The pre-dawn air held the chill of polished stone.
Ren stopped his forms as the first gray light seeped into the training ground.
Tsunade and Lady Mito would be awake.
He settled into a cross-legged position, cycling his chakra to a quiet hum, and began the Uchiha clan’s Chakra Extraction Technique.
Every Uchiha learned it.
None spoke of it outside the compound walls—a clan rule, simple and absolute.
This was his first attempt since the transmigration.
Chakra, in practice, felt less like mystical energy and more like drawing breath from a deeper, colder layer of air.
He pulled it in, a slow, deliberate tide.
His eyes snapped open.
According to the memories he’d inherited, extraction was supposed to be a grind.
A trickle per day.
What he’d just pulled into his system wasn’t a trickle.
It was a current, clear and potent, settling in his coils with a weight that felt like truth.
He didn’t understand it.
The ‘why’ could wait.
He closed his eyes and dove back in.
Mito Uzumaki’s teacup halted halfway to her lips.
Kurama.
I see him, the Nine-Tails’ voice grumbled within her mind.
He’s drawing chakra.
But that density… a genin’s coils should be screaming.
What is it?
Natural energy.
Sage Chakra.
Kurama’s mental tone was flat, puzzled.
Tailed beasts use it.
So do the fools who master the arts of the three sacred places.
The Uchiha have a contract with the ninja cats.
No cat sage exists.
This boy… shouldn’t exist.
Mito set her cup down without a sound.
Sage Chakra.
Hashirama had possessed it.
The Toad Sage’s student, Jiraiya, pursued it.
No one else in Konoha touched it.
Yet here was an Uchiha late-bloomer, pulling it from the dawn air as easily as drawing water from a well.
A plan, cold and clear, crystallized in her mind.
Tsunade would need allies after she was gone.
Not just allies.
Anchors.
An hour later, Ren opened his eyes. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
His last reserves of ordinary chakra had been purged, replaced by something denser, sharper.
He flexed his hand.
The muscle responded with a fluid certainty that hadn’t been there yesterday.
A thin, real smile touched his lips.
Another card for the deck.
Another reason he might walk out of the coming meat grinder alive.
The door to the main house slid open.
“Ren!
Come, breakfast is ready.” Uzumaki Mito stood there, smiling.
The morning light framed her like a portrait.
Ren stood, smoothed his shirt, and bowed.
“Lady Mito, this is too much honor.” He kept his head lowered, his posture textbook.
He could feel the Anbu’s gaze from the trees, recording the Hokage’s wife serving an Uchiha failure.
Mito’s eyes flickered toward the hidden watcher for an instant.
Then she stepped forward, her grip firm as mountain roots, and took his hand.
“Nonsense.
I knew you and Tsunade ship out today.
I cooked.
You’ll eat well.” Her voice left no room for argument.
“Lady Mito, I really couldn’t—”
“From now on,” she said, her smile not reaching her eyes, “you call me Grandma Mito.
Like Tsunade does.”
Ren’s blood went still.
Tsunade chose that moment to stride onto the engawa, her combat gear already on.
She froze, her eyes darting from her grandmother’s face to Ren’s trapped hand.
What in the hells?
“Lady Tsunade!” Ren latched onto her arm, his look pure desperation.
Tsunade opened her mouth, met her grandmother’s glacial stare, and closed it.
She pried Ren’s fingers loose, one by one.
“Sit down and eat, Ren,” she muttered, dropping onto a cushion.
Ren swallowed, the sound loud in the quiet garden.
Under Mito’s unyielding pressure, he sat opposite Tsunade.
The scent of grilled fish and miso soup, usually comforting, felt like a trap.
He picked up his chopsticks.
Mito watched, amused.
[System Notification: Achievement Unlocked — The Senju Clan’s Breakfast — +1000 Points.
Balance: 1550]
[System Mission Issued: Join the Sannin’s vanguard team for the Second Shinobi World War.
Reward: 5000 Points.
Mito caught Tsunade’s eye and gave a slight, imperious nod.
Tsunade set her chopsticks down with a sharp click.
“Ren.
I have a request.”
He put his own utensils down, straightening his spine.
“If it is within my power, Lady Tsunade, I will not refuse.” He held her gaze, letting the sincerity show.
This was the pivot point.
He could feel it.
She took a breath.
“The Hokage has ordered Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and me to lead the vanguard into the Land of Rain.
Each of us may select one trusted ninja from the village to serve as our adjutant.” She paused, watching him.
“So…”
Ren was on his feet before she finished.
“If you will have me, I would follow you through fire, Lady Tsunade.”
The words hung in the air, stark and simple.
Through fire.
Tsunade’s stern expression softened, just for a second.
That was a promise older than the village.
Mito’s eyes narrowed, pleased.
A trusted ninja.
A good start.
A genuine smile broke across Tsunade’s face.
“Then guide me well on this mission, Ren.”
“Yes, Lady Tsunade.” The joy was real.
He’d landed exactly where he needed to be.
[System Notification: Mission Complete — +5000 Points.
Balance: 6550]
[Achievement Unlocked: Small Fortunes — Reward: B-Rank Ninjutsu — Magnet Release: Eye of True Sight]
True Sight.
Gaara’s sand-eye technique.
A surveillance and detection jutsu of brutal efficiency.
Ren’s pulse kicked against his ribs.
This changed everything.
He could see the battlefield before it saw him.
He looked up, catching Mito Uzumaki’s serene gaze over her teacup.
The gratitude was genuine, but it brought a sharper thought, cold and urgent.
How do I warn her about the storm coming for the Uzumaki clan?
He held his tongue.
The scent of tea and iron filled the space between them.