Chapter 133: Giving Existential Crisis to Itsuki

Chapter 133 - Giving Existential Crisis to Itsuki The next day, after finishing his morning training, Ren headed to find Three. He knocked on her door, and a few seconds later, she opened it, already dressed in her full gear. "Five, the commander informed me. Let's go to one of the training rooms," she said without delay. Ren followed her through the base to one of the three training rooms available exclusively to the Numbers. While Ren typically focused on physical training and rarely used these rooms, today was different. Once inside, both of them sat down, and Three began, "I'm sure your basics are clear, but let's go through a few foundational questions first to make sure there are no misunderstandings." She proceeded to ask several questions regarding Genjutsu theory. Ren answered each of them smoothly. Though he hadn't studied Genjutsu in depth, the system reward that granted him Genjutsu mastery ensured his theoretical base was solid. After the mini-test, Three nodded. "Hmm, alright. Your foundation is clean. So, let's move on to advanced Genjutsu. But before that, I need to explain the difference between low-rank Genjutsu and advanced Genjutsu." Ren gave a light nod, signaling her to continue. "As you know, chakra is composed of two parts, spiritual energy and physical energy. These two are also the foundations for yin and yang release respectively. I won't talk about physical energy or yang release as you're better versed in that than I am, even though I'm a medic. So let's focus on the spiritual aspect." She continued, "Spiritual energy is derived from the mind's consciousness. It increases through study, meditation, and life experience. Yin Release is a more refined application of spiritual energy. It's used to create form from nothingness, manipulating imagination, perception, and illusion. While the two sound similar, they are fundamentally different. Yin is a specific and advanced channeling of spiritual energy." She paused. "Even my mastery of Yin isn't high enough to fully explain the difference, but try to think of it like this, it's like how water is the foundation for a river, but a river is not just water; it's water flowing in a specific channel, with its own characteristics. ." Ren nodded thoughtfully. "I think I get it. Yin Release is the advanced application of spiritual energy, it's created by deliberately using that component of chakra." Three blinked in surprise. That level of understanding in just one explanation? When she had first learned it from her Kurama clan elders, she had struggled. Even as someone considered a genius in Genjutsu, she had needed a week just to grasp the basics. But Ren? One explanation, and he nailed it. Of course, for Ren, this wasn't a big deal. 'Understanding Yin with a foundation in Yang wasn't that difficult,' he thought. He glanced at his mastery panel and, as expected, [Yin Release - 3%] had appeared. It was just a matter of grind now. Three composed herself and continued, "Once you understand Yin Release, using high-level Genjutsu becomes much easier. The key challenge is learning how to convert normal chakra into Yin chakra and then shaping it properly." She unfurled a scroll between them and pointed to the sequence of hand seals at the top. "This technique is designed to help beginners stimulate Yin chakra. Think of it like chakra control training. Until you can create and maintain Yin flow, your Genjutsu won't advance." She performed the hand seals slowly. After completion, she opened her palm. A faint black glow emerged and hovered over her skin. "You'll need to maintain this glow for ten minutes. That's your first goal," she said. "Try it." Ren nodded. "Okay." He scanned the scroll again, committed the hand seals to memory, and practiced them once before attempting for real. One by one, he executed the seals and opened his palm. A flicker of black glow appeared, but it vanished in less than a second. Ren frowned and quietly began analyzing the process. 'Yin chakra requires mental focus and delicate chakra control. Unlike Yang chakra, which is stimulated through the heart and physical energy, Yin comes from thought, imagination and cognition. It uses the brain to stimulate chakra and produce yin chakra. But how interesting, even though I'm thinking of using my brain to stimulate chakra, it's still not working properly, brain not doing brain's work?' As Ren began to analyze his usage of yin chakra and repeating the signs, Three just stared at him. 'He did it on his first try.' she thought, stunned. Even in the Kurama clan, where Genjutsu came as naturally as breathing, no one got that far in a single attempt. She herself had taken a full week before she could even flicker the black glow. And that was with clan heritage and focused guidance. Yet here was Ren, barely older than her daughter, and he had already begun manipulating Yin chakra on his first attempt. She sighed softly. 'At this rate, he'll surpass me within a year or two. Is this what the commander meant when he said Ren should become an all-rounder?' It made sense. Most shinobi who trained in multiple disciplines ended up mediocre in all. But Ren was different. His strength lay in how easily he adapted to each domain. He wasn't just learning Taijutsu and ninjutsu. He had knowledge of medical techniques and Fuinjutsu. He could use different weapons with practical field effectiveness. Now, with the addition of Genjutsu and Yin Release, his spiritual energy would also get polished, which means he would be able to learn sensory jutsu too, he was approaching something dangerous as someone who had no weakness. 