"Yo, Renka—my dearest friend! I heard you went to the hospital again yesterday. That's the fire of youth blazing brightly! How about a match? Let's sweat it out together!"
A rough, booming voice cut through the crowd. Before the speaker even got close, Uzumaki Renka already had the sinking feeling that trouble had arrived.
And sure enough—
Might Guy, with his gleaming bowl cut and thick eyebrows, strode over with a wide grin.
He looked like he'd just returned from a mission.
Renka felt helpless inside, but the sheer vitality in Guy's presence made it impossible to truly dislike him. Having a friend that passionate and hot-blooded… honestly wasn't bad.
Come to think of it, their friendship started because of training.
Renka's motives hadn't been entirely pure at first. He wanted to befriend a future top-tier powerhouse, someone who could help keep him alive. But the biggest reason was simple: he couldn't properly use chakra, so he'd tried to find another path—get close to Guy, then learn the Eight Gates from him.
Only later did he discover the Eight Gates also required chakra control. After that, Renka gave up on learning it.
But he genuinely accepted Guy as a friend.
Day after day, he kept showing up at the place they'd agreed on—"spilling youth" together.
"Not today. You just got back, and I've got something to handle too," Renka said, waving him off.
"Tomorrow—same place. Then we'll compete. I want to see your strength for myself… so don't lose to someone who hasn't even graduated from the Academy yet."
As Renka walked away, Guy shouted after him at the top of his lungs:
"Then it's a promise! Oh—today, too, we must let our youth shine!"
In the crowd, two figures vanished without a trace.
---
Root
Deep underground, in a dim chamber—
Danzō Shimura stood silently with a cane in hand. Before him, a shinobi knelt on one knee, head lowered as he reported.
"Lord Danzō. Uzumaki Renka has left. The Hokage personally summoned him and reinforced the seal on his Curse Mark."
Half of Danzō's face was wrapped in white bandages. Deep wrinkles crossed his features like cracks in old stone.
He listened without expression, then spoke in a flat voice.
"So Hiruzen wants to 'win over' that boy—have him inherit the so-called Will of Fire?"
"Heh. Foolish old man. Only absolute control can protect the village. Only absolute control can maintain stability. Hiruzen can no longer keep up with this era."
The Root operative remained silent, as if he hadn't heard the insult directed at the Third Hokage. He simply kept his head down.
Danzō took a few steps. His cane tapped the floor.
"Watch him closely. He's an Uzumaki… and he was Orochimaru's test material. Too many unstable factors."
"Find an opportunity to bring him into Root."
"Yes, Lord Danzō!"
With a wave of Danzō's hand, the operative disappeared instantly.
Only Danzō remained—his gaze dark. His arm twitched slightly, as if he were already plotting his next move.
---
At Renka's Home...
Renka pushed open the wooden door, stepped inside, closed it, and drew the curtains.
His expression changed completely.
He forced down the wild surge of joy and anticipation in his chest, closed his eyes, and focused—feeling the flow of chakra inside his body.
Through his chakra pathways, throughout his entire system, into every limb and bone… a steady vitality coursed like blood, keeping his body running.
This is it.
The hand seals for the Clone Jutsu surfaced in his mind. His fingers began to move.
Ram—Snake—Tiger!
"Hah!"
Puff!
A soft burst sounded.
Renka opened his eyes—and saw a man standing opposite him, identical in appearance.
He stepped closer, circling the clone for a few seconds. Then he placed a hand on its shoulder—
The clone dispersed into white smoke like a reflection on water, impossible to grasp.
"This… is a clone?" Renka breathed.
"I—I did it. I really can use chakra!"
A flush spread across his face. His eyes shone with a brilliance he'd never had before—bright enough to be dazzling.
Only after a long moment did he finally calm down, mind settling into cold, practical focus.
"…If I can circulate chakra normally, then the Ninjutsu Codex finally has meaning."
He sat cross-legged on the bed and opened the "cheat" in his mind—the Ninjutsu Codex—reading greedily.
As the name implied, it was a scroll-like record of ninjutsu.
Over the last three years in Konoha, even though he couldn't use chakra properly, Renka never stopped training.
