{Hey guys! The updates will be a bit irregular this week, there's a minor issue in my personal life, normal update from the next week. Sorry about that.}
~~~
Back at Ichiraku Ramen, the shop was completely silent. The lanterns still glowed warmly, steam drifting lazily from the pots in the back, but the cheerful atmosphere from earlier had evaporated completely.
Ren stood just outside the shop now, Naruto slung over his shoulder like an oversized sack of rice.
The blond kid was completely unconscious, mouth slightly open, whisker marks scrunched up, arms dangling uselessly. If anyone didn't know better, they might've thought Ren had simply grown tired of him and decided to carry him home that way.
Surrounding Ren in a loose half-circle were ANBU.
Masks on, hands near weapons. Tension thick enough to cut.
One of them finally stepped forward, voice carefully neutral. "Ren-sama," he said, choosing the honorific deliberately, "please return Naruto Uzumaki to us and come with us to the Commander's office. This… incident needs to be reported."
The word incident felt painfully inadequate.
From their perspective, what had just happened bordered on insanity.
They had been assigned to protect Naruto Uzumaki, arguably the most politically sensitive individual in the village, the jinchuriki, the Nine-Tails container. The boy everyone watched, feared, whispered about.
And then Ren Senju, one of the most dangerous shinobi currently breathing had finished a bowl of ramen, reached out casually, and knocked the kid unconscious with surgical precision.
No hostility or malice.
Just… thud.
Clean and efficient, terrifying even.
The ANBU hadn't even reacted in time.
For a split second, some of them had genuinely wondered if history was repeating itself. Danzo was about to be executed for treason, and now another top-tier figure had assaulted the jinchuriki in public.
If Ren turned out to be another traitor the consequences were unthinkable.
Ren, for his part, looked completely unbothered.
He adjusted Naruto on his shoulder slightly so the kid wouldn't slip, then sighed when he noticed how rigid the ANBU had become.
"You guys are overthinking this," he said lazily. "He just fell asleep. Very… aggressively."
No one laughed.
Ren glanced at their body language, the way their chakra was wound tight, and realized this wasn't going to resolve itself with sarcasm alone.
"…Alright," he conceded. "Let's go to the Commander and clear this up."
Before anyone could respond, Ren vanished.
Naruto went with him.
The ANBU froze for a fraction of a second, then immediately flickered after him, pulse spiking as they scrambled not to lose track of one of the most dangerous men in the village carrying one of the most important.
~
ANBU Command Base
Yoru's Office
Ren reappeared inside the office without knocking, Naruto still over his shoulder.
Yoru was seated at his desk, paperwork spread out in neat stacks, brush moving with steady precision. He didn't even look up when Ren arrived.
"Boss-man," Ren said casually, shifting Naruto's weight again, "I knocked Naruto out until all the chaos is over. Cool?"
Yoru paused his writing for exactly half a second.
"Do as you wish," he replied flatly.
And then he resumed his work like Ren hadn't just confessed to assaulting the village's jinchuriki.
The silence that followed was deafening.
The ANBU filed in moments later, stopping just inside the doorway. Several of them exchanged quick, stunned glances.
That was it?
No interrogation? No concern? No raised voice?
Ren turned his head slightly, glanced back at them, and shrugged. "See? Cleared up."
Then, without another word he flickered away again, Naruto still draped over his shoulder.
The office felt strangely empty after he left.
One of the ANBU finally found his voice. "C-Commander…?" he ventured. "What… what should we do now?"
Yoru didn't look up. "Go to Dog," he said calmly. "He'll reassign your duties for tonight. Tomorrow, you'll return to your regular post."
The ANBU hesitated.
"…And Naruto Uzumaki?"
Yoru's pen paused briefly this time.
"He's safer with Ren tonight than anywhere else in this village," Yoru said. His tone brooked no argument. "Dismissed."
The ANBU bowed sharply and vanished one by one, leaving the office quiet once more.
Yoru finished the document he was working on, set the brush aside, and finally leaned back in his chair.
~
Ren reached the Senju estate without ceremony.
He moved through the halls in silence, Naruto still slung over his shoulder, and entered one of the inner rooms, one of the older ones, built back when paranoia was considered wisdom rather than excess. Thick walls, layered seals embedded directly into the wood and stone. A quiet hum of dormant chakra that never truly went away.
Ren gently lowered Naruto onto the bed.
The boy didn't stir. His breathing remained steady, deep, untroubled, the kind of sleep only exhaustion and absolute safety could bring. Ren adjusted the blanket over him, hesitated for half a second, then tugged it up properly so it didn't slip.
Only then did he straighten.
