Chapter 116: When Your Insect Friends Know More About Your Family Than You Do

Chapter 116 - When Your Insect Friends Know More About Your Family Than You Do When Ren left the Butterfly Summoning Land, he reappeared in the training ground, precisely at the spot where he had placed the reverse summoning seal. Utakata, who had been waiting nearby, let out a relieved sigh the moment he saw Ren return with every limb intact. Even though Katsuyu had reassured him that the summon would be protective of Ren, the worry hadn't left his mind until he saw his student safely back. Seeing Ren stabilize after arrival, Utakata stepped forward and asked, "How was it? Any dangers?" Ren shook his head. "No, it was very peaceful." Utakata nodded, then followed up with the obvious question. "So, what was the summon animal that placed the block on you?" Ren smiled slightly, bowed respectfully, and said, "Thank you, Sensei." With that, he dispersed into a swarm of butterflies. Utakata stood frozen for a moment, staring at the butterflies fluttering around the training field. It wasn't until one of them gently landed on his shoulder that he came back to his senses. Glancing sideways at the little butterfly perched upon him, a small, knowing smile spread across his face. He lowered his head slightly, covering half of his face with one hand as he thought, 'So you couldn't leave your son with nothing, is that it, Sayaka?' A few seconds passed in silence before he composed himself, the brief emotion fading behind his usual calm mask. Then, with a flicker, he disappeared. He reappeared in front of the Hokage's office. This time, he entered uncharacteristically without knocking. Hiruzen looked up, mildly surprised by the sudden intrusion. At first, he thought it might be Jiraiya being his usual self, but when he saw Utakata walk in, his brows knit together in confusion. "What's wrong, Utakata?" His eyes soon fell on the butterfly resting on Utakata's shoulder, and a faint, melancholic smile appeared on the old Hokage's face. "Are you here to remind me of another one of my failures?" Utakata's reply was simple. "Ren got his summon." At those words, Hiruzen instantly understood the situation, and the small smile on his face deepened, touched with quiet nostalgia. He exhaled a long breath before asking, "Does he know? About the circumstances of his birth, or his mother, or his maternal family?" Utakata paused for a moment, then shook his head. "No. If he did, he would've said something. I'll have to speak with Cho-san or someone from the summoning land to confirm how much they've revealed to him." Hiruzen gave another sigh. "The boy who should have had the status of a prince within the village, forced to believe he's just another civilian ninja. How ironic." His gaze drifted up to the portraits of his predecessors. "I wonder if he realizes where his talents even come from. That uncanny resistance to Genjutsu he showed in the match against the Uchiha heir. It reminded me of him." Utakata remained silent. He didn't speak about that particular matter, it was too heavy, and not his to explain. Instead, he asked, "Will all three of them be incorporated into the ANBU right away, or will it take some time?" Hiruzen looked back at him and replied, "It's better to move fast. That way, they'll have more time to adjust to their assigned squads." Utakata gave a silent nod and flickered away, leaving the Hokage alone with his thoughts. Alone once more in the quiet office, Hiruzen stared at the now-closed door, then turned to the tall window overlooking the village. He let out a soft sigh. 'Another name to add to the list of regrets.' He looked at the stone faces of the previous Hokage carved into the mountainside, his gaze lingering on the face of the Second. "I wonder if your actions would've been any different, sensei." Then he chuckled to himself, dry and faintly bitter. "Of course they would have. You were much stronger than me, not just in strength, but in resolve." He stood up slowly and walked over to the window, looking down at the peaceful village below. 'I'm sorry if I ruined the village you once cherished, Sensei. But I am weak. Very weak.' With that quiet confession, the Third Hokage stood alone, burdened by memories and failures. ~~~ Meanwhile, back at his house, Ren had returned to his basement. He dispelled all the clones he had left working on Fuinjutsu and elemental releases, then bit his thumb and performed the Summoning Jutsu. There was a soft puff of smoke, and Ko, with her vibrant pink wings fluttering gracefully, appeared before him. Ko tilted her wings slightly in greeting and asked in her usual soft tone, "What do you need me for, Ren-kun?" Seeing his summon arrive, Ren let out a soft sigh of relief that the summoning jutsu had worked. He sat down comfortably on the basement floor and looked at Ko. "Since we were in a hurry before, I wasn't able to get a good understanding of your abilities. Could you explain them to me in detail?" Ko fluttered gently in the air, then moved in a way that resembled a nod. "Of course," she said in her