Chapter 134: Divine Sense? In This World?

Chapter 134 - Divine Sense? In This World? Upon hearing Yoru's words, Ren immediately stood up. Yoru rummaged through one of his desk drawers, pulled out a scroll, and tossed it across the room. Ren caught it with ease. "There should be a few in it and some other things too," Yoru said. "Going forward, if you want something, you go through proper procedure." Ren glanced down at the scroll. It was thicker than most and looked like it could cover his immediate needs. As he weighed it in his hand, a grin crept onto his face. 'By the time I finish everything in here, I'll just do the same thing again,' he thought. 'He'll eventually cave and give me what I want anyway, as long as it's within reason. And if he doesn't, well, I have other routes.' His grin widened. 'If Hiruzen wants to play the grandpa card, then he should at least give his grandson some gifts.' Ren looked up at Yoru and nodded with mock sincerity. "Of course, Commander. I'll definitely go through proper procedures next time." Neither of them believed a word of it, but neither said anything more. With that, the matter was settled, at least on the surface. Ren left Yoru's office and made his way home. He still had time before the 48-hour window Yoru had given him for Genjutsu practice expired, so this was the perfect opportunity to dive into the scroll. ~ Once inside, Ren went straight to the basement and opened the scroll. It was packed with content. Just as Yoru had said, there were a number of Genjutsu techniques, ranging from simple D-rank illusions to more advanced A-rank ones. At the very end of the scroll were two S-rank Genjutsu techniques. Definitely enough to start building a solid arsenal. The scroll also contained lightning-style techniques, likely because Yoru had planned for Ren to use lightning release as his new "official" ninjutsu focus. Just like the Genjutsu section, there were lightning techniques from D-rank to A-rank, with one S-rank lightning jutsu included. Ren stared at the scroll and nodded slightly. 'He must've already prepared this. There's no way he just had something this curated lying around in his drawer.' With a sigh, he sat down and started reading. 'If he already had it ready, why didn't he just hand it over instead of going through all that drama?' Still, Ren couldn't complain too much. Yoru had been unusually generous lately, with the Hyperfocus training, weapons, and now this scroll. Every weapon Ren used in his missions so far had been high-quality and durable. Most of them would last a long time before wearing out, and thanks to the variety, he had something suitable for almost any situation. Of course, Ren had been wary of Yoru's generosity at first. But so far, Yoru hadn't done anything manipulative. No power plays. No forced loyalty. No sneaky tracking seals and especially not some sealing formulas like the root. Just relentless expectations and practical support. 'He definitely has his own goals,' Ren thought. 'But at least they don't get in my way. If anything, they've been helping. So it's fine for now.' He turned his attention back to the scroll and skimmed through the lower-rank Genjutsu first. As expected, most of the D- to C-rank techniques used only spiritual energy and didn't require actual Yin chakra. However, with some modifications, Ren figured he could rework the chakra flow to use Yin release, increasing their effectiveness. That would be for later, though, once his mastery increased. He kept scrolling until he reached the A-rank section. There were ten A-rank Genjutsu techniques in total. While a few were standard illusions, some stood out. Internal Collapse was the first to catch his attention. It inflicted the sensation that the victim's internal organs and systems were shutting down one by one. It wasn't just painful, it was mentally debilitating. The perfect tool for interrogation or disabling already weakened enemies. Then came False World Activation. It generated a visible dome that triggered unique illusions for each enemy within. The main limitation was the visibility of the dome itself, any shinobi with awareness could detect it. Otherwise, this would easily be an S-rank technique. Still, it had excellent battlefield utility. Crushing Sky was the next one. It made enemies feel as though gravity around them had suddenly intensified, pinning them down. On its own, it wasn't very threatening and was easy to detect, but Ren immediately saw the potential. 'If I combine this with gravity seals, it'll stack and delay their reaction time, opening them up for a finishing move.' Of course, he didn't need Genjutsu to win most fights, but it was always better to have layered strategies. Especially if he ever found himself in a scenario where physical strength couldn't be relied on. Ren made a mental note to master all ten of the A-rank techniques. Even the less flashy ones still contributed to his Yin Release mastery. There were only two S-rank illusions listed. The first, Final Embrace of the Flame, was a single-target illusion. It made the victim feel like they were engulfed in sacred, never-ending fire, burning without consuming. The environment around them appeared untouched, creating a stark contrast that only amplified the illusion's psychological torment. Ren nodded thoughtfully. 'That would pair beautifully with Fire Release techniques, burn their senses first, then hit them with the real thing.' The second was a large-scale technique: Shattered Sky Dome. Within a certain radius, everyone affected would experience a sky that collapses. Meteors fall, the earth cracks, lightning rains down. Total chaos. It wasn't just visual, it disrupted perception, causing targets to misread terrain, flail wildly, and attack friendlies. 'That one's brutal. Especially in group combat.' He stared at the scroll for a moment, imagining what it would be like to be caught inside one of those illusions. 'Even though I'm immune to Genjutsu, I kinda want to experience it, just once. Must be trippy.' Having reviewed all the Genjutsu, Ren flipped to the lightning section of the scroll. Most of the jutsu listed were standard techniques, even the A-rank ones were simply more powerful versions of their lower-rank counterparts. None stood out much. Except one. [Lightning Style: Thunderstep Blitz] It was an S-rank movement technique. According to the description, it allowed the user to convert their body into pure lightning, enabling near-instant dodging, teleportation-like attacks, and the creation of lightning clone afterimages. It was noted as one of the fastest escape techniques the village had under elemental-style jutsu. However, there was a catch. Because of the unstable nature of lightning, the direction of landing after using the jutsu was unpredictable. The scroll included a warning: Until high control over lightning chakra is achieved, this technique should be used sparingly. As Ren read through the jutsu notes, his eyes sparkled with excitement. 