Chapter 286: Everyone, Could You Give Me Some Face?

Since the Hokage Tower had already been destroyed, Minato Namikaze did not wait for Uchiha Ren there. Instead, he chose the meeting place atop the Hokage Rock, where one could overlook the entire village of Konohagakure.

Besides Minato, several of Konoha's most influential figures had also gathered there—the Legendary Sannin: Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru, along with Hiashi Hyūga , the head of the Hyūga clan, Shikaku Nara , the head of the Nara clan, and several other leaders of Konoha's major clans.

It could be said that nearly all of the village's top leadership was present. In effect, it was a small-scale Jōnin council meeting.

Seeing this scene, Uchiha Ren's expression grew serious.

No wonder Minato had sent an ANBU ninja to summon him.

It seemed that tonight's matter would not be simple.

"Cough… Since Clan Head Uchiha has arrived, then we—"

"Uchiha Ren!!!"

The moment Minato saw Ren arrive, he subtly cast him a look that clearly meant be careful. He cleared his throat and was about to speak.

But before he could finish, a figure suddenly rushed out of the crowd and threw a punch straight at Ren's face.

It was Tsunade, who had just returned to the village earlier that day.

Ren frowned slightly, wondering how he had offended this woman. Yet his body reacted instantly—his form transformed into fire, dispersing as flames.

Tsunade's punch shattered Ren's body into a burst of blazing fire, and she passed directly through the flames.

"What is the meaning of this, Clan Head Senju?"

Ren's body reformed not far away as he looked at Tsunade.

Calling Tsunade Clan Head Senju was somewhat unavoidable.

His relationship with her wasn't close enough to simply call her Tsunade, yet as the head of the Uchiha clan, he obviously couldn't call her Lady Tsunade. After some thought, addressing her as Senju Clan Head was the most appropriate option.

"Hmph. You know exactly what you did!"

Tsunade snorted coldly, showing no intention of stopping. She stomped the ground and used the momentum to charge at Ren again.

"Heavenly Kick of Pain!"

She raised her leg high and brought it down toward him with tremendous force.

With Tsunade's monstrous strength, if that kick landed, even Hokage Rock might collapse.

Ren thought for a moment, a faint smirk forming on his lips. He raised his hand and cut his palm, leaving a bleeding wound. With a flick of his wrist, he flung droplets of fresh blood toward Tsunade's face.

Tsunade's pupils shrank.

Her body trembled as if she had seen something terrifying, and her attack stopped abruptly.

"Ninja Art: Wild Lion's Mane Technique!"

At that moment, Jiraiya reacted immediately. His white hair suddenly grew wildly from behind his head, wrapping around Tsunade. Not only did it block the blood Ren had thrown, but it also pulled Tsunade back to his side.

"Are you alright, Tsunade?"

Jiraiya looked at her with deep concern.

Tsunade looked somewhat dazed, but thanks to Jiraiya's timely intervention, she hadn't touched Ren's blood. Unlike earlier in the day, she didn't collapse entirely and could still weakly shake her head.

Seeing this, anger surged within Jiraiya.

Combined with the dissatisfaction he already had toward Ren for other reasons, he immediately glared at him.

"Uchiha Ren, what exactly do you mean by this?! Was it necessary to go that far?"

Ren frowned.

"Jiraiya, you'd better explain what you mean by that."

"What do you mean what do I mean?"

"Was I the one who attacked first?"

"All I did was cut myself. How is that 'going too far'?"

"When she attacked me earlier, you pretended to be dead and said nothing. But the moment I retaliate, suddenly I'm the one in the wrong?"

"Do you really think the Uchiha clan is easy to bully?"

"If you don't give me an explanation today, don't blame the Uchiha clan for handling this according to official regulations!"

"Unprovoked assault on a Konoha shinobi—the Captain of the Military Police Force—is no different from treason!"

"Don't think that just because you're disciples of the Third Hokage I wouldn't arrest you!"

Ren's anger rose as he activated his Mangekyō Sharingan.

