Sorrowblade!
Ren's eyes lit up. Another great loadout had dropped.
Among the fifty-plus loadouts he had already collected, this one might not rank top twenty in raw power, but in style it was easily top five.
Sorrowblade is the core figure from a martial-arts trilogy often rendered as Gentle Blade, Fury Draw, and Little Sorrow Arrow.
His martial skill is absurdly eclectic and refined. In a certain famous duel, he strung together thirty-seven consecutive techniques, each from a different school, no repeats, and each more powerful and inventive than the last.
Sorrowblade's mastery would further enrich and complete Ren's martial database.
Most importantly, Sorrowblade's signature arts, Twenty-Four Seasons Godshock Point and Three-Finger Skyshot, are stylish, moves that look great, with names that sound great.
Twenty-Four Seasons Godshock Point consists of twenty-four forms, balanced for attack and defense, each named after a seasonal term. Three-Finger Skyshot is the secret essence of the Godshock Point, composed of three forms: Bane Break, Dreamshock, and Nemesis.
Until now, Ren had not rolled any loadout that granted a strong, attack-focused finger technique that was both stylish and potent.
He had once rolled a loadout inspired by a gentleman-thief whose signature was a one-finger parry. That finger technique is indeed powerful, but it is fundamentally defensive, and in the shinobi world it is too limited. You can pinch blades and darts, sure, but how do you pinch ninjutsu?
Sorrowblade fills Ren's gap in offensive finger techniques.
Ren applied the Sorrowblade loadout without a word. All of Sorrowblade's martial mastery and understanding poured into his mind.
Sorrowblade's physical talent stacked onto Ren, which nudged his already-superhuman shinobi physique a bit higher. His chakra reserves and inner power climbed as well.
Sigh.
When will I stack my body to the level of Hashirama Senju? Feeling his strength inch forward again, Ren could not help wanting more.
"Ren, there is one more thing."
Kurenai leaned in. "Dad and Minato agreed that if either Asuma or Obito passes this chunin exam, there will be a celebration at the barbecue shop tomorrow.
Will you come?"
Hope filled the girl's eyes.
Kurenai's father, Yuuhi Shinku, is their team captain, firmly aligned with the Hokage.
A mixer with Minato's squad, huh.
"Of course I will. Why would I not?"
Ren perked up.
Compared to twelve and thirteen-year-olds like Kakashi and Asuma, sixteen-year-old Ren has more in common with twenty-two-year-old Minato. They get along better and have more to talk about.
Ren's body flicker was learned from Minato, after all.
Yes, Minato is also one of Ren's friends. As a social butterfly of the shinobi world, a little Lord Mengchang of the Leaf, it would be weird if Ren and Minato were not friends.
"By the way, did Minato just fight the AB brothers from the Hidden Cloud on the border?"
Ren tried to recall.
The Third Great Ninja War is not heavily depicted in the main Naruto plot, but he remembered that Minato's battle with the Cloud's AB brothers is counted as part of that war.
Which means the Leaf is about to be dragged into the war machine again, does it not?
Poor bones piling into lonely graves, all to feed a general's quest for glory.
Ren felt a little wistful, though not afraid. Many could still beat him, perhaps, but those who could deny him even the chance to retreat were fewer than five.
"Konoha villagers are already spreading Minato-sensei's name," Kurenai said. "He defeated the AB brothers alone. The Hidden Cloud calls him the Yellow Flash."
Kurenai paused, then glanced at Ren, adding, "Of course, you are amazing too. I believe that one day you will be like Minato-sensei, a ninja whose power shakes the whole shinobi world."
Like Minato Namikaze, huh?
Ren nodded slightly. If he went all out, he might not be any worse than Minato.
On ninja fundamentals, thanks to a body dozens of times stronger than an ordinary shinobi's, Ren's chakra reserves are at least triple Minato's.
He is above standard in the Uchiha basics, Lightning Release, Fire Release, and tool mastery.
On martial arts, his main inner skill is the Bright Jade method, one of the four pillars of a certain wuxia tradition. Using the compounded mastery from fifty-plus masters and more than 1,200 years of refined inner power, he extrapolated this originally nine-tier method and trained it up to tier thirteen.
Sword, fist, palm, leg, he is proficient across the board.
Most importantly, chakra and inner power, two different systems, can stack like chakra and nature energy, fusing into a new energy Ren calls true-qi chakra.
Inner power cannot efficiently drive native shinobi ninjutsu and taijutsu, but true-qi chakra can. Chakra cannot efficiently drive traditional martial techniques, but true-qi chakra can.
His composite physique is twenty to thirty times that of a typical shinobi, including meridian quality and toughness—yes, shinobi have meridians in this world. His meridians are strong enough to handle high-output true-qi chakra.
With the two systems stacked, if Ren went all out, a fifty-fifty with Minato looks very likely.
But Ren also knew that if they truly fought to the death, it would not be fifty-fifty. The fight would end very fast.
Not because they lack stamina, but because both favor aggressive offense, both are fast, and both are excellent at seizing openings.
A tiny mistake decides the outcome.
Besides, why would he fight Minato to the death?
While Ren pondered, Kakashi and Obito also finished their match. Obito's attempt to challenge Kakashi was crushed once again.
Kakashi looked over at Ren.
"Do you want to challenge me too?" Ren rolled his shoulders, eager.
Having just unlocked Sorrowblade, he wanted someone to test the power of the Twenty-Four Seasons Godshock Point.
"Hmph."
Knowing the gap is too large, Kakashi did not bring shame upon himself. With a proud little snort, he turned away. "Do not forget tomorrow night's celebration."
After chatting a few more lines with Kurenai and the others, Ren packed up and headed home.
When the sun went down, his scheduled slacking time ended. Ren began a quiet grind, refining and perfecting the newly acquired Godshock Point and Three-Finger Skyshot.
Sorrowblade's signature arts are strong enough, but with fifty-plus masters' combined understanding, Ren still saw room to improve.
He also needed to study how to combine this stylish finger art with shinobi taijutsu and genjutsu, so that, driven by true-qi chakra, it could explode with even greater power.
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