It was nearly noon when Ren finished another medical-ninjutsu lesson at Konoha Hospital.
He left the classroom alongside Rin, Obito, and Momogi, an older student who had already become a formal shinobi. Their conversation stopped the instant they entered the main corridor.
Several medical-nin rushed past them.
The wheels of two stretchers rattled across the floor, carrying shinobi wrapped in bloodstained bandages. One man had his entire right arm immobilized, while another pressed a hand against the dressing around his abdomen, his face twisted with pain.
The smell of antiseptic was almost strong enough to sting Ren's eyes.
More stretchers followed.
Doctors called out blood types and treatment priorities. Nurses hurried between rooms carrying trays of instruments, while assistants pushed supply carts toward the emergency ward.
Rin tightened her grip on the strap of her medical bag.
"There have been more wounded arriving every day," she said quietly. "And their injuries keep getting worse."
Momogi watched the stretchers disappear around a corner.
"I heard the clashes near the Land of Lightning have intensified," he replied. "The border patrols are encountering shinobi more frequently, and neither side is willing to withdraw."
His voice dropped.
"There have also been attacks near the Land of Wind. Some smaller outposts have been raided by unidentified groups. No one has claimed responsibility, but everyone knows what it means."
The hidden villages were testing one another.
None wanted to declare war first, yet each was searching for weaknesses, probing borders, gathering intelligence, and measuring how quickly the others responded.
Momogi's expression was troubled.
"If this continues, the hospital will become even busier."
Unlike Ren and Rin, Momogi was already a registered medical-nin. He still attended advanced training sessions, but he also worked alongside the hospital's permanent staff.
Recently, his responsibilities had increased sharply.
The growing number of casualties and shortage of trained personnel meant he was sometimes pulled from class before the lesson even began. On several occasions, he had spent the entire night assisting in the emergency ward.
Obito frowned at the atmosphere surrounding them.
Then he puffed out his chest and raised one fist.
"It's only a war," he declared. "There's nothing to be afraid of!"
Several passing nurses glanced at him.
Obito either failed to notice or chose to ignore them.
"Once I awaken my Sharingan, I'll drive every enemy away from Konoha," he continued. "I'll show them the true power of the Uchiha clan!"
He turned toward Rin, his expression becoming even more determined.
"Don't worry, Rin. No matter what happens, I'll protect you!"
Rin opened her mouth.
For a moment, she looked as though she wanted to remind him that he was still an academy student who frequently tripped over his own feet.
In the end, she merely smiled.
"Thank you, Obito."
His promise was naive, but the concern behind it was sincere. There was no need to humiliate him for trying to reassure her.
Ren stood beside them and resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
At the rate Obito was progressing, the war might already be well underway by the time his Sharingan awakened.
Besides, the Sharingan rarely emerged during a peaceful training session. It was usually awakened by intense emotional stress—fear, desperation, loss, or a powerful need to protect someone.
Obito spoke about awakening it as though he only needed to train hard enough.
He had no idea what the eyes might demand from him.
Ren did.
That knowledge made Obito's promise to protect Rin far less reassuring than it sounded.
Still, Obito's primary concern was simple. He needed to survive long enough to awaken his bloodline and learn how to use it.
Ren's situation was more complicated.
In the shinobi world, personal strength was only one form of protection.
Bloodline, clan influence, political connections, reliable teammates, and the backing of a powerful mentor could be just as important. A gifted orphan without support might attract exploitation long before receiving an opportunity to mature.
Ren possessed no famous bloodline and belonged to no major clan.
The system compensated for part of that disadvantage. Given enough time, it could help him master techniques, strengthen his body, and surpass the limitations of an ordinary shinobi.
The problem was time.
The growing casualties inside the hospital proved that the world would not wait patiently while Ren developed. War was approaching, and once academy students began graduating into active service, safety would become a temporary luxury.
Until Ren became strong enough to protect himself from Kage-level threats, he needed someone powerful enough to discourage others from targeting him.
