— — — — — —

"Ohh, I see now!"

Kurenai nodded in understanding.

Not far away, Tsunade looked thoughtful as she added, "That's one of the perks of acquiring that control, huh?"

"Exactly."

Renzo grinned and nodded. "Why else would I go through all that trouble to get it?"

"Wait, wait— Pure Land? What's this?"

Nawaki, standing to the side, was completely lost.

But at the very least, he now understood one thing—his resurrection was thanks to his new brother-in-law.

And apparently… this guy was crazy strong. Strong enough to bring back someone who'd been dead for years.

Even crazier? He was bold enough to hug another woman right in front of Tsunade and still live to tell the tale.

"Speaking of which... how many years have I been dead? What year is it now, anyway? I wonder if any of my old friends are still around..."

Nawaki scratched the back of his head with a sigh.

"Well…"

Renzo chuckled. "It's been almost twenty years since you died. So yeah, it's been a while. As for whether your friends are still alive… we honestly don't know. But for now, you probably shouldn't go looking for them."

"Huh? Why not?"

Nawaki frowned, confused.

Then it hit him—and he gasped in shock. "Wait, what? Twenty years? And I still look exactly the same?!"

Renzo and Tsunade both gave him a deadpan look. "What do you think happens when someone dies? Your body stays frozen at the age you were when you died."

"As for why you can't go reconnect with your old friends," Tsunade said seriously, "it's because if people find out you've come back to life—and that Renzo has the ability to resurrect people—it'll cause huge trouble."

"So listen up, brat: unless I say otherwise, you're not allowed to reveal your real identity to anyone. Got it?"

"Then what am I supposed to do? Just hide forever?" Nawaki asked, half-understanding but clearly unhappy with the idea.

"No need to go that far," Tsunade said, shaking her head. "We'll just say you're a clone created by Renzo using cells. You can even keep the name Nawaki. You just can't tell people you're the real Nawaki from back in the day."

Clearly, she'd already come up with a cover story.

"Wait, you think that'll actually work?" Nawaki looked doubtful. "Isn't that, like… super suspicious?"

"Honestly? It might just work," Renzo said, stroking his chin. "Thanks to Konoha's tech department, cloning has become fairly common knowledge in the ninja world these days."

"I saw in my clone's memories that in the past few years, there've been plenty of cases where people with missing limbs or damaged organs were treated using cloned replacements. So, yeah—saying you're a clone is actually pretty believable now."

"In the end, it's just a cover story anyway."

"Alright, guess that'll do then," Nawaki nodded, still amazed. "Man, I can't believe stuff like this actually works now. Konoha's really changed a lot, huh?"

He was honestly excited to see how much the village had advanced in the time he'd been gone.

"Okay, now that the resurrection's done, let's head back," Renzo said, motioning for everyone to gather around. As soon as they did, he activated a jutsu and teleported them out of the lab.

— — —

"Huh? What the heck is that thing? A summoning blue beast?"

"No way—am I seeing things? Another beast… it's made of wood?!"

"And wait a second—is that a Sharingan in the other one's eyes?! What kind of insane combo is this?!"

"Wait, wait, wait... that brown mouse… that stance… that Wood Release... Grandpa, is that you?!"

Jerry paused mid-fight with Tom, turning to stare blankly at Nawaki, who had just called him grandpa.

"Buiii…" (He thinks I'm his grandpa? Can he not tell I'm a freaking mouse?!)

Tom nodded in agreement.

"Pikaa!" (It's clear— this human kid's brain is damaged.)

---

Nawaki's jaw hit the floor.

He stared in utter disbelief at Senju Jerry and Uchiha Tom, pointing at them with a trembling finger. "What… what are those?!"

He turned to Tsunade and the others, eyes filled with utter confusion and disbelief.

Had the world really changed this much?

Didn't Wood Release used to be something only his grandpa, Hashirama, could use?

And now there was a brown mouse with it!?

What the hell happened while I was gone?

Did Grandpa Hashirama cheat on his wife back in the day? And with a mouse?

Or did Uchiha Madara mess around on the side?

"…That's one hell of a twisted pairing," Nawaki muttered under his breath.

"Huh? What twisted pairing?" Tsunade raised an eyebrow. But a second later, she caught on, and her expression turned into a mix of exasperation and laughter. She smacked the back of his head lightly and said, "If you're looking for someone to blame, it's your brother-in-law!"