Once done, he made multiple hand signs, and the giant barrier over the Senju estate hummed once and went silent again.
This, this was why he'd knocked Naruto out.
Not cruelty or impatience.
But for safety.
There was no guarantee that Danzo wouldn't lash out tonight. No guarantee that Obito wouldn't decide to interfere. And if either of them made a move, Naruto would be the most obvious leverage in existence.
The Nine-Tails wasn't just power. It was a loaded weapon buried inside a child.
And both of those men were more than capable of pulling the trigger.
Ren leaned against the wall, arms folded, eyes half-lidded as his mind ran through possibilities he'd already simulated a dozen times. If Danzo escaped and grabbed Naruto, even for a second he could destabilize the seal. If Obito came, it would be worse. The Mangekyo Sharingan didn't care about walls, guards, or distance. One wrong opening and the village would be facing a disaster that no one was prepared to handle again.
If the Nine-Tails were released inside Konoha.
Ren exhaled slowly.
The village wouldn't survive it cleanly. Even if they won, the cost would be catastrophic.
The only person who could truly stand against the Nine-Tails right now was Hiruzen. And even he wouldn't be able to stop the destruction fast enough to spare the village. He could end it, but not without Konoha burning first.
Ren wasn't arrogant enough to pretend otherwise.
As he was now, he couldn't fight Kurama head-on. Not without unacceptable collateral.
He knew his limits.
Against tailed beasts up to five tails? He was confident. Not easily, but confidently. Anything above that, and the fight stopped being about victory and started becoming about containment. A draw and a stalemate. With a two of them, it was just about survival
And against the Nine-Tails specifically?
Without sealing preparations on the scale of Uzumaki legends, without a perfected Flying Thunder God.
He shook his head faintly.
Konoha had survived last time because the Fourth Hokage had been a monster in his own right.
Minato Namikaze hadn't fought Kurama so much as outmaneuvered him. Teleporting the Tailed Beast Bomb away. Redirecting destruction. Turning an unwinnable scenario into something survivable through sheer spatial mastery.
Ren had Flying Thunder God now.
But he wasn't Minato.
Not yet.
He could teleport himself freely, yes, but it came at a high chakra cost. Manageable in a fight, but still taxing. He could use it as many times as he wanted without a care for chakra due to how many chakra batteries he had made, but that was still teleporting just himself.
But teleporting objects?
That was another matter entirely.
Every attempt he'd made so far had failed.
Leaves, stones, kunai and even small animals like rabbits, all crushed, shredded, erased inside the spatial tunnel before they could fully transfer. The space rejected them violently, like his technique simply wasn't mature enough to handle external payloads.
If he tried to teleport a Tailed Beast Bomb right now.
He snorted quietly.
It wouldn't even be a contest. The technique would fail, before they could even enter the spatial tube and the village would be erased in a single breath of crimson light.
That was the difference.
That was the gap.
And that gap was why Naruto was here.
The Senju estate wasn't just a residence. It was a fortress built by people who expected betrayal as a daily occurrence. The barrier network here rivaled the Hokage Tower, and in some aspects surpassed it. Even Kamui would struggle to operate cleanly within overlapping spatial interference fields layered decades apart by paranoid geniuses.
If Danzo came here, he would die.
If Obito came here, he'd have to expose himself fully and Ren would be waiting.
Naruto was safe.
And as long as Naruto was safe, the worst-case scenarios were off the table.
Ren pushed off the wall and walked to the window, glancing out over the darkened grounds of the estate. The night air felt heavy and charged. Like the village itself was holding its breath.
"Sleep well," he murmured, glancing back at the boy. "You don't need to carry this."
This night wasn't Naruto's burden.
~
Sitting in the clan head's chair, Ren let himself sink into the familiar weight of it. He leaned back slightly, one arm resting on the armrest, the other tapping idly as he exhaled and summoned his status.
The translucent panel bloomed into existence before his eyes.
