Ren, of course, had no idea that Akatsuki was preparing to strike Konoha—or that the masked man, Uchiha Obito, had already begun cooperating with Orochimaru.
But even if Ren did know, he wouldn't have cared.
Just as Akatsuki believed Konoha's rise threatened them, Ren understood the same truth from the opposite side: as Konoha continued to grow, whether it was the Four Great Villages or Akatsuki, they would all become the biggest obstacles on his road to success.
Konoha Year 56.
After the First Hokage carried out large-scale reforestation, the Land of Fire's development finally stabilized and entered a proper track. And under the series of policies pushed through by the "God of the Shinobi World," Uchiha Ren, Konoha stepped into a rare era of rapid growth.
Perhaps out of fear of the Fifth Hokage's overwhelming presence, Sunagakure, Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and Kirigakure all signed a series of unequal agreements and fell into a period of cautious dormancy.
Under those circumstances, Konoha's momentum in the shinobi world became unrivaled. Its overall strength increased at a pace plain to see—rising, expanding, and consolidating with every passing day.
Within Konoha, the major clans flourished. The younger generation of shinobi entered an era of fierce competition and explosive talent—like a hundred flowers blooming at once.
Konoha.
Inside the Hokage's Office, Uchiha Ren sat behind the desk, brows drawn tight.
Stacks of documents were piled high—mission summaries, development reports, clan petitions, logistics sheets, and budget drafts. Ink dried in the corners of too many pages. The air carried the faint bite of fresh paper and sealing wax, layered over the steady, quiet pressure of responsibility.
These past few days, he'd poured himself into Konoha's development until it felt like his head might split.
If he was being honest, he wasn't a qualified Hokage.
Other than strength, he had little interest in politics. But since he had already taken the seat, he had to do something with it. He couldn't simply sit here like a symbol and leave everything to drift.
Just like the Sage of Six Paths—even after "dying," the shinobi world still passed down countless legends about him: the founder of Ninshū, revered as the "Progenitor of Shinobi," the "God of Shinobi," and more besides.
"In the end…" Ren's gaze lowered, unfocused for a moment. "The shinobi world is just the Ōtsutsuki clan fighting among themselves…"
After a long while, he lifted his teacup and took a slow sip. The heat ran down his throat, but it didn't ease the chill in his thoughts.
"If I want to break the Ōtsutsuki monopoly over this world," he murmured, "I have to develop a new path of cultivation—not something limited to chakra alone."
His eyes narrowed.
"More importantly… chakra itself isn't even safe. In the end, it gets reclaimed by the God Tree."
He set the teacup down with a soft click. His gaze darkened, steady and cold.
"Shinobi are basically nothing more than vessels waiting to be harvested."
The thought left Ren's expression shifting for a brief moment—subtle, unsettled—before it flattened again into quiet composure. He leaned back slightly, sinking into contemplation.
As things stood, after years of continuous sign-ins, his strength had been rising steadily. He'd already reached the point where, below the level of Six Paths, he was essentially invincible.
But that still wasn't enough.
At the very least, he needed to reach the Six Paths tier before he could truly qualify to sit at the board as a player, rather than remain a piece that could be moved—or crushed—by forces above him.
And beyond that…
Ren carried another ambition.
He wanted to overturn the shinobi world that the Sage of Six Paths had built—to completely shatter the Ōtsutsuki clan's oppressive, absolute control.
If he could flip the entire shinobi world upside down, then no matter how powerful they were—Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, Ōtsutsuki Hamura, Ōtsutsuki Momoshiki, Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo, Ōtsutsuki Urashiki…
They would all kneel.
"A single spark can start a prairie fire," Ren said quietly. His fingers tapped once against the desk, the sound small in the silence. "If I'm the Fifth Hokage, then Konoha can be my testing ground…"
A moment later, Ren's eyes hardened.
At last, he made his decision.
There was nothing else to say.
The story had already been completely thrown off course. He hadn't just become the newly crowned "God of the Shinobi World"—he had taken the Hokage's seat as well.
So he would go big.
While continuing to grow stronger through sign-ins, he would see if he could push a true revolution across the shinobi world.
"System," Ren exhaled slowly. "Show me my latest status panel."
Ding… User status panel generating!
Ding… Status panel generated!
Status Panel
User: Uchiha Ren
Age: 20
Permanent Sign-In Region: Shinobi World
Major Rewards Obtained:
Whitebeard Template [100%]
Six Powers (Mastered)
Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation
Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu (Forbidden Jutsu)
Observation Haki (Top-tier)
Armament Haki (Top-tier)
Conqueror's Haki (Top-tier)
Hashirama Senju Sage Body (Fused)
Supreme Grade Blade (one of the Twelve): Murakumogiri
Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Palm — Rotation
Lightning Chakra Mode
Chidori
Rasengan
Hand Seal-Free Healing
Sealing Technique: Reaper Death Seal
Five Release: Great Barrage Jutsu
Moon Breathing
Sun Breathing
…
Next sign-in location: Amegakure (Hidden Rain Village) (Unactivated)
Sign-in time: 1 minute
(Note: Signing in at refreshed locations yields exceptional rewards.)
After Konoha's ten-year sign-in period ended, Ren set his permanent sign-in region to the entire shinobi world so he could conveniently sign in across different locations.
As for why Amegakure (Hidden Rain Village) remained unactivated—
According to the system, it was because the Hidden Rain was not yet within Ren's sphere of rule.
"At present…" Ren scanned the panel quickly, then nodded in thought. "I can develop two training systems."
"One built around the three types of Haki as a taijutsu-centered path."
"And the other is the Breathing Styles."
Haki came from one world. The Breathing Styles came from another. Each had its own strengths and weaknesses, and neither relied on chakra in the same way shinobi did.
Ren had learned the Breathing Styles long ago, but he rarely used them.
For him, at this point, they didn't offer much.
But what wasn't useful to him didn't mean it was useless to others.
If Konoha could add two completely different training systems… it could encompass the entire shinobi world…
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