“I’m full, so I’m going to beat you up to help with digestion.”
The moment those words left Ren Akihara’s mouth, Asuma Sarutobi nearly jumped out of his skin.
“Ren! I don’t want to fight you right now!”
“But I want to fight you.”
Ren smiled.
Unfortunately, his smiles had a terrifying reputation within the elite class.
Rather than reassuring anyone, they usually signaled impending disaster.
He casually cracked his knuckles and took a step forward.
“Come on.”
“Think of it as sparring.”
“We do this all the time.”
The surrounding students immediately relaxed.
“Oh, thank goodness.”
“It’s Asuma again.”
“Yeah… imagine if he’d picked me.”
A collective sigh of relief spread through the crowd.
At this point, it was practically a class tradition.
Who among them hadn’t been beaten up by Ren at least once?
This time, the chosen victim was Asuma.
Not them.
Life was good.
Asuma, meanwhile, continued backing away.
“Don’t come any closer.”
His voice carried a very real sense of panic.
“Ren, I’m warning you.”
He pointed a trembling finger.
“One more step and I’ll fight back.”
“I mean it.”
“When I get angry, even I’m afraid of myself—”
His voice abruptly stopped.
The last traces of hope vanished from his face.
Because he knew.
Ren wasn’t going to give up.
Not now.
Not ever.
Asuma let out a frustrated curse.
Fine.
If I’m getting beaten up anyway, I might as well go down fighting.
Experience had taught him that much.
Years ago, when Ren had first skipped a grade and joined the elite class, Asuma hadn’t thought much of it.
Prodigies weren’t exactly rare in Konoha.
Kakashi Hatake had graduated at five years old.
Compared to that, skipping a grade wasn’t particularly shocking.
So Asuma had done what many older students would do.
He tested the newcomer.
If Ren was talented, he’d earn some respect.
If he wasn’t…
Well, a little lesson from an upperclassman never hurt anyone.
At least, that had been the plan.
Then Ren had beaten him so badly that he’d spent the next week questioning his life choices.
To be fair, Asuma had managed to get revenge a few times afterward.
A very long time ago.
These days?
Not so much.
Asuma lowered his center of gravity and exploded forward.
His movements were fast, precise, and well-trained—the kind of taijutsu expected from one of the Academy’s elite students.
To an ordinary civilian, he would have looked like a blur.
Ren simply smiled.
Then he threw a punch.
No feints.
No fancy techniques.
No elaborate combinations.
Just a straightforward punch.
Asuma saw it coming.
He understood exactly what Ren intended to do.
It didn’t matter.
The punch was too fast.
BAM!
Pain exploded across his face.
The world spun.
Before he understood what had happened, he was already sitting on the ground.
Dizzy.
Disoriented.
And deeply miserable.
He got stronger again…
Asuma wanted to cry.
Back when Ren first joined the class, they could at least exchange a few blows.
Now?
Every fight began with Asuma getting steamrolled.
It wasn’t even close anymore.
“W-Wait…”
He barely managed to open his mouth.
I surrender.
Unfortunately, he never got the chance to finish.
Another fist crashed into his face.
“GAH!”
The next thing he knew, Ren was sitting on top of him and enthusiastically continuing the “spar.”
At least one side considered it a spar.
Realizing resistance was pointless, Asuma stopped struggling.
Fine.
Just get it over with.
A translucent notification appeared before Ren’s eyes.
[System Notification: Defeated Asuma Sarutobi.]
[Experience Gained: 173]
Ren frowned.
“That’s it?”
His expression was openly disappointed.
“Asuma, you’re not taking this seriously.”
Asuma stared at him.
For a moment, he genuinely couldn’t process what he’d just heard.
Seriously?
I’m lying on the ground while you sit on top of me punching my face.
What part of this isn’t serious?
You’ve been doing this for months!
All because I tried to test you one time!
Ren ignored his silent suffering and fell into thought.
A dangerous development.
His eyes narrowed.
The problem quickly became obvious.
Asuma had lost his fighting spirit.
Without fighting spirit, his performance dropped.
If his performance dropped, the rewards dropped.
This was unacceptable.
Then inspiration struck.
Ren’s eyes lit up.
Asuma immediately felt a chill run down his spine.
Oh no.
Someone else is about to suffer.
The next instant, Ren vanished.
A blur flashed across the training ground.
When everyone looked again, Ren was standing in front of Kurenai Yuhi.
The girl blinked.
“Ren?”
“Yes?”
For the first time all day, Ren adopted an unusually serious expression.
“Kurenai.”
His voice softened.
The entire class froze.
Years of experience told them something catastrophic was about to happen.
“I’ve liked you for a long time.”
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Kurenai’s eyes widened.
“Eh?”
A faint blush appeared on her cheeks.
Then it spread rapidly.
“E-Eh?!”
For several seconds, her brain completely stopped working.
After all, Ren wasn’t unpopular.
His personality was bizarre.
His theories about being a ninja were borderline insane.
But he was also tall, handsome, talented, and arguably the strongest student in the Academy.
Among the girls, he had more admirers than most people realized.
“Y-You like me?”
Kurenai’s thoughts instantly became a tangled mess.
Ren smiled gently.
“Of course.”
“Even a man like me has one flaw.”
Kurenai unconsciously leaned forward.
“What flaw?”
Without hesitation, Ren answered.
“I lack you.”
The entire training ground froze.
Several girls gasped.
Others looked ready to declare Kurenai their mortal enemy.
Kurenai herself looked moments away from overheating.
Meanwhile—
A certain son of the Hokage had reached his limit.
Asuma stared at the scene.
His body trembled.
Veins bulged across his forehead.
Everyone in class knew he’d liked Kurenai for years.
And now Ren was openly flirting with her.
Right in front of him.
While he was still lying in the dirt.
Still recovering from a beating.
Something inside him finally snapped.
“AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!”
Asuma shot to his feet.
A surge of chakra erupted from his body.
His eyes turned bloodshot with fury.
“REN AKIHARA!”
“I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!”
The roar echoed across the training grounds.
Several students instinctively retreated.
For the first time all afternoon, Asuma genuinely looked dangerous.
He charged forward.
Driven entirely by rage.
Ren turned around.
His eyes immediately brightened.
“That’s more like it.”
A second later—
WHAM!
Asuma flew face-first into the dirt.
Then Ren resumed the beating.
Rage could awaken hidden potential.
Unfortunately, hidden potential only mattered if you were strong enough to use it.
Several minutes later, another notification appeared.
[System Notification: Defeated Asuma Sarutobi.]
[Experience Gained: 416]
Ren nodded approvingly.
Now that looked right.
A satisfied smile appeared on his face.
“See?”
“I knew you weren’t trying before.”
Asuma lay motionless in the dirt.
His soul had already departed.