Tobirama Senju Residence.
Tobirama Senju was flipping through the ninja academy students' records in his study.
From a stack of files, he eventually picked out five: Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzō Shimura, Yuki Hyuga, Kagami Uchiha, and Koharu Utatane.
"Yuki Hyuga..." Tobirama Senju looked conflicted.
He knew this child's talent well.
But the Hyuga Clan had always attached great importance to the main family...
He shook his head and put Yuki Hyuga's file back.
Then he pulled out another file from the stack. It was Homura Mitokado.
After carefully reviewing all five files, Tobirama Senju murmured,
"I'll choose my disciples from among them..."
Clearly, Tobirama Senju was considering taking on disciples.
After layers of screening, he had finally found five suitable candidates.
"It'll depend on how you perform in the final exams."
Tomorrow was the final exam. Those who performed well would have a chance to become his disciples.
He needed to cultivate a group of geniuses loyal to Konoha as soon as possible.
"Uncle, dinner's ready."
Renye's shout from outside the door interrupted Tobirama Senju's thoughts.
"Got it."
When Tobirama Senju arrived in the kitchen, Renye had already prepared a table full of sumptuous dishes.
"Kid, the finals are tomorrow. Are you confident?"
Renye paused mid-bite and patted his chest as he promised,
"Don't worry. The final exams are a piece of cake for me!"
Tobirama Senju said nothing as he watched Renye's confident expression.
If Renye hadn't ranked dead last in the academic classes last semester, he might have believed him.
"Have you been paying attention in academic class?" Tobirama Senju asked.
Renye's expression stiffened, and he gave an awkward laugh. "I have... I have."
As for whether he actually had, only he knew.
Tobirama Senju did not dwell on the matter. "As long as you've listened. Tomorrow's exam is important."
Renye froze, unable to understand what Tobirama Senju meant by that.
What was supposed to happen around this time?
He thought about it for a long time but could not make heads or tails of it.
Forget it. Ordinary people really couldn't guess how that old man's mind worked.
After dinner.
For once, Renye did not train. Instead, he returned to his room and started reading.
The Theory Exam was tomorrow morning. He usually slept through class and had never listened to a lesson.
It could not be helped. Renye got sleepy as soon as academic class started, and sometimes he could even sleep through the whole day.
Motoya Nara usually slept in class just like him.
During the last exam, Renye had assumed Motoya Nara would rank near the bottom in academic classes alongside him. Yet that guy had actually scored full marks!
It made him question his life.
He felt betrayed.
We clearly slept together in class. Why could you get full marks?!
Motoya Nara's explanation had been this: the lessons were so simple that there was no need to listen, so he slept during class...
I thought you were like me too, Renye.
When Renye heard that, he had been completely speechless.
Fine, you win!
The Nara Clan really was smart. He couldn't compare.
"This time, I'll study hard and take back everything that belongs to me!"
Renye held a book in his hands, ready to work hard and turn his life around.
He believed that with his intelligence, studying for one night should be enough to earn a passing grade!
"After I finish this glass of milk, I'll study until dawn!"
Renye encouraged himself and drained the milk in one gulp.
Then he hurriedly opened his book, ready to study properly.
But after only two glances, Renye was already yawning with sleepiness.
"Huh? What's going on?"
"Why... do I get sleepy as soon as I look at a book?"
"Forget it. I guess I'm just not cut out for studying."
With that, Renye rolled onto the bed and drifted off to sleep.
As for the exam, he would worry about it tomorrow.
Not long after he fell asleep, Tobirama Senju pushed open the door and entered.
Looking at the books on the table, he nodded in satisfaction.
The kid had not lied to him. He really had been studying hard.
He walked over to the desk and opened Renye's homework notebook, wanting to see how accurate his usual assignments were.
But when Tobirama Senju opened the notebook, he was utterly dumbfounded.
Renye's homework notebook was completely blank. He had not even written his name.
Tobirama Senju: "..."
Damn it, this kid had really taken the cake!
He shot Renye an annoyed glare, then picked him up and left the room.
The night was as black as ink, and Konoha Village's streets were silent.
Tobirama Senju carried the sleeping Renye on his back and raced toward the underground laboratory at incredible speed.
He sneaked along the way, afraid of being discovered.
Hashirama Senju had explicitly forbidden Tobirama Senju from conducting experiments and had sealed off many of his laboratories.
This was his last remaining experimental site.
If this one got sealed too, he would truly have nothing left...
When he pushed open the laboratory's stone door, a damp, moldy smell mixed with disinfectant rushed at him.
Tobirama Senju gently placed Renye on the experiment table.
He methodically put on a white lab coat and mask.
"What secret does the Sharingan hide, to make the Uchiha Clan so powerful?"
He gently pried open Renye's eyelids, revealing those eyes.
Tobirama Senju picked up a long, thin syringe and lightly pierced Renye's arm. Bright red blood slowly flowed into a test tube.
Under the microscope, the cells in the blood were clearly visible.
Tobirama Senju observed them with complete concentration, occasionally recording something on parchment.
Second by second, time passed. The only sounds in the laboratory were the hum of instruments and the scratch of pen on paper.
On the experiment table, Renye groggily opened his eyes.
Looking at his surroundings, he felt somewhat helpless.
This laboratory again...
If nothing unexpected happened, he still would not be able to move.
He tentatively tried to raise his arm. Just as expected, he could not move it at all.
Renye tried hard to turn his eyes and began observing his surroundings.
The figure in the white coat was, as usual, researching something over there.
When would this dream ever end?
As he thought about it, Renye closed his eyes again.
Tobirama Senju, who was conducting research, suddenly had a flash of inspiration. "What would happen if someone possessed both Senju and Uchiha bloodlines?"
Without hesitation, Tobirama Senju drew a tube of his own blood and mixed it with Renye's blood.
When the two types of blood came into contact, they actually resonated!
"Is this bloodline resonance fusion or devouring?"
The two types of blood fused together perfectly.
"No... this isn't a conflict between two bloodlines at all!" Tobirama Senju's voice was filled with disbelief.
He hurriedly placed the mixed blood under the microscope.
When magnified to the limit, identical spiral gene structures emerged deep within those cells.
Tobirama Senju staggered and braced himself against the table, looking as though he had seen a ghost.
"From the same source... our bloodlines... are powers of the same origin... How is that possible?!"
The experimental results told him that the Senju and Uchiha were of the same origin!
For a moment, he felt that the world was unreal.
If Renye knew, he would definitely think Tobirama Senju was making a fuss over nothing.
The ancestors of the Senju and Uchiha were biological brothers. Both were sons of Hagoromo Otsutsuki. It would have been stranger if their bloodlines were not from the same origin.
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