"Lord Danzō, that's how it happened. I ask for your forgiveness—but if we hadn't done it that way, we wouldn't have made it back."
Inside Root's underground base, Ren stood before Danzō with a posture that was, on the surface at least, respectful.
After briefly glancing at Aburame Ryūma standing nearby—and the Root operatives training outside—Ren decided it was wiser to behave himself for now. Until there was a truly necessary opportunity, caution was still the best option.
Danzō, meanwhile, had fallen into deep thought.
His expression was carefully restrained, yet his eyes looked eerily similar to Sarutobi Hiruzen's.
If anything—
They looked even more stunned.
And Danzō was stunned.
Because no matter how he looked at it, he never expected to hear this kind of report.
Just like Kabuto's intelligence had stated—Ren had completely turned Sunagakure upside down.
And worse, he'd done it in Danzō's name.
The infuriating part?
Danzō couldn't even find a solid reason to criticize him.
From Konoha's perspective, forcibly shattering the peace agreement between Sunagakure and Kirigakure was equivalent to stripping away Rasa's leverage against Iwagakure.
A weakened Sunagakure was exactly what benefited Konoha.
That point was unquestionable.
And to be honest, Danzō never liked Rasa to begin with. He still remembered the grudges from the Third Shinobi World War.
Ren had even gone as far as lining up a potential ally for him—
Chiyo (Ebizō).
Even if Chiyo hadn't agreed yet, that was only natural. Ren lacked the authority, the promise wasn't tempting enough, and Chiyo herself was cautious to the bone.
But the direction was right.
This was a good thing.
Sometimes, Danzō even wondered—
If he personally handled it, could he really have done better?
"…No. You did very well."
After a long silence, Danzō finally spoke.
"Your growth satisfies me. Your strategy had no flaws. As for your task—she's more valuable alive. That counts as completed."
Counts as?
The hell? I went through all that trouble and it only 'counts as' completed?
Ren nearly cursed out loud—
But at that exact moment, his interface flickered.
[Mission Completed: Deal with Pakura]
[Mission Evaluation: S]
[Reward Obtained: Free Points ×5]
[High-Difficulty Mission Completed — Special Reward Granted]
[Danzō's Wind Release]
Ren froze briefly—
Then immediately put on an even more respectful expression.
"Thank you, Lord Danzō."
The special reward itself wasn't particularly impressive. Wind Release wasn't an attribute Ren had invested much into.
But five Free Points?
That was the real prize.
So this was how it worked—
The higher the difficulty.
The better the evaluation.
The more Free Points rewarded.
In the past, Ren's mindset had always been:
Working for Danzō barely pays anything—why risk my life?
On top of that, as a "trainee" embedded in teams, he'd usually stayed relatively safe, content to just complete missions at a basic level.
Now, though…
It seemed he could afford to push harder in certain situations.
"And about Kabuto," Danzō continued,
"I won't pursue the matter. He contributed to this operation as well."
Ren nodded repeatedly as if deeply obedient.
"But remember," Danzō added coldly,
"Root still has its rules. Don't forget that."
"Yes, Lord Danzō."
Danzō appeared to recall that headache-inducing existence known as "Kinoe." Annoyed, he waved his hand.
"You may leave. Kabuto should be back by now—go meet him. The follow-up coordination with Sunagakure will also be handled by you."
"I understand. This subordinate takes his leave."
Ren bowed and left without hesitation.
He had zero interest in verbal sparring with Danzō—and more importantly, he wanted to check his rewards properly.
As for handling relations with Sunagakure, Ren wasn't surprised at all.
Danzō had already lost his elite Root 1.0 forces in the Land of Rain. Against a berserk Nagato, he'd barely escaped with his life.
Right now, Danzō probably didn't dare leave Konoha at all.
Not until he became the so-called "5.5th Hokage."
And then—
"The former king's cause unfinished, he died ignobly in the stables."
Sitting down in the shade near the Root entrance, Ren waited for Kabuto—while carefully reviewing his gains.
"Another five Free Points. This really is a massive haul."
Single-point rewards weren't rare—but batches of five or six at once absolutely were.
He needed to think carefully about how to allocate them.
"First—Yang Release to LV2. The rest goes into chakra."
Yang Release was too tempting to ignore. And his Yang Release already showed clear signs of inheriting his stat-monster disease.
Yin Release amplified techniques.
Yang Release amplified the body.
It was absurd—and yet perfectly fitting.
Still, Ren understood better than anyone how important physical attributes were.
Sure, stacking Yin Release, Yang Release, cursed seals, and elemental ninjutsu all at once would look flashy—
"But without a body strong enough to support and express that power, it's all meaningless."
Ren
Overall Physical Attributes: LV7
Chakra: LV7
Abilities: Cursed Seal LV3, Yin Release LV3, Yang Release LV2, (others omitted)
Free Points: 0
Feeling the surging chakra and vitality inside his body, Ren nodded in deep satisfaction.
"Elite jōnin… I should qualify now, right?"
His raw ninjutsu output might lag slightly—but with this foundation, plus all those ridiculous multipliers, his actual combat power was far beyond normal standards.
As for Danzō's Wind Release—
"Access to jōnin-level Wind Release from Danzō?"
Ren chuckled.
It was similar to Shinobi World Doctor, just more limited.
One let him pick any technique.
This one locked him into Wind Release only.
"Still not bad. Scorch Release needs Wind Release anyway. Once I raise Fire Release, I might actually be able to try it."
This trip to the Land of Wind had exposed a clear weakness—his offensive options were limited in certain environments.
Especially Water Release.
In that wasteland, it was practically unusable.
With Wind Release filling the gap, his combat profile would only grow more complete.
"Once my abilities are balanced, I'll focus entirely on physical attributes."
Ren clenched his fist.
"I really want to see whether I'm truly walking the path toward Asura."
His growth had no upper limit—that was the system's rule.
But how far could he go?
Now, he finally saw the possibility.
What defined Asura's strength?
Overwhelming vitality.
Unyielding physical power.
Yang Release born from mutation and evolution.
That path suited Ren far more than Indra's eyes ever could.
Even without inheriting Asura's lineage—
An infinitely growing body still gave him hope.
"Then sorry about that, Naruto."
Ren smiled faintly.
"I'm going to be the next Asura."
Just as he made that decision—
He noticed Kabuto, now dressed in Konoha attire, walking toward him.
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