"Fugaku… are you sure we shouldn't go out and stop them?"
Hearing the howling outside, Mikoto glanced over with worry.
"No, no."
"That brat Sasuke did something bad last night. Getting beaten today is what he deserves."
Fugaku waved it off and casually tossed a bamboo rod—Seven Wolves—out the door.
Then he slid the wooden door shut and pulled his wife into his arms, soothing her gently. "Relax. Ren doesn't talk much, but he knows where the line is."
"But—"
"No buts. It's early. Let's sleep a little more."
"Mmm… mmmph…!"
Inside the room, the cannon fire was relentless.
A complete one-sided battle.
Outside, the beating was also nonstop.
Another one-sided battle.
Ren stared at Sasuke, who was hanging from the courtyard wall by a rope, and picked his teeth lazily.
"Well? You admit you were wrong yet?"
"I'm not wrong! Hmph! If you weren't born two years earlier and hadn't learned more jutsu than me, the one hanging up here would be you!"
If there was one thing Sasuke could always be counted on for…
It was that mouth. And that attitude.
Even dangling up there, he still tilted his chin slightly, wore a cold face, and looked down the side of his nose.
"Ah, so you're the 'too-cool-to-die' type?"
"Alright. I'll give you a chance. I won't use any ninjutsu—fight me straight up."
Ren grinned and flicked his hand, undoing the rope above.
Over the past six years, his ninjutsu had advanced steadily…
But his physical stats had absolutely exploded.
Countless traits like Strong and Sturdy and Nimble had been fused into him.
The results were ridiculous.
With nothing but his eight-year-old body, his raw numbers were already comparable to a chūnin.
No chakra enhancement. No jutsu buffs. Just pure stats.
So yes—he was more than happy to let Sasuke experience a comprehensive, soul-crushing defeat.
"Come on. What do you want to compete in?"
"Compete? I'm dueling you! With our bodies!"
Sasuke yelled and, the moment his feet hit the ground, he lunged forward.
All those years of training finally showed.
Fast, sharp, and controlled.
In a blink, he lowered his stance and shot forward, crossing more than ten meters.
"Hmph! As expected of a fool—actually letting me get in close!"
"I'm going to send you flying, Uchiha Ren!"
On Sasuke's still-damp face, contempt and pride rose together.
He could already see it—
Ren on the ground, begging for mercy.
Just imagining it made Sasuke's eyes tremble with excitement, his cheeks flushing as his brain floated up into the clouds—
…Huh?
Flying?
The moment he felt both feet leave the ground against his will, Sasuke's mind went blank.
Wait… wasn't Ren supposed to be the one flying?
Why was it me?!
Pain detonated in his abdomen.
His face darkened and he instinctively looked down.
Opposite him—
The instant Sasuke charged, Ren dipped low, wrapped both arms around Sasuke's waist, and slammed him backward with a brutal throw.
Uchiha Suplex!
BOOM!
The ground trembled.
Little Sasuke.
Big confusion.
He lay on the grass near the wall, eyes vacant, expression empty.
Like his intelligence had been ripped straight out of his skull, leaving only dead silence.
Ninjutsu, taijutsu—hell, even genjutsu…
He wasn't even a match for this lazy, slacking salted fish.
I'm tired.
Destroy the world.
Ren: "???"
"…Is the Uchiha Suplex really that strong?"
"I just suplexed Sasuke into becoming an actual idiot?"
Ren smacked his lips, but the worry came faster than the satisfaction.
If Sasuke really got hurt—
What was Naruto supposed to do?
But as he stepped closer, he noticed something else.
There were faint clusters of trait-light around Sasuke.
And one of them had even dropped near Ren's feet.
"So… I just made him drop loot?"
Ren's mouth twitched as he looked at the prompt.
Then another prompt popped up.
[Defeated Uchiha Sasuke. Attempting to copy trait.]
[Copyable traits: Brother Complex (Black), Emotionally Stable (Black), Child of Destiny (Rainbow), Lightning Release Aptitude (Purple), Great Fireball Technique (Green), Three Basic Techniques (White)…]
[Copy successful. Congratulations, host, you have obtained Elite Trait — Great Fireball Technique (Green).]
…Great.
He'd "looted" something completely harmless.
But—
Ren's gaze snapped to the new black trait.
"Emotionally stable?"
"Given he awakens a one-tomoe Sharingan on the night of the massacre… I guess you could call that stable…"
"But…"
"Did my suplex give him an emotional disorder, and that's why he's 'stable' now?"
The more Ren thought about it, the worse it sounded.
When he looked down again, his eyes were full of pity.
"Don't go dumb on me, Sasuke. If you want, I'll really teach you Lightning Release!"
Sasuke: "???"
What the hell is that look?!
His lifeless eyes caught that expression and his temper immediately started to ignite—
But then he heard the second half of the sentence.
And his raging heart… rippled.
Lightning Release.
Lightning-style techniques.
Ever since Ren had mentioned it, Sasuke had been chewing on it nonstop.
And after yesterday's class, when he'd asked the teacher about Lightning Release's strength…
He'd been itching so hard he could barely breathe.
Iruka's words were still fresh:
"Sasuke, Lightning Release is one of the most devastating offensive natures in the shinobi world. Its killing power is terrifying."
So after barely a moment of hesitation, Sasuke jumped up, staring at Ren.
He said it without a shred of pride left.
"Teach me."
Ren exhaled in relief. "Whew. Good. Still talking. Not completely broken."
By the most common standard—
If someone can still speak normally, they're not an idiot.
Even if they're an idiot… they're not that much of an idiot.
But then Ren ran into a problem.
"I want to learn the one you used yesterday—the lightning wrapped around your hand!"
Sasuke's eyes shone, his hunger for Lightning Release finally overpowering his hatred for his second brother.
"We'll start with hand seals, right?"
The moment he said that last part—
The smile on Ren's face froze.
He lifted two fingers instinctively. "Hand seals? For that level of jutsu, isn't it just… if you have hands, you can do it?"
It was the truth.
Thanks to traits, Ren didn't actually know proper hand seals.
Was he supposed to teach Sasuke like Naruto teaching Konohamaru how to form a Rasengan?
"First do this, then do that, then squeeze chakra like this…"
Sasuke was a "version protagonist." His talent couldn't be worse than Konohamaru's, right?
With that thought, Ren straightened his expression and spoke solemnly.
"Lightning Release is different from everything else. You just need to seriously sense the lightning in nature, and you'll learn it."
"That's also why your brother here lies on the wall with unwavering determination…"
"Even if the rain comes pouring down!"
As he spoke, the trait for Lightning Release · Chidori faintly glimmered.
BZZZT—CRACKLE!
Electricity danced around his fingertips, forming a blade of lightning—razor-sharp.
And then Ren noticed something else.
Another trait on him began to glow as well.
A special trait:
Thousand Years of Death (Black).
That sight sparked a deeply cursed thought in his head.
"…Kakashi."
"That guy… when he created Chidori…"
"Was it to combo with Thousand Years of Death?"
"Middle-Finger Chidori… Thousand Years of Death?!"
Hiss.
Ren instantly felt uncomfortable all over.
What kind of vicious man would invent something like that?
Of course—
If Kakashi ever visited the Land of Heavenly Delights in some future era…
With that one move alone, he'd be worshiped as a living god by countless women.
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