Especially after understanding how the Codex worked, he became ravenous for knowledge. He asked instructors for guidance whenever he could, sincere and serious to the point that even the ANBU monitoring him privately felt ashamed of themselves.
A moment on the stage… takes years of work offstage.
Now, as he stared at the densely packed text in the Codex—more than fifteen techniques recorded—Renka felt all those years hadn't been wasted.
Now he only needed to turn that preparation into power.
"Four Fire Style techniques: three C-rank—Phoenix Flower Jutsu, Fireball Jutsu, and Dragon Flame Jutsu; one B-rank—Hiding in Ash Jutsu.
Two Water Style techniques: one C-rank—Water Prison Jutsu; one B-rank—Water Wall.
One Lightning Style technique: C-rank—Earth Style: Groundhog Jutsu—no… Wait, this is Earth Style: Earth Flow—"
He paused, frowning, then continued, sorting it out in his head.
(He was reading fast, but the categories mattered.)
"Three Wind Style techniques: two C-rank—Great Breakthrough and Gale Palm; one B-rank—Vacuum Blast.
Two Earth Style techniques: one C-rank—Earth Style: Stone Pillar Prison; one B-rank—Earth Style: Mud Wall.
Plus: Shadow Clone Jutsu, the Eight Gates, Clone Jutsu, Substitution Jutsu, and Transformation Jutsu.
Seventeen techniques in total—highest grade is the A-rank Eight Gates.
If I master all of these, having jōnin-level combat power won't be a problem."
His expression sharpened.
"But if I want to shake off Orochimaru's interest, being a jōnin still won't be enough. I need higher-level techniques… or I need to push the Eight Gates to the Seventh Gate."
"Only then will I truly stand firm in the shinobi world—so that even if Pain himself comes, I won't be afraid!"
Renka shifted posture, counting his cards.
"Still… Orochimaru really did a number on me. After the seal was reinforced, my chakra became unbelievably gentle."
"Like a raging bull turning into a lamb. Even the hardest part of the Three Basic Techniques—the Clone Technique—feels effortless now."
He walked to the full-length mirror and formed the Ram seal.
With a low shout—
The reflection of himself vanished, replaced by a familiar face.
The Third Hokage.
Renka twisted his body in front of the mirror, excitement written all over his face.
"So this is the Transformation Jutsu? It's not even that hard!"
Even as he said it, he knew the truth: this was the result of enduring pain and repeating the basics hundreds—no, thousands—of times.
"Last is the Substitution Jutsu."
"This is the ultimate lifesaving technique in Naruto. I have to master it perfectly."
With his thoughts clear, he formed seals again.
First, he created a Shadow Clone.
Then the clone raised a fist and swung at his real body—
At that instant, the seals completed.
Renka swapped places with a potted plant on the table.
The clone's punch smashed down—
Puff!
White smoke burst.
The plant fell to the floor.
Renka appeared behind the clone, hand shaped like a blade, pressed against the clone's neck.
"All those trips to the hospital weren't for nothing. I've gotten extremely proficient at Shadow Clone Jutsu."
Shadow Clone Jutsu was the second technique Renka had learned—and the one he'd researched the hardest.
Three hundred sixty-five days a year—just to learn it, he'd forced himself to train under the threat of the Curse Mark and ended up in the hospital more than a hundred times.
He did it for one reason:
Because Shadow Clone Jutsu was vital—now and in the future.
"The Three Basic Techniques and Shadow Clone Jutsu are already at a workable level… but I can't reveal them too early."
"Before I'm forced to graduate, I need at least chūnin-level strength."
"And if the chakra test paper I bought wasn't fake—if my chakra nature test was correct—then like the Third Hokage, I have five elemental affinities."
"In that case, mastering every technique in the Codex in a short time is unrealistic. I need priorities."
He exhaled slowly, mapping out a build meant to survive.
"Eight Gates as the foundation.
Water and Earth Style for defense.
Wind and Fire Style for offense."
"Train them together like that—and my combat power will rise the fastest."
Renka understood how cruel the shinobi world really was.
If he wanted to stay alive—
He had to become stronger, no matter what it took.