"That's not it."
Ren shook his head lightly.
"Kurenai left around two or three in the afternoon. I stayed behind and continued training by myself."
He spoke honestly.
"After all, Hokage-sama mentioned the reward today. I'm pretty interested in it, so I want to try my best to win."
Rin listened quietly.
"Oh… I see."
She nodded gently.
For some reason, the smile on her face became more relaxed—more genuine than before.
"Ren-kun really works hard."
"No wonder your strength improves so quickly."
She clasped her hands behind her back, leaning slightly against the fence.
"Next time I have the chance, I'll ask you for some pointers too."
Then she glanced at the darkening sky.
"But it's getting late today."
"You should go home and eat."
"See you tomorrow!"
Ren nodded with a smile.
"See you tomorrow."
Rin waved lightly and jogged back toward her house.
Her footsteps were light and cheerful.
Ren watched her disappear through the doorway before finally pushing open the gate of his own courtyard.
The moment he stepped inside—
A familiar aroma drifted through the air.
His mother, Aoi, was already cooking dinner.
Ren instinctively touched the thousand-ryo note in his pocket.
The faint soreness in his muscles from a full day of training mixed with the subtle surge of power flowing through his body.
For some reason—
He felt that the beginning of this winter break…
Was turning out pretty great.
---
A Busy Winter Break
The following two weeks passed quickly.
Ren's daily life became incredibly full.
Every night, he went to sleep at 11 PM sharp.
Every morning, he woke up at 7 AM.
The first thing he did was run several laps around Konoha Village as a warm-up.
During those runs, he often ran into Might Duy and his energetic son.
However, Ren didn't rush to complete the goal he had previously agreed upon with Duy—ten laps in ten days.
There was no need to force it.
After all—
Sharpening the axe does not delay chopping wood.
With his current physical condition, Ren could push himself to run ten laps if he forced it.
But doing so would leave him completely exhausted for half the day afterward.
Instead, it was far more efficient to first improve his physical fitness, then attempt the ten-lap challenge later.
So Ren focused on training his body steadily.
---
Daily Training Routine
Every day, Ren spent most of his time at the training grounds.
His training routine followed a strict order.
First:
Transformation Technique
Then:
Clone Technique
Then:
Substitution Technique
Followed by:
Great Fireball Technique
And finally:
Water Release — Rampaging Water Waves Technique
Each technique received around thirty minutes of focused practice.
Between sessions, Ren would rest beneath a large tree and quietly refine his chakra.
These quiet moments of meditation helped stabilize his chakra circulation and improve efficiency.
---
Medical Training
At the same time, Ren continued attending medical training classes.
Since it was winter break, the class schedule had increased.
They now attended two half-day sessions every week.
After each class ended—
Ren, Rin, and Obito would head toward the Naka River.
There, they used a simple fishing net to catch unlucky river fish.
These fish became their experimental "patients."
They took turns attempting to perform Healing Technique on them.
Of course—
Their results varied greatly.
Obito struggled terribly.
He simply couldn't grasp the technique.
Meanwhile, Ren and Rin both managed to successfully condense faint emerald-green chakra at their fingertips.
It was weak.
Very weak.
But it meant they had officially entered the beginner stage of Healing Technique.
As for Obito?
He hadn't learned it at all.
The real reason he joined the medical class was painfully obvious.
He wanted an excuse to spend time near Rin.
---
One afternoon, Obito proudly defended himself.
"This… this is totally normal!"
"Didn't that guy say medical ninjas train like this?"
"The more fish you kill, the better your medical ninjutsu becomes!"
Rin immediately covered her forehead.
Her voice carried helpless frustration.
"First of all, his name was Matsushita, not Matsumoto."
"Second, he's not even a teacher. He's an apprentice just like us."
"And third…"
She glared at Obito.
"Right after he said that, Teacher Jaci scolded him for wasting experimental materials."
"You seriously only remembered that one sentence?!"
Obito blinked.
"Huh?"
