— — — — — — —
Still, in Hiruzen's mind, there was no way Renzo was the mysterious Uchiha.
He hadn't grown that fast.
Besides, as far as Hiruzen knew, overusing a standard Mangekyō Sharingan led to blindness.
Tobirama's records confirmed this.
Even Uchiha Madara suffered from it back in the day.
But then, by transplanting his younger brother Izuna's eyes, he obtained an even more advanced version—the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
With that, Madara gained the power to fight on equal footing with the First Hokage. And it was thanks to this Eternal Mangekyō that he could manifest such a colossal Susanoo.
Renzo, however, didn't have a genius little brother to swap eyes with.
"It seems the Uchiha Clan really does have a hidden force protecting them! That mysterious Uchiha must have come from there! Not even Fugaku is aware of their existence!"
Hiruzen thought to himself.
Otherwise, Fugaku wouldn't be this spineless. And the Uchiha wouldn't have been behaving so obediently all these years.
Still, even if that were the case, this was the worst possible news for Hiruzen.
At the same time, he felt a bit relieved that he and Danzo hadn't actually acted against the Uchiha yet.
Otherwise… heh.
Madara's stance was uncertain—perhaps he no longer cared about the Uchiha.
After all, Hiruzen knew that back then, Madara was betrayed by his own clan. They refused to follow him and instead chose to remain in Konoha.
They had grown attached to the village's peaceful way of life.
But this new mysterious Uchiha was the real problem.
Since he could summon a chakra giant, it was undeniable that he had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan.
And his mastery of it wasn't far off from Madara's.
Someone that terrifying wasn't an enemy they could afford to make.
"I need to have a serious talk with Danzo about our approach to the Uchiha Clan from now on," Hiruzen decided.
Of course, he also had to verify the information with Kakashi and the others.
It wasn't that he didn't trust Minato, but with matters this important, double-checking was necessary.
The greater the stakes, the stricter the process.
"Alright!"
Having made up his mind, Hiruzen waved at Minato.
"I understand the situation now. You've worked hard, Minato! Go home and rest—otherwise, that Kushina girl is going to come kicking down my door again."
There was a clear note of helplessness in his tone.
Kushina was difficult to handle, and as the Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails, Hiruzen had no choice but to give her some leeway most of the time.
"Hehe… got it!"
Minato chuckled awkwardly before excusing himself and heading home as quickly as possible.
As soon as he was gone, Hiruzen tapped his desk and issued an order to the Anbu hidden in the shadows.
"Summon Danzo, Koharu, and Homura immediately."
The Anbu ninja silently acknowledged the order and vanished.
---
Meanwhile, Hiruzen sent another team to question Kakashi, Obito, and Rin to confirm the accuracy of Minato's report.
After verifying that the information was mostly correct…
Danzo and the other two elders arrived.
"Take a look at this," Hiruzen said, handing over Minato's report.
"I've already checked the facts—everything lines up."
He passed the document to Danzo, Koharu, and Homura.
— — —
"Heh, not bad."
At this moment, Renzo withdrew his hidden sensory perception, satisfied with how things played out.
Not long after, Fugaku noticed a subtle shift in the Third Hokage and Danzo's attitude toward the Uchiha.
Even the hidden surveillance on their clan had been significantly reduced.
"What the hell is going on?"
Fugaku couldn't wrap his head around it.
Still puzzled, he led most of the Uchiha's ninja—alongside members of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio and a few Hyūga—to the Land of Water's borders.
Their mission: to confront Kirigakure's forces.
Meanwhile, after discussing things with Hiruzen and the other elders, Danzo returned to his underground hideout, his expression grim.
"Uchiha Madara… Izanagi, huh?"
"Could he really still be alive?"
"But if so, how has he survived for this long? And how has he remained so young?"
"Has he discovered the secret to immortality?"
"Could it be related to his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan?"
"And that damn mysterious Uchiha… they're all pests!"