"He's the one who figured out how to replicate Wood Release and the Sharingan—and then decided to inject Pokémon with that kekkei genkai nonsense!"

"Oh, speaking of that…"

Tsunade suddenly turned her head and glared at Renzo, her eyes sharp enough to pierce steel.

"Don't you think you owe me an explanation? I can get you wanting to study Wood Release—especially since you got those cells from Danzo's lab. I didn't say anything about that. But why the hell would you give a mouse the Wood Release kekkei genkai?!"

"And the worst part?" She folded her arms and pouted. "Even I haven't gotten it yet!"

Yep. That last line? That was the real issue all along.

For the Senju clan, Wood Release wasn't just some flashy jutsu. It held a lot of meaning.

Back in the day, Hashirama and Tobirama had high hopes that their descendants, including Tsunade and Nawaki, would inherit Wood Release.

Tsunade? She really had tried. Spent years working on it.

The result? Nothing. Not even a bud of success.

Meanwhile, Renzo just casually cooked up not only Wood Release, but Sharingan, Uzumaki sage bloodlines, Ice Release, and a whole bunch of other kekkei genkai like it was no big deal—and on Pokémon, no less.

She didn't even find out about it until he'd been missing for quite a while.

"Ahahaha…"

Renzo scratched his cheek with an awkward laugh. "Well, back then we weren't exactly that close yet…"

"And after that, I went into closed-door training. My clones wouldn't dare make that kind of decision on their own."

"C'mon, don't be mad! I'll give both you and Nawaki a bottle right now! And you can each pick one more kekkei genkai from the ones I've developed!"

He grinned proudly. "Want the Sharingan? Ice Release? Swift Release, Blaze Release, Storm, Magnet... Whatever I've got, it's yours!"

They were family, after all—wife and brother-in-law. No reason not to be generous.

And Nawaki could use the boost. The kid was still kinda weak. If they didn't power him up, something dumb would happen again—and guess who'd be the one stressing over it?

"…Now you're talking," Tsunade said, finally satisfied. She turned to Nawaki. "Go on, pick what you want."

Then she looked back at Renzo, raising a brow. "But are you sure it's okay to just hand out the Sharingan like that? You do remember the fuss Fugaku made when that cat, Uchiha Tom, showed up, right?"

"Besides... Nawaki and I aren't Uchiha. Wouldn't that be… weird?"

She could already imagine the meltdown the Uchiha clan would have if Senju started popping up with Sharingan.

Renzo waved it off like it was no big deal. "I'll handle my clan. If you want it, take it. I wouldn't offer if I wasn't ready."

"And I've got a good reason for offering Sharingan in the first place."

He then explained how Sharingan and the Senju Sage Body actually complemented each other perfectly.

Tsunade's eyes widened as the pieces clicked together. "So having Wood Release and the Senju body drastically reduces the negative side effects of the Mangekyo?"

"And if the Mangekyo evolves into the Eternal Mangekyo, and you combine that with the chakra of Indra and Ashura... you can awaken the Rinnegan?"

"Bingo," Renzo confirmed with a nod.

"No way…" Nawaki looked absolutely stunned. "How is that even possible? Aren't the Senju and Uchiha supposed to be rivals? How can two clans that used to hate each other end up having such complementary bloodlines?"

"What's next? A Senju and a Uchiha getting married?"

Tsunade: "…"

Kurenai: "…"

Renzo: "…"

The three of them just stared at him like he'd grown a second head.

"…Did I say something wrong?" Nawaki asked, looking genuinely confused.

"You still haven't figured it out?" Tsunade groaned, rubbing her forehead. "Didn't Renzo literally say it earlier? He's the most talented genius in the entire Uchiha clan!"

"Whaaa???" Nawaki's eyes nearly popped out of his head as he turned to Renzo, stammering. "You… You're a Uchiha?!"

"Yup." Renzo smiled lazily and nodded.

This kid really was just like the First Hokage—big heart, slow brain.

And the guy had incredibly strong life force too. His Senju Sage Body was almost fully developed. No wonder Danzo and his cronies wanted him dead back then.

"Ahahaha… yeah, I definitely said something dumb," Nawaki said with an embarrassed laugh. "Looks like Senju and Uchiha can get along after all. I mean, you did marry my sister!"

"Good luck, though… uh, can you revive yourself if she accidentally kills you?"

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