The Land of Rain.
The downpour was as relentless as ever.
Scowling, Sasori trudged toward a nearby village. He still couldn't believe he'd been set up so thoroughly.
He wasn't afraid of shinobi from Sunagakure—but being swarmed by an entire group was something even he couldn't endure. With no other option, he abandoned his plan to continue collecting "materials" and diverted into the Land of Rain instead.
"You look rather battered, Sasori."
A voice suddenly rang out.
Sasori looked up to see Pain, the leader of their organization, standing on a rooftop, gazing down at him.
"I ran into some trouble," Sasori replied coolly, shaking his head. He hadn't intended to say much, but remembering how badly he'd been played made it hard to hold back.
"Don't worry—no tails followed me."
"Pain," Sasori added after a brief pause,
"do you know someone named Danzō?"
"Danzō…"
Pain froze for a moment. Deep within a hidden tower, Nagato's expression instantly changed.
"You ran into Danzō?"
"No," Sasori shook his head, anger flaring in his eyes.
"I ran into one of his subordinates. An extremely insidious bastard."
He clenched his fists.
"And he had a teammate who summoned some kind of bizarre chakra giant. It was hard to deal with, so they got away—but they caused me serious trouble."
"…Danzō."
Pain's expression didn't change, but he fell silent. After a long pause, he finally spoke.
"I know of him. We'll deal with that man properly in the future. He won't escape."
As soon as he finished speaking, Pain vanished.
Sasori stared at the spot where he'd disappeared, feeling that Pain harbored an unusual level of disgust toward Danzō. But he didn't bother digging deeper.
This time, he'd lost quite a few puppets. He needed to calm down and recover properly.
"A chakra giant… Earth Release like a tailed beast?"
Far away, in Kirigakure, Obito stared at the report in his hands, deep in thought.
—
Ren himself hadn't expected the rewards from this mission to be so generous.
Eight Free Points.
That was no small number—enough to push his physical attributes up significantly, with some left over.
And beyond that, he'd obtained something… very interesting.
"[Shinobi World Doctor]?"
Special rewards were rare for him—and one glance told him this was probably dropped from Sarutobi Hiruzen himself.
After reading the details, Ren's eyes lit up.
In simple terms, this was a one-time reward, modeled after Hiruzen but modified by the system.
Once activated, as long as a ninjutsu was theoretically sound, Ren would guaranteedly learn it.
And more importantly—
It could be raised directly to the user's current maximum capability: LV6.
That was the real prize.
If he used this on a technique, it would save him twenty-one Free Points in one go.
The only downside was that the reward was locked to his "factory settings"—his current stats.
But LV6 was already solid. Jōnin-tier at minimum, one step away from elite jōnin.
And Ren wasn't an ordinary jōnin—he was a full-on stat monster. Add cursed seals into the mix, and his overall combat power was nothing to scoff at.
"Never thought we'd end up as 'heroes,'" Yugao muttered.
Having just left the Hokage's office, Yūgao Uzuki still looked dazed. She honestly felt like she hadn't done much at all.
"It does feel a bit surreal," Shisui admitted, rubbing his temple. His head was still buzzing.
Ren, on the other hand, felt none of that.
To him, this was just the aftereffect of people with overly strong senses of responsibility overthinking things.
Frankly, Ren felt that if you could slack off, follow procedures, and still collect your paycheck, that was living the dream.
Of course, for people like Yugao and Shisui, that mindset was hard to accept.
Luckily, Ren knew how to handle it.
"Alright, stop thinking about it," he said lightly.
"We're back safely. Let's get ready and hang out tonight—call it a celebration for our first successful mission."
"A celebration?" Shisui tilted his head, thought for a moment, then smiled.
"That's a good idea. We should celebrate."
As teammates, Shisui already trusted Ren. After everything they'd been through, that trust had deepened even further.
This time, he'd used a power he'd kept secret for a long time—
The Mangekyō Sharingan.
He'd never told anyone about those eyes. Very few people even knew they existed.
But against such a powerful enemy, he'd had no choice.
What surprised him was that Ren didn't seem to care at all.
In the mission report, and even when speaking with the Hokage, Ren hadn't emphasized it.
Shisui assumed Ren simply didn't recognize those eyes—but either way, it greatly increased his goodwill.
Of course, he still intended to discuss the matter with the clan elders.
"No problem," Yugao said after a moment's thought.
"And I'll treat tonight."
She added quickly,
"I didn't contribute much this time. So let me handle the celebration."
With someone offering to pay, Ren naturally didn't object.
Coming out of Root, he'd long suspected that his mission rewards had been skimmed by Danzō.
His wallet was usually… very clean.
Compared to him, Yugao—pure ANBU—was clearly better off.
Damn it. Bunch of the same scum, Ren cursed inwardly.
Last time's reward gets delayed and paid together with this one?!
Outwardly, he kept a gentle smile as he said goodbye to Yugao and Shisui.
He still had other matters to deal with—like Danzō, that old fossil, and Kabuto.
If nothing unexpected happened, Kabuto should already be outside the village, having delivered intelligence to Danzō.
And Kabuto's report would be far more detailed than the watered-down version Ren had given Hiruzen.
"Hm?"
As he walked, Ren spotted Kakashi striding toward the Hokage Tower, his expression grim.
Ren considered greeting him—but remembering the unpaid ramen bill from last time, he decided to put it off.
"Whatever. Not my problem."
Shaking his head, Ren focused on his system.
Including the single point he'd had left earlier, he now had nine Free Points.
Time to use them properly.
"System. Increase my physical attributes."
[Overall Physical Attributes increased to LV7]
The moment all his points were dumped in, Ren felt it.
His body changed—instantly.
"…This is…"
LV6 physical attributes had already granted him absurd benefits: raw vitality, chakra recovery, speed, strength, perception.
But at LV7, everything leapt again.
Especially his perception and chakra control.
And then he noticed something strange.
"It feels like there's a force I can control… and I can use it to heal myself?"
Ren clenched his fist lightly. Power surged through him—along with that unfamiliar energy.
Then, a new message appeared before his eyes.
[Physical development has broken prior limits. New ability acquired.]
[Yang Release LV1]
Ren stood there in a daze.
A bizarre thought crept into his mind.
"Breaking bodily limits. Comprehensive enhancement. Yang Release…"
"…Am I heading toward Asura?"
As that thought surfaced—
Ren suddenly noticed Aburame Ryūma, standing silently in a dark corner not far away.
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