In simpler terms, he needed a backer.
During this period, the strongest potential mentors in Konoha were undoubtedly the Sannin.
Tsunade would have been the ideal choice.
Her strength, status, medical knowledge, and connection to the Senju clan gave her enormous influence. She could guide Ren's Healing Technique, improve his physical conditioning, and protect him from most political threats inside the village.
Part of the reason Ren had agreed to attend medical training with Rin was the hope that he might encounter Tsunade or at least establish a connection to her through the hospital.
Unfortunately, that plan had produced nothing.
Tsunade rarely appeared in the village, and Ren had not caught even a glimpse of her since beginning the training program.
Jiraiya would also make a powerful mentor.
Despite his eccentric personality, he possessed extensive combat experience, a broad ninjutsu arsenal, and a genuine willingness to protect the people he accepted as his own.
The difficulty was finding him.
Jiraiya spent much of his time traveling beyond Konoha, gathering intelligence and pursuing whatever investigation—or distraction—had captured his attention.
Orochimaru was the final option.
Ren would never describe him as safe, but Orochimaru invested heavily in people who interested him. Anko, Kabuto, and Sasuke had all received valuable instruction from him, though the price of that attention was often terrifying.
Orochimaru's gifts tended to arrive with hidden conditions, dangerous experiments, or seals that could ruin a person's life.
Accepting him as a mentor would be like asking a venomous snake for shelter from the rain.
The snake might agree.
It might also decide to study how long Ren could survive after being bitten.
More importantly, Orochimaru was just as difficult to approach as Jiraiya. He spent most of his time on missions, conducting research, or disappearing into laboratories inaccessible to academy students.
That left Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The Third Hokage was not merely powerful. He controlled mission assignments, academy placements, jōnin instructors, and access to Konoha's ninjutsu archives.
If Ren performed exceptionally during the graduation examination, Hiruzen might take a personal interest in his development. Even if the Hokage did not train him directly, he could assign Ren to a strong and reliable jōnin.
Ren had been preparing for that possibility.
His high written scores, practical results, improved Three Basic Jutsu, and academy essays on the Will of Fire were all pieces of the same strategy.
He needed to appear talented, loyal, and useful.
Not dangerously ambitious.
Not politically troublesome.
And certainly not connected to anything outside the village.
If he managed that balance, Hiruzen might see him as a promising civilian-born shinobi worth nurturing.
The strategy carried risks.
Exceptional talent attracted attention from more than the Hokage.
Danzo Shimura also searched for gifted children who could be shaped into weapons for Root. A civilian-born student without a powerful clan's protection would be an especially convenient target.
Kakashi's experiences had already shown Ren that talent alone did not guarantee freedom.
If Ren impressed Hiruzen too little, he would receive no protection.
If he impressed him too much, people in the shadows might begin asking questions.
He needed contingency plans for both possibilities.
Obito's voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Ren, are you even listening?"
Ren blinked.
The corridor had cleared, and the group was already approaching the hospital exit.
"No," he admitted. "Were you saying something important?"
Obito looked offended.
"I was explaining how I'll defeat the entire Hidden Cloud army after awakening my Sharingan!"
"Then I didn't miss anything important."
Rin covered her mouth, hiding a laugh.
Obito's protest followed them out of the hospital.
---
"I'm full."
Later that afternoon, Ren placed his chopsticks beside an empty ramen bowl.
Steam rose from the dishes in front of Rin and Obito. Obito had finished almost as quickly as Ren, while Rin ate at a more reasonable pace.
Teuchi collected the bowls with a smile.
"You three look exhausted. Medical training again?"
Rin nodded.
"The hospital has become very busy."
Teuchi's expression briefly turned serious, but he did not ask for details. In a shinobi village, people learned not to question children who came from the hospital with tired faces.
After paying for their meals, the three separated.
Rin headed toward Konoha's library to research medical chakra control. Obito returned to the Uchiha compound, declaring that he would train until his Sharingan awakened.
