"This Uchiha Renji seems a little too arrogant. It's not easy to learn A-rank ninjutsu. Even the experienced Takagi Maoyue took over a month to master it. How could he succeed in just three days?" said Inuzuka Kenta, unable to contain himself.
"It's fine. Young people are like this—sometimes they need to hit a wall." Takagi Maoyue patted Kenta on the shoulder. "I just hope Renji learns that some things can't be forced."
Outside the cave, there was a slightly secluded basin.
After spreading out the Lightning Release Scroll, Uchiha Renji immediately activated his Mangekyō Sharingan.
The Sharingan once made Hatake Kakashi famous as the Copy Ninja. For a shinobi, there are two critical stages in learning ninjutsu: the initial understanding and then mastery.
However, Renji, now wielding the Mangekyō Sharingan, could instantly comprehend techniques and, with a single system command, push them to maximum proficiency.
At this point, Uchiha Renji was practically equipped with a physical cheat code and an invincible power-leveling plugin.
It was utterly insane.
"Ding! Seal formation speed detected. Would you like to max it out with one click?"
"One-click max level achieved."
Renji's hands moved in a blur as the chakra in his body underwent highly precise elemental transformation.
"Lightning Release: Falling Thunder!"
As the final hand seal landed, a deep rumble echoed in the sky.
Nine bolts of lightning—like dragons breaking free from the abyss—shot toward a massive rock seven or eight meters away.
BOOM!
The rock exploded violently.
Lightning crackled, debris flew, and a crater over ten meters wide was gouged out of the ground.
The air was thick with smoke and static. The scene was utterly overwhelming.
Renji stood stunned.
According to the scroll's description of the A-rank technique Falling Thunder, once mastered, the user could draw lightning directly from the skies to strike targets. Yet what he just witnessed went far beyond that.
"Could it be because of the one-click max-level system?" Renji raised an eyebrow.
He remembered what Uchiha Madara once said in the original canon: "There is no weak ninjutsu, only weak shinobi."
Even a simple Fire Style: Great Fireball could become a devastating ultimate attack in Madara's hands.
Now, Renji found himself in a similar situation—his ninjutsu wasn't just powerful; it was perfected.
Still, that one attack consumed nearly one-tenth of his chakra.
"Ding! Lightning nature chakra, maxed out."
"Ding! Lightning Release: Falling Thunder, maxed out."
"Ding! Natural lightning affinity perception, maxed out."
The system notifications confirmed Renji's theory.
Looking at the smoldering crater, his thoughts turned to a legendary technique—Lightning Release: Kirin, an S-rank jutsu created by Uchiha Sasuke.
In terms of sheer destructive power, it could rival Uzumaki Naruto's Wind Style: Rasenshuriken.
Unfortunately, in the original series, Kirin only appeared a few times and was eventually sidelined. A waste of its potential—much to the frustration of fire-style fans.
Now, facing hundreds of Kumogakure shinobi, including the fearsome A and B duo, Renji knew this battle would be brutal.
If it dragged on, even with the Mangekyō Sharingan, he'd be drained dry.
Thus, the S-rank technique Kirin could be the key to turning the tide.
It could channel nature's lightning, reducing chakra consumption while unleashing an attack nearly as fast as light—an ideal large-scale technique.
And Renji had the perfect cheat system to support it.
He could even duplicate the jutsu and keep it as a trump card.
Three days passed in a flash.
"Ding! Lightning Release: Kirin, maxed out with one click."
Uchiha Renji exhaled in relief at the familiar notification.
The faint bond with the thunderclouds above dissolved instantly. The clouds dispersed with a sudden rush of air pressure, like a vanishing storm.
"Good thing I had the one-click max system, even my affinity with lightning nature chakra is fully unlocked. Without it, mastering Kirin would have taken months."
This training made him painfully aware of the Uchiha clan's weakness—low chakra reserves.
No wonder, in battles of attrition, even Mangekyō users like Itachi or Shisui succumbed to chakra exhaustion.
Even Madara Uchiha needed to transplant the cells of the First Hokage to compensate.
It was clear: after this war, Renji needed to pursue the power of the Sage Body.
As Renji returned from the basin, the 27 remaining Konoha shinobi had gathered.
Their expressions were grim, but their eyes burned with resolve.
To them, this was a fight they could not retreat from. Behind this defensive line lay the Land of Fire—its villages, its people, their families.
Once breached, even the Hidden Leaf Village could fall.
"Renji, don't worry if you couldn't master the A-rank technique," said Inuzuka Kenta. "Even that idiot Maoyue took over a month!"
"Although, that cumulonimbus cloud earlier… it felt ominous, like something was hiding inside. We thought the Cloud Ninja were launching a surprise attack."
"Kenta, can you stop talking nonsense?" Takagi Maoyue shot him a sharp look.
"Kid," he added, softening, "Don't put too much pressure on yourself. If you really can't hold out, take Shizune and escape. Ninjutsu isn't something you can learn in two or three days."
But as Renji approached, a strange calm washed over the group.
They had seen it—with their own eyes.
The illusions, the lightning, the aura of a true prodigy.
Even those who once doubted him now felt a deep-rooted belief in this once-unknown shinobi