---
[NAME]: Ren Takahashi
[LEVEL]: 80
[ATTRIBUTES]
Strength: 80
Agility: 83
Intelligence: 88
Vitality: 89
Chakra: 88
[Available Stat Points]: NiL
[TALENTS]:
• Improved Chakra Control
• Enhanced Reflexes (Ex)
• Genjutsu Resistance (S+)
• Fuinjutsu (Ex Uzumaki)
• Space Release Talent (Ex)
[MASTERY PANEL]
Chakra Control: 94% (Master) (Chakra Stability)
Shadow Clone Mastery: 90% (Master) (Restoration)
Fuinjutsu Mastery: 89% (Advanced)
Yang Release Mastery: 89% (Advanced)
Yin Release Mastery: 57% (Intermediate)
Wind Style Mastery: 85% (Advanced)
Earth Style Mastery: 89% (Advanced)
Fire Release Mastery: 84% (Advanced)
Lightning Release Mastery: 75% (Advanced)
Water Release Mastery: 51% (Intermediate)
Space Release Mastery: 83% (Advanced)
Iryojutsu Mastery: 84% (Advanced)
Bukijutsu" 92% (Master) (Calibration)
[MASTERY POINTS]:
10 Intermediate
4 Advanced
2 Master
[NINJA PANEL]
Ninjutsu: 92/100
Taijutsu: 91/100
Genjutsu: 86/100
Fuinjutsu: 89/100
[SPECIAL STATS]
Charisma: 88
Perception: 94
---
Ren leaned his head back, staring at the ceiling for a long moment.
There weren't any surprising changes. No sudden spikes, no absurd leaps. But that was normal, as it hasn't even been 2 days since he last checked his status.
What stood out instead were the notifications stacked at the side of the panel, pending rewards, glowing faintly, waiting to be acknowledged.
Kakuzu.
C.
The Cloud–Stone alliance leading to leaf's rising influence.
Danzo trial success.
And then…
Ren's eyes lingered on the last one.
[Canon Shift Detected]
[Change of the First Trusted Individual of Naruto Uzumaki Changed]
[Previous: Iruka Umino]
[Current: Ren Takahashi]
He exhaled slowly.
"…Just one promise," he muttered under his breath. "And he trusts me that much."
For a brief second, something tight settled in his chest, not discomfort, or fear, but responsibility.
A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
"Don't worry," he said quietly, more to himself than the system. "I'll keep it. No matter what."
He shook his head once, clearing the thought away, and flicked his attention to the first major reward.
---
[CONGRATULATIONS HOST FOR CHANGING THE CANON: KILLING KAKUZU AHEAD OF TIME]
[REWARDS: 5 S-RANK POINTS, 5 ELEMENTAL MASTERY +3% EACH]
Ren's eyebrows lifted slightly.
"Nice."
Before he could enjoy it properly, the system responded instantly.
---
[NOTICE]
[HOST'S EARTH STYLE MASTERY IS AT THE UPPER LIMIT OF ADVANCED LEVEL]
[MODIFYING REWARD DISTRIBUTION]
[MODIFIED REWARDS:]
5 S-RANK POINTS
Water, Fire, Wind, Lightning Mastery +4%
Earth Mastery +1%
[CLAIM REWARDS?]
---
Ren stared at it for a second… then sighed.
"Figures."
Still, his eyes gleamed faintly.
"Earth Mastery is finally at ninety percent," he murmured. "That puts me right at the doorstep of the master level."
Master level.
That was a great change of mastery, and there would be an additional reward for it too, just like every mastery that reached master level before.
He imagined it instinctively, chakra sinking deeper, spreading wider, no longer something he forced into the ground but something the earth answered. Control without resistance.
He could already feel it waiting.
Wind was close too and Fire wasn't far behind.
"All right," he said, steadying himself. 'Claim.'
The moment he accepted, the familiar sensation washed through him, not pain, not overload, but clarity. His chakra adjusted seamlessly, like water finding a new channel.
Earth chakra responded first.
It was subtle but unmistakable.
The ground beneath the estate felt… closer.
Not louder or heavier but faintly present.
Ren closed his eyes briefly, and for a heartbeat it felt like he could shape the earth without moving, like the soil itself was listening, waiting for direction. Spikes, walls, waves of stone, it all felt effortless now, as though the difference between thought and execution had narrowed.
He opened his eyes, steadying his breathing.
"Later," he muttered. "I'll test it later."
There were still more rewards waiting, but before he could even think of opening them.
BOOM.
A distant explosion ripped through the night.
The windows rattled. Chakra flared somewhere far off, violent and unmistakable.
Ren turned his head toward the sound, eyes narrowing as he felt the ripple spread through the village's barrier network.
A slow grin spread across his face.
"…There it is."
He rose from the chair in one smooth motion, the status panel fading away as his focus snapped outward.
"Time to complete the most awarding mission ever : Fuck Danzo"
Then Ren vanished.
~~~~~
{People wanted stats and rewards update so here's a tease, the real ones would come later.}
{Also, you all remember the Fuck Danzo mission right, I mean who could forget that, yeah, well, I forgot it.
Only after reading a few comments did I remember that I had that mission reward in stock, and a Kakashi mission too, don't worry though, after this is all over, I'll be raining rewards on Ren, he deserves it after all.}
{Also, with this we'll be starting with the second part of the Shadow's war arc, so hold tight and get ready.}