{Alt Title:- Sword Princess Returns, Demands Fictional Romance}
The Village Hidden in the Leaves was bustling as spring returned, shedding the lingering cold of the long winter. This winter had been special, all five great nations had signed the peace treaty, as the leaf and cloud had the last of their altercation last year and were done for now.
Fragile as it may have been, for now, the world was at rest. Life moved on under the warm sun and blooming trees, and the villagers, for once, lived without looming dread.
Up in the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi stood by the window, pipe in hand, watching the village return to color. The scent of smoke mixed with fresh air as an ANBU agent flickered into the room and kneeled.
"Report," Hiruzen said, not turning from the view.
"Uzumaki Naruto has started pranking villagers. He was caught quickly, but before the villagers could do anything, Dog intervened."
Hiruzen exhaled slowly, his expression turning complicated. "Let him be."
The ANBU gave no comment and continued. "The exchange team from the Iron Capital is expected to return shortly."
Hiruzen nodded, puffing his pipe again. 'So the extended program finally ends. Sayo really let them overstay, though it was clearly for Utakata's little kunoichi.' He thought lightly. 'Still, it's good. Team 1's network outside the village will be vital. They'll be the foundation Ren needs, when the time comes.'
"Escort them to me when they arrive."
With a nod, the ANBU flickered away.
In the basement of Ren's house.
Ren sat shirtless, his back exposed as a shadow clone knelt behind him, carving seals with precise, fluid strokes down the length of his spine. Once the last stroke was made, the clone dissipated in a puff, and Ren slowly stood.
He stretched once, rolling his neck. Then he stood still. One breath. Another.
And then,
[Gate of Opening]
[Gate of Healing]
[Gate of Life]
The chakra surged through him like a dam bursting open. Sealing patterns glowed faintly on his forehead, pulsing down his neck and chest before spreading along his back, tracing the newly inked lines like veins of light. Two parallel lines, carved with sealwork, flared along his spine like a furnace being lit.
Then, in a blur, Ren moved.
In less than a second, he was across the room, smashing the reinforced tiles beneath his feet with a single chakra-enhanced punch. Another blur, another section collapsed. He launched from wall to wall, fists slamming and displacing air with shockwaves.
He stopped only after hammering a final strike into the dummy at the far end of the basement. The ground cracked. A visible ripple spread from the impact point, yet the dummy stood still, untouched.
Ren exhaled, closing the gates as the glow receded. "Looks like I made this dummy way too resilient," he muttered, inspecting the glyph etched into the training construct, a network of absorption seals that redirected force into the ground.
'It's a pity these seals can't be used on people,' Ren snickered to himself. 'An army of indestructible dummies sounds hilarious.'
He sat cross-legged near the scorched tiles and reflected on the path so far.
'The third gate was easier than the second. But the next few won't be so kind.'
The second gate, the Gate of Healing was located in the brain, like the first. But where the first simply unlocked full muscle capacity, the second enhanced stamina by pumping blood more effectively. Controlling that flow without bursting vessels required a self-made blood regulation seal.
The third, Gate of Life, rode along the spinal cord. It pushed blood flow into overdrive, overheating the body. To counter that, he'd adapted cooling seals, reworking them for internal use. Since no original formula had to be made, the third had come easier.
Still, each gate demanded more than raw chakra. It demanded insight. Control. Refinement.
'At this point, I should be able to handle anyone below S-rank without too much trouble. Though some canon Might give me some trouble'
He opened his system panel and looked at the progress:
[NAME]: Ren Takahashi
[LEVEL]: 60 (53 → 60)
[ATTRIBUTES]
Strength: 60 (53 → 60)
Agility: 67 (60 → 67)
Intelligence: 69 (65 → 69)
Vitality: 79
Chakra: 79
[TALENTS : IMPROVED CHAKRA CONTROL, ENHANCED REFLEXES (EX), GENJUTSU RESISTANCE (A-RANK)]
[MASTERY PANEL]
Wind Style Mastery - 64% (Intermediate) (78 → 53 → 64)
Earth Style Mastery - 78% (Advanced) (74 → 78)
Chakra Enhancement Mastery - 73% (Intermediate) (66 → 73)
Chakra Control - 86% (Advanced) (84 → 86)
Fuinjutsu Mastery - 44% (Basic) (36 → 44)
Yang Release Mastery - 34% (Basic) (28 → 34)
Fire Release Mastery - 59% (Intermediate) (51 → 59)
Space Release Mastery - 35% (Basic) (32 → 35)
Iryojutsu Mastery - 50% (Basic) (39 → 50)
Lightning Release Mastery - 25% (Beginner) (5 → 25)
[MASTERY POINTS]
8 Intermediate Level Points
10 Advanced Level Points
2 Master Level Points
[NINJA PANEL]
Ninjutsu: 67/100 (60 → 67)
Taijutsu: 69/100 (62 → 69)
Genjutsu: 50/100 (43 → 50)
Fuinjutsu: 44/100 (36 → 44)
Ren nodded to himself as he saw the numbers. 'The wind mastery is slowly stabilizing again, atleast now I can make the Rasenshuriken again, chakra control's growing slowly, and lightning release' he paused, 'well, that one's still garbage.'
