Chapter 143 – I Am a Proper Master, Ren Tingting (Mentor Renji)
"So he wasn't part of your plan?"
The Great Toad Sage was somewhat puzzled. He had originally assumed it was a sudden change from the Sage of Six Paths.
This clearly deviated from the prophecy, yet now it seemed the other party never intended that either.
"No, he wasn't. I've always intended for Indra and Asura to change the current state of the ninja world—only they can. But Renji was not someone I arranged. What's even more frightening is that he has both the Sage's Eyes and the Sage's Body."
At present, there was no one in the entire ninja world who could stand against Renji—not even Nagato, whom he had been secretly observing.
Although Nagato hosted Uchiha Madara's Rinnegan, the eyes did not belong to him, and he couldn't fully wield their power. Naturally, he was no match for Renji.
"Without Indra and Asura's chakra, the Rinnegan cannot be awakened."
The Great Toad Sage considered this and felt that such worries might be unnecessary.
The power of the Sage of Six Paths had been split into two. To merge them into a complete being, one would need to gather all that power.
Without those two, even if Renji had unified the ninja world, it seemed unlikely he could release Otsutsuki Kaguya.
"The Gedo Statue has already been summoned, and the Rinnegan does exist. If he uses it to resurrect the Ten Tails and forcibly becomes its jinchūriki, he could still activate that eye."
Ultimately, the activation of Infinite Tsukuyomi doesn't strictly require the Rinnegan but the Rinne Sharingan.
Whether it's resurrecting Otsutsuki Kaguya through Infinite Tsukuyomi or using it to turn everyone into White Zetsu, the result is still the destruction of the world.
Back then, the Sage of Six Paths chose to rebel against his mother precisely because he foresaw this outcome.
"Actually, Kaguya did all that because of unseen enemies. Have you considered how to deal with those Otsutsuki?"
Kaguya wasn't native to this world. As a native himself, the Great Toad Sage knew that well.
He had chosen to make contact with the Sage of Six Paths and his brother because neither of them were like Otsutsuki Kaguya.
"I can only wait for Indra and Asura to grow stronger."
"What about the anomaly?"
Since Renji was not meant to be the one to change the world, then by nature, he was the anomaly.
"He's currently the teacher of Indra and Asura. Let's wait and see. If he doesn't act abnormally going forward, then we'll leave it for now."
In truth, Otsutsuki Hagoromo's feelings about Renji were complicated. As things stood, Renji was a variable, uncontrollable and outside the scope of his original plan. So Hagoromo wanted to remove this variable.
But even if Renji were eliminated now, the structure of the ninja world had already changed—it would make no difference.
Renji had indeed brought peace to the ninja world, just not under Hagoromo's control. If he could be used later to deal with the Otsutsuki, then Hagoromo wouldn't interfere.
But if Renji continued down his own path, the Sage of Six Paths also had plans to alter everything once again.
"You won't tell your brother?"
The two brothers—one on Earth and one on the moon—were the guardians of this world.
Surely if something came up, he would inform Hamura?
"He's already aware of the variable. For now, we leave it be."
"As long as you know what you're doing."
The ninja world…
It seemed it was already quite different from what he had originally foreseen.
The Great Toad Sage's eyes grew cloudy, and he slowly closed them. The Sage of Six Paths beside him shook his head slightly and left without disturbing him further.
[Naruto Renji]: [Everyone, what do you think of my secretary team?]
[One Piece Renji]: [Get Swimsuit Chiyo arranged!]
[Mundane Renji]: [Arrange it! Definitely! Is 648 enough?]
[Naruto Renji]: [Are you all devils?!]
He gave up. All he did was form a secretary group—
Why were they all getting so excited?!
And those two bastards live flashier lives than he does, especially the one in the mundane world, surrounded by pretty girls.
[One Piece Renji]: [Not bad. We're about to enter the era of the Great Pirate Wars. Once Wano is fully built up, I'm heading out to explore!]
Because he killed a Celestial Dragon, Renji was now on the World Government's top wanted list.
