The next day.
At the entrance of the Ninja School.
Ren, feeling refreshed, carried his backpack and hummed a tune as he strode towards the classroom.
Suddenly, a beautiful figure appeared in front of him.
Ren's eyes lit up, and he quickly caught up, calling out as he walked.
"Good morning, Kurenai."
Kurenai paused her steps, turned around, and a joyful smile appeared on her face when she saw Ren.
"Good morning, Ren. My father has returned from his mission. He said to tell you to come over when you have time; he'll teach you Genjutsu."
Having caught up with Kurenai, the two walked side-by-side.
"Is that so? That's great! I have something to do today, but how about tomorrow? I'll go visit Uncle."
Ren pondered for a moment before looking up at Kurenai and responding with a smile.
They had already reached the classroom while chatting. As soon as they sat down, they noticed that Uchiha Ryufeng was already there, hunched over his desk, yawning sleepily.
His dark circles were so heavy that it looked like he had applied eyeshadow.
"What's wrong with you? Didn't you sleep well last night?"
Ren fiddled with a Shuriken, looking at Uchiha Ryufeng with a puzzled expression.
"Don't even ask."
Uchiha Ryufeng looked out the window with a face devoid of life, feeling as if he had lost his way at a crossroads in life.
"What exactly happened? Did Aunt Akito scold you?"
Ren guessed, and Kurenai also looked at Uchiha Ryufeng with curiosity.
...
A certain Uchiha with dark circles began to pour out his grievances.
Ren's guess was correct. After Uchiha Ryufeng returned home yesterday, Uchiha Akito, who had initially greeted the father and son with a smile, immediately lost her smile upon hearing Yusuke Uchiha recount Uchiha Ryufeng's and Asuma Sarutobi's mutually destructive battle.
After dinner, she dragged the father and son into the study. What followed was five hours of earnest lecturing, which made both of them feel a tingling sensation on their scalps.
During this time, Yusuke Uchiha repeatedly stated that it had nothing to do with him, but Uchiha Akito immediately shut him down with the retort, "Why didn't you stop him then?"
Night fell, and the bright moon hung high.
The two, who had finally finished being lectured, fell asleep as soon as their heads touched the pillow.
The next morning, before they were even fully awake, the two were called up by Uchiha Akito. During breakfast, Uchiha Akito kept talking about yesterday's events. Thus, under Uchiha Akito's earnest lecturing, they finally finished breakfast. The father and son, looking relieved, walked to the front door and went their separate ways, one to work at the Leaf Military Police Force, and the other to attend school.
By the time Uchiha Ryufeng reached this point, he was on the verge of tears. How could his mother treat him like this? He was still a child.
...
The two listeners, besides expressing their sympathy and pity for Uchiha Ryufeng, could only watch as he turned his back, lay his head on the desk, and fell into a deep sleep.
The morning quickly passed. During lunch break, Uchiha Ryufeng only made soft snores and then simply turned over to continue sleeping.
It wasn't until practical training was about to begin that Ren finally nudged Uchiha Ryufeng awake.
After sleeping for six or seven hours, Ryufeng's spirits had improved considerably. Although he was still a bit listless, he was much better than his half-dead state in the morning.
After hastily completing their practical training exercises, the two sat in the shade of a tree, waiting for Shisui to arrive. After their sparring session last time, Shisui had requested to join their training group and agreed to meet them at the school today.
Ren, sitting in the shade, looked at Uchiha Ryufeng, who was dozing beside him, and his thoughts began to wander.
Before Ryufeng awakened his Sharingan, he already had strength comparable to a regular Chunin. After awakening it, his strength further increased. He should be slightly weaker than me and Kakashi, but he can steadily overpower a regular Chunin.
As for Kakashi, with his father White Fang's sword techniques passed down to him, plus numerous Ninjutsu available for him to learn, and his diligent training...
If they fought, it would probably be...
A fifty-fifty split?
...
Uchiha Shisui, who had just arrived at the shade of the tree, looked at the two under the tree, waving and greeting them with a smile.
"Ryufeng, Ren, sorry to keep you waiting."
"Haha, Shisui, since you're here, let's go."
Hearing someone call him, Ren's thoughts returned to reality. He nodded at Uchiha Shisui in response, then turned and shook Uchiha Ryufeng awake.
Uchiha Ryufeng, groggily waking up, looked at the two of them, let out a long yawn, and vaguely followed behind them.
"What's wrong with Ryufeng? He doesn't seem to be in very good spirits."
Ren walked ahead without turning his head, his voice carrying back.
"Nothing much, he just made a mistake and was lectured by Aunt Akito for half the night. He's just a bit listless now."
Uchiha Shisui nodded and didn't inquire further.
The three quickened their pace, crossed the main street, and arrived at the Uchiha's Seventh Training Ground. They bypassed the training ground and plunged into the forest, soon arriving at a training clearing.
"So, Ren, your training ground is in the forest behind the Uchiha training ground?"
Uchiha Shisui exclaimed.
After two years of use, the trees on both sides were covered with scratches from Shuriken and marks left by various Ninjutsu. Strangely, there were many footprints on them, which looked a bit odd. In the corner of the clearing, several wooden stakes stood, with the middle one deeply indented.
"How about it? Isn't this a good spot I found? Get ready, then let's start training."
Ren responded with a smile.
Then the three began to warm up. After five minutes, their warm-up ended.
"Let's run first, then we'll practice Ninjutsu later."
As Ren called out to the two, his body was already running around the edge of the clearing, but it wasn't ordinary running. He was stepping on tree trunks, running around the trees on the edge.
"This..."
Uchiha Shisui was already a bit bewildered. Is this how you two run?
Uchiha Ryufeng, accustomed to it, yawned, then followed closely. The two quickly ran around the circle of trees enclosing the clearing, the sounds of their feet stepping on tree trunks in mid-air continuous.
Uchiha Shisui watched the two stepping back and forth in the air, gritting his teeth, and followed. As expected, he almost fell. Although he had mastered tree climbing and water walking, this kind of running in mid-air, while suspended, required him to release appropriate Chakra under his feet in advance for control. With the need to multitask, Uchiha Shisui could only trail behind the two, eating their dust.
After dozens of laps, Ren and Uchiha Ryufeng both landed. Shisui half-knelt on the ground as soon as he landed, a thin layer of sweat forming on his forehead.
With this kind of training, no wonder Ren and the other are so strong.
Shisui thought as he gasped for air.
"Are you alright, Shisui? We'll start the next training exercise after a five-minute break."
Uchiha Ryufeng said with a slight concern as he watched Shisui stand up.
"I'm fine, Ryufeng. I can keep going."
Uchiha Shisui shook his head. He was also a genius, and his pride was no less than anyone else's. He wanted to keep up with their progress and become even stronger!