'I pity his future enemies,' she thought. Ren continued playing with the hand signs, trying to get the glow to stabilize longer. After a few minutes, Three finally spoke. "That's your homework for today. Once you can hold the Yin chakra glow for ten minutes, come find me again." Ren looked up and gave a polite nod. "Thank you. I've been stuck with Yin Release for a while, and this really helped. If you ever need help with Yang Release or medical chakra control, feel free to ask." He rolled up the scroll, tucked it into his gear, and walked out without another word. Three stood still for a while, watching the door. "Who would've thought a boy just a bit older than my daughter would offer to teach me?" she muttered to herself with a chuckle. "Well then. Maybe I can still grow a bit myself." She turned back to the scrolls in her pouch. Perhaps it was time she started pushing herself again too. Once Ren left the training room, he returned to his basement and immediately dispelled all the clones that were practicing weapons. Then, he remade them with a new task of practicing Yin Release. Now, thirty clones were solely dedicated to grinding the mastery of Yin chakra. He looked at them and thought, 'I hope that with Yang Release as a foundation, Yin Release mastery increases faster. The moment it reaches Intermediate, I can just dump points into it, just like Yang Release.' Satisfied, he left the basement and resumed his regular physical training while the clones continued their work. ~~~ The Next Morning Ren knocked on Three's door after his morning training. A few seconds later, the door opened and she appeared fully dressed in her work gear, even her ANBU mask was on. She had assumed it was a mission call, but instead, it was Ren standing in casual clothes. "Hello, Itsuki-san. Can we begin the next step?" Ren said cheerfully as he raised his palm. A soft black glow flickered to life on his hand and stayed stable. Ren nodded to himself. Just as he'd expected, in the early stages, his advanced understanding of Yang chakra was helping him make quick progress with Yin. His mastery had already reached 15% in one day, and he estimated the speed would remain consistent until 30%, after which it would naturally slow down. He had already been able to create the glow with just 10% mastery, but since it was already evening by then, he had decided to come to Itsuki the next day. And here he was. Itsuki stared at the glow on his palm and stood still. Even though she had mentally accepted Ren's absurd level of talent, seeing it firsthand was still enough to make her freeze. Her eyes drifted from Ren's small figure to the doors of the other rooms in the command base, finally stopping at Four's. 'He needs to master sensory jutsu too,' she thought. 'Only then can he complete his arsenal.' She mentally began plotting Four's next few days. Then she looked back at Ren and said, "If you don't even need hand signs to stimulate Yin chakra, then you already have the control needed to begin using it for advanced Genjutsu. I had a few more basic exercises planned, but for you, they'll be a waste of time. You can go ahead and request advanced jutsu from the Commander." Ren blinked, surprised. "Is there no other exercise that helps polish Yin Release?" Itsuki nodded. "There is, practicing advanced Genjutsu. That's the only efficient way to grow from this point." Ren paused, then realized she either genuinely didn't know or wasn't willing to share any clan-based methods. He gave a respectful nod. "Alright then. Thank you again." He gave her a light bow and turned to leave. Itsuki watched him go, then closed her door and returned to her work, her mind still dwelling on her earlier thought. 'He must learn sensory jutsu next.' ~ Yoru's Office Ren knocked on the door and a voice called out, "Come in." He stepped in and greeted bluntly, "Commander, can I have a few advanced Genjutsu techniques?" Uncharacteristically, Yoru stopped his work and looked up. He stared at Ren for a moment, seemingly thinking something over, then sighed internally and asked calmly, "Five, no, Ren. How do you normally get a jutsu from the village?" Ren, confused, answered anyway. "Uh... you get them as a reward, a gift, or you ask for them?" "That's how it's been for you?" Yoru said flatly. "Well, yeah?" Ren responded, brows furrowed. Yoru exhaled sharply, muttering, "It's my fault for assuming he'd know." He looked at Ren and spoke in a lecturing tone, "When a shinobi wants to learn a village-held jutsu, there's a strict process. First, you submit an application for the jutsu you want. After that, the village verifies the request, and then you're informed of the price." Ren tilted his head. "Wait, there's a price? You have to buy jutsu?" Yoru gave a slight nod. "Yes. The price is in mission points. Depending on the type and rank of the mission, you accumulate points. That gets recorded in your mission file." Ren's eyes widened. "Wow, I didn't even know we had mission points. How many do I have?" Yoru's calm demeanor cracked. He picked up a brand new ink bottle and hurled it at Ren, who quickly ducked. "HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW YOUR MISSION POINTS?" Yoru yelled. Ren rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the barrage of flying objects that followed. "Chill, boss-man! It's just a minor oversight! No need to get so dramatic!" Ren said as he dodged a paperweight and ducked behind a chair. The aerial assault continued for another full minute until Yoru's desk was empty. As the dust settled, Ren peeked out and said, "So, is there a way to bypass all that red tape? Maybe a loan system? I mean, by the time I officially get these jutsu, I could've learned them myself." Yoru exhaled heavily and gave him a long stare before motioning toward the door. "Get up." ~~~~~ {Ren continues to give existential dread to people who teach him stuff, who should be the next one?} {Also, I hope that the explanation about Yin chakra was good enough, I tried not to make it cultivation style, but if it did become like that, I am sorry, it would be good if you could highlight that, then I could do something about that.} {If you want, you can support me on pat-reon} {You know what else} {200 Stones = Extra Chapter} {STONES!!!!}