Danzo hated that unknown Uchiha with a passion.
Their existence threw a massive twist into his plans—his schemes against the Uchiha and their Sharingan.
But now that such a powerful figure had appeared from the shadows, Danzo had no choice but to lie low for the time being.
Of course, he was still waiting for Root operatives to bring back intelligence from the battlefield where Madara and the mysterious Uchiha fought.
He wasn't going to take Minato's word for it.
Only after verifying the information with his own men would he believe it.
And if everything turned out to be true…Then he'd have no choice but to adjust his plans.
"But right now, there's a perfect opportunity…"
"So many Uchiha ninjas have been sent to the front lines—if a few more happen to die, if a few more Sharingan happen to be lost, well… isn't that perfectly normal?"
Danzo had considered taking advantage of the Uchiha's absence—striking while their main forces were away to steal some Sharingan from the nearly defenseless clan compound.
But because of his fear of the mysterious Uchiha… and his concern over Hiruzen's stance, he ultimately held back.
It would be safer to collect them from the battlefield instead.
After all, he needed those Sharingan. The more, the better.
Not just for his ongoing secret collaboration with Orochimaru…But also because now, he had to uncover Madara's secret.
After all, Danzo was getting old… but his ambition was still burning strong.
And to see that ambition realized, he needed a young, powerful body—one capable of sustaining his dream of becoming Hokage.
"Just you wait! One day—Hiruzen, Madara, that mysterious Uchiha—none of them will be able to stop me from ruling over the entire Ninja world! Hmph!"
— — —
Harry Potter World
Hermione opened her eyes, feeling the surge of power coursing through her body—her magic, her mental strength—everything was skyrocketing.
A small smirk formed on her lips.
This was the feeling she wanted.
Her cheat was finally activated!
"Hermione! What are you spacing out for?! Hurry up and come over here!"
Ron's voice called out from ahead.
"There's a giant enchanted chessboard! Harry and I are trying to get through it—we just need you!"
Hermione groaned internally. "Seriously, I really don't want to participate in this 'Main Character Training Arc' nonsense…"
Still, she sighed and walked forward.
She stood before the massive chessboard—but instead of stepping onto it, she just stood there.
"Hermione, what are you waiting for?! Get in here! You can be the Queen piece!"
Ron was already sitting atop a stone knight, waving at her. The knight itself was carved entirely from rock.
"Yeah… no thanks. Why don't we just blast our way through?"
Hermione rolled her eyes, pulling out her wand from inside her robes.
With a flick, she pointed it straight at the opposing King piece.
"Confringo!"
The moment she cast the spell, a brilliant burst of energy shot from her wand, racing toward the enemy King.
"It won't work—"
Ron hadn't even finished speaking.
BOOM!
The stone King shattered into small pieces, instantly reduced to rubble.
Ron: "…"
Harry: "…"
Dumbledore, secretly watching from the shadows: "…"
"Ha! Knew it. You were hiding in the shadows watching, you old geezer!"
Hermione grumbled internally as she sensed a faint trace of magical observation.
But outwardly, she didn't react.
She immediately fortified her mind with her psychic abilities, ensuring that Dumbledore wouldn't have any opportunity to pull a Legilimency stunt on her.
To be honest, she had wanted to learn Occlumency for a while now—but never found the right chance.
And truthfully, Occlumency wasn't that easy to master.
Now, though? With her new psychic abilities, it was a breeze.
Her mental defenses had skyrocketed.
Unlike Occlumency—which relied on constructing false memories and suppressing emotions to resist Legilimency—her psychic barrier was an entirely different level of defense.
In fact… Hermione suspected it could even resist the Unforgivable Curses to some degree.
At the very least, Imperius Curse should be useless against her now.
And with her newly enhanced mental strength, she was starting to realize just how valuable it was.
Not only did her memory and learning abilities increase dramatically, but her magic was also growing at a terrifying pace.
.
.
.