The aftershocks of the Chūnin Exams were still rippling through the village.
The reappearance of the Flying Thunder God was impossible to ignore—excitement, speculation, and heated discussion spread everywhere.
That said, it had little to do with Ren.
After all, he'd gone straight from the orphanage into Root, and now he was lying low in ANBU. For ordinary Konoha ninja, even learning basic information about him was difficult.
Besides, he wasn't exactly like Kakashi.
"With recognition that high, why'd you even join ANBU…"
Honestly, the ANBU mask system was ridiculous.
If everyone had short hair in the same color, sure—put on a mask and it'd be hard to tell who was who.
But this world's hair colors were downright lawless.
Take Kakashi's snow-white mop, for example.
Or Yugao's distinctly violet hair—recognizable at a glance.
"No wonder Kakashi gets identified wherever he goes."
Ren didn't have that problem. At least, not yet.
And recently, most of his assignments had been inside the village anyway. When he had free time, he even liked sneaking into crowds just to listen to people brag about him.
Still, one thing had been giving him a headache lately—
Naruto.
"All right, you're full. Why aren't you going home?"
Inside Ichiraku Ramen, Ren raised his voice at the blond kid sitting beside him.
"Almost done, almost done—"
Naruto slurped his noodles and replied indistinctly, then drained the last of the broth in one go and patted his belly.
"Finally full! So then—"
He hopped off the stool, clenched his fist excitedly, and declared,
"Big brother, let's go train!"
"…You're insane."
Ren rolled his eyes, paid the bill to the ever-smiling squint-eyed owner, then turned back to Naruto.
"Don't you have school tomorrow? Get your ass home!"
"Oh…"
Naruto instantly wilted. He still wanted to learn more, to show off at school one day.
But he didn't dare argue.
After all, Ren was one of the very few people who didn't despise him—and actually treated him well.
"And another thing," Ren added, stroking his chin before suddenly grinning,
"Don't go picking mushrooms in the mountains on your own. And if you do pick them and want to eat them—don't drag me into it. Go find the Hokage."
"I think the Hokage would be very happy to share a meal with you."
Ever since Ren started interacting with Naruto, no one interfered anymore—aside from requiring him to write reports explaining certain things.
Which was fine.
Ren didn't mind reports at all.
They counted as missions.
Today, though, had been especially ridiculous.
Ren's team happened to have a patrol mission. Shisui's attitude toward Ren didn't seem to have changed at all after the Chūnin Exams—either he was hiding it well, or Itachi truly hadn't said anything.
After finishing the mission, Ren planned to walk Yugao home, but she decided to go study at the Medical Department instead. So Ren headed off alone.
That was when he ran into Naruto—coming back from the back mountain with a basket full of mushrooms.
Watching Naruto's excited face as he tried to invite Ren over for mushroom soup…
Then looking at that basket filled with bright red, vividly colorful, suspiciously beautiful mushrooms—
For a split second, Ren genuinely wondered if Naruto was trying to assassinate him.
Then he reconsidered.
This kid really was built like a cockroach. He hadn't died yet.
"Huh? Big brother doesn't like mushrooms?"
Naruto blinked, sounding a little dejected.
Ren smiled and shook his head.
"No. Kid, you need to understand what 'respecting the elderly and caring for the young' means.
Good stuff like this should obviously go to elders first."
"The Hokage's the elder you respect most, right?"
Naruto thought about it seriously, then nodded firmly.
"I get it! Next time I'll bring them to Hokage Grandpa!"
"Good. Now go."
Ren nodded in satisfaction and gave Naruto a push.
"Remember to make more friends at school. Kids won't hate you as much.
And if possible—make some rich friends. You owe me a lot of ramen."
"—!"
Naruto stumbled forward, nearly falling. Ren's shove might've been a bit too strong.
Ren didn't care. He turned and headed home.
As he walked, his thoughts drifted back to Naruto.
"That kid's school performance… is seriously worrying."
Naruto wasn't especially disruptive yet—mainly because he wasn't familiar with anyone. Years of overt and subtle abuse had taught him restraint.
But once he figured out that pranks got attention?
That little monster would dare to splash paint on the Hokage Monument.
"The more he wants acknowledgment, the more he forces his presence.
And the more he forces it, the more people hate him. A perfect vicious cycle."
Ren shook his head.
Honestly, he felt a little regretful.
After all—
There was no statue of Danzō on the Hokage Monument.
And there never would be.
As he walked, Ren opened his status panel.
[Shihara Ren]
[Overall Physical Attributes: LV7]
[Chakra: LV7]
[Abilities: Flying Thunder God LV6, Wind Release LV6, Earth Release LV6, Water Release LV5, Cursed Seal LV4, Yin Release LV3, Yang Release LV2]
[Free Points: 3]
Even though he'd been stuck with village missions lately, Ren hadn't relaxed his self-improvement.
The only regret was the lack of large-scale missions. With Konoha relatively stable, his opportunities—and Free Points—were limited.
Still, he'd managed to push his Cursed Seal to LV4.
"Shame. LV5 is the true jōnin threshold. Guess I still haven't grinded enough."
He complained internally—but in truth, this upgrade had been extremely valuable.
The cursed seal was a comprehensive enhancement. Though LV3 and LV4 were technically in the same tier, both power and endurance had clearly improved.
Especially endurance.
That was what Ren valued most.
"All right… Yang Release it is."
With that decision, his Yang Release rose to LV3, and his Free Points dropped to 1.
The moment it happened, Ren felt his body subtly change. A hidden strength embedded within Yang Release began to gather and circulate.
He could tell—
The instant he drew on it, his physical strength would surge again, delivering far better combat feedback.
"Free Points are still too scarce. I wanted to try being Senju Hashirama…"
Ren sighed inwardly.
"…but now I've turned into Senju Tobirama instead."
Flying Thunder God.
Water Release.
Excellent physical stats and reaction speed.
This was basically Tobirama, wasn't it?
The only thing he lacked was a ridiculous number of forbidden techniques. He wasn't quite at the level of 'raise a hand and it's either Water Release or a kinjutsu'.
But hey—budget Tobirama was still acceptable.
"Still… I need to push harder."
"This is nowhere near enough yet."
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