Tobirama Senju's Discovery

Tobirama Senju Residence.

Tobirama Senju was in his study, flipping through the academy students' files.

From the stack of documents, he finally pulled out five sheets: Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzō Shimura, Yuki Hyuga, Kagami Uchiha, and Koharu Utatane.

"Yuki Hyuga..." Tobirama's face showed hesitation.

He knew this kid's talent well.

But the Hyuga Clan always placed great importance on the main house...

He shook his head and put Yuki Hyuga's file back.

Then he drew another sheet from the pile—it was Homura Mitokado.

After carefully reviewing all five files, Tobirama murmured:

"I'll choose my disciples from among these..."

Clearly, Tobirama had decided to take on students.

After rounds of screening, he'd finally settled on five suitable candidates.

"It all depends on your performance 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 batch of geniuses loyal to Konoha as soon as possible.

"Uncle, dinner's ready."

Renye's call from outside the door cut off Tobirama's thoughts.

"Got it."

When Tobirama reached the kitchen, Renye had already laid out a lavish meal.

"Kid, the final test is tomorrow. Got any confidence?"

Renye paused mid-bite, then thumped his chest in assurance:

"Relax, the final exam is a piece of cake for me!"

Tobirama looked at Renye's confident expression and said nothing.

If it weren't for last semester, when Renye had scored dead last in the culture classes, he might have believed it.

"Did you actually pay attention in culture class?" Tobirama asked.

Renye's expression stiffened, and he laughed it off: "I listened... I listened."

Whether he really did or not, only he knew.

Tobirama didn't dwell on the topic. "Good that you listened. Tomorrow's exam is very important."

Renye froze, wondering what Tobirama meant by that.

What was happening at this point in time?

He racked his brain but couldn't figure it out.

Forget it—that Old Man's thought process was beyond most people's guess.

After dinner.

Renye, for once, didn't train. Instead, he went to his room to study.

The morning would be the Theory Exam, and he'd been sleeping through class all along—never listened to a single lesson.

No help for it; Renye always dozed off in culture class, sometimes sleeping the whole day.

Usually, Motoya Nara was the same—sleeping through class.

Last exam, Renye had assumed Motoya would be at the bottom of the culture class with him, but that guy had actually scored a perfect mark!

It made him question life.

He felt betrayed.

We were both sleeping—how come you got full marks?!

Motoya Nara's explanation was: "There's no need to listen to such simple lessons, so I sleep through them..."

"I thought you were the same as me, Renye-kun."

When Renye heard that, he was speechless.

Fine, you win!

The Nara Clan was just that smart—he couldn't compete.

"This time, I'm going to study hard and reclaim what's mine!"

Renye clutched his textbook, ready to buckle down.

He believed that with his intelligence, one night of studying would be enough to at least pass!

"After I finish this glass of milk, I'll study until dawn!"

Renye steeled himself and downed the milk in one gulp.

Then he quickly flipped open his book, ready to study hard.

But after just two glances, he was already yawning from drowsiness.

"Huh? What's going on?"

"How come... I get sleepy the moment I open a book."

"Forget it, I'm really not cut out for studying."

With that, Renye climbed into bed and drifted off to dreamland.

As for the exam and all that, he'd deal with it tomorrow.

Not long after he fell asleep, Tobirama Senju pushed the door open and walked in.

He looked at the book sitting on the desk and nodded in satisfaction.

This brat hadn't lied to him—he really was studying properly.

He walked over to the desk and flipped open Renye's homework notebook, wanting to check how accurate his usual assignments were.

But when Tobirama Senju opened the notebook, he was completely dumbfounded.

Renye's homework notebook was completely blank—he hadn't even written his name.

Tobirama Senju: "..."

Damn it, this brat was something else!

He shot Renye an exasperated glare, then picked him up and left the room.

The night was as dark as ink, and Konoha Village's streets were silent.

Tobirama Senju carried the sleeping Renye on his back and dashed toward the underground laboratory at breakneck speed.

He crept along the way, terrified of being discovered.

Hashirama Senju had explicitly banned Tobirama Senju from conducting experiments and had sealed off many of his labs.

This was his last remaining experimental site.

If it got shut down too, he'd have nothing left...

He pushed open the stone door of the lab, and a damp, musty smell mixed with the scent of disinfectant hit him.

Tobirama Senju gently laid Renye on the test table.

He methodically put on his white coat and mask.

"What secrets does the Sharingan hide that make the Uchiha Clan so powerful?"

He carefully pried open Renye's eyelids, revealing those eyes.

Tobirama Senju picked up a long, thin syringe, lightly pricked Renye's arm, and bright red blood slowly flowed into the test tube.

Under the microscope, the cells in the blood were clearly visible.

Tobirama Senju observed with complete focus, occasionally jotting something down on parchment.

Time ticked by, and the lab was filled only with the hum of instruments and the rustle of a pen scratching across paper.

On the test table, Renye groggily opened his eyes.

Looking at his surroundings, he felt a bit helpless.

This lab again...

As expected, his body still couldn't move.

He tentatively tried to control his arm to lift it, but just as he'd predicted, it wouldn't budge at all.

Renye strained to move his eyes, scanning the area.

There was that figure in the white coat, studying something as usual.

When would this dream ever end?

Thinking this, Renye closed his eyes again.

Just as Tobirama Senju was deep in his research, a sudden inspiration struck him: "What would happen if one person possessed both the Senju and Uchiha bloodlines?"

Without hesitation, Tobirama Senju drew a tube of his own blood and mixed it with Renye's.

The moment the two bloods touched, they actually resonated!

"A resonance of bloodlines—is it merging or devouring?"

The two bloods fused together perfectly.

"No... this isn't a conflict between two bloodlines at all!" Tobirama Senju's voice carried disbelief.

He quickly placed the mixed blood under the microscope.

When he magnified it to the limit, deep within those cells, the same spiral gene structure emerged.

Tobirama Senju staggered, bracing himself against the table, his face a picture of utter shock.

"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 shared a common origin.

In a daze, he felt this world was somewhat unreal.

If Renye knew, he would definitely think Tobirama Senju was making a fuss over nothing.

The ancestors of the Senju and Uchiha were blood brothers, both sons of Hagoromo Otsutsuki. It would be stranger if their bloodlines weren't the same.