gentle tone. She began explaining, "First comes wind ninjutsu. All butterflies from our summoning land are inherently gifted in Wind Release. We can use wind-style jutsu naturally, without any prior training, and as we age, our mastery grows stronger. Like you saw earlier, with a single flap of my wings, I was able to counter your jutsu with ease." She added, "But that doesn't mean my wind release is stronger than yours. It simply means my understanding and application are more refined. Don't worry, over time, we can work on enhancing your own control and finesse." Ren nodded thoughtfully. Though he had a high-level mastery of Wind Release already, if the butterflies could offer deeper understanding or new techniques, he had no reason to refuse. Ko continued, "Next is Genjutsu. Using the pollen we naturally gather, we release it to induce area-based Genjutsu. It's subtle, but by the time someone realizes they're trapped, we can either fly away or eliminate them." Ren's expression didn't change, but inwardly he was pleased. 'If Ko is the second strongest after Cho, then her Genjutsu is at least A-rank or comparable to a three-tomoe Sharingan. That's extremely useful, especially against large groups of enemies or cannon fodder.' Ko moved on, "Finally, our information-gathering capabilities. Because we're a higher form of butterfly, we can communicate with ordinary butterflies. This gives us the potential to create a global surveillance network. When we were Sayaka's summon, we had links with almost 60% of the butterfly population worldwide. But now, after a decade, those connections have faded. Re-establishing them fully will take about seven to eight years." Ren's eyes narrowed in thought. 'By the time canon begins, I could have access to global intelligence gathering. That's freaking incredible.' He nodded. "Alright, start rebuilding those links. But prioritize finding my father. Stay close to him. I don't need daily reports, but if he's ever in danger, I want to know immediately." Ko fluttered once more and replied, somewhat disdainfully, "Ah, you mean Juichi." Ren raised a brow. "You don't like my dad?" Ko let out a soft sound that almost seemed like a scoff. "Not him, per se. But his toad summon. We have... history. Toads are one of our natural enemies. Back when Sayaka was our summoner, we had many unpleasant encounters with Juichi's toad. So, a lot of us harbor some resentment. But rest assured, we've spent enough time around him to locate him easily." Ren took note of that. 'So I shouldn't send butterflies near toad and maybe snake summons too.' He asked another question. "Hey Ko, since you were around my mother, you should know her well, right? What was she like?" He asked this question because he wanted to know more about himself, since he was quite different from Juichi so maybe he got a lot of qualities from Sayaka. Ko was quiet for a while before answering. "In terms of appearance, you're nearly identical to Sayaka, except she had longer hair. As for her temperament... she was loud. Very loud. Brash. Not very ladylike. A bit of an idiot, honestly, never got things on the first try." Ko paused, her wings folding a little as if smiling. "It was difficult at first, getting along with her. But as she matured, she began to understand more, even if she never really became quiet." She looked at Ren. "From what little I've seen, you're very different from both Juichi and Sayaka." Ko let out a gentle laugh. "But that's not a bad thing. Honestly, we much prefer quiet ones over loudmouths." Ren tilted his head slightly. 'That means I don't have personality like either of my parents, or maybe it was and it changed when I got the old life memories.' 'But still' he thought, 'Why does it feel like everyone around me keeps dissing my parents, were they really that chaotic? Ko suddenly looked around, her tone becoming more formal. "May I go out now and observe the changes that occurred during the decade we've been dormant?" Ren nodded. "Yeah, sure. But just so you know, a few years ago the Nine-Tailed Fox attacked Konoha. Many people lost their lives." Ko stilled in mid-air. Her voice dropped to a hush. "Then, Kushina Uzumaki?" Ren didn't say anything, he just nodded. Ko released a soft sigh. "I understand." She prepared to fly off, but Ren stopped her. "If you go out like this, you'll draw a lot of attention. You're a bit, large." Ko nodded in understanding. "Though not as freely as Cho-sama, I can alter my size a little." As she said this, her form shimmered, and she began to shrink until she was only slightly larger than a normal butterfly. Then she flew out, silent and unnoticeable. With Ko gone and the basement once again quiet, Ren turned his attention to the system interface. He had one thing left to do, check the rewards for his promotion to Chunin. [SYSTEM REWARD - CHUNIN PROMOTION] [Congratulations, User, on being promoted to the rank of Chunin in Konoha.] [Rewards Granted:] 3 Jonin Level Points 1 Intermediate Mastery Point As he looked at the system rewards, Ren sighed. 