Chapter 155: Welcome to The Menacing Society: First Rule Is Don’t Die

Chapter 155 - Welcome to The Menacing Society: First Rule Is Don’t Die {You guys somehow completed the 300 stones goal so good for you ig} ~~~ Left alone at the gate, Tsunade let out a low growl. "He reminds me more of those clan elders who kept nagging me to get married than a younger brother," she muttered under her breath. Shizune, standing quietly beside her, glanced at her with hesitant eyes. "Lady Tsunade," she asked cautiously, "Why did you accept him as your brother so easily? I mean... it must be difficult, right? The brother you believed to be dead all these years suddenly being alive..." Her voice trailed off, clearly uncertain, but the question hung heavy in the air. Tsunade didn't answer at first. She kept her gaze fixed in the direction Ren had vanished, silent and still. Then, after a long pause, she spoke softly, her tone unusually calm. "To be honest with you, Shizune, it was all an act." Shizune's eyes widened. "Huh? What do you mean, Lady Tsunade? Could it be-" Tsunade turned toward her with a teasing smile, cutting her off. "Is that what you wanted to hear?" Shizune crouched where she stood and groaned. "Please don't do this, Lady Tsunade. I've had enough surprises already." Tsunade chuckled lightly, her voice warm. "The real reason I accepted it so easily is because I already had my suspicions. From the first time we met in the forest." Shizune blinked. "You did?" Tsunade nodded. "When I examined his body before the fight back then, I knew he had Senju blood in him. That vitality, even though diminished was unmistakable. That kind of body it can't be forged. It's only found in someone from the royal Senju lineage." Shizune whispered, barely audible, "Sayaka-San's son." "Exactly," Tsunade said. "Aside from me, the only one who could've inherited that kind of bloodline was Sayaka's child. At that time, I barely managed to contain myself. I didn't even tell Jiraiya. If I had, Sensei might've caught wind of it too, and... well, he might have done something that could've ruined the fake balance we have maintaining till now, but fortunately he didn't." Her expression turned more solemn. "But this time, when I saw Seicho and Cho appear on his body. I knew. I finally knew. And at that moment, I couldn't hold back anymore. I cried. I don't even know if it was from relief, or from joy, or just the overwhelming fact that someone from my family still existed. That Ren was alive." She exhaled deeply, the smile that followed was small but genuine. "I think that realization also helped me overcome my fear." Shizune's eyes lit up. "Does that mean?" Tsunade nodded silently. Shizune's joy was obvious, but Tsunade raised a hand to temper it. "But," she continued, "we're keeping this fact to ourselves for now. Nobody knows about it except Ren's shadow. Danzo may know about my condition through Sensei, but he won't have a clue that I've recovered." Her expression darkened slightly. "I hope he does something stupid. Something so incredibly stupid that I get to kill him outright." With that, she turned on her heel, her haori fluttering behind her. "Let's go, Shizune. I need to inform Yoru that I'm in." Shizune fell in step behind her. "Lady Tsunade who is this Yoru you keep mentioning? Ren said his name too." Tsunade didn't slow down, her voice firm as she replied. "He's the one trying to keep the Leaf's sinking boat afloat. He's doing his duty and I'm not going to shy away from mine any longer." ~~~ A little distance away from Tanzaku Gai, Ren was sprinting at full speed, branches blurring beneath his feet. Behind him, Kimura struggled to keep pace, his breath coming in sharp gasps. Eventually, Ren stopped abruptly on a tall branch, turning back with a frown. "Kimura," he called, arms crossed, "you really need some serious training. If you can't even keep up with me, what's the point of having a shadow at all?" Kimura halted just behind him, hunched slightly, panting hard. "I promise not to slow you down," he said between breaths. "I'll follow you even if it kills me." Ren looked at him for a moment, a strange expression passing over his face. There was something about Kimura's unwavering loyalty that felt off, not in a suspicious way, but in its intensity. Thanks to Hyperfocus, Ren could tell the man wasn't lying. The loyalty was real. Absolute. 