Nearby—
Ren nearly lost control of his expression.
Konoha Hospital truly was full of… interesting people.
And Obito?
He was an even bigger treasure.
Following him and Rin to attend lectures was practically a comedy show.
Still—
Obito helped pay for the fishing net and did most of the hard work catching fish.
So Ren didn't complain.
Instead, he simply focused on his own practice.
A faint green glow flickered at his fingertips.
The fish's wounds slowly began to close.
The system's voice echoed in his mind.
---
[Healing Technique: Hmm… although you're learning a bit slowly, your attitude is serious.]
[It's finally starting to look decent.]
[Healing Technique Favorability +2]
---
Kurenai's Private Lessons
Aside from medical training—
Another event filled Ren's schedule.
His private lessons with Kurenai.
Over the course of four training sessions, Ren taught her the taijutsu fundamentals that Hyuga Hizashi had once explained to him.
With the help of the Three Basic Jutsu sisters, he also guided her through chakra control for the basic techniques.
The results were surprisingly good.
By the end of the fourth lesson—
Ren had successfully earned ten thousand ryo in tuition fees.
---
After the final session, Kurenai stood awkwardly in front of him.
Her hands were clasped nervously in front of her.
"Um…"
"Thank you very much for helping me these past few days… Mr. Ren."
She hesitated slightly.
Then spoke again.
"Are you free this afternoon?"
"How about I treat you to dinner at Yakiniku Q?"
"Otherwise… I feel like I've taken too much advantage of you."
Ren laughed softly.
"Next time."
"We're classmates."
"And besides—you already paid."
"There's no advantage being taken."
Then he added gently,
"If you really want to thank me, wait until your grades actually improve."
Kurenai bit her lip.
Then asked quietly,
"…If I encounter something I don't understand later, can I still ask you for guidance?"
After a short pause, she quickly added:
"I'll pay, of course."
Ren nodded.
"You can."
Truthfully—
If teaching students wasn't so troublesome, Ren would have happily recruited several more students like Kurenai.
That way he could earn several times more money.
But even just teaching Kurenai was already quite comfortable.
She had money.
She wasn't troublesome.
And she never clung to him.
Their cooperation had been very pleasant.
---
The First Maxed-Out Favorability
After Kurenai left—
Ren spent the rest of the afternoon completing his daily system tasks.
When he opened the system interface—
His eyes immediately focused on the updated information.
---
[Currently Conquerable Targets]
---
Transformation Technique
Favorability: 100 / 100 (Hearts Connected)
Stage Rewards Obtained: 4
Physique +4
Trait: Lifelike Form
---
Lifelike Form:
Your Transformation Technique has reached a transcendent level.
You can now completely rewrite your appearance.
When transforming, you can perfectly reproduce:
Physical characteristics
Normal sensory abilities
Chakra aura
Body structure
You may even imitate and use non-bloodline abilities of the transformed target.
Note:
Transformation accuracy depends on your familiarity with the target.
The more familiar you are with them, the more perfect the transformation.
---
Ren stared at the system screen.
After more than half a month of effort—
He had finally maxed out his first favorability bar.
And the reward…
Was terrifying.
Originally, the Transformation Technique only allowed perfect disguise.
Now—
It allowed him to replicate another person's abilities.
Of course, Bloodline Limits were excluded.
But even without those—
This ability was still absurdly powerful.
In theory—
Ren could transform into members of various ninja clans and imitate their secret techniques.
For example:
The Ino–Shika–Cho clan techniques
The Inuzuka clan's beast techniques
Many other clan abilities
Because these were secret techniques, not bloodline limits.
Which meant—
They were completely within the range of what Ren could replicate.
Ren slowly closed the system panel.
His heart beat faster.
The true potential of this ability…
Was almost limitless.
And this—
Was only the first maxed-out favorability.
He couldn't help but wonder—
What other terrifying abilities awaited him once the other techniques reached Hearts Connected.
The future suddenly looked far more exciting.
--------------------------------
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