Rustle.
The wind swept past the second-floor house, leaving only the soft whisper of leaves.
No other sound.
"…Was that just my imagination?"
Ren murmured, his eyes narrowing suspiciously at the dense canopy of branches.
Whooo—
The night wind carried the distant roar of pine trees from the back hills of Konoha, brushing across the roof and settling against a crooked old tree near the door.
Ren stood in front of the shabby two-story house, one hand carrying two large trash bags.
His gaze was locked on that crooked tree about twenty meters away.
Light flowed faintly in his pupils.
Dynamic Vision — activated.
Whoosh—
The wind grew stronger.
Between the branches twenty meters away, a strand of silvery hair swayed gently in the night breeze — like moonlight spun into spider silk.
"So it really is the white-haired ANBU… Kakashi-senpai."
Ren smiled and casually lifted the trash bags as he greeted him.
Crack.
Up in the treetop, the figure's relaxed muscles tensed slightly.
"You recognized me?"
Behind the mask, Kakashi swallowed. A trace of amusement surfaced in his exposed single eye.
"I didn't expect Konoha to produce such an interesting kid after all these years."
Thinking that, he pushed aside the branches and leaned out to take a closer look.
The moment he exposed himself—
He got instantly roasted.
"So, Kakashi-senpai, don't you think you should teach this kid that expired milk can't be drunk, and that eating only instant noodles isn't healthy?"
Ren shook the two trash bags in his hands, dumping a massive moral bomb straight onto Kakashi's head.
Crack.
A dry leaf snapped.
Kakashi froze in place, his expression shifting repeatedly.
Guilt and self-blame slowly surfaced.
Truth be told, from the haze after losing his teammates, to numbing himself by slaughtering enemies on the battlefield, Kakashi had once been completely lost.
Thankfully, his laziness and apathy had eventually dragged him back from the brink.
But…
That lazy personality never really changed.
Now that it had been exposed so bluntly, a thought surfaced in his mind:
If Sensei Minato knew his child was living like this… he'd probably be disappointed in me.
Unconsciously, Kakashi halted the step he was about to take.
He didn't want to show himself.
Or rather — he didn't dare.
He couldn't bring himself to face that face below.
Little Naruto really did resemble Minato-sensei so much…
With a flick of his hand, he sliced through nearby leaves, revealing two ANBU hidden inside.
The two ANBU who were casually eating meatballs while watching the show:
"???"
Wait — Kakashi-senpai?!
Their movements stiffened.
Instinctively, they turned toward the window.
Six eyes met.
"Oh! Isn't that the cat-face uncle who used to spy on my house every day last month?"
Ren's voice rose excitedly when he recognized the familiar outfit beneath the mask.
"Why didn't you come this month? The new cat-face uncle is mute — he doesn't say a single word!"
"Just goes 'ah ba ah ba' all day…"
Snap.
Both ANBU froze solid.
Especially one of them — his mask cracked with a pop, revealing a pale face underneath.
He was about to cry.
When he was monitoring the Uchiha clan, this little demon chatted with him nonstop in the trees like he was some kind of monkey!
To make him talk more, this cursed Uchiha kid even bribed him with bananas.
Bananas!
Did he really look like a monkey?!
He was a chūnin with dignity, okay?!
After enduring this humiliation for two and a half years, he finally applied for reassignment.
And now this?!
The buzzing in his head reached a breaking point.
He finally snapped:
"Shut up!"
"I already transferred positions — why do I still run into you?!"
"Damn it! I get paid peanuts for this job — why should I risk my life?!"
He turned and bolted.
The other ANBU hesitated for a moment… then quietly followed.
After all, with Kakashi-senpai here, their presence didn't matter anyway.
Kakashi: "..."
"As ANBU, getting scared off by a kid… tch, too impulsive, youngsters."
He sneered lightly and was about to chase them back.
But just then, Ren's voice came again from the window:
"Kakashi-senpai… you wouldn't want this getting back to your teacher, right?"
Crack.
Another branch snapped.
Kakashi sighed and stopped.
His silver hair peeked out from the leaves once more.
Suspicion filled his gaze.
Who exactly is this kid?
A five- or six-year-old who knew this much — even his personal secrets?!
Something was very wrong.
Could the Uchiha clan really be hiding something?
Maybe chatting with this kid might reveal something interesting.
Thinking this way, Kakashi felt even more disdain toward the two ANBU who had fled.
A perfect chance to openly gather intel — and they ran.
"Tsk. Kids these days are way too impatient."
He shook his head and stood upright on the tree branch.
"Relax." Ren sat cross-legged on the window ledge, casually playing with the breeze.
"I just wanted to ask, Kakashi-senpai — when you use Earth Style: Earth Wall, do you really have to carve a dog's head into it every time?"
Kakashi: I kind of want to leave now.
…
Three minutes later, Kakashi's brows twitched.
[Conversation Target: Hatake Kakashi]
[Analyzing copyable traits…]
[Weak Constitution (Black), Sharingan – Fragment (Purple), Fire Release Mastery (Blue), Water Release Mastery (Blue), Lightning Release Mastery (Blue), Earth Release Mastery (Blue), Taijutsu Mastery (Blue), Genjutsu Mastery (Blue)…]
"Whoa… so this is the so-called 'Little Jiraiya' — the six-stat monster, Kakashi."
Ren was honestly surprised when he saw the results.
Even though he knew Kakashi was famous as the Copy Ninja, seeing a lineup of masteries right out of the gate was still shocking.
Sure, the Sharingan contributed — but definitely not all of it.
Otherwise, why did most Uchiha only specialize in Fire Release?
Was it because they didn't want to master other elements?
Of course not.
With this many high-quality traits, even randomly copying one should yield something great.
There was no way he'd pull something like "Weak Constitution," right?
Ren refused to believe his luck was that bad.
If he managed to copy something like Chidori or Lightning Cutter instead, that would be even better.
Anticipation bubbled inside him.
"Looks like I'll need to chat with Kakashi more often."
Ren's gaze toward Kakashi was now filled with excitement.
Ten minutes passed.
Kakashi rubbed his temples, feeling mentally exhausted.
He had planned to gather intelligence.
Instead, this kid just kept rambling nonsense — and stabbing straight at emotional weak points.
Sure, kids spoke without restraint…
…but this was too much!
It felt like someone repeatedly stabbing him in the heart with a knife.
If Ren weren't a child, Kakashi might've already shoved a kunai into that mouth.
[Conversation with Hatake Kakashi reached 10 minutes. Attempting trait copy…]
[Copy successful! Congratulations — you have obtained the Special Trait: Thousand Years of Pain (Black).]
Effect: Attacking sensitive areas with a special posture often produces miraculous results.
Ren's smile froze.
…Yeah, but he didn't need this at all.
Was he supposed to:
Sneak around with Weak Presence,
Blink around with Flying Thunder God,
And then finish enemies off with Thousand Years of Pain?
Teleport behind someone — poke?
Whoever lifts off gets poked?
"…Should I just fuse it?"
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