'As expected, the rewards are a bit trash.' He wasn't disappointed though, he hadn't really expected much. 'I took the Chunin Exams while being at mid-Jonin level. That's two whole ranks above Chunin, so of course the rewards wouldn't be anything special. I should achieve the Jonin rank soon so that I could get good rewards.' He decided to leave the stat and mastery points unspent for now. Instead, he turned his attention to the two scrolls he had received from Utakata yesterday. He hadn't had the mental space to go through them properly at the time, but now he was determined to learn both techniques before he was called to report to the ANBU. He unrolled the first scroll, an S-rank Earth Release jutsu. Earth Release: Diamond Bedrock Formation. According to the scroll's description, this jutsu formed a protective shell or offensive construct made of diamond-hard, chakra-infused rock. It was nearly unbreakable by ordinary ninjutsu or Taijutsu. However, it came with a cost that it was extremely chakra-intensive. While the defense could be amplified by adding more chakra, the base chakra requirement itself was already very high. Most shinobi avoided using it frequently due to its demanding nature. Ren raised an eyebrow slightly. 'This jutsu could solve most of my defensive problem.' It wasn't perfect, but in a world where powerful attacks could come out of nowhere, having something that could shield him while he came up with a plan was more than valuable. He put the scroll aside and opened the second one. Wind Release: Hellstorm of the Wind Wave. This jutsu summoned a fast-moving tornado front across the battlefield, which then erupted into dozens of slicing vortexes. Each vortex moved independently, targeting a wide range of enemies with high precision and destructive power. It wasn't the most effective for one-on-one fights, but it was designed for large-scale engagements, battlefield control, siege warfare, suppressive fire. Ren exhaled softly. 'First the butterflies' Genjutsu, now this large-scale jutsu. It's like the world is preparing me to fight an army.' Still, he shrugged. 'Rewards are rewards.' Without wasting more time, he began to study the wind jutsu, determined to commit it to memory before his new responsibilities began. ~~~ Meanwhile, outside the quiet basement, Ko was soaring through the skies of Konoha, observing how the village had changed over the last decade. Her light, nearly translucent wings shimmered in the sun as she moved above buildings and people. Suddenly, she sensed a familiar presence and adjusted her course. Within a few seconds, she reached a man walking along one of the quieter training paths near the edge of the village. Without hesitation, she descended and perched lightly on his shoulder. "It has been a while, Utakata-san," she said gently. Utakata glanced at the butterfly on his shoulder and smiled softly. "Indeed it has, Ko. It's good that you came to me, I wanted to ask a few things." Ko fluttered her wings once, then spoke. "Rest assured. Cho-sama has not informed Ren-kun of anything. Sayaka was quite firm in that regard. She didn't want Ren-kun to be burdened by his ancestors' name." Utakata's expression softened further as he heard this, and he let out a quiet sigh. "Yes, she was firm indeed," he murmured. "She left the same instructions with five different people. You can imagine how much she didn't want this truth to reach him." Ko's wings fluttered again as she gave a quiet, nostalgic laugh. "Mito-sama wouldn't have approved. She'd probably say something like, 'Someone of his lineage should be living like a royal. Why is he staying in that dump?'" Utakata chuckled at that and nodded. "Juichi's home is definitely a dump." His tone became more contemplative. "Someone of Ren's lineage definitely shouldn't be living there. The grandson of the Second Hokage. Grandnephew of the First. Cousin to the Princess of Konoha. In every respect, he should have been named Ren Senju, the rightful prince of the Hidden Leaf." Utakata sighed deeply, shaking his head. "But due to Sayaka's insistence he took Juichi's surname. Becoming just another civilian-named shinobi. And with that decision, the Senju lineage also ended." Both of them fell silent as the wind rustled through the trees gently, as if mourning something unspoken. ~~~~~ {Pheeeew, we finally know Ren's real lineage, now you would understand the rewards he got earlier right?} {Honestly, you all thought Sayaka was a cheater right, tsk tsk tsk, what rotten brains you guys have.} {Anyway, many of you might have guessed Ren's lineage beforehand but now it's confirmed, but still, be quiet. Ren doesn't know yet.} {Consecutive double release double powerstones right? So do it, what are you waiting for.} {Also, with this Chapter the Genin arc officially ends, please comment about what you thought about this arc. Though it got stretched over 70 Chapters I don't think it became boring right? Anyway please comment what you thought of the arc.} {You can support me on my pat-reon if you wish.} { 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 know what else to do} {STONES!!!!}