Chapter 112: Ren’s Trash Talk Speedruns Yugao’s Sanity

Chapter 112 - Ren’s Trash Talk Speedruns Yugao’s Sanity {Almost forgot to upload the Chapter since I'm Marathoning the conjuring series} ~~~ Back in Konoha, Hiruzen had already landed. With a slight adjustment of his robes, he calmly smoothed out the creases, using a gentle gust of wind to dust them off. Around him, several shinobi still stood in place, eyes wide, admiration practically written on their faces. To many of them, especially the civilian shinobi, this man was still the God of Shinobi. Hiruzen noticed their awe and gave a mild wave of dismissal. "Alright, alright. Off you go. I'm sure you've got plenty of work to get back to." The shinobi straightened up, gave respectful bows, and quickly dispersed. Once the crowd had fully cleared, only Jiraiya and Utakata remained at his side. The three began walking toward the village, the air more casual now. Jiraiya, never one to let silence linger, asked bluntly, "What was that, old man? You showing off to the Iwa delegation? Don't tell me you spotted some old lady among them." He grinned. "Even that old fossil Onoki's wife passed away years ago, so who exactly were you trying to impress?" Hiruzen's expression instantly darkened. Just as he was about to lash out with a retort, Utakata cut in smoothly. "Sensei, please. Let's not start another problem," he said calmly. "When the third and the Tsuchikage nearly went at it, for a moment, I genuinely thought Ren's prediction was going to come true." That caught Jiraiya's attention. "Hmm? What prediction?" Utakata paused for a beat before answering. "He said he wanted to see a match between the Third Hokage and the Third Tsuchikage. Because," he looked up at the sky, "according to him, right now, the two of you are at your relative peaks. He wanted to observe your strength, since he thinks he won't get the chance once he himself reaches that level." Jiraiya blinked. Then he laughed. "Wahaha! So the brat wanted to watch the old men fight?" He slapped his thigh. "What kind of weird taste is that? He should be more focused on girls, not seniors throwing punches!" Hiruzen's expression darkened further. He turned his head slightly. "Jiraiya," he said in a warning tone, "have you forgotten that you are also an old man now?" He stopped walking and faced him fully. "Maybe you should start acting your age. Or better yet, why don't you try learning a thing or two from your student?" Jiraiya sulked, visibly shrinking under the scolding. He mumbled, "Tch, even though I'm your student, you treat me like I'm a headache. And this guy..." he jabbed a finger toward Utakata, "he's the one you treat like your student these days." Utakata didn't respond, already expecting what was coming next. With a small huff, Jiraiya added one last parting blow. "Well, just so you know, this guy here" he jabbed again at Utakata, "got himself a fiancee." Then, before anyone could react, Jiraiya flickered away in a burst of chakra. Hiruzen blinked. He paused mid-step and muttered, "Huh?" Turning his head slightly, he looked back at Utakata, who now wore a resigned expression. Sighing deeply, Utakata muttered, "Looks like I'll have to explain this all over again..." as the two resumed their walk. ~~~ After the Iwa delegation left, the other foreign shinobi didn't take long to follow. None of them wanted to stay longer than necessary in a village like Konoha, one powerful enough to snuff out retaliation from their smaller villages if anything happened to them. Still, even with the shinobi gone, the village remained bustling. Civilians from all around the Land of Fire were still lingering, scattered through the streets, cafes, and parks, all enthusiastically discussing the events of the recently concluded Chunin Exams. While all this buzz continued outside, the winner of the Chunin Exams was doing something far more important. Sleeping soundly in his home. Ren didn't stir for the rest of that day. He only woke up the next morning, eyes opening slowly before they went wide in realization. "Holy shit, my Yang Release is at 84% now!" he exclaimed, sitting up straight. He rubbed his eyes, the memories from the night before returning in a wave. He'd been too tired to really process anything when he spun the wheel and got his reward, but now, fully rested, he could actually appreciate what it meant. 