'This one's incredible. Sure, it's hard to control at first, but once I increase my mastery and and it with my reflexes, it could become one of my best cards.' He rolled the scroll back up and reviewed it one last time, making mental notes of the training paths ahead. Afterward, he looked at all his clones still practicing. Without wasting any time, Ren dispelled all the existing clones and began redeploying them with updated priorities. He created four high-chakra clones, each assigned to practice elemental releases, Fire, Lightning, Earth, and Wind, excluding Water for now. Then, he made one more clone, but this one had barely enough chakra to sustain itself. It was assigned to Water Release. The reason was simple: Ren still remembered a particular system reward, once he achieved 90% mastery in both Lightning and Water Release, he had a chance to unlock the Storm Release kekkei genkai. Initially, he had planned to wait until the system granted him an affinity for water. But so much time had passed, and the system still hadn't done so. Now that he was actively pushing Lightning Release, it made sense to start with Water too, even if it would be slow to practice without affinity atleast he could create a base. He sent the Water clone to the village library to gather foundational knowledge before beginning chakra control exercises. After that, he created one more clone with high level of chakra for Genjutsu, which would, by extension, also contribute toward Yin Release mastery. He could've made more, but one dedicated clone practicing advanced Genjutsu would be more effective than multiple clones doing surface-level work. Next, Ren deployed 15 low-chakra clones to resume weapon training, primarily for exotic or high-level weapons like the Seven Ninja Swords and Uchiha's Gunbai. Lastly, he created 20 more low-chakra clones to work exclusively on Fuinjutsu, hoping to raise the mastery past 59%. Had his chakra not already reached S-rank level, managing this number of clones would've been impossible. But now, it was manageable. ~~~ With the clones hard at work, Ren went off to continue his personal training. By the time the day passed, a mission assignment came through. Coincidentally, he was to be paired with Number 3 (Itsuki) once again. During their mission, Itsuki noticed something Ren had overlooked: his lack of sensory abilities. After the mission, she bluntly told him, "For someone learning everything else under the sun, you're surprisingly blind when it comes to sensing chakra. Fix that." Ren agreed without protest. He was already learning so many things, what was one more? As soon as they returned, he went to Yoru's office and brought it up. Yoru considered it for a moment before calling Number 4 and assigning Ren to him for 24 hours to learn sensory techniques. Since it was just for a day, 4 didn't complain. And that's how Ren found himself sitting in one of the training rooms of the ANBU command base, directly in front of Number 4, dressed casually and listening intently, one day before his 11th birthday. 4, named Inojin Yamanaka, served as the primary sensor of the Numbers. While all of the Numbers had some basic sensory skills for emergency situations, Inojin was undoubtedly the most proficient when it came to true sensory jutsu. He began the session with a calm, matter-of-fact tone: "You already have a sensory base, since you learned wind-based sensing from 1. But that method, while good, isn't viable at higher levels. In fact, it can become a problem. If you encounter someone with high wind affinity, they might instantly notice your sensory field, it's like waving a flag in front of them. Of course, the same risk applies to standard chakra sensing, but the odds are different. For every one in a hundred wind-style specialist, there might only be one sensor in five hundred. So you should understand the benefit of proper sensory jutsu." Ren nodded, indicating he understood the point. Inojin continued, "Learning sensory jutsu isn't difficult if you have the talent. High-level shinobi can brute-force it through experience, but it's much easier if you're naturally inclined. That's what we'll be testing today. If you have talent, we'll continue. If not, we'll stop for now." Ren gave another nod. Inojin explained, "Sensory jutsu relies on the spiritual energy component of chakra, similar to Genjutsu. But there's a key difference: In Genjutsu, you mold chakra inwardly. In sensory jutsu, you channel raw spiritual energy outward, forming a sensory field." "Any questions so far?" Ren shook his head. "Alright then," Inojin replied. He pulled out a small scroll and began demonstrating the hand seals designed to assist with channeling spiritual energy externally. Once Ren had memorized the sequence, he performed the hand signs. Instantly, his perception changed. It wasn't like seeing or hearing, at least not in the traditional sense. Even when he closed his eyes, he could still sense the room, as if his awareness had detached from his physical body. Shapes and outlines pulsed around him. Faint flickers of chakra signatures brushed his senses. He focused on the outline of Inojin in front of him. Gradually, the form sharpened, not as a visible image, but a sense of presence. Then, just as he was beginning to delve deeper into the experience, it faded on its own. A wave of fatigue washed over him. 'This is straight-up cultivation nonsense, Ren thought, snickering. 'Divine sense, huh? Now where are the foundation-establishment cultivators?' Inojin, on the other hand, had jolted upright the moment he felt Ren's sensory field brush over him, specifically when it started probing his internal chakra network. He blinked once, then looked at Ren seriously. "That was your first time, so you wouldn't know," he said, voice firm but not angry. "But understand this, scanning someone's internal chakra like that is taboo unless they're an enemy. Got it? Don't ever do that again to an ally." Ren nodded quickly. "Yes." Inojin's tone returned to normal. "Good. Then let's move on to the next step." ~~~~~ {Fellow Daoist, I think I should change this novel from fantasy fan fiction to Cultivation fan fiction, what do you say?} {Thanks THEN_XY, Arun, Rokeys, AeX for becoming members on pat-reon.} {If you want, you can support me on pat-reon} {You know what else} {200 Stones = Extra Chapter} {STONES!!!!}