“Renye, where have you been these past few days?”
At Konoha Camp, Hiruzen Sarutobi asked Renye, who had just returned to the camp.
A few days ago, Renye said he would leave the camp for a while, and the others thought he would return soon, but he was gone for more than ten days.
During that time, they worried that Renye might encounter danger and even went out to search for him several times, but always came up empty-handed.
This made them worry for a long time, fearing that Renye had met with misfortune...
The others thought that if Renye didn't return soon, they would have to inform Tobirama-sensei.
Fortunately, Renye returned to the camp on the eleventh day of his absence.
As soon as Renye returned to the camp, he was surrounded by Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others, who looked at him with concern.
He explained with a smile, “I was researching some things, which is why it took so long.”
Renye didn't tell them that he had developed a powder that could deal with the Long-haired Strong Man, wanting to give them a little surprise later.
If he told them now, it wouldn't have the same effect.
“Renye-kun, are you alright?” Utatane Koharu noticed Renye’s pale face and dark circles under his eyes, and asked softly.
“I’m fine, I just haven’t rested much.” Renye waved his hand, “I need to go back to my tent to sleep, we can talk later.”
He had been continuously improving the powder these past few days, wanting it to achieve the best possible effect.
Moreover, the powder had a serious drawback: it didn't distinguish between friend and foe!
As long as one was contaminated with the powder, the flow of Chakra would be affected, and even Renye himself was no exception, let alone others.
In those ten days, besides improving the powder's potency, he was also developing an antidote.
Since he didn't know when Kumogakure would launch an attack, Renye could only develop the antidote in the shortest possible time.
Time was tight, and the task was heavy.
This meant he had almost no time to rest; he was either catching “guinea pigs” or perfecting the powder and developing the antidote.
Ten days without closing his eyes—even Ultraman would be flashing red lights!
If it weren't for the great threat posed by the Long-haired Strong Man, he wouldn't have pushed himself so hard.
If he continued like this long-term, living to fifty would be considered dying of old age.
Renye didn't continue chatting with the others, dragging his tired body away, needing to go back and get a good night's sleep!
The others watched Renye's departing back, feeling puzzled.
“You guys say... what exactly has Renye-kun been doing these past few days?” Uchiha Kagami couldn't help but ask, curious.
Hiruzen Sarutobi stroked his chin, “I feel something is off. Renye is definitely hiding something from us!”
“I think so too. What exactly is he hiding?” Homura Mitokado was somewhat perplexed.
“Heh heh, I probably guessed the reason.” Danzo Shimura narrowed his eyes, seemingly seeing through the truth.
“What’s the reason?!” the others asked eagerly.
“I’ve been with Renye for so many years, I understand him quite well…” Danzo’s lips curved slightly upward, “The only reason he’d hide something from us is if he found a girlfriend.”
“A girlfriend?!” The others stared with wide, shocked eyes, as if they had seen a ghost.
“Besides something like that... would Renye hide anything else from us?” Danzo retorted.
Hearing this, the others fell into contemplation.
Upon closer thought, what Danzo said seemed to be true...
If it wasn't a private matter, as partners who had grown up together, Renye shouldn't have any reason to hide it from them.
“Actually, there’s another explanation: Renye met a girl he likes, and he’s been spending all this time with her.” Homura Mitokado said, following Danzo’s line of thought.
“Don’t say it, there really is such a possibility!” Hiruzen Sarutobi chimed in.
“The girl Renye-kun likes probably isn’t a Konoha Ninja, otherwise he wouldn’t have been gone for so many days.” Utatane Koharu said, full of gossip, “What do you think?”
“That makes sense, where could she be from?”
“Could it be someone from Hidden Cloud Village?!”
“It's not impossible…”
Uchiha Kagami watched them seriously analyzing, his mouth twitching slightly; it was getting more and more outlandish.
He felt they were just talking nonsense, but he had no evidence to refute them.
Based on his understanding of Renye, he didn't seem like the type to like women.
Wait, does Renye-kun like men?!
Uchiha Kagami was startled by his own outrageous thought process and quickly threw this absurd idea out of his mind.
If Renye-kun found out, he would definitely not let him off!
“Keep your voices down, don’t let Renye-kun hear you.” Uchiha Kagami whispered a reminder.
…………
Renye, who had collapsed into sleep in his tent, had no idea that the others were spreading rumors about him behind his back.
If he knew, he would definitely be too angry to sleep.
He had diligently researched for dozens of days, only to be rumored to have gone off to find a partner.
Anyone would find that unbearable!
By the time Renye woke up, it was already dark.
He walked out of his tent and saw Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others gathered around a bonfire, whispering about something.
“What are you talking about?”
He walked over curiously, sat down next to Danzo Shimura, and prepared to listen to what they were discussing.
With Renye's arrival, the previously lively atmosphere suddenly fell silent; the others exchanged glances for a long time, but no one spoke.
Renye was instantly bewildered by the sight.
No, what do you mean by this?!
His gaze swept over each of them in turn, and the moment their eyes met Renye’s, they all, without exception, lowered their heads, as if they had done something wrong.
“What are you guys doing?” Renye asked, puzzled, “Why aren’t you talking to me?!”
He began to ponder what heinous act he could have possibly committed to elicit such a reaction from them.
But no matter how hard he thought, he couldn't figure out the problem...
Hearing this, the others exchanged glances.
Finally, Hiruzen Sarutobi was the first to break the awkward silence, saying with a smile, “We were just curious about what you went to do, taking so long to come back.”
Renye instantly understood; so these guys wanted to get information out of him.
How could he easily tell them something like that?
He was planning to give them a surprise.
If it was known in advance, would it still count as a surprise?
Renye prepared to make up a random excuse to fool them.
He could already imagine their expressions when they saw the surprise later.
Thinking of this, his lips couldn't help but curve upward.
Renye's smile, in the eyes of Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others, was completely a smile of happiness!
They became even more convinced of their inner suspicions, and even Uchiha Kagami began to wonder if Renye-kun had really found a partner?!
“Actually…” Renye hadn’t even spoken yet when Hiruzen Sarutobi interrupted him.
“Renye, you don’t need to explain, we all understand!”
“That’s right, we can all understand!” The other four quickly chimed in.
Renye: “???”
I haven’t even said anything, and you already know?!
He had just been about to make up a story about traveling these past few days…
Although he didn't know what they were talking about, Renye still nodded in acknowledgment.
“Since you all know, then I won’t explain.”
Seeing that Renye didn't deny it, everyone revealed an expression of