'Damn... I wanted to raise my Yang Release for so long, and when I finally did, I wasn't even fully awake to feel the joy. But now...' He stood up and stretched before plopping down on the floor again, pulling his Fuinjutsu materials from his storage and laying them out. A small grin formed on his face. 'With this high Yang mastery, I can improve my physical body passively, similar to how Minato used Kurama's chakra to support Naruto. I can increase my regeneration and, more importantly' He opened a blank scroll and took a deep breath. 'Fuinjutsu. How could I forget that?' He began drawing the most complex seal he knew to date, the Spatial Anchor Seal. First came the chakra signature lock layer, the innermost section. He moved his brush with precision and speed, lines forming like muscle memory. Then, he started on the second layer: the spatial binding array. Halfway through it, he began to feel the strain. The lines started losing precision. Just as he neared the end, the brush slipped, dragging too far across one arc. The seal was ruined. Ren exhaled, slumping back onto the floor and breathing hard, but with a wide smile on his face. A notification blinked in front of him: [Fuinjutsu Mastery +1%] He chuckled to himself. 'I was right. Yang Release really is helping my Fuinjutsu growth.' He cleaned up the spoiled materials, disposed of them, then headed to his basement. There, he created his usual batch of clones. Some focused on elemental releases, but the majority were now practicing advanced Fuinjutsu. Ren himself left to begin his daily run. With many civilians gone, the village was much quieter, and the roads near the walls were clear enough for him to sprint freely. But it didn't take long before he noticed something else. People had started to recognize him. As he ran past the occasional shop or stall, he'd hear whispers: "That's him... the one who beat Itachi." "Isn't that the winner of the Chunin Exams?" "He's so young..." Ren didn't let it bother him. He kept running, but he knew it wouldn't be long before the attention started getting annoying. 'So this is what popularity feels like.Feels nice now. Won't last forever though.' Not all the attention was admiration, though. A group of Uchiha stood in a corner, glaring at him. Their eyes narrowed, expressions grim, and more than a few of them were actively flaring their chakra as a subtle intimidation. Ren glanced at them briefly and thought, 'Oh, the chronic haters. Guess they're still salty that their "young master" got folded in public by a civilian.' He ran on, ignoring them, but then paused and looked back. A great thought came to him. 'Should I have some fun?' He focused his chakra and flared it up just slightly, but concentrated entirely on the group of Uchiha. Almost immediately, several of them stiffened. Even among the three or four jonin present, only one seemed able to withstand it. The others staggered or clenched their jaws. A few gasped for air as he passed. Ren casually withdrew his chakra pressure and continued his run without looking back. Behind him, the Uchiha were recovering when a cold voice echoed above them. "Trying to suppress the village's currently most celebrated shinobi, and failing? If this got out, what do you think would happen to the Uchiha's reputation?" The group turned upward and saw Fugaku Uchiha, their clan head, looking down with expressionless eyes. "You couldn't handle a boy nearly a decade younger than you. Shame on all of you," he said, voice laced with disappointment. "You'll receive one month suspension from duty and six months of pay docked." Without another word, he turned and disappeared. The group below stood in silence. But shame wasn't what they felt. Fury burned in their eyes. One of them turned to a jonin with shoulder-length dark hair and said, "Kurochi, are we just going to let that brat humiliate us twice?" The man, Kurochi, opened his eyes. A three-tomoe Sharingan spun lazily in his irises. He said coldly, "We bring this to Elder Setsuna. The clan head has forgotten who he's supposed to lead. He's acting more like a shinobi of the Leaf than the leader of the Uchiha." With that, he flickered away. The rest followed with eager, bitter expressions. Their pride was wounded. And they were looking for someone to blame. ~~~ A week passed in the blink of an eye, and Konoha gradually returned to its usual, tranquil rhythm. With nearly all visitors now gone, the village's atmosphere felt familiar again. Ren, however, had expected some excitement, perhaps a few hot-headed Uchiha trying to pay him a visit and "teach him a lesson." But no one came. Not even a dirty look or a casual bump on the shoulder. This left Ren feeling oddly disappointed. 