Anyone even slightly associated with him faced death.
There was no way Wano could be exposed. Due to its geography, no one else could leave either. Now that Renji controlled Wano, he didn't need to worry so much.
[King of Fighters Renji]: [Now that you mention it, I'm getting ready for KOF too.]
[Yōkai Renji]: [You're starting now? No more building up strength?]
[King of Fighters Renji]: [I've been building for too long. It's time to act!]
Previously, he'd felt too weak, so he kept saying he needed to build up. In truth, he was just avoiding things. But now that he was strong enough, why keep delaying?
[Zombie Renji]: [.]
[Bleach Renji]: [Yo, how've you been lately? Haven't seen you around at all!]
Everyone else had shown up now and then, but he'd been completely silent.
Could it be that he took in a disciple and started playing house?
[Zombie Renji]: [Don't even mention it. I finally understand why my master always looked at me like that—it was the look of wanting to beat me to death!]
He felt absolutely drained.
Back then, he kept wondering why his teacher always looked at him oddly, with that expression that seemed to say, "I'm this close to hanging you up and beating you." He used to think his master was just too emotional.
But now that he was a master himself, he realized that maybe he really had been too naïve.
At this point, he was genuinely tempted to beat Ren Tingting.
Damn it!
Sure, she had talent, but why was teaching her so damn hard?!
[One Piece Renji]: [Is that the kind of "beat" I think it is?]
[Zombie Renji]: [I'm a proper master!]
Damn it!
If he dared to do anything indecent, wouldn't his ancestors strike him down?
He took in disciples to pass down the legacy. He walked the righteous path, not the wicked one.
The Shenxiao Sect needed to be passed on. Once he was gone, the sect couldn't end with him.
If it did, he wouldn't have the face to meet the great elders.
So Renji genuinely wanted to take in disciples and ensure Shenxiao Sect continued.
As for falling in love with a disciple?
Please!
This isn't some drama series where even if you're cultivating or whatever, you still have to spend three episodes falling in love when a dog shows up.
He was seriously taking in disciples—just like Uncle Jiu. Uncle Jiu knew Qiu Sheng and Wen Cai were unreliable, but what could he do? In the age of the Dharma's decline, it was truly difficult to find suitable students.
[Naruto Renji]: [Just because you're not interested doesn't mean others won't develop feelings!]
Sure, you may not have romantic intent, but who's to say your disciple won't?
[Mundane Renji]: [You're pretty sharp, huh?]
[One Piece Renji]: [Didn't this guy take in three male disciples?]
[Naruto Renji]: [Damn it, I didn't mean anything by it! I was just saying!]
These guys were too much!
Even if he had no morals, he wouldn't go so far as to disgrace himself.
Besides, damn it, he liked women. He was a real man!
[Zombie Renji]: [Don't worry, I won't!]
"Master, did I do something wrong?"
Ren Tingting looked at Renji in confusion. She felt she had been doing well—back when she started cultivating, didn't Renji often praise her talent? But as time went on, his gaze grew increasingly strange.
As if... a bit of disdain?
This made Ren Tingting uneasy. When she first came up the mountain, it was partly for fun.
But after cultivating under Renji, she realized she was truly gaining real benefits.
Her face had become prettier, her figure better, and even her lifespan seemed to have increased thanks to cultivation.
"It's nothing. I was just thinking about something else."
"But I keep feeling like you're kind of disappointed in me?"
Ren Tingting pouted and asked, puzzled, "Master, is my talent really that great?"
When Renji took her as a disciple, she truly believed she was a one-in-a-million genius.
But after some time training with him, she began to feel her talent was actually terrible—even her master seemed to be disappointed.
"Actually, your talent is quite good. It's just that spiritual energy is scarce now, and staying shut indoors isn't ideal. How about going down the mountain for some training?"
Given Ren Tingting's talent, she was already doing well.
She had reached the early stage of Qi Refining in a very short time. If Uncle Jiu were here, he'd probably be beating Wen Cai and Qiu Sheng right now.
"Training?"