"Calm down, calm down! Everyone, please relax—there's no need for things to escalate like this!"

Minato instantly flashed between them, separating Ren from Jiraiya and Tsunade.

He was in a difficult position.

One side was his teacher, the other his closest friend. Being caught between them was not easy.

At that moment, Shikaku Nara  stepped forward as well. Placing a hand on Ren's shoulder, he tried to smooth things over.

"Clan Head Uchiha, please don't be angry. Lady Tsunade was mentally shaken by what happened earlier today, so she acted impulsively. We didn't mean anything else."

Ren glanced down at the hand resting on his shoulder and sneered inwardly.

Under the gaze of his Sharingan, the flow of chakra inside Shikaku's body was completely visible.

Although Shikaku was mediating, he was fully prepared to fight if necessary.

And clearly—he was standing on Tsunade and Jiraiya's side.

"Hmph. Publicly attacking the head of the Konoha Military Police Force is not something that can be brushed aside as mere impulse."

Hiashi Hyūga  stepped forward, openly declaring his stance.

"Hehehe… Tsunade did go a bit too far this time."

Orochimaru spoke next.

It was obvious he was standing on Uchiha Ren's side.

Cold sweat immediately appeared on Shikaku's forehead.

One Uchiha clan was already troublesome enough. If the Hyūga clan and Orochimaru also joined them, the situation could easily spiral out of control.

Minato, though troubled, remained calmer.

"Everyone… could you give me some face and sit down so we can talk this through?"

Ren looked at Minato for a moment and gave him a reassuring glance. Then he turned to Tsunade.

"As I said before, I'm not the one looking for trouble. I just want an explanation."

"An explanation?" Tsunade stepped forward after pushing Jiraiya aside. "The one who should be explaining himself is you!"

"Uchiha Ren, as the captain of the Konoha Military Police Force, you secretly colluded with Shimura Danzō to launch a coup and attacked the village elders. What crime should that be counted as?!"

Ren narrowed his eyes.

"Clan Head Senju… where did that accusation come from?"

Tsunade sneered.

"There's no point denying it. Orochimaru already confessed. Today, you were the one who had him stall Jiraiya, weren't you?"

Ren was momentarily stunned and turned toward Orochimaru.

Orochimaru shrugged.

"Tsunade, please be precise. It wasn't that Ren-kun asked me to stall Jiraiya."

"I simply accepted Ren-kun's employment and invited Jiraiya to help test a new weapon."

"That's just your excuse!" Tsunade said coldly. "The fact remains that you stalled Jiraiya so he couldn't support the old man in time!"

"And according to what the old man said, Uchiha Ren had already colluded with Shimura Danzō beforehand. The Uchiha clan was involved in this incident as well!"

Tsunade and Jiraiya knew Orochimaru too well.

In front of them, Orochimaru was terrible at lying.

Earlier that day, while Shikaku handled the aftermath, Tsunade accompanied Hiruzen Sarutobi, Koharu Utatane , and Homura Mitokado to Konoha Hospital.

Although Hiruzen had been severely injured, after treatment he had stabilized and regained consciousness.

Tsunade immediately questioned him about everything that had happened.

According to Hiruzen's account, the Uchiha clan, in pursuit of greater power within the village, had carried out a series of actions and even cooperated with Shimura Danzō to challenge the position of Hokage.

In short, many of Konoha's recent disturbances had been caused by the Uchiha.

Tsunade didn't believe him entirely—but she believed about half of it.

When Jiraiya returned and heard what had happened, he realized he had been deliberately lured away by Orochimaru.

The night before, Orochimaru had personally visited him and invited him to test a new weapon.

Seeing his usually indifferent friend take the initiative, Jiraiya was delighted and followed him to one of Orochimaru's secret laboratories outside Konoha without thinking much of it.

He wasn't particularly interested in the Hokage election ceremony anyway.

Spending time with Orochimaru seemed far more worthwhile.

But after learning about today's events, he realized something was wrong. After discussing it with Tsunade, they both pointed their suspicions at Uchiha Ren.

