After lunch,Ren and Minato lay down to rest for a while before heading to the training field.
There was still plenty of time before the next class—only three classes a day, each just forty-five minutes long. For kids like them, that left a lot of free time. Most of the motivated students used it to train.
Of course, some liked to nap.But clearly, Ren and Minato weren't those kinds of students.
As they walked together, Minato's mind wandered back to what happened that morning.He hadn't expected that Kushina would share the same dream as him.
That… that was amazing.
Thinking about dreams made him glance sideways at Ren.Now that he thought about it, he actually didn't know what Ren's dream was.
He was Ren's best—and maybe only—friend, yet he didn't know something this basic. That was kind of…
"Ren, what's your dream?"
"Dream?" Ren repeated, thinking for a moment. Then he shrugged. "I dunno."
"Huh?!" Minato blinked at him, completely thrown.Ren didn't have a dream? Really?
Wasn't that the same as being a salted fish?
No—wait. Even salted fish flip over once in a while. That comparison was actually a bit insulting... to salted fish.
"That's impossible!" Minato grinned, assuming Ren just didn't want to say it. "Come on—you've got to have one. Who knows? It might actually come true someday!"
Ren rolled his eyes at him.
Dreams?
What dreams could he possibly have? Was he supposed to be like those cliché isekai protagonists—punching ancient monsters underground, kicking celestial overlords in the face?
Yeah, right.
He wasn't nearly that ambitious.
If anything, his dream was... well, to be bad.To just lie around and be fed grapes when the girl from the system—Tongzi—came back.
Now that idea sounded kind of exciting. Hehe.
"I'll let you know when I come up with something," Ren said with a smirk, gripping the wooden sword in his hand.
They'd arrived at the training grounds.
"Alright," Minato said, a bit helplessly. If Ren didn't want to share, he wasn't going to push it.
He pulled out a kunai and took a fighting stance. His body lowered slightly, and the calm in his eyes turned sharp.
Even though he always won against Ren, it was never easy.
Ren's reflexes weren't quite as fast, but his swordsmanship was extremely precise. If Minato lost focus for even a second, he'd get hit for sure.
Ren noticed his friend's alert posture and smiled faintly.
Usually, he was the one to initiate. But whenever Minato moved first, Ren always got dragged into Minato's rhythm.
Not this time.
He changed tactics.
With a flick of his wrist, three shuriken dropped into his palm from inside his sleeve.
He whipped his arm forward.
Three shuriken flew out, each on a different curved trajectory—but all aimed directly at Minato.
Any ordinary student would be overwhelmed.
Even Minato was surprised.He had been expecting a wooden sword. Not this.
Ren had never opened with a projectile attack before.
But in that brief moment, Minato's sharp senses kicked in. He instantly read the trajectories and knew—
Too late to dodge!
Worse, he saw Ren charging in right after the throw. The wooden sword in his hand was aimed directly at Minato's retreat path.
If he moved backward, Ren would follow right into him.
He's trying to force me into his rhythm!
Minato made a split-second decision.
No dodging. Fight head-on.
The kunai in his hand moved in a blur—clashing with all three incoming shuriken.
Whoa—those were heavy!
Each hit sent a little shock down his arm. Ren hadn't thrown them lightly.
But—he blocked them all.
The first wave was neutralized.
Ren's eyes gleamed.
Without pausing, he waved his other arm.
Three more shuriken flew out—this time from his non-dominant hand.
But strangely... they missed.
They weren't aimed at Minato at all.
Ren even made a dramatic face of disappointment.
"Ahh, what a shame!"
Minato blinked.
Huh?
He glanced at Ren's off-hand and wondered—maybe his aim was just bad with that hand?
But then—out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a spark.
His heart skipped.
"REN! You set a trap!"
He didn't wait.Whether or not Ren planned to follow up, it was better to retreat now than get flanked.
Ren looked innocent, but his hands kept moving.
"Me? Trap you? I'd never!"
"But you, on the other hand—you learned the Uchiha-style Kunai Throwing Technique and didn't tell me! Were you planning to ambush me later?"
You sneaky punk!
Just as Ren said that, a spark exploded where Minato had just been standing.
The three shuriken he'd thrown earlier collided with the first set he had launched—changing their flight paths mid-air.
So that's it!
Those "missed" shuriken weren't targeting Minato directly. They were aimed at the ones Minato had just deflected.
By knocking them into the deflected blades, Ren had redirected the second set to curve back toward Minato from unexpected angles.
It was a feint and rebound all in one.
If Ren hadn't said anything just now, Minato might've been caught off guard.
The regret on Ren's face vanished.
"Barely learned it last night!" he said with a proud grin.
Minato stared at him.
"You call that barely learned?!"
If it were just one shuriken that redirected, maybe. But three at once?
Liar! He must've been practicing this for weeks!
Ren rushed in, closing the distance to within ten feet.
He ducked under the hovering shuriken still spinning in the air, then slashed upward with his wooden sword.
Minato dropped the conversation. His focus sharpened.
Too late to block with the kunai!
But—it was just a wooden sword.
He let out a small breath of relief and used his left palm to catch the flat of the blade.
Ren immediately tried to twist the trajectory, but Minato had already caught it three inches from his body. His arm bent slightly to absorb the force.
He smiled.
"Ren... you were hiding your skills pretty well, huh?"
Ren said nothing—but his heart dropped.
Now he was on the defensive.
His wooden sword was locked in Minato's grip, completely ineffective.
And worse—he was standing in Minato's perfect attack range.
He glanced down and saw a faint, light blue glow on Minato's hand.
"You're one to talk. You never showed me you could use chakra coating!"
Minato froze.
He'd forgotten his hand was glowing.
He scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"Uhh... it's normal for ninjas to hold back sometimes, right?"
Ren ignored him. He stomped forward hard, slamming all his forward momentum into the ground.
A web of cracks formed under his feet.
At the same time, he pulled his wooden sword back with force.
Minato quickly let go. Even though his hand was chakra-coated, he didn't want to risk getting scraped.
Ren backed off a few steps and narrowed his eyes, sizing Minato up.
"Chakra coating... and your reaction speed's about 20% faster than before…"
He hadn't expected Minato to be this strong. Even now, he couldn't see where Minato's limit was.
He growled.
"You've been letting me win this whole time!"
Minato skidded to a stop, dragging two long lines in the dirt.
"You hid that kunai technique first!"
Ren: "…"
His frustration froze on his face.
Crap. I can't even blackmail him now!
He glared, pouty and annoyed, while Minato sheathed his kunai and smiled.
"So? What other jutsu have you been hiding from me, huh?"
But he was secretly relieved.
Good thing I pushed the attack. If I'd just gone along with his rhythm... he might've actually blackmailed me again!
He remembered that one day—the day Ren blackmailed him so hard…
…He'd ended up crossdressing.