Chapter 8: Saitama in the making

Chapter 8 - Saitama in the making After waking up early, Ren stretched his muscles, running through the flexibility drills his father had taught him. His joints loosened, his breathing steadied, and his body warmed up. He finished his morning ritual and then went to his backyard. Ren's home was a traditional Japanese-style house, a single-story wooden structure with sliding paper doors and a tiled roof. The interior was simple yet spacious, with tatami mat flooring, minimal furniture, and a small altar in one corner for family traditions. At the back of the house was a small backyard, enclosed by a wooden fence, giving him just enough privacy for training. A few stone pathways ran through patches of neatly arranged gravel and grass, with a lone cherry blossom tree standing at one end. The area was perfect for training. He decided to use the training method that his father suggested only after the village has recovered to some extent. He started his training with pushups. He dropped to the ground and started One, two, three.....thirty.. forty he continued till seventy when his arms started burning indicating that he has reached his limit. Then, he stood up and immediately moved into squats. He completed eighty when his legs reached their limits, sweat dripped from his forehead, and his breathing was heavy. "Alright... that should be enough for now." Lying down on the cool ground, he let his body recover, feeling the slight satisfaction of having pushed himself further than yesterday. Suddenly SYSTEM MESSAGE:] [CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE GAINED +1 STRENGTH.] [FIRST-TIME STAT GAIN BONUS: +2 ATTRIBUTE POINTS AWARDED!] Ren blinked, sitting up quickly. "So I really can gain stats through training?" That was good to know. If he kept this up, he could naturally increase his physical attributes without relying on system points. But right now, he had two free points to spend. "No question—I'm putting both into Chakra." [ATTRIBUTE POINTS SPENT: +2 CHAKRA] [CHAKRA INCREASED FROM 10 → 11] Ren exhaled, feeling a slight warmth spread through his body. His reserves were still small, but he was one step closer to being able to use Shadow Clones. With that done, he pulled up his updated status screen. [STATUS MENU] Name: Ren Takahashi Age: 6 Level: 8 Available System Points (SP): 0 [ATTRIBUTES] Strength (STR): 6 (+1) (Slightly above average for his age.) Agility (AGI): 6 (Faster than most Academy-level students.) Vitality (VIT): 9 (Higher stamina & durability than normal.) Intelligence (INT): 10 (Sharper mind & faster learning.) Chakra (CHA): 11 (+1) (Beignner Genin-level reserves.) Since it was still morning, Ren decided to continue training before heading to the library later. "Might as well make the most of my time. I'll train, eat breakfast, and then go to the library." With his body training done, it was time to focus on chakra control. He walked over to a small wooden bench in the backyard and grabbed one of the leaves he had collected the previous day Sitting cross-legged, Ren placed a leaf on his forehead and closed his eyes. He took a slow, steady breath, channeling chakra into the leaf, making it stick to his skin. At first, it was easy, his control much smoother than yesterday. [SYSTEM MESSAGE:] [CHAKRA CONTROL MASTERY +1%] "Nice. Progress is progress." After a few minutes, he switched hands, balancing the leaf on his palm. Then, he tried both palms at the same time. The first few attempts failed—his left-hand leaf fell off whenever he focused too much on his right. But after about ten minutes, he managed to keep both in place. [SYSTEM MESSAGE:] [CHAKRA CONTROL MASTERY +2%] Ren wasn't satisfied yet. "Alright... let's step it up." He grabbed three more leaves and tried placing them on his forehead, left palm, right palm, and the back of his left hand. This time, it was much harder. He had to split his chakra flow into four separate points, keeping each leaf balanced without losing focus. For the first five minutes, it was a disaster—the leaves kept falling off one after another. But Ren gritted his teeth and kept trying. Little by little, his control improved. Finally— [SYSTEM MESSAGE:] [CHAKRA CONTROL MASTERY +3%] "Got it!" After training for nearly an hour, Ren exhaled slowly, feeling the slight fatigue [CHAKRA CONTROL MASTERY: 27% (Basic Level)] Ren grinned. "Not bad. Now to get something to eat." After finishing breakfast, Ren headed toward the library, eager to start gathering knowledge. But when he arrived, he