'Guess not every novel trope plays out. Either that, or the ones who would've acted didn't have brothers or fathers around to report what happened.' Through the week, Ren kept up his usual training regimen. Of all his studies, Fuinjutsu had shown the most improvement, steadily rising from 44% to 49%. Just 1% shy of the intermediate level. Still, he wasn't planning to dump any mastery points into it. The boost from Yang Release had already made a huge difference, and he wanted to let his growth continue naturally for now. Currently, Ren was leaning casually against a tree in Training Ground 1, waiting for the others. Today was Team 1's final official training day and also the day they were supposed to receive their rewards from Utakata. Having completed his morning exercises earlier than usual, Ren was the first to arrive. He didn't wait long before spotting Yugao entering the field. What caught his attention more, however, was the boy walking beside her, a slightly older than her Chunin, clearly trying to strike up conversation. But Yugao didn't seem the least bit interested. Ren narrowed his eyes. 'Hayate Gekko? Weren't they supposed to meet when she joined the Anbu?' He crossed his arms, thinking. 'In the original story, they got close because of his skill with a sword, and that eventually turned into romance. But why are they talking now?' He remembered something. 'Ah, right. She told me he was one of the three who went to the Iron Capital with her. Still, Yugao's sword skills should outclass his by now. So why is he hanging around her? Learning from her? Or... is their romance already starting here, just in a different way?' As Ren pondered, he noticed Yugao abruptly lash out at Hayate. She said something sharply, then stormed off in Ren's direction, leaving a very dejected Hayate walking away in the opposite direction. Yugao reached Ren, and he smirked. "Lover's quarrel?" he asked, voice light with teasing. "Oh, shut up!" she snapped. "He just wouldn't stop talking about that move I used against Kurotsuchi. And, he is not my damn lover." Ren raised a hand in surrender. "Woah, chill. No need to bite my head off." He glanced at her again. "Still, that move was... something else. Pretty flashy. New trick from the Iron Capital?" A small smile crept onto Yugao's face. "It was the first move of my own style. Everything I've learned so far, kenjutsu, footwork, chakra control, every single thing. I poured it all into that one." Ren raised a brow. "Look at you, crafting original techniques like your dreamy Fang Yuan now." Yugao scowled. "Why do you hate Fang Yuan so much? If you don't like the book, don't read it." "I don't read that brainrot," Ren said flatly. "I know about Fang Yuan because you don't stop buzzing about him like Hitoshi's bugs. I swear, girl, get over it. He's just a fictional trash bag surrounded by women. And even if he were real, what makes you think he'd add you to the harem? Oh wait, my bad. I forgot he likes collects women. He collects them like kids collecting kunai." Yugao began trembling. 'Crap,' Ren thought. 'Might've pushed too far.' Before Yugao could unleash the wrath building behind her clenched teeth, a voice cut through the air. "What's going on?" Hitoshi asked, walking into the field. Ren, never one to miss a beat, waved lazily. "Nothing much. Yugao just had a quarrel with her lover, so she's in a mood." He watched out of the corner of his eye as Yugao stiffened, but to his surprise, she didn't explode. 'Huh. Looks like she's learning to control her temper. Progress.' Hitoshi tilted his head and turned to Yugao. "You have a lover?" Yugao's control shattered. "HE IS NOT MY LOVER! STOP SPREADING LIES, YOU GRINNING MORON!" The entire field went quiet for a second. Ren took a cautious step back. Hitoshi, on the other hand, blinked once and replied, completely deadpan, "Then if you don't have a lover... how about we go on a date?" "...Huh?" (Yugao) "...HUH?" (Ren) ~~~~~ {Well. That happened.} {Anyway if you wanna see Ren Speedrunning through the ANBU join my pat-reon} { h t t p s : / / w w w . p a t r e o n . c o m / / Z e e n o n } {You can just search for my name too, it's the one with tom's pic (from tom and Jerry)} {Since a new week is starting let's begin with the top 50s kay?} {You know what else to do.} {STONES!!!!}