In the blink of an eye, three years passed.
Konoha Year 35, Renya welcomed his thirty-sixth birthday.
"Happy birthday, Renya!"
At this time every year, Hiruzen and the others would come to celebrate his birthday, and this year was no exception.
Three years could change many things.
For example, Shimura Danzō officially retired last year, and the position of Fourth Hokage was taken over by Acting Hokage Hiruzen.
After enduring for so many years, he had finally made it.
After returning from traveling, Uchiha clan head Tanaka chose to retire, and the clan leader position was handed over to the clan’s "only" Mangekyō Sharingan wielder, Uchiha Kagami.
Since Uchiha Kagami became clan leader, the opposition voices of the hawkish faction within the clan had grown fewer and fewer.
Because they were shocked to discover that the village had never discriminated against them—it had only been their own arrogance.
In addition, most of the hawkish faction had already been eliminated several years earlier.
Thus, the voices of dissatisfaction within the clan gradually disappeared.
After Hyūga Muki returned to the moon, he quickly got married, and on the wedding day he personally came to the shinobi world to bring them to attend the ceremony.
Worth mentioning was Nara Motoha, who found marriage troublesome.
Under the coercion and persuasion of his clan head father, he helplessly married a girl he at least didn’t dislike.
In other words, all their former companions had established families of their own, leaving only Renya and Shimura Danzō still single.
Everyone knew what had happened three years ago, so no one mentioned marriage in front of the two anymore.
"Kid, happy birthday." Senju Tobirama carried over a cake, placed it on the table, and said toward the kitchen, "Once the dishes are done, come make a wish and blow out the candles."
The cake in front of him was the fifteenth birthday cake Tobirama had personally made...
When Renya was young, Tobirama had no experience raising a little Uchiha. He himself never celebrated birthdays, so naturally he never bothered to celebrate Renya’s either.
But after accidentally discovering Danzō and the others celebrating Renya’s birthday one time, he quietly memorized his adopted son’s birthday. From then on, for more than a decade, he never missed it again.
He also attended the birthdays of his other disciples and brought gifts.
Senju Tobirama never married or had children in his life. Long ago, he had already treated Renya and his disciples as his own children.
"You guys always make me cook every time!"
Renya stood alone in the kitchen, swinging the spatula so fast it nearly smoked. Hearing the lively noise from the living room, he couldn’t help muttering complaints under his breath.
No matter whose birthday it was over the years, the one cooking was always him.
Even when he was the birthday star!
"Renya-san, I came to help!"
Smelling the fragrance drifting from the kitchen, Tsunade walked in smiling to lend a hand.
"At least you still have some—"
Renya turned his head with slight relief, only to see Tsunade secretly stealing food with chopsticks. He immediately fell speechless.
So helping was fake—sneaking food was the real goal!
"Hehe." Caught in the act, Tsunade awkwardly put down the chopsticks and actually began helping.
"Tsunade, when are you holding the wedding?"
Tsunade and Katō Dan had been together for years, yet they kept delaying marriage.
Who knew what those two were thinking!
𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞
"Ah, Renya-san, why are you nagging just like Grandma!" Tsunade complained unhappily.
Coming here to eat and hang out was one reason, but another was escaping her grandmother’s marriage pressure.
Renya: "..."
He only felt cooking alone was too boring and wanted someone to chat with to pass the time.
He didn’t expect such a strong reaction from her.
Looks like Aunt Mito had been urging Tsunade to marry quite a lot these past years...
Ever since Tsunade grew up, her temper had become increasingly fiery. He wondered who she inherited that personality from?
Her parents were both quite easygoing...
"Renya-san, I’m still young, so I’m not in a hurry. But are you really not going to find me an aunt?" Tsunade looked at Renya in confusion.
She couldn’t understand why Renya-san, like Second Grandpa, refused to marry.
Could it be that growing up around Second Grandpa made him uninterested in marriage?
Tsunade remembered that when she was little, Grandma often discussed marriage matters with Second Grandpa, but he always rejected them with various excuses.
Eventually Grandma got so angry that she stopped caring about his marriage entirely.
A few years ago, Grandma tried introducing someone to Renya-san, but for some unknown reason she ultimately gave up.
Tsunade once asked her grandmother why, but Grandma only sighed with a complicated expression and never explained what happened that day.
So Tsunade personally asked the person involved, wanting to know why he wouldn’t marry...
"Tch, aren’t you just like your grandma?" Renya glanced at her irritably. "Handle your own marriage first before pointing fingers at me."
Since what happened back then had already caused Aunt Mito to misunderstand, no one in the village urged him to marry anymore.
Naturally, he didn’t bother explaining the reason to juniors.
Tsunade: "..."
"Chicken soup is here!"
At the dining table, everyone ate with great enjoyment.
Sure enough, only at this time each year could they enjoy such a lavish meal.
On ordinary days, being able to eat four dishes and a soup cooked by Renya was already considered lucky.
Ever since that guy started taking life easy, all he did every day was bask in the sun—he didn’t even want to cook anymore.
"Jiraiya, where have you been all these years?"
Orochimaru frowned slightly as he looked at Jiraiya, who only buried his head in eating.
At some point, Jiraiya’s usual appearances peeping at the women’s bathhouse in the village had become rare, and most of the time he couldn’t even be found.
Later, Orochimaru asked the Hokage and learned that this guy was rarely in the village anymore.
"Haha, I’ve had some personal matters, so I don’t return often," Jiraiya said with a smile, though he didn’t explain what those matters were.
Orochimaru’s frown deepened, but he didn’t ask directly.
Looks like he would need to have a talk with him later.
He had been busy researching in the laboratory and rarely paid attention to his friend’s daily life.
Now he wanted to know what kind of personal matter could make Jiraiya unwilling to return to the village.
Although Jiraiya didn’t say it clearly, Renya roughly guessed it was related to the Child of Prophecy.
In the original story, Jiraiya wandered across the shinobi world. Gathering material by peeping at bathhouses was one reason, but the bigger reason was searching for the Child of Prophecy mentioned by the Great Toad Sage.
"What personal matters could he have? He probably went to other villages to peek at women’s bathhouses again," Tsunade rolled her eyes irritably.
Two years ago, Jiraiya had been caught red-handed by the Uchiha police force while peeping at the village bathhouse. She had to borrow money from Orochimaru to bail him out of detention...
Afterward, he clung to Tsunade’s leg, begging her to keep it secret.
Jiraiya naturally understood her implication and scratched his head awkwardly.
That day he had been so absorbed in peeping that he didn’t notice the Uchiha approaching, and by the time he realized it, it was already too late.
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