Chapter 56: The Christmas is early this time

Chapter 56 - The Christmas is early this time Ren returned home and immediately headed for the bathroom, eager to take a proper bath after his long mission. As he soaked in the warm water, he let his thoughts wander. 'Even though I didn't say anything directly, they're all smart enough to figure out just how dangerous Obito's abilities can be. It's frustrating that I can't just lay out everything I know, but even I'm not completely sure about some of his powers.' He frowned as he recalled how Kakashi went into Obito's dimension during the canon timeline. 'Kakashi managed to leave Obito's dimension using Kamui, but besides that, probably only a Rinnesharingan user could escape on their own. Even the Flying Thunder God can't get out since it's a completely sealed space. If Obito had really sucked Sensei in, it would've been over; Obito could just teleport out while leaving Sensei trapped.' Ren shook his head. 'The only real counter is using insane reflexes and speed or somehow tricking him into sucking in a clone. But that's tricky, especially since the Sharingan can easily identify a Shadow Clone. Obito's definitely one of the top threats, probably the third strongest after Ten-Tails Madara and Kaguya. Most enemies I can just brute-force through, but with these guys, it'll take something else entirely.' He sighed and stood up, finishing his bath. 'Good luck, future me. I'll leave these problems to you.' After getting dressed, Ren headed to the kitchen, realizing that there was nothing prepared. He decided to cook something simple and sat down to eat just as the door opened and Juichi walked in. "Oh, I thought you'd take a while, so I didn't make anything for you," Ren said, looking at his father. Juichi shook his head, waving off the concern. "Nah, I'm not hungry. You go ahead and eat; nothing like real food after living on ration pills during a mission." He sat down across from Ren, giving him a searching look. "Are you really alright? What did Utakata say"? Ren nodded, swallowing a bite of his meal. "Yeah, I'm fine. The only injury I had was from the sword, but Sensei healed it on the spot. He said the rest was just exhaustion from overworking my brain and body to keep up with the masked man." Juichi let out a relieved sigh. "Well, as long as you're fine. Not many people can say they survived fighting 'Madara Uchiha.'" Ren snorted at that, "Yeah, right. If he were really Madara, I might as well claim to be the Third Hokage. No way the great Madara Uchiha would let a kid more than half a century younger than him injure him." Juichi just smiled and shook his head. "Whatever you say. You should still be happy that your mission report will mention fighting a man claiming to be Madara Uchiha even if it was a fake." Ren continued eating, but after a while, curiosity got the better of him. "But... how were you allowed in the Hokage's office? And how come you were able to listen to the mission report? You were also pretty disrespectful to that man, and he seemed important." Juichi's expression turned serious. "Listen, brat, be careful around that man. His name is Danzo Shimura, and he leads a unit similar to the ANBU, but way shadier. I can't tell you much, but steer clear of him. He's not someone you should associate with." Ren showed a perfect mix of wariness and confusion as Juichi added, "But that doesn't mean you should be afraid of him. The only thing a person should be scared of is yourself, nothing else, not even death. If you're scared of something, you can never face it. Always be brave, but don't turn into an idiot who jumps into something just because he fears nothing. Keep your caution balanced." Ren nodded, taking his father's advice. Juichi leaned back, his tone softening. "As for why I was allowed in the room... well, the old man likes me. He'd never admit it, but it's true." Ren raised an eyebrow. "The Hokage likes you?" Juichi chuckled. "Yeah. Besides that, it's because my Sensei was Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin and the Hokage's own student. Me and Utakata know some serious stuff, so they let us in on important things." Ren's eyes widened in surprise. "Wait... you were the teammate of the Fourth Hokage?" He had some doubts, but he never expected his father to be teammates with the fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, himself. Juichi grinned. "Yeah. Me and Utakata were in the same class, but Minato was younger. He graduated early, so we were all put on the same team under Jiraiya-Sensei. Even though Minato was a genius, he was kind of annoying back then, always trying to help everyone he met." A nostalgic smile appeared on Juichi's face as he continued, talking about his younger days and how they trained under Jiraiya. He shared stories of Minato's progress and how the team grew together. Ren listened quietly, fascinated to learn more about his father's past and his connection to some of the greatest ninjas in the Naruto verse. Eventually, after sharing a few more stories, Juichi stood up, stretching. "Alright, brat. Rest up; you've had a long day. You did good out there." Ren nodded, feeling a little more at ease. "Got it, Dad." With that, Juichi ruffled his hair lightly before heading to his own room, leaving Ren to finish his meal. ~~~~~ Ren went to his room and lay down on his bed, feeling the familiar comfort after a week of missions and rough sleeping conditions. 