"Kurenai, can you please stop looking at me like that?"
On the street, Ren turned his head to look at Kurenai, a helpless expression on his face.
Ever since they left the arena, Kurenai had been staring at Ren, her red eyes full of little stars, and it had been like that the whole way.
"Ah? I'm sorry..."
Kurenai snapped back to reality, a blush immediately spreading across her face as she lowered her head to look at the road beneath her feet, then quickly lifted her head again to look at Ren with an expression of adoration.
"Ren, you're amazing! You actually defeated Kakashi. If you're so strong, why don't you apply for early graduation?"
Kurenai expressed her admiration while also voicing her confusion. Although she had known Ren was strong before, she didn't know he could actually defeat Kakashi. If he was already so strong, why didn't he graduate early and become a Ninja?
"Hahaha, Kurenai, if you want to know why, it's because I don't want to bear the title of a genius too early."
Ren chuckled, then looked towards the Hokage Rock in the distance.
"Kurenai, we need to get stronger quickly. We don't have much time left."
Ren suddenly blurted out this seemingly random sentence.
"Hmm?"
Before Kurenai could understand what Ren meant, they had already arrived at her doorstep, and her thoughts were interrupted by Ren's voice.
"Don't overthink it. I wouldn't be happy leaving you alone at the school, with everyone constantly thinking about you. You must be tired today, right? Go home and rest early. See you tomorrow, hahaha."
After saying that, Ren ruffled Kurenai's beautiful hair, then walked home with a smile, leaving Kurenai flustered.
Kurenai, who was a bit dizzy from Ren's barrage of words, just reacted when she heard Ren's final teasing remark and the action of him touching her head. She instantly felt both shy and annoyed, watching Ren's disappearing back, and fiercely swung her small fists twice at the air, as if Ren was standing right in front of her.
"Hmph, you idiot Ren! Tomorrow's bento will have a pile of chilli for you, for touching my head."
Kurenai snorted coldly, then turned and went home.
...
"Ah, finally done."
As soon as Ren returned home, he threw himself onto the bed without even taking off his clothes. This afternoon's battle was really tiring. Now, his Chakra was pitifully low, barely enough to cast a C-rank Ninjutsu. But thankfully, his goals were achieved.
"Tomorrow's Friday again. Time really flies."
Ren looked at the ceiling, muttering to himself.
The Summoning Beast was also taken care of. Next, he should focus on Orochimaru. High-level Ninjutsu and even Forbidden Jutsu were no longer out of reach.
Also, he needed to find a weapon. Constantly fighting with a Kunai wasn't ideal.
The most famous Ninja basically had a divine weapon. Minato Namikaze's Flying Thunder God Kunai, Uchiha Sasuke's Kusanagi Blade, Uchiha Itachi's Totsuka Blade and Yata Mirror, and the Uchiha Clan's heirloom Flame Fan. It was fine for him to use a Kunai in low-level battles in the future, but what about high-level battles?
Thinking of this, Ren sucked his teeth. It really was like starting the game with five scrolls, and all equipment relied on drops.
This was the sorrow of a commoner Ninja. If his parents hadn't sacrificed themselves, he probably wouldn't have to work so hard, running around like this.
Timely interrupting this unrealistic fantasy, Ren took off his jacket, climbed into bed, looked at the ceiling, and gradually lost consciousness...
Unfortunately, the world has everything, except 'if'...
The next day.
Ren sat in the classroom as usual, attending class. It was still the familiar teacher, familiar classmates, and Kurenai diligently taking notes beside him. The desk next to him, however, was empty.
Ren looked at Uchiha Ryufeng's seat, playing with the Kunai in his hand, and pondering.
In the morning, he heard from Kurenai that Uchiha Ryufeng had taken a day off, seemingly to deal with some family matters.
Ren was at a loss and decided to visit Yusuke Uchiha's family this weekend to see what was going on with Ryufeng.
Time passed, and the dismissal bell rang again. Ren and Kurenai chatted as they walked towards the Ninja School entrance.
Stepping out of the entrance, Ren paused, pulled Kurenai to a large tree entwined with a swing, and seeing the figures emerging from behind the tree, both quickly bowed.
"Lord Jiraiya!" (x2)
Jiraiya nodded to the two in response, then his gaze turned to Ren.
Ren understood and turned to look at Kurenai.
"Kurenai, you go back first. I'll come to your house tomorrow to find you."
"Okay, alright. Then you be careful, Lord Jiraiya, I'll take my leave."
Kurenai was also present yesterday and knew that Jiraiya was going to take Ren to contract a Summoning Beast. It would be inconvenient for her to be there, so she sensibly bid farewell to the two and went home.
"Follow me."
Jiraiya glanced at Ren, then turned and led the way. Ren consciously followed behind. The two walked through the bustling streets and arrived at a training ground.
"This is... Training Ground Five."
Jiraiya turned his head and nodded after hearing Ren's answer.
"That's right. This place has been abandoned for a while, so no one will disturb us. The Summoning Technique is also a space-time Ninjutsu. If someone disturbs you while you're using it, something unexpected could happen, and no one knows what."
Ren nodded. He knew this. Jiraiya in front of him was a living example. In his youth, after seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi demonstrate the Summoning Technique, Jiraiya, solely focused on pursuing Tsunade, began to silently train. Until one day, without having formed a contract, he was inexplicably reverse-summoned to Mount Myōboku.
After helping Gamabunta, who was entangled with a python, and under Gamabunta's guidance, Jiraiya met Fukasaku for the first time and began training on Mount Myōboku according to Fukasaku's instructions. This is how Jiraiya spent his youth. It was his training on Mount Myōboku that laid a solid foundation for his future strength.
"I'll demonstrate first. Remember, the hand seal sequence for the Summoning Technique is Boar – Dog – Bird – Monkey – Ram."
As he spoke, he bit his finger, quickly formed hand seals with both hands, then quickly slammed one hand onto the ground.
"Summoning Technique!"
A burst of white mist exploded, and after a moment, the mist dissipated. In the centre, a three-meter-tall toad appeared out of thin air. Its orange skin was covered in spreading patterns, and several round pearls hung from its chest. On the largest one in the centre, the character "Loyalty" (loyalty) was written. Its long tongue was exposed, with a scroll rolled on it. Jiraiya stood on top of the toad, looking at Ren with a triumphant expression.
Gamachu slowly opened its tongue and delivered the scroll to Ren. Ren was stunned for a moment, then quickly reached out to take it.
Jiraiya stood on Gamachu, looking at Ren, and began to guide him step by step.
"Open the scroll. That is the contract we have passed down through generations with the toads. Use your blood to write your name, and then press all the fingerprints of one hand below it."
Ren listened to Jiraiya's instructions, opened the scroll, and found that several people had already contracted with the toads before him, with Jiraiya prominently among them. Finding a blank line at the back, Ren bit his finger and used his blood to sign his name from top to bottom, Hoshimi Ren, then firmly pressed his fingerprints below.
Jiraiya sat cross-legged on Gamachu, arms crossed, then spoke again.
"Next, gather Chakra at the place where you want to summon it, place the hand you used to sign the contract, and then use the Summoning Technique hand seals I just told you."
Ren nodded, took a few steps back, and began to form hand seals.
"Boar – Dog – Bird – Monkey – Ram"
"Summoning Technique!"