Preparation

As everyone left, even Shisui joined the search party.

Ren looked at the Anbu ninja before him. That head of white hair was exceptionally conspicuous.

With nothing else to do, Ren broke the silence. "You're the Anbu brother from the Konoha Military Police Force rooftop last time, aren't you?"

"Since there's nothing going on, why don't we chat?"

Kakashi glanced at Ren but did not respond.

Seeing that Kakashi remained unmoved, Ren knew casual conversation alone would not get him anywhere.

So Ren continued, "This Anbu brother must be Kakashi-senpai, right? How is the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan working out for you?"

Kakashi finally reacted. He gently touched his left eye. "This Sharingan is the most precious gift my companion gave me. If Clan Head Ren wants to take it back, I will never agree!"

"Well! No need to be nervous, Kakashi-senpai. You earned the renown of the 'Copy Ninja' with just one Sharingan. You haven't let that Sharingan down."

Ren smiled and told Kakashi not to worry, then asked, "I wonder what Kakashi-senpai thinks of Naruto?"

"Thank you." Kakashi merely thanked Ren for not taking back the Sharingan and did not answer the question about Naruto.

Ren remained persistent. "If I remember correctly, Kakashi-senpai seems to have been the Fourth Hokage's student. Does Kakashi-senpai know anything about Naruto's life?"

"What exactly are you trying to do?" Kakashi finally took the initiative to speak.

Yet Ren did not answer Kakashi's question and instead continued, "I don't know Naruto well either, but he's my sister's friend. Tonight, my family only bought fried chicken and fries from a shop, yet Naruto said it was the best thing he had ever eaten."

"As the Fourth Hokage's student, Kakashi-senpai should visit and look after Naruto more often. His life must be miserable."

"If Kakashi-senpai goes, I believe the Third Hokage will not object. As the Uchiha Clan head, it is not suitable for me to have too much contact with Naruto for the time being."

After hearing Ren's words, Kakashi fell silent. On one hand, he felt guilty for learning about his teacher's child from the Uchiha Clan's head. On the other, he could not understand what this Uchiha Clan head was trying to achieve.

Ren's purpose was not complicated. His contact with Naruto today had shown him that Naruto's sensible, well-behaved nature was both lovable and heartbreaking.

He himself was not suited to approach Naruto, and since he had happened to meet Kakashi, he wanted Kakashi to visit Naruto more often. At the very least, Naruto would not suffer as miserably as he had in the original story.

On the other hand, he wanted to establish himself as a good person in Kakashi's eyes. Tobi might not be much in terms of strength, but his abilities were truly disgusting.

As Tobi's lifelong enemy, whether it proved useful or not, raising Kakashi's favorability would never hurt.

In the end, deciding that Ren probably had no ulterior motive, Kakashi nodded. "I'll visit him often."

Ren beamed. "That's more like it! Kakashi-senpai, the clan has some techniques for using the Sharingan. They may not be of much use to Kakashi-senpai, but they can effectively protect the Sharingan."

The claim about protecting the Sharingan was something Ren had made up on the spot, simply because he was worried Kakashi would refuse.

Sure enough, Kakashi had initially wanted to decline, but upon hearing that it could protect the Sharingan, he ultimately accepted.

"Thank you."

"No need to be polite. They're only a few small techniques. Kakashi-senpai, I'll have someone deliver them to the Hatake Clan residence later."

Ren warmly insisted that it was only a small matter.

Kakashi sank into thought. Was this new Uchiha Clan head really so friendly? No matter how he thought about it, he could not figure out Ren's true purpose.

If Ren knew what Kakashi was thinking, he would definitely say, Kakashi, I really don't have any ulterior motive. I just admire your Will of Fire.

Not long afterward, the ninjas who had gone searching returned one after another, carrying several boxes of documents.

The covers of these documents were uniformly marked Root. Ren skimmed through them and found that they were merely records of ordinary training supplies.

There was not a single valuable piece of information. As for Danzo's dirt, he could not even find a scrap of paper.

Yet Ren was not disappointed at all. He had people photograph the documents from multiple angles and in every detail, then had them all hauled back to the Konoha Military Police Force.

In Ren's plan, these things would be of great use.

Time quickly reached noon the next day.

After handling some minor internal affairs that morning, Ren brought Mitsuba to the western side of the commercial district.

They compared the area item by item against the documents sent from the Hokage Building that Mitsuba held.

Ren felt that Hiruzen Sarutobi had truly been generous this time.

This area lay at the far western edge of the commercial district, with grassland and woods beyond it.

Following Konoha's decades of development planning, the village's residential areas had become concentrated on the eastern side.

Gradually, this place declined. Merchants left one after another, leaving only some old, vacant shops behind.

Ren had originally only wanted a few shops, but Hiruzen Sarutobi had unexpectedly bundled up every vacant shop here and given them all to him.

Ren silently gave Hiruzen Sarutobi a thumbs-up in his heart.

"Mitsuba, you may only be the Konoha Military Police Force's secretary, but since I am also the clan head, I will assign some matters to you as well. Can you accept that?"

Mitsuba answered directly, "I would be delighted to serve the clan head."

It had been less than ten days since Ren became clan head, but thanks to Shisui's exceptional professional skills and Ren's backroom dealings with every clan—

the Uchiha Clan was no longer universally hated in the Hidden Leaf Village. Furthermore, last night's operation had already spread throughout the entire Uchiha Clan by this morning.

Although they had not captured Danzo, forcing him to abandon his base was still exhilarating news the Uchiha Clan had not heard in a very long time.

Thus, most clan members had come to genuinely recognize Ren as the Uchiha Clan's new head. Many of the ninjas who had followed Ren into action had even developed feelings of admiration for him.

As his secretary, Mitsuba knew how great a role Ren had played in changing the Uchiha Clan's situation, as well as how much effort he had put in behind the scenes.

That was why Mitsuba answered without hesitation.

Ren merely nodded. "Ask around the clan and see whether anyone wants to open a shop here. If they do, let them use the shops for free."

"Remember to leave three adjacent shops for me."

"Understood, Chief."

As though remembering something, Ren took a scroll from his pocket and handed it to Mitsuba. "Remember to send someone to deliver this scroll to the Hatake Clan residence."

"No problem."

After taking Mitsuba through the shops one by one, Ren returned to the Konoha Military Police Force.

He had Mitsuba bring all the photographs taken last night, along with the Konoha Military Police Force's files concerning Root.

After examining them carefully, Ren said, "Make multiple copies of all these documents. Have some idle clan members read through them and write a reflection afterward. Gather them together, and I will review them personally."

"All of them?"

"Yes, all of them."

"No problem."