'He must be desperate for approval,' Ren thought to himself, eyes narrowing slightly, 'Probably blames himself for not being there all these years. Oh well, he might actually be useful.' He shrugged the thought. He remembered the seal that had been placed on Kimura, it was a double-layered mechanism. Yoru's seal was sophisticated but relatively safe, more of a limiter than anything dangerous. But Danzo's was a different story. A lethal failsafe. If Ren so much as tried to tamper with it, Kimura would die on the spot. For now, that meant restraint. Ren stepped forward, placing a hand over Kimura's chest. "Hold still." Kimura straightened slightly, but didn't resist. A warm glow pulsed from Ren's hand as he began healing the strain in Kimura's body, even weaving in subtle threads of yang chakra to reinforce his muscles. "There," Ren said after a moment, withdrawing his hand. "You're good to go. From now on, we're doing this regularly, you run until you're on the verge of death, and when you fall, I'll heal you. Rinse and repeat. Your body will grow at an exponential rate." Kimura blinked in surprise, but nodded without hesitation. His voice was resolute. "Understood." Ren grinned. "Once your body's strong enough, I'll teach you the Eight Gates technique." Kimura didn't flinch. He knew what the Eight Gates meant, suicidal power, earned through torturous training, but he didn't waver. If this was the only way to stay by Ren's side, then so be it. Anything less would make him unworthy of the title "Senju Shadow." Watching him, Ren smiled in satisfaction. He was still wary, he didn't know what failsafes Danzo might have embedded in Kimura, or what other influence the man might exert later. So he wasn't planning to teach Kimura everything just yet. But if this method worked, repetitive healing and reinforcement through training then he might've stumbled onto something far more dangerous. 'What if I could build an army of Eight Gates users?' The idea thrilled him. If he could condition them properly, train them from scratch, reinforce their bodies with yang chakra, there was real potential there. Once he confirmed Kimura was truly loyal and safe from any outside control, he'd let him train others. A small force which was truly devastating. Though something had to be done about loyalty. A grin broke out across his face. 'Yeah. I'll call it The Menacing Society,' he chuckled to himself. Then, with a laugh, Ren turned and vanished into the trees. Kimura blinked, confused by the sudden outburst but didn't question it. He simply leapt after Ren without another word, unaware that he had just become the test subject for something far larger. Not that it mattered to him. Even if he knew he would've agreed anyway. ~~~ Almost a week had passed with still no word from Yoru. No messages, no missions, nothing. So, Ren did what he did best: he kept hunting and clearing out rogue shinobi. In that time, he'd eliminated one more rogue camp and taken down three individual rogue ninja. Now, seated on a thick branch deep in the forest, Ren chewed absentmindedly on skewered meat while flicking through his stats, projected in front of him. [NAME]: Ren Takahashi [LEVEL]: 75 (69 >> 75) [ATTRIBUTES] Strength: 75 (69 >> 75) Agility: 79 (75 >> 79) Intelligence: 77 (73 >> 77) Vitality: 85 Chakra: 80 [Available Stat Points]: [Talents]: Improved Chakra Control Enhanced Reflexes (Ex) Genjutsu Resistance (S+) Fuinjutsu (Minor Uzumaki) Space Release Talent (Ex) [MASTERY PANEL]: Chakra Control – 87% (86 >> 87) (Advanced) Shadow Clone Mastery – 90% (Advanced) Fuinjutsu Mastery – 69% (59 >> 69) (Intermediate) Yang Release Mastery – 84% (Advanced) Yin Release Mastery – 41% (Basic) Wind Style Mastery – 79% (68 >> 79) (Advanced) Earth Style Mastery – 81% (79 >> 81) (Advanced) Fire Release Mastery – 69% (59 >> 69) (Intermediate) Lightning Release Mastery – 40% (25 >> 40) (Basic) Water Release Mastery – 18% (Beginner) Space Release Mastery – 46% (37 >> 46) (Basic) Iryojutsu Mastery – 66% (60 >> 66) (Intermediate) Bukijutsu (Weaponry) – 72% (38 >> 72) (Intermediate) [MASTERY POINTS]: 8 Intermediate Level Points (7 + 1) 2 Advanced Level Points 4 Master Level Points (2 - 1 + 3) [NINJA PANEL] Ninjutsu: 77/100 (67 >> 77) Taijutsu: 81/100 (69 >> 81) Genjutsu: 66/100 (50 >> 66) Fuinjutsu: 69/100 (59 >> 69) [SPECIAL STATS] CHARISMA: 55 PERCEPTION: 93 The stat that caught his eye immediately was Taijutsu: 81, he had officially broken the 80-point threshold. S-rank level. That meant his Taijutsu could now go head-to-head with top-tier shinobi in the world. And he wasn't even done yet. Ren grinned to himself, biting off a piece of meat as he thought, 'If I get into a few more tough fights and keep pushing my limits with perfected Hyperfocus this might rise even more.' There was also the major milestone he'd achieved, he finally had all seven major affinities in the Naruto world. Every elemental nature, as well as both Yin and Yang. Not many could claim that. Their growth rate was steady too, thanks to his shadow clones. With the restoration skill allowing for 24/7 training over the last two months, progress was inevitable. Chakra Control, for example, had increased by 1% this week alone. That might not sound like much to an outsider, but to Ren, it was massive. It had plateaued for ages, only recently did perfected Hyperfocus push it forward again. His Space Release Mastery was also nearing Intermediate level, while Yin Release, facilitated through advanced Genjutsu training was finally climbing at a decent pace. The rest of his masteries were growing as expected, if a little slowly. That was understandable though. At his current mastery levels, growth was naturally going to taper off. Even so, two months of continuous clone training was still showing clear, consistent progress. As Ren reviewed his stats, something overhead caught his eye, an eagle soaring through the night sky. He let out a sharp whistle. The bird circled once, then swooped down gracefully, landing on the branch in front of him. Ren tossed it a jerky, which the eagle took gladly before raising its claw. A sealed message was tied to it. Ren unrolled the scroll and grinned as he stretched his arms and shoulders. 'Finally. I thought I might have to wait longer, maybe stir up more trouble to get some attention. Good thing this is an A-rank mission too, otherwise I would've had to visit commander in person to complain.' He chuckled to himself. 'Actually, maybe I still should, if I go in person, he might just throw an S-rank at me out of spite.' He glanced up and called out casually, "Kimura! A squad's finally coming for me to lead. Think they'll survive?" In a soft shuffle of leaves, Kimura appeared at his side and spoke with his usual deadpan tone, "You shouldn't torture them. They'll be your future subordinates. If they grow resentful, I might have to kill them, lest they develop a rebellious mentality." Ren cringed. "Dude! Stop being so corny." Kimura didn't reply, simply blinking as if confused by the idea that what he'd said might not be perfectly normal. Ren sighed and continued walking, delivering a long-winded lecture about sarcasm, tone, and what he called "social awareness," all while Kimura listened like a sponge absorbing water while washing dishes. And so, the night passed, under a sky full of stars, with Ren grumbling and Kimura following faithfully behind, as they prepared to meet the squad that would soon be under Ren's command. ~~~~~ {This might be the shortest Chapter in a while, 1990 words (Without these notes), but I didn't want to start a new micro arc in this mini arc of the ANBU arc with a cliffhanger, lest you might kill me.} {The first squad would be normal one, with a normal mission, to show you guys how things would go and after that we'd go on to the fun stuff.} {If you want, you can support me on pat-reon} {Thanks Michael, luc, salim, moped, bigbuns, Jeremy and Irving14209 for supporting me on 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 know what else} {300 Stones = Extra Chapter} {STONES!!!!}