"Sense the power of nature with your heart…?"
At that moment, little Sasuke's tiny brain filled with huge confusion.
Was that… actually possible?
Instinctively, he looked at the lightning in Ren's hand.
The desire in his eyes flared.
Bzzzt.
But the lightning was far too dazzling. After only a few seconds, Sasuke's eyes started to sting, forcing him to turn his head away.
And yet—
His hunger for that power only grew stronger.
Seeing this, Ren raised an eyebrow and asked with a grin, "Want it?"
Sasuke nodded. "I do!"
"Want to become the god who commands lightning in Konoha?"
Sasuke nodded harder. "I do!"
"Then shout it!"
Sasuke went wild with enthusiasm. "I want to become the Lightning Dharma Ki—"
CLANG!
At that exact moment, the bedroom door yanked open.
A bamboo rod engraved with Seven Wolves came flying out like a guided missile—
And smacked Sasuke square on the butt.
"YOU WANT WHAT?! Sasuke, are you trying to rebel this early in the morning?!"
Fugaku's voice came from inside, tightly suppressed rage vibrating in every syllable.
You could tell the Uchiha clan head was in a truly horrific mood—
Like he'd been in the middle of something… and got scared so badly he'd flinched.
Instantly ruined.
Nothing left but fury.
BANG!
The door slammed shut again.
Outside, the brothers stared at each other.
Ren looked at Sasuke with genuine concern. "Did… did the Dharma King path just get cut off at the roots?"
Clearly, Ren had underestimated what "emotionally stable" really meant.
Sasuke calmly patted his butt.
Through the gap in his clothes, Ren could see two swollen red welts rising fast.
That strike had not been gentle.
But Sasuke acted like he couldn't feel it at all.
Instead, the fire in his eyes burned hotter—climbing, climbing.
"Sense the lightning of nature…"
"If it's nature, then it has to be… a thunderstorm… or somewhere high off the ground…"
With that thought, he slowly turned his gaze toward the thickest tree outside the yard.
If he could sense lightning and master Lightning Release, he'd make Ren kneel and beg.
No more hesitation.
Sasuke jumped and started climbing.
And because Ren had gotten involved early, Sasuke had been training with Fugaku ahead of schedule.
He'd picked up quite a few skills.
For example—
Konoha's mandatory curriculum: tree-walking.
Tap-tap-tap.
Three steps turned into a sprint. Sasuke ran up the trunk like it was flat ground.
And then—
He saw two mysterious figures wearing cat-faced masks.
Six eyes met.
Sasuke's eyes lit up even brighter. "You guys are here to feel lightning too?! I knew my idea was right!"
"Hahahahaha! I, Lightning Dharma King Sasuke, have arrived!"
He charged to the treetop and threw his arms wide, embracing nature—
Moving with the nimble efficiency of a feral little gremlin with a bad haircut.
Hidden in the branches, two ANBU agents who'd been dozing jolted awake in alarm.
But now, with their report book and pen in hand…
They hesitated.
One whispered, "How do we write this? Are we seriously going to fail our first mission after returning to logistics?"
"We can't fail," the other hissed. "Over fifty surveillance seniors failed before us—we have to succeed!"
After a long pause, his gaze hardened with resolve.
"Write this: 'Uchiha clan head's third son suffered sudden illness at dawn.'"
"…Or should we add: 'The Uchiha are all insane'?"
Just then, a voice spoke beside them.
Both ANBU flinched hard.
They turned—
And saw that at some point, a person had appeared beneath the tree.
Silent.
And far too close.
The two ANBU agents' hearts nearly stopped.
When?
When did this kid get up here?!
They exchanged glances and silently blamed themselves.
"We got distracted by whatever the hell that was just now."
Then they faced Ren and gave an awkward wave.
"What a coincidence, Second Young Master."
…Newbies?
Fresh, innocent rookies?!
The instant they greeted him, Ren's lowered eyes gleamed with excitement.
For six years, none of the ANBU assigned to monitor him lasted longer than three months.
Not one of them ever greeted him first.
Eventually, most of them would take one look at him and immediately flee like their life depended on it.
But these two?
Not only did they not run—
They said hello.
Ren's grin widened inside.
"Well then. Don't mind if I do."
"This time I'm going to harvest slowly—sustainable farming, you know?"
He rubbed his hands together, then looked up with a rare, shy smile.
Under his deliberate control, blood rushed to his face.
In moments, his cheeks flushed pink, the color spreading all the way to his ears.
Watching him, the two former undercover ANBU could only shake their heads.
"Who would've thought the Uchiha could produce such a cute kid…"
Ten minutes later, Ren hopped down from the tree, deeply satisfied.
He now had two more green traits.
[After ten minutes of conversation, successfully copied Elite Trait: Light as a Swallow (Green) ×2.]
As expected—rookies were easy.
Ren chuckled and immediately said, "Fuse them into Swift Light Dash!"
Back when it was still blue-tier, Swift Light Dash had devoured no fewer than ten Light as a Swallow and thirty Nimble over the years.
But it never changed.
Sure, he could feel improvements—movement, reaction speed, stamina—
Yet the trait itself stayed stubbornly the same.
This time, though—right as he was pondering—
The prompt suddenly changed.
[Stacking… Congratulations, host, you have obtained Epic Trait: Phantom Without a Trace (Purple).]
[Flexibility 75% → 100%. Speed 75% → 100%.]
[Bonus effect: Spend 1,000 chakra to generate an afterimage in place. After 1 second, the afterimage can be detonated. Explosion power depends on chakra consumed.]
Ren's dark eyes brightened again.
Flexibility doubled. Speed doubled.
Those were base stats.
Nothing beats base stats.
And—
His attention snapped to the final line.
"Bonus effect… are you sure this 'afterimage' isn't basically leaving behind a suicidal maniac?"
"If I dump enough chakra into it… this is basically a self-destruct truck."
BOOM!
Right then, a massive thunderclap exploded overhead.
The sudden sound startled Ren badly.
He whipped his head up—
And finally understood what was happening.
The boy in the blue high-collared shirt was standing with arms wide, facing the sky and yelling like a madman.
And above Sasuke's head—
A bolt of lightning was gathering.
Ren's eyes widened in disbelief.
"…No way."
"Did he seriously… Call down lightning?!"
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