When you're broke, your ambitions shrink...
He really had no choice. As much as Aoi Ren wanted to draw Naruto to strengthen himself, that particular storyline required him to stay outside the main events just to ambush Minato.
If he did that, he wouldn't be able to complete any missions, meaning zero points earned...
That was why he had chosen this storyline instead:
---
Beneath a grey sky, rain seemed to have never stopped falling over this tiny nation. The Land of Rain — a small country squeezed precariously between the Five Great Nations.
And for a small nation, the saddest truth was that they had no right to choose whether to go to war or not...
"BOOM!"
The fiery flashes of explosive tags tangled with the bright glows of ninjutsu.
War in the rain was especially brutal and cold; it looked less like a battle and more like a staged performance of slaughter.
The conflict between Konoha and Amegakure was raging fiercely, deadlocked and brutal.
Standing atop a high peak, quietly watching the distant battlefield where both sides fought desperately, Aoi Ren slowly stepped back — he would not recklessly join the fight. Not even though one side was Konoha...
Not even though his beloved Tsunade was down there, risking her life...
But Aoi Ren knew the distinction clearly: this was only a storyline world. He wouldn't delude himself into thinking every version of Tsunade across every dimension belonged to him.
Walking away from the battlefield, Aoi Ren pondered silently. In this arc, he had two options:
1. Find a way to participate in the events, earn storyline progress, and collect mission rewards.
2. Assault Nagato!
Compared to the Nagato of the future — who would grow far stronger than even the Five Kage — the Nagato of this time was still just a child who knew no ninjutsu, only barely able to use the basic power of the Rinnegan.
The Rinnegan!
It was arguably the most critical piece in Aoi Ren's long-term plans. Yet after thinking it through carefully, he decided to give up on this option.
First came the question of success rate. Was it really just pure luck that Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan — three defenseless children — had all managed to survive in this chaotic world?
Do not forget: Black Zetsu, lurking always in the shadows, had been watching over his most important pawn this entire time...
If Aoi Ren tried to make a move on Nagato, he wouldn't be surprised at all if Black Zetsu — Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's final offspring — stepped in with some unexpected countermeasure.
And more importantly: Aoi Ren hated the idea of ripping someone else's eyes out just to put them in his own head.
Especially since, in the grand scheme, those eyes were already second-, or even third-hand goods...
---
Since he had decided to integrate into the storyline, Aoi Ren needed a way to join a faction reasonably.
Aoi Ren was no masochist — naturally, he picked Konoha, the strongest side.
More importantly, he knew for a fact that Jiraiya would never just attack and kill him out of nowhere — something he certainly couldn't guarantee with any other nation's ninja...
The war dragged on. But in conflicts that stretched on for months, even years, no ninja — no matter how powerful — could fight without rest or sleep.
As the sky darkened, the defeated side dragged away their dead and wounded, retreating to camp to lick their injuries. The victorious side also withdrew, preparing to rest and recover...
Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Jiraiya — the legendary Sannin — walked back toward the Konoha encampment, supporting each other.
Suddenly, from behind a large boulder in the distance, the loud cry of an infant cut through the rain and halted their steps.
"Waaah! Waaah!"
The innocent, heart-wrenching sound made the three exchange glances, then carefully approach.
Anything could happen on a battlefield. But when they climbed over the rock, a sight that pierced their hearts came into view...
Beside a deep crater blasted open by explosive tags, a man and a woman — ordinary civilians — lay slumped over, their bodies forming a protective arch above a small three-year-old child.
The child was perfectly safe. But the parents' bodies were riddled with wounds, pierced through and through — they had long since lost their lives.
"What do we do now?"
For a moment, the Sannin were at a loss. They had seen countless war orphans, but a scene this heartbreaking... it was rare even for them.
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