Chapter 685: What’s There to Be Afraid Of? The Old Man Isn’t Even Here

Just as Shimura Danzō was about to believe his good friend’s explanation, an unexpected figure suddenly appeared behind Renya.

It was none other than Senju Tobirama, who had arrived using Flying Thunder God.

Since Renya and Danzō were standing face to face, they naturally didn’t notice Tobirama’s arrival.

But Danzō was a different story.

The moment he saw Tobirama appear, his entire body stiffened.

He stammered for a long time without managing to say a single word.

He knew it—his good friend’s words were as unreliable as nonsense. Just moments ago, he had been comforted that it was only Edo Tensei.

And yet, in the next instant, Tobirama-sensei showed up.

There was no way that the Tobirama-sensei standing here had also been summoned by Edo Tensei, right?

"I think you’re just too nervous. How could we possibly run into the old man in a place like this?"

Renya remained completely unaware of the severity of the situation, continuing to chatter endlessly with his own analysis.

Danzō originally wanted to warn him, but a single glance from Senju Tobirama stopped him.

He wanted to see exactly how this brat evaluated him behind his back.

"The old man and the others must have run off to some other time-space causing chaos. There aren’t many people like us who don’t stir up trouble."

"Given how petty the old man is, he better not travel to the Warring States period. Otherwise, he’d definitely use it as an excuse to settle personal grudges against the Uchiha and jump into the war to mess things up..."

He spoke animatedly, even vividly describing scenes of Senju Tobirama dealing with the Uchiha clan.

Completely unaware that the expression of the person behind him was growing darker and darker.

So in this brat’s eyes, he was actually this kind of person?!

"Ren... Renya." Shimura Danzō was so frightened he nearly wet himself and hurriedly whispered,

"Stop talking about Tobirama-sensei."

He was genuinely afraid that if his good friend kept going, Tobirama-sensei would hang him from a tree and beat him senseless.

He might even get dragged into it himself.

If his good friend got beaten, so be it—he was tough and thick-skinned anyway.

But Danzō was different. If he got beaten, he probably wouldn’t be able to get out of bed for days.

"What’s there to be afraid of?" Renya curled his lips, saying indifferently, "The old man isn’t even here."

Seeing his good friend become so timid whenever Senju Tobirama was mentioned, one would think that the old man was standing right behind him.

Thinking this, he subconsciously glanced backward.

That glance changed everything—he immediately saw Senju Tobirama’s gloomy expression.

"So this is what you think of me?"

Renya’s smile froze instantly, his eyes filled with confusion and disbelief.

Fake. It had to be fake!

He must have fallen under Uchiha Itachi’s genjutsu. Damn it, when did that happen?!

Even though he knew deep down that it couldn’t be genjutsu and that he was most likely doomed, he still clung to a sliver of hope.

What if it really was genjutsu?

At this moment, he would rather believe he was trapped in Uchiha Itachi’s illusion than accept the reality in front of him.

"I told you to stop talking."

Shimura Danzō muttered quietly.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t warned his good friend—it was just that the other party hadn’t listened.

Well, now look what happened.

Someone was about to get beaten up, and fortunately, it didn’t involve him.

"Old man... why are you here..."

Renya forced out an ugly smile, his voice trembling slightly.

He never imagined he would be this unlucky—to run into Senju Tobirama in such a desolate place.

Looks like he wouldn’t be able to escape disaster today.

No wonder Danzō’s expression had been so strange earlier—so the old man had already appeared behind him.

At this point, he could only accept his fate.

Even if he took out Uchiha Obito’s eye and tried to escape into the Kamui space now, it would already be too late.

Senju Tobirama didn’t waste any words and directly hung him on a tree, unleashing a flurry of blows.

Renya’s miserable screams echoed through the forest.

Shimura Danzō watched with great interest. So watching a good friend get beaten up was actually this enjoyable?

If circumstances allowed, he’d have started cracking sunflower seeds by now.

After a while, Renya lay limp on the ground, staring at the sky, on the verge of tears.

Last time, he had a good friend to share the burden of the blows. This time, he wasn’t so lucky.

Every punch from Senju Tobirama landed squarely on him, while Danzō stood nearby watching the show.

"Come find us later."

Senju Tobirama clapped his hands, saying cheerfully.

It had been a long time since he personally disciplined this kid. After beating him up, he truly felt refreshed both physically and mentally.

Looks like he should do this more often when he had the time.

As he spoke, his figure instantly disappeared from the spot.

Only Renya lying on the ground and Shimura Danzō watching remained.

Only after Tobirama-sensei left did Danzō dare to approach Renya.

He crouched down, picked up a tree branch from the ground, and lightly poked his unmoving good friend.

"Renya, are you alright?"

It wasn’t that he hadn’t wanted to plead for mercy earlier—he was just afraid that doing so would get him beaten by Tobirama-sensei as well.

So he could only watch Renya get beaten with a "conflicted expression."

"Do I look like I’m alright?"

Renya looked at his good friend with tearful eyes.

"Since the old man was already standing behind me, why didn’t you just warn me directly..."

Originally, he hadn’t planned to keep talking about the old man.

But seeing his good friend acting so timid, he thought the guy had been traumatized from previous beatings and couldn’t help but say a few more lines.

Who would’ve thought that would be exactly why he got hung on a tree and beaten?

"I did want to warn you," Shimura Danzō said helplessly, "but Tobirama-sensei signaled me not to speak."

Although he hadn’t directly said that Tobirama-sensei was behind him, he had hinted that his good friend should stop talking.

But Renya had been too engrossed in speaking and hadn’t understood the hint at all.

And thus, this outcome happened.

Renya: "..."

Thinking about it carefully, Danzō had indeed told him not to keep talking about Senju Tobirama.

It was just that he hadn’t taken it seriously.

But who could’ve expected that the old man would be in the same time-space as him—and silently appear right behind him?!

"Forget it. Help me up."

With his powerful recovery ability, the injuries on Renya’s body had mostly healed.

Shimura Danzō watched with envy. If it had been him taking that kind of beating, he wouldn’t be able to get out of bed for days.

Luckily, he hadn’t spoken ill of Tobirama-sensei.

Otherwise, the one lying on the ground wouldn’t just be Renya.

Danzō helped Renya up, and they headed toward where the blue giant had been earlier.

At first, he had thought that Uchiha Madara had been summoned by Uchiha Obito using Edo Tensei.

But now it seemed that wasn’t the case.

That guy was the very same Uchiha Madara they knew.

And yet, he had confidently claimed earlier that it was Edo Tensei.

Shimura Danzō didn’t care much about it.

He knew that whenever his good friend seriously analyzed something, the conclusion was probably nonsense.

Back then, he had believed his good friend’s theory about parallel time-spaces.

That was why he got hung on a tree and beaten by Tobirama-sensei.

Fortunately, he had spotted Tobirama-sensei in advance this time. Otherwise, today’s beating wouldn’t have been limited to just his good friend.

From now on, he could never trust his good friend’s analyses again.

Relying on someone whose academic score was only five points... it seemed he was really regressing with age.

Was this what they called becoming tainted by close association?

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