That afternoon.
After strolling around the capital of the Land of Fire and experiencing the customs that differed greatly from Konoha, a ninja village—
Ren returned to the inn.
"Tch… I might as well train some taijutsu."
Seeing that Tsunade and Shizune still hadn't returned,
Ren, whose stamina was full and whose chakra had completely recovered, had no intention of resting.
Instead, he activated his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan once again.
He directly used the ocular technique Ōnamuchi.
And entered the Netherworld Space.
"Wood Clone Technique!"
Two wooden figures emerged from Ren's body.
At a speed visible to the naked eye,
They transformed into two lifelike wood clones.
Ren's eyes burned with fighting spirit.
Without hesitation, he spoke to the two clones—each containing one-third of his chakra and nearly equal to the original body.
"From now on, attack me with full strength using taijutsu. Don't hold back."
He wasn't in a hurry to swallow everything in one bite.
Those ninjutsu could be mastered slowly.
With his talent, it wouldn't take long to learn them all.
But his taijutsu could not fall behind either.
He wanted to develop in every aspect.
He clearly remembered—
In the original timeline,
When Might Guy opened the Eight Gates Formation,
The overwhelming might of his punches and kicks that could even distort space.
It had left a deep impression on him.
The power of taijutsu could not be ignored.
Although Might Guy had only reached that level by risking his life and opening the Eight Gates Formation—
Burning his life force and blood vitality to gain that fleeting yet terrifying power—
But that also meant something else.
If one's body and vitality were strong enough,
And their taijutsu was trained to the extreme,
Then even without opening a forbidden technique like the Eight Gates,
Reaching that level might not be impossible.
And Ren—
Who possessed perfect Yang Release, extraordinary vitality, monstrous recovery ability, and a physique far stronger than ordinary people—
Just happened to have the potential to achieve this.
Ren firmly believed that as long as he continued tempering his body and pushing himself,
One day he might reach a level where his normal-state taijutsu could rival—or even surpass—Might Guy with all Eight Gates opened.
Ordinary physical training was necessary.
But real growth required time and persistence.
However—
Intense combat was the best catalyst for sharpening taijutsu.
If there were no opponents—
Then he would create them himself.
If they were limited to taijutsu alone,
A single wood clone holding half his chakra might not surpass the original body.
But two wood clones—
Each with one-third of his chakra—
Together were far more than the sum of their parts.
In pure taijutsu,
They were more than enough to overwhelm him and give him maximum pressure.
After all,
No one understood him better than himself.
The clones shared nearly identical thinking and techniques with the original.
Maybe not a perfect one hundred percent match—
But close enough.
Only by pushing himself into desperation
Could he break through his limits under extreme pressure
And achieve true growth.
"Well then… sorry about this, original body."
"Beating yourself up… that's ruthless."
The two wood clones couldn't help but complain.
But they immediately activated their Sharingan.
And showed absolutely no mercy.
Both of them charged forward.
Clone No.1 dashed forward first.
His Monster Strength Fist, infused with chakra,
Slammed toward the original body.
Ren felt the hairs on his body stand on end.
Relying on the Sharingan's incredible dynamic vision,
He instantly predicted the clone's movement and reacted.
He tilted his head sharply to dodge.
At the same time—
His knee shot upward.
Blocking the sweeping kick from Clone No.2.
In the next instant,
A vicious elbow strike slammed toward Clone No.1.
But the two wood clones—
Both possessing Sharingan and taijutsu nearly identical to the original—
Were not so easy to suppress.
"Bang!"
Clone No.1 blocked Ren's elbow strike.
At the same time,
A right hook slammed directly into Ren's abdomen.
Because he was still guarding against Clone No.2,
He couldn't dodge in time.
His eyes bulged.
Blood burst from his mouth as his body was sent flying like a cannonball.
"Boom!"
His crossed arms barely blocked the incoming kick.
But the monstrous force still numbed his arms.
Even though he tried to disperse the terrifying strength of both clones,
His body was dragged across the ground for more than ten meters.
"As expected… I'm still far from enough."
With a stubborn and determined expression,
Ren stabilized himself.
Thanks to his astonishing recovery ability,
He looked almost fine.
Without hesitation, he rushed forward again.
"Again!"
"Bang! Bang!"
"This level isn't enough—again!!"
"Bang bang! Bang bang!"
"AAAAHHHH!"
Inside the Netherworld Space,
The sounds of fighting and cries echoed endlessly.
The scene was brutal.
A completely unequal battle.
Ren's face became swollen and bruised.
He looked utterly miserable.
Again and again he was knocked down.
Yet he kept struggling back to his feet.
Before he realized it,
His body was already covered in blood.
But he showed no intention of stopping.
Gritting his teeth,
He continued fighting his two wood clones.
To temper himself to the fullest,
He had placed no restrictions on the battle.
Even the Sharingan and Monster Strength Fist were allowed.
With his monstrous recovery ability
And the steadily improving medical ninjutsu he learned from Tsunade,
He wasn't worried about receiving fatal injuries.
He had even deliberately suppressed the elemental transformation of the Mori Mori Fruit.
All for the sake of training his foundational taijutsu and increasing his combat power.
Perhaps—
If he simply followed Tsunade and grew comfortably step by step,
Even future monsters like Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha might not surpass him.
But in Ren's eyes—
That was far from enough.
His enemies had never been the Hokage.
Nor the leader of Root.
Nor even the Akatsuki.
His enemies were—
Uchiha Madara.
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
Ōtsutsuki Momoshiki.
Ōtsutsuki Kinshiki.
Ōtsutsuki Isshiki.
And perhaps even the mysterious and unfathomable Ōtsutsuki Clan that existed on distant planets.
Or even the most mysterious being—
The one rumored to have evolved into the true Ōtsutsuki God.
Ōtsutsuki Shibai.
Saving the world had nothing to do with him.
All he wanted—
Was to rely on his talent and effort
To surpass the legendary Ōtsutsuki God.
That was Ren's true ambition.
After obtaining the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan
And gaining the ability to open the Netherworld Space through Ōnamuchi,
Ren—who had previously restrained himself inside the village due to his young age and lack of self-protection—
Finally let go of all his concerns.
Here,
He could train with his full strength.
Without restraint.
Even battling his own wood clones like today—
Fighting to the brink just to temper his taijutsu.
For Ren,
This was only the beginning.
…
----------------◇ Bonus Chapter Reward◇--------------------
Every 10 Reviews = 1 Bonus Chapter
◇ Every 100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
◇ You can read 60 chapters ahead on Patreon if you're interested:
patreon.com/Luna023
Your support helps the story grow and motivates faster updates.