Ren traveled west toward his usual training ground.
His daily system routine had changed considerably.
Transformation Technique had already reached maximum favorability. Ren no longer needed to devote hours to increasing their bond, so he limited its daily session to a greeting and approximately ten minutes of maintenance practice.
That gave him more time for the techniques still developing.
His highest priorities were Clone Technique, Substitution Jutsu, and Healing Technique.
Clone Technique was approaching another stage and had already demonstrated impressive tactical value. Substitution Jutsu remained his most reliable survival ability, while Healing Technique had become essential now that he was training in the Eight Gates.
Wild Water Wave came next.
Asuma was the most likely student to challenge Ren for first place during the graduation examination. His known chakra affinities were Fire and Wind, and Fire Release was the more likely element for him to use at their current level.
Water Release would give Ren a direct elemental advantage.
That was the tactical reason.
The practical reason was even simpler.
Wild Water Wave needed only sixteen more favorability points to reach its next stage, while Great Fireball Jutsu required twenty-one.
Both were C-rank techniques with broadly similar learning difficulty. If Wild Water Wave could advance sooner, focusing on it provided a better return for Ren's limited training time.
Every advantage mattered before the graduation examination.
Then there was the Eight Gates.
Ren did not include her among his daily priorities.
He was still somewhat afraid of her.
Every encounter began with one hundred laps around Konoha. After a rest lasting no more than three to five minutes, the crimson-haired woman demanded a twenty-kilometer cross-country run.
Occasionally, she added push-ups, squats, or handstand exercises because she believed the previous routine was "too gentle."
Only someone like Guy could enjoy that kind of punishment.
Guy would train until his body failed, recover, and then celebrate the opportunity to begin again. Ren valued strength, but he also valued the continued function of his internal organs.
He had briefly considered transforming into Guy before beginning an Eight Gates training session.
Perfect Form could reproduce Guy's more suitable physique, increasing Ren's endurance and improving his performance during the exercises.
The idea had one major flaw.
Maintaining the Transformation Technique consumed chakra continuously. Performing extreme physical training while sustaining a complex full-body transformation would place an additional burden on his already exhausted body.
It would be like wearing invisible training weights while running a marathon.
The cost outweighed the benefit.
For now, Ren intended to avoid actively seeking out the Eight Gates. Once his Physique improved further, he could resume those encounters without feeling as though every session might end at Konoha Hospital.
The differences between his techniques had also taught him more about the system.
Transformation Technique had risen from one favorability point to one hundred in little more than a month. Great Fireball Jutsu had joined the Affinity List around the same period, yet its favorability remained only slightly above fifty.
Ren had not trained both techniques equally, but the gap was too large to be explained by time alone.
Different techniques possessed different growth difficulties.
Basic academy ninjutsu responded quickly. More advanced techniques demanded greater effort, longer sessions, and more meaningful interactions before their favorability increased.
The Eight Gates was the clearest example.
The system classified her as an exceptional-grade target. Sometimes, several rounds of dialogue and training produced only a single favorability point.
That slow progress was frustrating, but it made sense.
If maximum favorability with the Transformation Technique represented complete mastery of Perfect Form, then reaching maximum favorability with the Eight Gates might mean gaining the ability to open all eight.
Duy had spent twenty years developing the technique.
Guy would devote most of his life to perfecting it.
It would be absurd if Ren could achieve the same result in a few weeks merely by surviving several long-distance runs and selecting the correct dialogue options.
Fortunately, favorability did not decrease.
There was no punishment for progressing slowly. Ren could strengthen his body, improve his Healing Technique, and return to the Eight Gates when he was better prepared.
That was the sensible plan.
Ren reached the western training ground and placed his bag beneath a tree. He took a deep breath, formed the hand seals for Water Release, and began another practice session.
He still believed he had time to advance carefully.
Beyond Konoha's borders, however, armies were already beginning to move—and the gathering storm had no intention of waiting for his favorability bars to fill.