Early morning, at the hot spring inn.
Hashirama carefully tucked the sleeping Tanuki Flower into his arms, while his bamboo backpack was filled with fish cakes the proprietress had insisted on giving him.
These were snacks for Tanuki Flower to eat on the journey.
Renye changed back into his black combat uniform and fastened innocence to his waist.
The two walked side-by-side, leaving the Hot Spring Village.
"Little Renye, where are we going next?" Hashirama said, "I heard the cloud waterfalls in the Land of Lightning are spectacular, or perhaps the mirages in the Land of Wind?"
Tanuki Flower poked her head out from his clothes, looking curiously at Renye.
Renye pondered for a moment, "Uncle Hashirama, why don't we go to the Land of Water?"
The Land of Water is the only island nation among the Five Great Nations, and its geographical environment is somewhat similar to a certain island nation from his previous life.
Because the Land of Water is an island nation, the local seafood is exceptionally delicious.
He wanted to go to the Land of Water first to taste how the seafood was, and it wouldn't be too late to visit other countries afterward.
"Haha, as you wish." Hashirama said with a smile, "The First Mizukage's Water Release is superb; perhaps you can further improve your Water Release Ninjutsu there."
Renye didn't respond. He wasn't skilled in Water Release, nor was he particularly interested in it.
As a Uchiha, he still preferred Fire Release.
He pulled out a map from his ninja tool pouch, his finger slowly tracing the coastline, then tapping on the location of the Hidden Mist Village.
"Uncle Hashirama, let's depart now and try to arrive today."
On the map, the Hidden Mist Village was located to the southeast of the Land of Hot Water.
They needed to go to the border of the Land of Hot Water and take a boat from there to the Land of Water.
With that, he took the map and started to lead the way.
Senju Hashirama suddenly recalled Renye's previous experience leading the way and quickly said, "Little Renye, how about I lead the way instead?"
Without explanation, he snatched the map from Renye's hand and walked at the very front.
Renye was a bit speechless and sighed helplessly.
Prejudice in people's hearts is a great mountain...
He had only slightly deviated from the route before; did Uncle Hashirama really need to be like this?
Their traveling speed wasn't fast; they stopped and went along the way.
They only reached the border of the Land of Hot Water by evening.
By then, there were no boats on the sea, so they could only spend the night there and wait for the boatmen to start work the next day.
The Land of Water is a major exporter of seafood.
Fishermen from surrounding countries would go to the coast of the Land of Water every morning to buy high-grade seafood, then resell it to inland shops, earning a profit from the difference.
.........
At night, the campfire crackled.
Hashirama added firewood to the bonfire. Tanuki Flower, at some point, had curled into a ball in his arms, her incomplete tail gently resting on his wrist.
He watched Renye bending over, rummaging through his ninja tool pouch. The boy's fingertips brushed past sharp kunai, finally stopping at a row of small bottles of various shapes.
"Little Renye, what are these?" He squinted and leaned closer, and Tanuki Flower also poked her head out.
Watched by two curious gazes, Renye straightened up, placed a few small bottles on the ground, and a confident smile curved his lips.
"Uncle Hashirama, these are the poisons I've developed over the years." He picked up a bottle, "This one is called 'Corroding Heart.' It's colorless and odorless; if even a little gets into a wound, it's essentially a death sentence."
Tanuki Flower was curiously sniffing the bottles on the ground. Hearing Renye's words, she was immediately startled and burrowed into Hashirama's arms.
"Then what type of poisons are these bottles?" Hashirama pointed to the bottles on the ground.
"Oh, these... they're all 'Corroding Heart,'" Renye said.
Hashirama's mouth twitched. These bottles were colorful.
He had thought they had different effects, but it turned out they were all the same type.
Noticing Hashirama's expression, Renye also felt a bit helpless.
He also wanted to develop more and stronger poisons, but his strength didn't allow it.
Developing powerful poisons wasn't something that could be accomplished overnight.
He had refined "Corroding Heart" over a hundred times; where would he find the time to develop new types?
Moreover, developing poisons was a very expensive endeavor; almost every experiment cost a lot of money.
Almost all the money Renye had earned over the years had been used to develop poisons.
He was quite satisfied with the poisons he had developed.
When he fought Kakuzu, merely scratching Kakuzu's skin a little was enough to inflict severe poison on him.
However, he still felt that the poison spread too slowly.
If it were faster, Kakuzu wouldn't have survived at all.
Thinking of this, Renye sighed helplessly, "Alas, it seems the poison still isn't strong enough..."
Senju Hashirama stared at Renye with a strange expression, thinking to himself, this poison isn't strong enough?
He suddenly remembered that Tobirama had said something similar before.
"Big Brother, I think this Ninjutsu is still too weak."
After that, Tobirama went further and further down the path of developing forbidden Ninjutsu...
No matter how he tried to persuade him, Tobirama remained unyielding.
And Renye had embarked on the path of researching poisons.
Neither of these two was easy to deal with...
Hashirama also sighed, feeling deeply regretful.
If only he had known, he wouldn't have let Tobirama adopt little Renye.
What a wonderful child he was, yet he was led astray by Tobirama.
He still remembered Renye's eyes back then, filled with a desire to become stronger...
Thinking of this, Hashirama subconsciously looked at Renye.
The campfire flickered, casting Renye's face in alternating light and shadow. He gazed down at the small bottle in his hand, his eyes burning with a fascination for poison.
Hashirama: "..."
That fervent gaze was exactly the same as Tobirama's when he researched forbidden Ninjutsu.
He truly was the child Tobirama raised.
He didn't know whether to cry or laugh now.
He just felt like little Renye was a miniature version of Tobirama...
At this moment, Renye was imagining himself using poison to take down Six Paths Madara, completely oblivious to the expression on Hashirama's face.
He believed that as long as he continued his research, he would definitely be able to develop even more powerful poisons.
Ideally, poisons that he could control, allowing him to decide when someone would die from poisoning.
By then, he would only need to poison the water, and whoever he wanted to die would die.
Of course, this was just his fantasy.
At Renye's level, even with ten lifetimes, he wouldn't be able to develop a poison of that caliber.
"Little Renye?" Hashirama couldn't help but speak up to remind him.
Hearing this, Renye woke up from his fantasy.
He looked at Hashirama with a hint of resentment, having just been immersed in the fantasy of being the "Strongest Poison Master in the Ninja World" only to be woken up.
Noticing Renye's gaze, Hashirama was a bit puzzled.
He didn't understand why little Renye was looking at him like that.
"Sigh." Renye sighed, put away the poisons, and lay down on the ground.
Time to sleep, everything is possible in dreams...
"Good night, Uncle Hashirama."
With that, he closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep.
Hashirama was visibly surprised by Renye's speed of falling asleep. "Youth is truly wonderful; you just lie down and sleep."
If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would have thought Renye had been drugged with a sleeping potion.
Because only a sleeping potion could achieve such an effect...
PS: Everyone, I've had a cold these past two days. I'll definitely do three updates tomorrow!