In the Konoha training ground, Ren held the Nichirin Blade in his hand and gently waved it towards a wooden stake on the ground not far away.
Shhhhhhhh!
A white streak flashed, and the wooden stake immediately split into two pieces, like thin paper. He had repeated such an action hundreds of times today.
"Phew..." Ren stopped swinging his sword. "Although I haven't fully comprehended the profound meaning of the Water Breathing Style, this Nichirin Blade is a good knife nonetheless." He gave his own assessment in his heart.
Afterward, Ren sat cross-legged on the ground, placed the Nichirin Blade on his lap, and slowly closed his eyes, his breathing becoming even and deep, as if asleep. This was the Zen of the Sword, a method that swordsmen used to realize their own swordsmanship and cultivate their state of mind. At this moment, Ren used this method to help him understand the Water Breathing Style.
In this position, Ren's heart became calm. The surrounding world grew quiet, with only faint sounds of breathing coming from around him. All things breathe.
After a long time, Ren opened his eyes. There was a clearer insight in his eyes, and his understanding of the Water Breathing Style became deeper and deeper. Ren estimated that with three more days of practice, he could almost touch the threshold of the Water Breathing Style.
[Ding! Mission Release: Collect Fire Release Ninjutsu Energy]
[System Reward: Hidden Mask Blueprint]
Ren asked the system: "How do I collect this Fire Release energy?"
The system quickly gave him the answer: [The host can take out any type of kunai and place it within a Fire Release ninjutsu. Once the collected Fire Release ninjutsu energy is full, the kunai will automatically break.]
Ren nodded. Although he didn't know the specific principle of the system's absorption of Fire Release energy, he should just follow the steps instructed by the system to complete the task. But... Fire Release ninjutsu, he didn't actually have that. It seemed that if he wanted to collect this Fire Release energy, he still needed to find a way.
After shutting down the system, Ren decided to end today's practice and leave the training ground. At that moment, a man wearing a Konoha Anbu uniform and a mask on his face suddenly appeared in front of him.
Anbu under Hiruzen Sarutobi? How could they suddenly find me? Ren's heart immediately became silently alert.
At this time, the person in front of him took the initiative to remove the animal mask from his face and asked, "Excuse me, are you Ren?"
The moment he clearly saw the face, Ren was even more stunned. Itachi Uchiha? How could he find me?
"Is something wrong?" Ren asked with a frown. Itachi Uchiha at this time was more sensitive and dangerous than other Anbu ninja.
While Ren was looking at Itachi Uchiha, Itachi Uchiha was also looking at him, and he was quite shocked. The frequency of breathing, the flow of chakra, the explosive power of muscles... These subtleties are enough to prove that his strength is not simple.No wonder Shisui told me before that he had seen a genius boy in the village. This calm demeanor and mature mind, even at this age, were completely beyond him. No wonder this was the young man who made Shisui view him differently. I am truly ashamed. Although he was only one year older than Sasuke, it was difficult for Itachi Uchiha to see Ren as a younger brother; instead, he looked at Ren with the eyes of a "peer."
"I came to see you this time because I genuinely want to ask you something," Itachi Uchiha said with a blank face.
Ren didn't move at all and didn't say anything, just quietly waiting for him to continue. After the air seemed to freeze for two seconds, Itachi Uchiha saw that the other party had no intention of prompting him, so he could only continue, slightly embarrassed: "Then I won't beat around the bush. The fact that I came to find you this time is actually related to Shisui Uchiha. You must have heard the news of Shisui's death some time ago. The last time I saw Shisui, he mentioned you. He said he was very grateful to you. What does that mean?"
That's it? Ren felt a little amused in his heart. Just because of a random word Shisui said before, Itachi Uchiha had now found him and wanted to find the answer? Is this the 'brother complex' and 'younger sibling complex' attributes of the Uchiha clan? It was in Itachi Uchiha that this characteristic was vividly displayed.
He suddenly remembered the task released by his system just now. The Fire Release ninjutsu of the Uchiha clan was famous throughout the world, and its power was stronger than ordinary Fire Release ninjutsu. Itachi Uchiha in front of me... wouldn't he be the best person to help me complete this task?
"I can tell you, but I hope you can do me a favor too," Ren said after a moment of hesitation.
"Go ahead."
Ren took out a kunai and said, "If you can help me burn this kunai with Fire Release ninjutsu, I will tell you everything I know."
Fire Release and burning kunai? What kind of strange request is this? There was some doubt in Itachi Uchiha's eyes, but he didn't ask, because the request was very simple for him. The Fire Release of their Uchiha clan was hot enough to reach temperatures of several thousand degrees Celsius, sufficient to melt a kunai in an instant.
"Okay, I'll help you," Itachi Uchiha nodded. Then he placed the kunai on the ground and began to release Fire Release ninjutsu.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
The kunai on the ground didn't move at all, let alone melt instantly; it didn't even turn red.
"What?" Itachi Uchiha let out a slight sound of surprise. A flash of surprise appeared in his eyes. "The quality of your kunai is very good, even better than the quality of the kunai sold by our Uchiha family's Cat Grandma." Itachi Uchiha said indifferently, then began to release Fire Release ninjutsu again.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" "Fire Release: Fire Ball!" "Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bomb!"
...
Itachi Uchiha took a breath and released more than a dozen Fire Release ninjutsu. As expected of an Anbu ninja, Ren secretly estimated in his heart. His current strength should be close to Jōnin level. If coupled with the power of the Mangekyo Sharingan, it wouldn't be a problem for him to kill three or four Jōnin instantly. His strength could be said to be very terrifying. And this year, Itachi Uchiha was only 13 years old. A truly talented young man.
But Ren was confident that when he reached that age, his own strength would definitely be stronger than the current Itachi Uchiha!
"Are you kidding me?" Itachi Uchiha's face was extremely dark, and he asked Ren, slightly breathless. It seemed that releasing several B-rank and C-rank Fire Release ninjutsu in one go was gradually becoming a strain on his current strength and chakra reserves. If it weren't for the purpose of uncovering the secret of his brother Shisui's death, how could he agree to help Ren, this little lunatic, do such a thing?
More importantly, Itachi Uchiha didn't understand at all: Fire Release to burn a kunai... What in the world is this for?