'Man, I never thought Dad would turn out to be one of Jiraiya's students. That actually explains a lot, like how he managed to get a job under the Jonin Commander so easily and why I got such good-quality weapons without much fuss.' He thought to himself, mulling over the implications. 'I was worried I'd have to put in a ton of effort to get into the Hokage's camp, but it turns out I'm already considered part of it. Still, it's smart to keep building my reputation as a young genius with great potential. At least Hiruzen won't try to traumatize me like Danzo did with Itachi; being useful should keep me safe from his schemes.' 'Now I can openly be cautious around Danzo without raising suspicion. People will just think it's natural for Dad to tell me to be wary of a shady guy like him. But still, even though I know I've got some backing now, I shouldn't get complacent. Nothing really changes just because of that.' Ren thought about his future training, 'Since Dad and Sensei were both Minato's teammates, there's a good chance one of them knows the Rasengan. I should ask them about it. If I can learn it from them, I'll have a solid cover story for using it, and even if I develop the Rasenshuriken later on, it'll be easy to justify by saying I thought of adding Wind Release to the Rasengan.' Ren continued planning things and left the task of opening rewards until night as he always did; he had checked, and now there was indeed a fourth reward for making a change in the canon. Ren went down to the basement to train since he was fully recovered and still had time before nightfall. He moved through his usual exercises and drills, pushing his limits to keep his body in top shape. Once he was done and had completed his cooldown stretches, he finally sat down to open the system and check his rewards. He opened the first reward. [SYSTEM NOTIFICATION] CONGRATULATIONS FOR COMPLETING YOUR FIRST A-RANK MISSION. REWARDS: 10 Jonin-Level Points 2 Advanced Mastery Points NOTE: This reward is for the first-time completion of an A-Rank mission. Future rewards will depend on the mission difficulty and the user's strength. Ren nodded as he read through the message. 'Since A-Rank missions are typically meant for Jonin-level squads or individuals, it makes sense that the rewards are appropriate. I'll wait until I've claimed all the rewards before assigning the points.' Next, he opened the second reward. [SYSTEM NOTIFICATION] CONGRATULATIONS USER FOR PARTICIPATING IN THE CANON EVENT - AWAKENING OF ITACHI UCHIHA'S SHARINGAN. REWARDS: Fire Style Mastery - 40% (Basic) Genjutsu - 40/100 NOTE: The rewards are given according to the changes made in the outcome of the event. Ren felt a surge of new information flood his mind about fire style techniques and genjutsu concepts that pushed his skills to the limit of chunin range. 'Not bad. Even though it's not exactly what I wanted, gaining a new affinity and some solid genjutsu progress is still good. Plus, fire style mastery at the basic level means I can start using more advanced techniques later on.' He reflected on the message for a moment. 'Since the system rewards are based on changes to the original canon outcome, this is actually quite generous. I didn't really make any significant changes Itachi still awakened his Sharingan as he was supposed to, and the person who died was meant to die anyway. The only difference might be the reveal of Madara's name.' Just as that thought crossed his mind, he felt a small jolt of clarity. [INT +1] Ren's eyes lit up. 'So I was right. The system rewarded me not for Itachi's awakening itself but for the reveal of Madara's name. That means the real change I caused wasn't in the event itself but in how Obito revealed himself as Madara so early; at this point in time, nobody except Nagato and Yahiko should have known about him identifying as Madara, but since he revealed himself after our fight, it changed, hence the reward.' Since he had had the system for a while now, he had figured out how to assess if he was right or wrong. If the system rewards him with an intelligence stat, then he was right; if not, he would continue to ponder until he received the point to figure if he was correct or not. 'It's good to know that the system rewards me for smart thinking. At least I've got a way to gauge whether my deductions are correct.' Once he was done with the second reward, he moved on to the third reward. [SYSTEM NOTIFICATION] CONGRATULATIONS USER FOR SURVIVING OBITO UCHIHA'S ASSAULT. REWARDS.... {I took your suggestions into considerations and adjusted the rewards for the first A-Rank mission to what it is now and I think this much is enough. Also I made a slight change in the parameters he would be rewarded to. In the current event he hadn't actually made much changes but there was a reveal of Madara's name hence the rewards. Just for your information all the rewards for the canon event will be like this (Based on the outcome) Now comment here if you think the rewards are good, just so you know the main reward is yet to come, it isn't too OP but not too shabby either.}