Ren Tingting felt it was a bit soon—she had only just come up the mountain. And now she was being asked to go down?
But if she really were to descend the mountain, wouldn't that mean she could see her father again?
Truth be told, Ren Tingting still missed her father and the town.
She had lived in that small town for years, and after suddenly moving to the mountain, she now found herself nostalgic.
"But if I go alone..."
Ren Tingting hesitated, then chose to give up on the idea. Though she wanted to leave, she also wanted to grow stronger. Seeing the way Renji looked at her made her secretly resolve to cultivate harder so he'd see her in a new light.
Maybe Renji was testing her willpower. She couldn't leave now—she needed to keep training.
And her strength had only just reached Qi Refining. She should at least hold on until she built her foundation before leaving.
The outside world was far too dangerous.
"No, I'll go with you. We're running low on supplies anyway, and I need to buy some things."
He also needed to gather intel. Although Uncle Jiu would notify him if needed, he couldn't rely solely on that.
Plus, the Merit Ring hadn't earned any merit in quite a while.
"Mm-hmm! Will Xiaohei and Dahuang come too?"
Ren Tingting nodded eagerly. If Renji was going, then it wasn't a test.
Dahuang and Xiaohei had become familiar with her over time.
Mainly because there just weren't many people on this mountain.
Every day after cultivation, she played with Xiaohei and Dahuang.
Sometimes she did feel lonely—after all, she was human. She needed communication. Though spirit beasts were intelligent, they didn't always understand her.
As for talking to Renji, Ren Tingting still felt too nervous.
"What do you think?"
Dahuang and Xiaohei clung to Renji from both sides—clearly unwilling to be left behind.
How could he not bring them?
"Mm-hmm! Then, Master, when do we leave? I'll go pack!"
"Right now. Once you're ready, we'll head out."
Renji had a feeling—something was waiting for him out there.
Ren Tingting responded, then hurried to her room to pack clothes for the coming days.
Once the two humans and two beasts finished preparing, they sealed the mountain gate, activated the formation, and set off down the mountain.
Since they left in the afternoon, Renji chose to travel by night to reach the town sooner. He was confident in his strength.
"Hey, walking the mountain roads at night isn't safe!"
"Corpse driving?"
Renji turned to the Taoist beside him. Something about him felt familiar.
"Brother, there are a lot of monsters in this area. You'd best find a place to rest."
"Thanks, but I'm kind of in a hurry."
"Fellow cultivator?"
Taoist Simu looked Renji over, then asked in surprise, "Are you from the Shenxiao Sect?"
It was dark just now, and he hadn't seen clearly. But now, seeing the Shenxiao Sect robes—
After returning from his senior brother, Lin Jiu had mentioned the Shenxiao Sect to Simu.
The righteous–evil conflict had reached a boiling point. Simu was planning to finish this corpse run and then go lend support.
The world was in chaos. Money could be earned again, but if the evil path won, all was lost.
"You must be Taoist Renji?"
"Yeah. And you're Lin Jiu's junior, Taoist Simu?"
Renji was a little surprised. Was this the feeling he had sensed—was it Simu?
Uncle Zombie, huh?
Renji didn't know the timeline exactly, but meeting Simu here probably wasn't just a coincidence.
"That's me. I can't believe he actually mentioned me to someone!"
Simu hadn't expected Uncle Jiu to talk about him to others.
"How about coming to my place nearby for a visit?"
Simu thought it over—meeting was fate. The other party was strong. His senior had benefited from debating the Dao with him. There was no way Simu was going to let Renji go that easily!
He absolutely had to discuss the Dao with him!
"Uh…"
Looking at Simu's eager face, Renji felt something was off.
This guy didn't like men, did he?
"Friend, we'd better get back and talk tonight. There's nowhere to rest nearby, and your disciple might not be able to keep up."
Simu glanced at Ren Tingting behind Renji. Renji could handle it, but that didn't mean she could.
Renji looked at Ren Tingting, hesitated, then nodded. "Alright."
Maybe there'd be a plot event waiting.
(End of Chapter)
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