stood Kushina, Tsunade, and Nawaki, while Sakumo Hatake kept a watchful eye from the shadows. It could be said that for this outing, Konoha's top-tier combat power was concentrated right here.
It's worth noting that because Sakumo was currently assigned as Nawaki's personal guard, the mission failure from the original timeline never occurred. Sakumo remained a legendary hero of Konoha and a frontrunner for the title of the next Hokage. Consequently, Kakashi hadn't graduated early and was still at the Ninja Academy, enduring the antics of Obito and Might Guy.
Following Mito, Ren found himself being handed various items by the enthusiastic villagers. Ren accepted them all with a clear conscience.
"You really don't turn anyone away, do you?" Hikari remarked pointedly.
"This is everyone's kindness. How could I refuse?"
Back at home, while Hikari went to organize their haul, Ren collapsed onto the large sofa. He closed his eyes, and his consciousness drifted into the Brotherhood Space.
To his surprise, Scientist Ren was already there. Seeing Ninja Ren arrive, the scientist broke into a smile. "You're finally here. I've been waiting for days!"
"Waiting for me? For what?"
"I'm planning to enter the interior of the Gate of Hell, so I wanted to see if I could squeeze a few more perks out of you!"
The two bumped fists, sharing their recent research. Ninja Ren asked, "You managed to develop so many Mangekyou abilities? Can they even be used inside the Gate of Hell?"
"I'm not sure. I figure the Sharingan counts as an innate talent, so it should work in there, right?" Scientist Ren wasn't entirely certain, but he believed in being over-prepared.
In recent times, he had awakened several decent Mangekyou abilities. While he still hadn't snagged Kamui, he had gained a gravity-manipulation power similar to the Rinnegan's Shinra Tensei. Ninja Ren was quite satisfied with the new abilities. After wishing the scientist luck in the Gate, the two departed.
The Yanhuang (H-World)
Ren emerged from the space and walked into his living room. A man in a white suit was sitting on the sofa. Seeing Ren, he offered a friendly smile. "Well? Have you made your decision?"
"Is there even a need to ask? I'm definitely going inside the Gate of Hell!"
Looking at Long You (The Corpse King), Ren added, "I heard the Blood Lotus Sect is turning Japan upside down. You don't plan on stepping in?"
"Why bother with them? They are merely ants," Long You said indifferently. "Once I emerge from the Gate of Hell, reaching the Super-God level is a certainty. At that point, whether it's Xu Fu or the Blood Lotus Sect, I can destroy them with a flip of my hand."
"I hope so."
There wasn't much small talk between them. Once the partnership was confirmed, Long You vanished. Even Ren couldn't trace his aura.
From upstairs, Mu Tiancai spoke up with a worried expression. "Brother Ren, do we really have to cooperate with that thing? He's not exactly a good person!"
"We aren't exactly 'good people' either!"
Ren chuckled. He understood Tiancai's anxiety; the Corpse King had indeed thrown the world into chaos. Because Ren had driven the Corpse King out of Yanhuang early on, the King had flourished elsewhere like a fish in water. In no time at all, his influence had infiltrated the Papacy. With one command, the Gate of Hell could be opened at any moment!
However, since no one knew the true situation inside the Gate, the Corpse King sought an ally for safety. Seeing as the world's governments could no longer tolerate him, he had thought back to Ren—the man who had left a deep impression on him by forcing him to flee Yanhuang in the first place.
The Corpse King acknowledged Ren's strength as being at the God-level. More importantly, he had no one else to turn to. Ren was his last resort. If Ren had refused, he would have had to enter alone.
Before coming here, the Corpse King was prepared for rejection. Why would a human God-level powerhouse cooperate with him? But Ren had agreed. It was entirely unexpected.
The news from the clone reached the Corpse King's main body in Japan. He murmured to himself, "It seems he isn't entirely loyal to Yanhuang either... But then, after experiencing 'that' event, even if things seem peaceful now, how could there not be resentment? After all, there are very few true saints in this world."
Once the deal was struck, Ren told Mu Tiancai to prepare more biotech gear. He then left the house to find Bai Xiaofei next door. Even if the Corpse King hadn't approached him, Ren planned to enter the Gate with K the Vampire; the treasures inside were too good to pass up.
Bai Xiaofei was now a Heaven-level master. Under government arrangements, he had bought a house in Ren's neighborhood. Ren hopped the wall and found Xiaofei practicing in his yard.
"Xiao Ren? What brings you out of the lab?" Xiaofei asked with a smile.
"Big business!" Ren said gravely. "Come with me in two days. You'll get stronger."
"OK!" Xiaofei agreed without a second thought. He had long realized that following Ren meant "eating well."
Ren hadn't expected such a quick yes. Xiaofei continued, "Do we need to pack anything? I just got a great new blade, I'll test it out!"
"Bring high-tech weapons. The place we're going has a 'Magic-Ban' effect. Aside from physical strength and high-tech gear, nothing else works."
"There's a place like that?!" Xiaofei was shocked and immediately began considering tech. "How about a Gatling gun?"
Despite being a Heaven-level master, Xiaofei's view of technology was conservative; he still thought basic firearms were the pinnacle. "Forget it, just bring yourself. Tiancai and I will handle the gear," Ren said.
Ren wanted Xiaofei along for two reasons:
Xiaofei was the "protagonist"; getting back out might depend on his luck.
Xiaofei was a trouble-magnet; if they got into a bind, Xiaofei's ability to "improvise" might save them.
The Gate of Hell was filled with former Super-Gods and Overlords. Even if everyone was suppressed to the God-level, their methods were beyond what Ren currently understood. Bringing a protagonist was the safest bet!
As they prepared, the world was in turmoil. Because Yanhuang held the vaccine for the brother-virus, other nations had used "moral pressure" to demand the cure. After paying a heavy price, they received some antitoxins.
However, while a few countries mass-produced them, most strictly regulated the supply. Ordinary people wanting a cure? Simple: pay up. Faced with astronomical prices, the masses were devastated. They had to dodge zombies while trying to steal cures from the elite.
In their despair, many chose to voluntarily become zombies just to escape the hellish reality. As the zombie population grew and evolved, the global elite grew frantic. Somewhere on the ocean, a group of world leaders was currently haggling with Yanhuang, trying to trade a fraction of their wealth for residency rights.
Since their own countries had fallen, they just wanted to move. After all, they were rich—they figured they could just buy a new home.