He chuckled under his breath.
Once Ren was done assessing his stats, he looked around at the ruined basement and groaned. 'Oh man, I really should've gone to the forest. At least I wouldn't be responsible for the destruction and repairs. Now I have to fix this.' He sighed as he walked out, still grumbling.
'Next time I test something, I'm definitely heading to the forest. Let people see if they do, at least I won't have to clean up the mess afterward.'
A few hours later, Ren was at Training Ground One, chatting with Hitoshi while they waited for Yugao. Utakata had informed them earlier that she would be returning today.
'It's good that she's coming back. We'll finally start taking normal missions again.' Ren thought. During Yugao's stay in the Iron Capital, Team 1's missions had slowed. Most of what they did involved supporting ANBU squads on local assignments, and they hadn't been anywhere near the border.
Ren had wanted to ask why, but he figured it was part of Utakata's plan. Their first year as a team had been packed with more chaos than most Genin ever experienced.
Still, Ren was getting bored. And more than that, he wasn't gaining much from the low-tier missions anymore. C-ranks gave him nothing now, and B-ranks only awarded around five to six points at best. Only A-rank missions gave him a full jonin-level point.
That said, while his physical stats hadn't skyrocketed lately, his mastery progress in various fields had been decent, thanks to the extended stay in the village.
His thoughts were interrupted as someone entered the training field. 'Oh, she's here.' He looked up, then raised an eyebrow. A glance at Hitoshi showed even the Aburame was wearing a puzzled expression.
Yugao walked toward them with the wind brushing her high-tied purple ponytail. Her katana sat on her hip, and she had a strange sort of aura around her. Her steps were measured, her posture confident.
When she reached them, she stopped, struck a slightly dramatic pose, and greeted with a serious tone, "Ren-San. Hitoshi-san."
Ren and Hitoshi exchanged a glance.
Ren nodded, "So, how was your stay in the Iron Capital?" He glanced above her head and noted [Level 46]. 'Yeah, she's definitely stronger than in the canon. Nearly jonin level already and not even thirteen yet.'
Yugao held her sword lightly and spoke in a calm tone, "It was enlightening. The way they worship the sword, how they become one with it… I tried to follow in their footsteps. I think the results speak for themselves."
She raised her head to the sky. "I only wish I could've spent more time with Sayo-Sensei and Master."
Ren stared at her for a few seconds before sighing. "I see. So, you've ascended beyond the common crowd. I guess you won't need these anymore."
He pulled out a green-covered book, 'The Legend of Fang Yuan, Volume 65' and handed it to Hitoshi, who calmly summoned a small flame and burned it.
Yugao stared in silence.
Ren then took out Volume 66.
Burned.
Then Volume 67.
Burned.
Volume 68.
Gone.
Finally, Ren slowly raised Volume 69 and said, "Man, I had to go through so much trouble to get this pre-released version directly from the author as a welcome gift. But I guess my efforts were wasted."
He held the book out in front of Hitoshi, who once again summoned a small flame near his hand.
"NOOO!" Yugao yelled, snatching the book away from Ren and hugging it tightly like a priceless treasure. Her composed expression from earlier had vanished completely.
"How do you even have the unreleased version?! The author said they were going on hiatus for indefinite time! And how dare you burn it, do you know how valuable these are?!"
