'Heh, who would have thought...' Ren distractedly pondered as he stood at the edge of a lone massive rock rising high above the dunes, overlooking the surrounding desert spreading all the way to the horizon.
From here, he could see everything from the future battlefield a bit further away, where Suna ninjas were hard at work building fortifications, and to his immense surprise, freaking trenches, to the bustling Sunagakure camp that was located underneath the rock.
Apparently, the rock was a good cover from any possible sandstorm, and its elevation would serve as a good vantage point for the Sunagakure's command center.
Ren had decided to accompany Temari here after her one free day before deployment. The same day that was stuck in his mind, even now, a week later.
Suddenly, Ren felt a weak twinge of itchiness coming from his bandaged left forearm, and wryly smiled as he gently rubbed the sore place over the bandages.
They went to Hinata for healing after the war fan test, and the Hyuga girl was happy to help. Except, she was also very much unhappy about Ren's recklessness once Temari was healed first and started talking about how exactly they had gotten their scrapes. In the end, Hinata decided not to fully heal a small burn on Ren's left forearm.
"It will be a good reminder to be careful!" Ren almost rolled his eyes as he remembered the upset 'I dare you to protest' expression she had on her face when she said it.
He didn't think much of it back then, but now... Man, the itchiness was truly annoying. How was he supposed to know his seal would react like that to Temari? It wasn't his fault!
Alas, he could only sulk in his mind. The burn was mostly healed by now anyway. It was not as if it would affect his combat effectiveness or do any harm.
Hinata just wanted him to pay more attention to his safety, and this was her way to get what she wanted. Even if Ren found the situation exasperating, he appreciated that she cared.
After healing them, Hinata even helped investigate the situation. They were all very curious as to why the seal caused such an exaggerated effect in Temari's hands, spending pretty much her entire free day figuring it out.
The answer? She had a recessive Scorch Release bloodline from her mother's side. Hinata had her own experience with bloodline research thanks to her tinkering with Hashirama's cells and her medical expertise. She could easily confirm that with some blood tests that Ren honestly did not understand.
Biology was just not his thing. Too messy for his fragile sensibilities.
What baffled them, however, was how his fire chakra molding seal managed to manifest the locked potential of Temari's bloodline into an actual attack.
After all, Temari definitely did not awaken the Scorch Release. And according to Hinata, she was not going to. She could train her entire life in Wind and Fire Release, perfecting them to the best modern standards, and she still should not be able to mix them into Scorch Release despite her bloodline. Because that's not how this thing worked.
For example, every Senju had the Senju bloodline. Most had either Earth or Water affinity, while quite a few even naturally possessed both. Yet, despite that, only Hashirama awakened Mokuton.
The situation here was the same. Hinata theorized that many in Suna probably had the Scorch release bloodline. But awakening it was a completely different matter. Only Pakura was lucky enough to get it in recent history.
Ren's seal took Temari's chakra, molded it into a crude form of fire chakra, and then mixed that with Temari's self-made wind chakra, for which she had affinity, melding the result into a jutsu.
Despite spending a lot of time thinking about it, the only thing they came up with was that it worked because Temari was the source of both chakras. Her bloodline, even unawakened, somehow gave her chakra the right properties for them to mix into something else.
How and why did it work? They had no idea.
When Ren tried to do the same, his self-made wind chakra and his seal-made fire chakra did exactly what the seal was supposed to do. The fire chakra enhanced the wind chakra, and his winds became hot. Enough to injure, but not enough to freaking explode the surrounding air or make people into dried husks by flash-roasting them.
Ren sighed, but deep down, he couldn't help but feel a bit of pride. As accidental as this discovery might be, he was aware of how important it could be. He might be able to allow people who had not awakened their bloodline to still use it, thanks to his seals! And if Hinata's theory that many in Suna had the unawakened scorch release was correct...
But Ren shook his head, ending that pleasant daydream. He would need a lot more research into this before he could even start thinking about mass-producing these seals. Not to mention, Temari had training in the temperature control wind release technique. That likely played a factor, too.
And if he wanted to simulate other bloodlines, he would need to create seals for different elemental chakras. Still, Ren couldn't help but wonder if he could eventually make a seal produce both fire and wind chakras before mixing them, resulting in artificial scorch release.
He knew he was getting too ahead of himself, but he couldn't help it. Unfortunately, despite the itch to start researching this, the impending war gave a hard stop to his endeavors before they could even start.
He let out a heavy sigh yet again.
"For somebody so young, you do an awful lot of sighing." An old, wizened voice interrupted Ren's peace, and Ebizo slowly walked next to him, looking at the view with a hint of nostalgia in his expression. "Don't worry. Temari is a strong girl. She will live through this. Besides, she is the future Kazekage. I did not take risks with her life. She will be in the safest position she could be on the battlefield."
Ren glanced at Ebizo with a corner of his eye and let out an acknowledging hum. The old man clearly misunderstood the reason for his weary mood. With his new seals on her war fan, Temari's safety was the least of his worries. Not to mention the other safeguards he had implemented. Temari was probably the safest person in this conflict.
"I just hope I won't need to step up anytime soon." Ren deflected the topic with a shake of his head. "Fighting another S-rank ninja sounds like a pain in the ass."
"Don't we all?" Ebizo chuckled, "Alas, everybody has their own role in a war."
Ren snorted. It was explained to him that his role here will be to... wait. He was their counter to Iwa S-rank ninjas like Onoki, or their jinchuuriki. The Suna command did not think Iwa would bring those, but just in case, Ren would be on standby for that eventuality.
S-rank ninjas could decide the battle quickly, but there was a lot of strategy involved with their use. They were rarely used in that way. If both sides had S-rank combatants, then logically speaking, the side that deployed theirs first would most likely lose.
Even if their S-rank killed hundreds of chunin at that time, he would spend quite a bit of his chakra or stamina for it. The other side could just jump them with their own fresh S-rank at that point, putting them at a disadvantage.
The cold reality was that chunin could be easily replaced. S-rank ninjas, however, were much rarer. Then again, reality was not a turn-based game, and it did not exactly work like that.
"Let's hope Iwa won't try to do something cheeky because of our situation. That way, you can consider this a vacation." Ebizo chortled and patted Ren on the back before he turned around and, with his encouragement delivered, he walked away.
He was a busy man, so he couldn't stay and chat for long.
Without answering, Ren turned around, intending to continue with his inner reflections. There was a minor worry that Iwa would send somebody strong to make trouble before the clash of their forces because Suna's remaining S-ranks were too old. So, Iwa might risk it and try to end the war before it could even start.
But what were the chances of thaaaaa...
Ren's eyes narrowed as he saw a small black dot in the air. His lips thinned as he realized that it was a flying person getting closer to their position.
Taking a deep breath, he could only sourly grimace as he muttered under his nose, "The old bastard jinxed me."
---
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