At the very least, Ren must have known about Danzō's plan and perhaps even helped cover for him.

In their eyes, Ren placing Danzō under custody looked more like protecting him.

That was why Tsunade had attacked him.

Combined with her anger toward Danzō, the heavy losses she had suffered earlier that day, and her already poor impression of Ren from the Fire Daimyō's court, she finally exploded.

After understanding the entire situation, Ren let out a cold laugh.

"Clan Head Senju, you can eat whatever you like—but you can't just say whatever you want."

"Everything you just said is nothing more than speculation."

"You claim the Uchiha clan colluded with Danzō to stage a coup. Do you have any evidence?"

After a pause, Ren turned to Shikaku Nara  beside him.

"If she doesn't understand the situation, that's one thing. But Clan Head Nara, do you think the same?"

"Of course not," Shikaku replied instinctively.

"In fact, most of us don't believe that you colluded with Shimura Danzō. Lady Tsunade simply insisted on hearing your explanation, which is why we invited you here."

"We have no other intentions."

Shikaku truly didn't believe Ren had colluded with Danzō.

Judging from the methods Ren had used on Danzō earlier that day, Danzō looked more like a tool in Ren's hand than a partner.

They might have cooperated on certain matters—but the idea that they were on the same side was impossible.

Unfortunately, Shikaku hadn't expected Tsunade to attack Ren directly, which escalated the situation to this point.

Tsunade snorted.

"If you weren't colluding with Danzō, then why are you protecting him?"

"Protecting him?"

Ren laughed in disbelief.

"Clan Head Senju, which eye of yours saw me protecting Shimura Danzō?"

Tsunade replied coldly,

"At the Fourth Hokage election ceremony, Shimura Danzō launched a coup. He disrupted the ceremony and seriously injured the village elders and the previous Hokage."

"Throughout the entire process, the Uchiha clan stood by and watched."

"And when Danzō was defeated, you took him away."

"If that's not protection, then what is?"

Ren's tone turned serious.

"First, let me correct you on something."

"When Danzō launched the coup, the Uchiha clan wasn't standing by—we were powerless to intervene."

"And we weren't the only ones watching. Nearly all of Konoha was present."

"Not everyone has your abnormal regenerative ability that allows you to ignore the Four Violet Flames Formation."

"Second, we didn't take Danzō away to protect him."

"We placed him under temporary custody to await the judgment of the Fourth Hokage. That is the duty of the Konoha Military Police Force—and I already informed Clan Head Nara beforehand."

Shikaku nodded.

"That's correct. It falls under the Military Police's jurisdiction, and I agreed to it."

Tsunade snorted.

"And you expect us to believe he's really under custody?"

"Otherwise?" Ren spread his hands.

"The primary duty of the Konoha Military Police Force is to maintain the peace and stability of the village and eliminate anyone who threatens it."

"Shimura Danzō naturally falls under our authority."

"Up until just now, the Military Police have been clearing out Danzō's remaining forces and gathering evidence of his crimes."

"We've already made preliminary progress."

"Once we report to the new Hokage, Shimura Danzō will be publicly tried."

"Everything we've done is justified and lawful."

"We don't need a village drifter with no official position questioning us."

"You—!"

Tsunade clenched her teeth.

"Who are you calling a drifter?!"

Ren replied calmly,

"Am I wrong?"

"You currently hold no office. At best, you're the head of the Senju clan."

"You spend your days wandering outside the village gambling while dragging a child around with you."

"If that's not a drifter, what is?"

"KISAMAAAA!!!"

Tsunade's chest heaved with rage as her fists cracked loudly.

"Calm down! Tsunade, calm down! In your current condition you can't beat him—ahhhh!"

Jiraiya tried to calm her down, but before he finished speaking, Tsunade punched him in the face.

He flew straight off Hokage Rock.

"Violent woman," Ren muttered.

Then he turned toward Minato.

"Minato… did you call me here just to watch this farce?"

"Uh… of course not."

Minato scratched his head awkwardly.

"We invited you here because there's something else we need to discuss."

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