"This wasn't a 'chance encounter' at all… it was deliberate, wasn't it?"
Back in his room, Ren stared at the scroll in his hand. When he recalled Naruto's face—and Yugao's reaction—he couldn't help shaking his head with a quiet, irritated laugh.
Running into that old man tonight had been weird.
Naruto showing up might've been accidental, sure.
But the Third Hokage?
Ren was convinced he'd come specifically to deliver something.
Naruto just happened to be there—so the old man used Ren as a convenient "extra" to put on a little feel-good performance for the kid.
Ren couldn't really criticize it. He didn't have the position to.
But it still felt ridiculous.
"Whatever. If I'm going to be an extra, fine."
Ren glanced down at the scroll again, then looked around his current place.
In the end, he nodded in satisfaction.
ANBU wasn't Root.
Root had no "employee benefits"—you ate and slept in the Root base, period.
ANBU, on the other hand, only required you to remain on standby during missions. Outside of that, you could go home—or you could choose to stay inside their quarters.
Ren's current apartment was ANBU-issued.
In other words: a benefit.
It was small, sure, but it beat sleeping on the floor in a Root dorm.
And ANBU pay clearly wasn't bad either—Yugao had treated them to dinner and bought Naruto a huge pile of supplies. If her salary were terrible, that would've hurt.
"Alright. Let's see what this Flying Thunder God is really like."
Ren unrolled the scroll at once.
He knew these kinds of scrolls usually had time limits—once opened, they would burn themselves after a set duration.
So he had to move fast.
Besides, Flying Thunder God had always fascinated him. A true space–time technique was rare even in the shinobi world.
In Ren's memory, most space–time abilities belonged to the Ōtsutsuki.
Among humans, only Obito's eyes truly reached the level of "space traversal."
Kumo's "Heavenly Transfer Technique" and Summoning could technically be counted, but neither had the same direct combat value.
Only Flying Thunder God truly combined space with battle at the highest level.
"So this is what Flying Thunder God actually is…"
An hour later, Ren watched the scroll burn in his hands as he stroked his chin, deep in thought.
It wasn't as structurally complicated as he'd expected.
The components weren't endless.
But it was difficult.
Because combining all those "simple" parts into something you could use fluidly in combat…
That wasn't something ordinary people could do.
"First: physical conditioning."
"Second: sealing techniques."
"Third… summoning."
Physical conditioning was obvious. After space traversal, maintaining balance was brutal—and the dizzying disorientation could break most people immediately.
Next: sealing.
The Flying Thunder God formula was, at its core, a modified form of sealing.
Basic usage involved pre-inscribing the formula onto kunai.
Advanced usage required you to deploy formulas on the fly.
And as for summoning…
That was one of the keys to how the technique actually "anchors" itself through space.
Beyond that, it demanded precise chakra control and an immense chakra pool.
The difficulty was outrageous—
but—
"…Except for summoning, I basically meet all the requirements."
Ren's eyes lit up.
His physical stats were excellent.
His chakra control was strong.
His chakra reserves were deep.
And most importantly—
to guard against Danzō, he'd deliberately raised his Sealing Techniques to LV5.
This technique suited him perfectly.
Summoning would be a headache, sure, but—
Ren's interface flashed.
[New Technique Detected — Theory is complete and coherent]
[Ability Triggered: Shinobi World Doctor]
[Activate?]
—
"A bunch of useless trash—train harder!"
Inside Root headquarters, Danzō glared viciously at the gathered Root operatives.
They were running grueling drills, sweating and suffering through every second.
Today's humiliation had hit Danzō hard.
Root had been surrounded by ANBU.
And worse—his carefully cultivated personnel had been beaten into disgrace by Ren.
The shame and frustration made Danzō unable to eat or sleep.
So he didn't even wait until the next day.
He started hammering Root with "discipline" immediately.
Watching them train properly finally soothed him a little, and he turned to enter his office.
Seeing their boss in that mood, Aburame Ryūma didn't dare say a single unnecessary word.
He simply performed his duty and handed over the day's report.
"Lord Danzō. Please review."
"…Mm."
Danzō accepted the scroll.
But instead of opening it like usual, he hesitated.
He had other things on his mind.
"Shihara Ren…"
There was no direct evidence, but the disturbance Ren caused this time was enormous.
And even in Ren's own report, he'd deliberately concealed key details—especially what he'd said to Chiyo.
On the surface, though, Ren had weakened Sunagakure and created conditions for Konoha to shape a compliant ally.
That alone demanded attention.
Danzō truly feared his old friend was trying to steal Ren away.
Today's events had felt, to Danzō, like Hiruzen was showing Ren a demonstration:
Hiruzen: "Kinoe goes with me. Danzō obeys me. So who do you think you should obey?"
"…Damn it. Why am I not Hokage?"
Danzō's blood surged.
Then, after a moment, he forced himself to calm down.
In hindsight, he felt a trace of fear.
He always mocked Hiruzen for being soft—
but today proved that a little softness might actually be safer.
Otherwise, ANBU wouldn't just have surrounded Root.
They would've crushed it.
"…Tch."
Danzō exhaled heavily, thinking of retaliation that wouldn't provoke Hiruzen further.
Even better, something that would make Hiruzen dislike Ren—
and stop trying to take him.
With no clean solution in sight, Danzō finally opened the report scroll, deciding to drown himself in work.
Because work was the one place he still controlled life and death.
"Hmm?"
A name caught his attention instantly.
"Uchiha Itachi?"
For Konoha's largest "anti-madman facility," that name had been on his watch list for a long time.
And Itachi had once embarrassed Root badly.
A Root elite had been defeated by an eight-year-old Itachi.
That wasn't just humiliating the operative.
That was the Uchiha slapping Danzō across the face.
"This brat… is taking the Chūnin Exams?"
Danzō knew Hiruzen thought highly of Itachi.
He'd heard the praise: "He thinks like a Hokage."
And Itachi was close with Shisui.
"That means… in the future…"
Danzō's mood darkened further.
Shisui alone was already a headache.
Was Konoha going to produce another?
Then a thought surfaced—
a plan, sharp and nasty.
"Wait. He's ten now—he'll be even stronger."
"But Ren's strength isn't weak either."
"If I let Ren… 'educate' him…"
A cruel smile almost formed.
A scheme was taking shape.
And in the dimensional space above—
the masked man watching everything gave a slow nod as well.
It seemed he, too, had an idea.
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