Ren blinked, momentarily stunned by the passion in her voice. 'Right... I remember that author who introduced Chinese brain rot novels into the shinobi world.' He'd looked into the man thoroughly and confirmed he wasn't a transmigrator, and then threat- *requested him to hand over the latest volume for Yugao's sake.
"Well," Ren said casually, "we became friends. Right. Friends. We're friends now."
Yugao stared at him like he'd grown another head, but before she could say anything, Ren added with a grin, "Anyway, you shouldn't act like this. Imagine if Aunt Sayo found out what kind of books you read."
Yugao flinched. "Y-you, why are you calling her Aunt? Don't tell me... Sensei and Master...?" she trailed off in disbelief.
Ren gave her a smug nod. "Yep. Got a letter from Dad just before you returned. They officially started dating after your team left."
Yugao dropped to her knees, wailing. "Nooo! I wanted to see them get together! Imagine it, both of my teachers, married, training me together... it would've been perfect!"
Ren could list multiple flaws in her logic but chose not to.
As Yugao sobbed dramatically, Ren wondered how to get her to stop. Just then, Utakata flickered into the training field and paused.
He looked at Yugao, crying on the ground. Then at Ren, standing nearby.
The stare was long and accusatory.
'I know it's technically my fault', Ren thought indignantly, 'but shouldn't he be suspecting Hitoshi too?'
He glanced to the side.
Hitoshi was quietly playing with his insects.
'That bast-'
His thoughts were cut off as Utakata finally spoke.
"All right. Gather up."
Ren stopped mid-glare at Hitoshi and turned back toward Utakata as their Sensei clapped his hands lightly, a silent gesture that brought instant discipline back to the team.
Even Yugao, despite her sorrow over missing a fictional romance arc between her mentors, wiped her tears and stood up like nothing had happened.
Utakata gave her a brief nod, then looked over the three of them. "It's been a long time since we've operated together. From now on, you'll resume active team missions, starting with a B-rank one tomorrow."
Ren raised an eyebrow at that. 'Finally,' he thought, 'It's about time the system started paying out again.'
Yugao also nodded, the earlier drama already fading from her mind, replaced by a slight anticipation. "What kind of mission, sensei?"
Utakata looked toward the village's walls. "Escort. A minor noble from the Land of Rivers needs to travel to the border outpost near the Land of Rain. No known threats, but he requested shinobi from the Leaf specifically, so the Hokage accepted."
Hitoshi tilted his head slightly. "Requesting Leaf shinobi by name. Any chance it's political?"
"Possibly, but very low chance." Utakata replied. "You'll be briefed tomorrow morning before departure. For now, I want all three of you in peak condition. Spar each other, sharpen your coordination, and be ready for anything. You'll be operating without me this time. Ren will lead the mission."
That earned a pause from all three of them.
"No backup?" Ren asked, just to be sure.
Utakata nodded. "None. But you've all grown significantly. Yugao has completed the Iron Capital exchange, Hitoshi's control over his insects has improved, and Ren…" He looked at him with a flat gaze. "let's just say the forest's state was not really a big secret."
Ren coughed lightly and looked away. "That was, necessary."
Utakata didn't press it. "This mission will help determine whether you're ready to be promoted for special assignments. Complete it well, and I'll consider putting your names forward to join the ANBU once you become Chunin ."
That got Ren's attention. Yugao too straightened up at that, while Hitoshi simply nodded, his bugs swirling slightly in interest.
"Rest today. You leave at dawn."
With that, Utakata flickered away again.
As soon as he was gone, Ren turned to the others. "So, we're finally back to the fun stuff."
Yugao grinned as she sheathed her katana. "Think they'll make me a captain before you?"
Ren smirked, "With your book taste exposed? Unlikely."
Yugao raised her fist threateningly, while Hitoshi, without looking up, muttered, "I will bring extra storage for the bodies."
Team 1 was officially back.
~~~~~
{Well, Team 1 is back and so am I. Regular updates might not be possible for now, since we already have the new exam dates, but I'll see what I can do.}
{Anyway, the announcement you guys have been waiting for is finally here}
{YOU CAN JOIN MY P-A-T-R-E-O-N FOR ADVANCED CHAPTERS (we are at chapter 100 on pat now)}
{LINK:- h t t p s : / /w w w . p a t r e o n . c o m / Z e e n o n
You can just search my name too. It's the one with tom's pic (from tom and jerry)}