"Ren, don't move."
Kurenai pressed down on the squirming Ren, a warning glance making him settle down and lie obediently on the bed.
"Oh, right."
Minato Namikaze turned, his gaze falling on Rin by the bed.
"How is it, Rin? Is Ren alright?"
"Nothing serious. He just needs a day of rest. If it were an ordinary person, they might have to lie down for ten days to half a month, but Ren's physique is far beyond ordinary people. His wounds should be mostly healed by tomorrow."
"Is that so…"
Minato also breathed a sigh of relief. After all, Ren's injuries looked quite terrifying on the surface, with over a dozen burns and scalds bleeding, coupled with Ren's pale face from excessive Chakra consumption. Anyone who didn't know would have thought Ren was on his last legs.
"How is it, Big Brother Minato? What did Lord Jiraiya say?"
Ren huddled in the quilt, his head resting on Kurenai's lap, his gaze fixed on Minato Namikaze.
"He said this mission was completed according to S-rank standards. The merit points and bonus will be recorded in our personal information later."
Minato Namikaze said with a smile, his heart also feeling exceptionally content. After all, not only did they return safely, but they also had over a million in bonus money and a large sum of merit points as extra income—what a joy.
"S-rank? I didn't expect my first S-rank mission to be to sneak attack someone's main camp. It's quite memorable."
Hearing Ren's mumble, Kurenai immediately felt a surge of annoyance. She put her hands on Ren's face and rubbed hard until Ren almost burrowed his head into the quilt before she stopped.
The others, seeing Ren's miserable state, felt a slight blush and instinctively took a step back. Minato Namikaze, meanwhile, recalled some unpleasant memories.
"Why does Yuhi Shinku's daughter feel just like Kushina…?"
As Minato thought this, the image of Kushina, with her red hair dancing and killing intent soaring, suddenly appeared in his mind. He inexplicably shivered and quickly stopped himself from thinking further.
"Since Ren is alright, let's go. Let's not disturb Ren's rest."
As Minato Namikaze said this, a hint of weariness appeared on his face. A night of high-intensity combat and dozens of miles of desperate dashing had left even Minato feeling a bit tired. He just wanted to return to his bed and rest as soon as possible.
"Then we're off. Goodbye, Ren, Kurenai."
Rin stood up, picked up the medical kit nearby, and walked over to Minato Namikaze, smiling at the two.
"We're leaving too. Goodbye, hurry up and catch up, you idiot Kakashi."
"Goodbye, Ren, Kurenai. The dead last really has the nerve to say that."
Watching the two argue even while walking, Minato and Rin also felt a bit helpless. They went to the tent entrance and waved goodbye to the two.
"Bye-bye."
The tent grew quiet again, leaving only Kurenai to take care of Ren. Half an hour later, Kurenai also got up and left. Their team still had a mission to complete today, so Kurenai and Ren agreed that she would come back to pick Ren up for "discharge" tomorrow.
Left to his own boredom, Ren could only stare at the ceiling, counting a tongue twister of "one Shukaku," "two Matatabi," "three Isobu," "four Son Goku," "five Kokuo," "six Saiken," "seven Chomei," "eight Gyuki," and "nine Kurama," gradually drifting into sleep…
When Ren woke up again, it was already pitch black outside. Feeling refreshed, Ren struggled to sit up, noticing that his wounds didn't hurt as much after a good sleep; they should be mostly scabbed over with his fast recovery.
Ren leaned against the upright pillow. After looking around and seeing no one, he released his perception until he felt no one approaching the tent, then relaxed.
"As expected of a Jinchuriki, even without using Tailed Beast Transformation, he could severely injure me."
Ren thought about last night's battle, feeling a lingering fear. Although it seemed like the two fought to a standstill, with Ren even having a slight upper hand.
But he knew his own situation. That time was entirely because they were in the Iwagakure Camp, and Roshi had reservations. If it were truly 1v1, putting aside other things, just the Tailed Beast Ball would be enough to give Ren a hard time.
Wait, just wait a bit longer. Anyway, the Tailed Beast is right there, it can't run away. Jinchuriki, I, Ren, am destined to be one!
"Oh, right…"
Ren was still troubled about what other methods, besides Tailed Beasts, could rapidly increase his strength. Suddenly, his eyes lit up as he perceived a large amount of Chakra slowly fluctuating within his body, and joy instantly filled his face.
"After half a year of hard work, it's finally time for harvest!"
Ren immediately sat cross-legged on the bed, forming the "Tiger" hand seal. Several strange black patterns began to appear on his body, extending upwards and finally converging between Ren's eyebrows. Pure Chakra, accumulated over days, gathered at his glabella along these patterns. After all the Chakra surged in, a flicker of purple light pulsed between Ren's eyebrows. Then, the purple light slowly receded along the black patterns, leaving behind a blue diamond-shaped mark on Ren's glabella, which added a noble and elegant aura to the already handsome Ren.
"Hoo, it's finally successful!"
Ren opened his eyes, feeling the massive Chakra sealed within the mark on his forehead, his heart filled with joy.
The Yin Seal, an S-rank medical Sealing Jutsu developed by his teacher, Tsunade. Through daily accumulation, the seal could be released at critical moments to enhance attacks, provide instant healing, and increase speed.
Besides these, the Yin Seal had another feature that countless women coveted: preserving youth!
Those proficient in the Strength of a Hundred Seal could even use the low output and fine-tuning of Chakra within the Strength of a Hundred Seal to achieve eternal youth, improve physical fitness, and keep their bodily functions in peak condition.
Tsunade had taught Ren the Yin Seal and the accompanying Strength of a Hundred Technique a year ago. Even with Ren's extraordinary mental strength, it took him a full six months to barely grasp it. After that, Ren began continuously accumulating Chakra to prepare for condensing the Yin Seal. One hundred-plus days of arduous effort finally allowed Ren to gather enough Chakra.
"Hehe, this thing is really cool. My attractiveness instantly broke through the human limit, hehehe."
Ren picked up a mirror and examined himself from left to right for a long time before reluctantly putting it down.
Calm down, calm down. He was a man destined to become Hokage through strength. How could he conquer others with his looks? That wouldn't be fair to others.
"Anyway, I can't sleep, so I might as well go for a walk."
Having already slept during the day, Ren felt fully refreshed. He could only get out of bed, leave the tent, and start wandering around.
"Huh? How did I end up here?"
Ren looked blankly at the huge tent in front of him, which was Jiraiya's command tent.
"Ren? Come in."
"Excuse me, Lord Jiraiya."
After speaking, Ren lifted the curtain and walked in. As soon as he entered, he was stunned by the scene before him.
This… what was going on?!