saw a sign posted outside. [KONOHA LIBRARY CLOSED FOR REPAIRS] [ESTIMATED REOPENING: 2 DAYS] Ren clicked his tongue. "Tch. Should've expected this." With the Nine-Tails' attack causing so much damage, it made sense that places like the library would be temporarily closed. "Alright... change of plans." Since he had already eaten and didn't want to waste the day, Ren decided to search for an empty training ground where he could get some running done. Ren walked through the village, keeping an eye out for any available space. Most of the regular training grounds were likely occupied by shinobi helping with the village's recovery. After about fifteen minutes of searching, he finally found a small, relatively empty training ground on the outskirts of a forested area. It was a simple open space—flat dirt ground, some scattered logs, and a few wooden training dummies. "Perfect. Time to work." Ren took a deep breath, scanning the training ground he had found. The open dirt field was surrounded by tall trees, with patches of grass and rocks scattered around. A few wooden dummies stood near one edge, likely used for target practice. The area wasn't huge, but it was large enough for running drills. He estimated that one full lap around the perimeter was about 1km. "Four laps should be easy, but after that, it's going to get tough." Ren started his run, keeping a steady pace at first. The first four laps (4km) were smooth, his body handling the strain well. He focused on his breathing. By the fifth lap (5km), his legs started to burn, and his breathing became heavier. By the sixth lap (6km), his entire body felt sluggish, his legs screaming at him to stop. Every step was a battle, but he forced himself to finish. Finally, as he staggered across his mental finish line, he bent over, hands on his knees, panting hard. "Damn... barely made it." His lungs burned, sweat dripped down his face, and his muscles throbbed from exhaustion. [SYSTEM MESSAGE:] [ENDURANCE TRAINING COMPLETE!] [AGILITY +1] Ren blinked in surprise as he felt a small shift in his body—his muscles felt slightly more responsive, his movements a little smoother. Pulling up his status, he checked the update. [AGILITY: 7 (+1)] Ren clicked his tongue. "Tch. No extra rewards this time?" His strength training gave him bonus points, but endurance training only raised Agility? "Guess the system doesn't hand out free stuff just for effort." Still, progress was progress. Ren laid down on the cool ground, letting his body relax after the intense run. His breathing steadied, and as the burning sensation in his muscles gradually faded, he felt a strange warmth spreading through his body. At first, he thought it was just his body adjusting to the exhaustion, but then he realized— "Wait... this feels different. It's not just natural recovery." He focused inward and quickly understood what was happening. "This must be the points I added into Vitality taking effect." From what he could tell, Vitality (VIT) worked passively in the background, enhancing his body in small but meaningful ways: ✔ Improved Recovery Rate: His soreness was fading faster than it normally would. ✔ Better Endurance: Even after running, he didn't feel as completely drained as he expected. ✔ Injury Mitigation: If he ever got hurt, higher VIT would speed up healing over time—but it wouldn't give him Hashirama-level regeneration. Ren sighed, rubbing his forehead. "So, adding points in VIT won't instantly heal me, but it will help me recover faster and train longer without needing as much rest." That meant Vitality was useful, but it wasn't something he needed to constantly invest in. "Looks like I don't need to save points for VIT right now. Since my body is already in good shape, I'll just let it grow naturally until I enter the Academy." He grinned slightly, feeling his body adjusting even as he laid there. "I'll only add points if I notice stamina issues later. For now, focusing on Chakra is the best path." But as he thought back to how he got this system, his grin faded slightly. "Damn... I really should've taken my cheats more seriously when I filled out that form." If he had picked a proper ability, he could've had insane regeneration, a bloodline, or something even crazier. Instead, he had to rely purely on smart training and slow growth. "No use regretting it now. I'll just have to grind my way up." Feeling fully recovered, Ren slowly sat up and stretched his arms and legs, cooling down his muscles properly. Sitting on the ground, Ren's focus shifted