— — — — — — —
An hour later, when Danzo went to retrieve some things from his treasury, he was stunned to find it nearly empty!
He stood frozen for a moment, his expression darkening rapidly.
"Damn it! Damn it! How the hell did everything just disappear? What the hell is going on?!"
No matter how much he raged, it was already too late.
"Who is targeting me? Who stole everything?"
"How was there not a single sign of intrusion?"
"Damn it!"
"Are you all useless?!" he roared at his guards.
The items were gone—completely vanished without a trace. Not even the slightest clue was left behind. It was as if a ghost had swept in and taken everything, leaving not a single footprint.
Danzo felt a chill run down his spine.
What did this mean?
It meant that his supposedly impenetrable base was nothing more than a sieve to this mysterious intruder. They could come and go as they pleased without him even noticing.
And it wasn't just any ordinary theft. He had lost a significant portion of Hashirama's original cells, as well as over a dozen recently acquired Sharingan.
On top of that, a large number of Root's secret files and mission records had been stolen.
These were highly classified documents—evidence of all the dirty dealings that could never be exposed to the public.
Danzo could only pray that whoever took them wasn't affiliated with Konoha and wouldn't leak them.
If they wanted to use the information to threaten him, that would actually be preferable.
At least then, he would know who it was and could plan his revenge.
But months passed, and no one came forward.
Danzo waited and waited, but it was as if the thief had never existed—or perhaps, they had simply considered him beneath their notice.
"Who could it be?"
"Orochimaru? Impossible! He's still tied up in the Kiri battlefield. He doesn't have the ability to steal from me without leaving a trace."
"Namikaze Minato? He has the Flying Thunder God, but even he can't bypass my security that easily."
"Uchiha Renzo?... No way. That's ridiculous."
"Who the hell was it?!"
"If I ever find out, I swear I'll make them regret ever being born!"
Danzo could only curse in the darkness.
Meanwhile, the real culprit—Uchiha Renzo—was already deep into his research on the Senju Physique, with Red Queen assisting him.
— — —
A Few Months Earlier…Gundam World
"Master! The person you asked me to track—Lacus Clyne—has been spotted near the Junius-7 debris field!"
Inside a hidden space base, Renzo received Red Queen's report.
"Oh? So she's finally here? Then let's go meet the Pink Songstress."
Smirking, Renzo put down his research materials, left the lab, and headed for the base's dock.
He climbed into his Gundam, the Deus Gundam, and blasted off, accelerating toward the debris field at terrifying speed.
The base wasn't too far from Junius-7. With the Deus Gundam's capabilities, it only took him half an hour to reach the area.
His Gundam was fast—faster than most cruisers.
"Red Queen, locate Lacus."
"Target confirmed. Coordinates: XXX.XXX.XXX. She is currently in an escape pod. Additionally, five ZAFT mobile suits are engaged in combat nearby—one group is protecting her, while the other is attempting to assassinate her."
"Also, the Archangel is en route to this sector. Estimated arrival: ten minutes."
Red Queen reported efficiently.
"Oh?"
Renzo maneuvered the Deus Gundam closer while musing, "So the Archangel has arrived as well? The story has reached this point, but it's still moving too slow."
Honestly, he wasn't too interested in interfering just yet.
The real game would begin when Lord Djibril's Earth Federation and ZAFT launched their full-scale war. That was when he planned to step in.
If he could gain control over Earth and even PLANT, it would be a massive boost to his research and space exploration plans.
Advancing technology and achieving true progress was nearly impossible without the backing of an advanced civilization.
Sure, he could sit back and let other high-tech worlds bring their knowledge to him once they joined the Renzo Alliance.
But by then, he would be completely left behind—just another spectator in their grand designs.
That wasn't the path Gundam Renzo wanted.
That would just make him a useless idler, wouldn't it?
Right now, he still had ambition.
At the very least, seeing a civilization under his influence achieve peace and challenge the ranks of higher cosmic civilizations—that sounded like an interesting goal, didn't it?
In the future, his lifespan might be limitless, and those close to him would also live forever. Having a purpose, something to strive for, wasn't a bad idea.
---
"Captain! We've spotted an unidentified mobile suit approaching!"
"Destroy it!"
Renzo wasn't even trying to be stealthy, so naturally, the battling Zeon mobile suits detected him.
The assassins targeting Lacus had four mobile suits. When they saw Renzo and his Gundam approaching, they immediately decided to eliminate him as well. They couldn't afford to have any witnesses.
Or rather, they couldn't let someone unexpected uncover their mission.
This operation had a very clear objective.
"Oh?"
Renzo smirked as he noticed two Zeon mobile suits aiming their weapons at him.
Without hesitation, he pushed his Deus Gundam to maximum acceleration, closing the distance to just two kilometers from the Zeon battle group.
Zzzap! Zzzap!
Striking first, he fired two particle beams straight at the enemy mobile suits!
Boom!!
The Zeon pilots tried to evade, but they had miscalculated the speed of his particle beams. Before they could react, their cockpits were hit directly, and they perished instantly.
Their remaining comrades widened their eyes in shock.
"W-What?"
"You bastard! You'll pay for that!!"
One of the surviving pilots snapped out of their daze just in time to land a fatal shot on Lacus' bodyguard.
Then, the last two Zeon mobile suits turned their guns on the Deus Gundam, opening fire in a frenzy to avenge their fallen comrades.
"Too slow."
Renzo sighed. This wasn't even a challenge.
Both their mobile suits and their piloting skills were leagues behind his.
Effortlessly dodging their attacks, the Deus Gundam moved with an agility that seemed almost supernatural.
Zzzap! Zzzap!
Two more particle beams lanced through space.
The remaining Zeon pilots were instantly obliterated.
"How…? How could the difference be this huge?"
That was the last thought running through their minds before they exploded.
Boom! Boom!!
As the explosions faded, Renzo piloted the Deus Gundam toward a floating escape pod in the vastness of space.
Inside, Lacus had been watching everything unfold, her face full of shock.
She had just witnessed the Deus Gundam descend upon the battlefield and wipe out all four enemy suits in an instant.
With her deep understanding of mobile suit technology, she could already tell—the Deus Gundam was far more advanced than anything currently being developed in PLANT, including the top-secret Freedom and Justice units.
"What faction built this mobile suit Gundam?"
"And why is its pilot here, at this exact moment? He eliminated my assassins… but what's his real objective?"
Lacus was full of questions.
At the same time, she couldn't help but grow curious about the faction behind this incredible machine.
Meanwhile, Renzo had already maneuvered the Deus Gundam next to the escape pod.
Without hesitation, he reached out and grabbed it, then immediately accelerated away from the area.
Lacus: "???"
---
Meanwhile, several hundred kilometers away aboard the Archangel—
Captain Murrue Ramius and her crew were closely monitoring the situation through their sensors. They had just watched an unknown Gundam appear, wipe out four Zeon mobile suits, and take off with the escape pod.
"What the hell is that mobile suit? Why have we never seen it before? Could it be some secret faction's prototype?"
Murrue frowned, deep in thought.
"No idea," Mu La Flaga replied, arms crossed. "I've never seen a design like that. No markings, no identifiers… And we have no clue what just happened over there."
He stared at the screen, watching the mysterious Deus Gundam disappear into the distance, his expression heavy with both curiosity and unease.
.
.
.