"Of course!"
Kushina nodded earnestly. "Even if I go to school using a Shadow Clone, I still need to have female friends there. Otherwise, wouldn't I just become the class laughingstock and die from embarrassment? I won't let that happen!"
Naturally, Kushina didn't voice her real concern—what bothered her most was Uchiha Mikoto. She sensed a strong rival aura surrounding her childhood sweetheart Ren Takashi. To prevent losing ground, she figured it was best to understand her opponent first.
Know your enemy and know yourself—only then can you win every battle.
Ren found this a bit amusing. "What a weird sense of pride... Alright, I'll let her know when I get back. She'll come see you tomorrow in class. Just get along, okay? Mikoto is a good person."
"Oh, that reminds me!" Ren suddenly clapped his hands. "Since you're going to train with us from now on, I might as well invite Mikoto too. I can guide you both together."
"Before, it was just a group of boys from my class, so I didn't ask her to join. But now that you're here, it makes more sense. Don't you think?"
He had honestly been worried about not having enough time with Mikoto lately. This solved the problem nicely.
Of course, Ren also had some long-term thoughts—he wanted Mikoto and Kushina to build a solid bond. That way, managing future relationships would be much easier. After all, he never planned to choose just one of them.
"Huh? I guess that's fine…"
Kushina wasn't sure how to respond.
Being the only girl in the group did sound uncomfortable. If Mikoto joined, at least she wouldn't be alone.
"Great, then let's keep training!"
Ren nodded and resumed his practice.
Kushina watched quietly from the side and didn't join in for the day.
That night, after dinner, Ren dropped by Mikoto's house and explained the situation. He invited her to join their training group.
"I see..." Mikoto nodded with a gentle smile. "No problem. Tomorrow I'll have my Shadow Clone go to your class and find Kushina. As for myself, I'll meet you at your house, and we can head to the training spot together."
Mikoto felt a bit uneasy—curious about Kushina, but also slightly competitive. She wouldn't admit it, but her feelings for Ren had grown deep after spending months together.
"Great! Thanks, Mikoto! I'll be waiting for you tomorrow morning!"
The two smiled and said their goodbyes.
Five days later.
In Ren's bedroom, he sat cross-legged in deep focus.
[I wish to maximize my comprehension for the next 5 minutes. 20 wishes consumed.]
Suddenly, his mind lit up like a flash of lightning. His thoughts became razor sharp. Entering a state of absolute clarity, he focused on sealing techniques—specifically the spiritual and confidentiality-based contract techniques Uzumaki Mito had taught him.
Combining this with his existing knowledge of sealing, genjutsu, and some ideas of his own, he began to develop something new.
A few minutes later, just before his enlightenment window ended, the final version of the seal was complete—a fully integrated Spiritual Contract Seal.
"Phew… finally done."
Ren smiled with satisfaction. This contract was over a hundred times more complex than any advanced seal Mito had ever taught him. Not only was it extremely resistant to cracking, it also had a passive defense mechanism: if someone who signed the contract ever tried to betray or harm Ren, he would be instantly alerted and could retaliate through the seal itself.
Next, Ren engraved the core version of the contract seal into his own sea of consciousness. This allowed him to easily issue sub-contracts to others and monitor their seal states in real time.
Over an hour passed before the mental strain forced him to rest.
The following morning at breakfast:
"Congratulations, Dad! You've broken through to the Ming Jin stage. I can now teach you the advanced martial arts technique!"
Ren smiled brightly at his father, Nobuhiko, and then at his mother and older brother.
"Huh?" Nobuhiko blinked. "Weren't you being cautious about this before? What changed?"
"I've prepared a Spiritual Contract Seal," Ren explained. "It ensures that any technique I share won't be leaked or stolen, even through mental interrogation or memory reading."
He recounted the incident with Chef Tanaka and how someone had stolen the restaurant's recipes by forcibly reading his memory.
"What? Someone targeted our restaurant?" Nobuhiko was furious. "Do you know who did it?"
"Not yet," Ren replied calmly. "But I've already asked Nara Anko to monitor the restaurant scene in the village. Whoever uses the stolen recipes will eventually give themselves away."
He then summoned three Spiritual Contract Seals and sent them to each of his family members.
"Wow... these seals are incredibly complex," his brother Fugaku murmured, feeling dizzy after just one glance.
Nonetheless, all three extended their mental power and formed the contract.
The seals embedded themselves in their consciousness, locking in.
Ren then passed them several sets of techniques directly into their minds:
The complete Huaxia Martial Arts system up to divine level
The Three Tomoe Sharingan Awakening Method
Ren's custom Chakra Refining Method
A secondary version of the Chakra Circulation Technique
These techniques were stored in their contracted seals, completely protected from outside tampering or spying.
Once the transmission was complete, the three opened their eyes in astonishment.
"You actually perfected a way to gradually build up chakra reserves?" Nobuhiko was stunned. "That goes against everything we know!"
Ren nodded with a grin. "It's a different path. With consistent practice, your chakra capacity will increase far beyond its natural limit. Plus, it promotes internal healing and longevity."
"Also," he added, "I suggest you all relearn the Sharingan Awakening Method from scratch. Your current awakenings were stimulated by emotional trauma, which causes instability in your mental strength. My method fixes that flaw."
The room fell into silence as the family absorbed the magnitude of what they'd just received.
Even Fugaku, who had been sulking a bit earlier, now looked starstruck.
Ren chuckled softly.
"Make sure to train hard. With these, our entire family's strength will rise to a whole new level."