to the tree in his backyard. A thought crossed his mind. "I haven't mastered Leaf Balancing yet... but what if I try Tree Climbing anyway?" He knew it was too early, but the idea of testing his current chakra control against a real challenge was tempting. "Kakashi taught Naruto and Sasuke by making them run up trees. If they could do it, why not me?" With that, he stood up and approached the tree, prepping himself based on what he remembered from the show. Ren came back home to try tree climbing because no matter how he thought about it if someone saw a 6 yrs old attempting tree climbing out in the open by himself it would definitely attract attention He took a deep breath, focusing his chakra into the soles of his feet. "Control it evenly. Not too much, not too little." He took his first step onto the tree trunk. The bark felt strange under his foot, but he remained balanced. Then he took another step. And another. Three steps up. For a brief moment, he thought, "Maybe this isn't as hard as I thought—" Then his chakra wavered. Before he could react, his foot slipped, and gravity did the rest. "Oh, sh—!" Thud! He landed on his back, staring up at the sky, wind knocked out of him. "Yeah... okay. Maybe I got ahead of myself." Ren rubbed his back, groaning slightly. "So I can take a few steps, but my control isn't stable enough yet. I need to work on consistency before I try this again." If he kept up Leaf Balancing, he could probably start real Tree Climbing training in a few days. As Ren ate some snacks for lunch, he frowned slightly. "This isn't enough. I need real food if I want to grow stronger." His training was already intense, and his body needed proper nutrition to keep up. He made a mental note to start eating better meals—more protein, vegetables, and carbs to fuel his workouts. Once he finished, he decided to head to the hospital and check on Juichi. Arriving at the hospital, Ren pushed aside the curtain and stepped into Juichi's room. His father was sitting up this time, eating his own meal, though he still looked a bit tired. Juichi glanced at him and smirked. "Back already? What, miss me that much?" Ren rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure. I just wanted to see if you're still alive." Juichi chuckled, setting his chopsticks down. "I'm tougher than I look, kid. So? How's training going?" Ren sat down beside the bed, stretching his arms. "Pretty good, actually. I've been working on endurance, chakra control, and—" He paused for a second, then grinned sheepishly. "—I might've tried Tree Climbing... and fell." Juichi stared at him. Then, without warning, he burst out laughing. "Hah! You tried Tree Climbing already? Kid, you haven't even mastered Leaf Balancing yet!" Ren huffed, crossing his arms. "I got three steps up before I fell, though." Juichi smirked. "Three steps, huh? Not bad for your first try. But don't get ahead of yourself. Master the basics first, or you'll just keep falling on your ass." Ren nodded. "Yeah, I figured. I'll finish Leaf Balancing before trying again." Juichi leaned back, looking at him with an approving glint in his eyes. "Good. At least you learn fast. Keep at it, and you'll be running up trees in no time. I see that you didn't just run and run as I told you any particular reason" He questioned. Ren explained it simply by saying "I thought it would be good to start after the village has recovered somewhat so that I don't have to scavange some small places for training. Are you mad?" "Not really just wanted to know what's going on your mind but you thought it well start after this week is up." "OK" After returning home that day, Ren stuck to his training routine with discipline. For the next week, he focused entirely on building a strong foundation—alternating between strength training, endurance running, and chakra control. Though he had originally planned to visit the library, he decided to postpone it until after he had established proper physical strength and chakra control. "No point cramming theory if my body isn't ready." After another long day of training, Ren was walking back from the training ground when he overheard some villagers talking. "I heard the Academy is reopening soon." "Yeah, in about two weeks. Things are finally settling down." Ren stopped in his tracks. "Two weeks, huh? That's sooner than I expected." It meant he had limited time to improve his stats before officially beginning his Academy life. Without wasting time, he headed straight to the hospital to inform his father about the news.