Chapter 25 – Life in the ANBU (Part 3)
Minamoto Ren had become famous in the ANBU!
After that night at the Sake House, the name "Oni of the Hannya Mask" spread like wildfire throughout the entire ANBU. Word was that Ren had chased an enemy spy for a thousand miles alone and finally ran him to death—this, after the spy had used ninjutsu to destroy half a street.
Even among ordinary Konoha shinobi, the name "Hannya Oni" began to circulate… Ren's reputation for strength was one reason, but there was another—his looks.
That night, many drunken Konoha shinobi saw the way Ren's eyes glanced their way. And drunken minds, well… they tend to wander. The sharp contrast between the cold, fierce hannya mask and those bright, captivating eyes was striking enough to make certain tipsy shinobi start whispering a new nickname—The Enchanting Hannya Demon.
Ren, of course, had no idea about any of this. He was far too busy training in new jutsu.
After the recent battle, he had felt more than ever that his ninjutsu arsenal was too limited. Fortunately, the merit of killing Gensaburō was enough to exchange for an A-rank technique.
Some time ago, Tsunade had given Ren a chakra nature test strip to see which elemental affinities he possessed. The result? Water, Lightning, Fire, and Wind—he had them all.
Seeing that result, Ren was secretly relieved—it meant his fate held no trace of Earth or Wood release…
But back to the matter of exchanging a new jutsu from the ANBU.
At the time, Tsunade had advised him against choosing an A-rank technique, since they were all notoriously difficult to master. Each had special quirks and effects that made them hard to turn into immediate combat power.
Her reasoning was sound—but Ren knew he needed a trump card, something decisive. His chakra reserves will become far greater than an average jōnin's, and techniques that burned enormous amounts of chakra for overwhelming power were perfect for ending fights in one blow.
So, after flipping through scrolls in Hiruzen Sarutobi's library for a while, he made his choice.
A-rank: Fire Release – Dragon Flame Release Song Technique.
This technique appeared often in the later parts of the original Naruto story, used by both Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Obito. It was fast, devastating, and—most importantly—the flames would chase their target.
How could anyone not learn this? It was practically hand-picked by Lord Madara himself!
That very day, Ren happily brought home the sealed, incomplete scroll containing the Dragon Flame Release Song Technique, eager to decipher it.
And then… his enthusiasm died.
The fire creation part wasn't complicated at all—basically no different from the Great Fireball or Phoenix Sage Fire techniques. What earned this technique its A-rank rating was its auto-tracking function.
Fire Release had long been mocked by fans of the shinobi arts as "the ninjutsu that never burns anyone to death," and not without reason. Fire techniques generally required a long breath to cast, demanded precise aim, and often dealt area damage—giving enemies ample time to counterattack.
But the Dragon Flame Song Technique didn't have that weakness. You just launched it—and the flames would hunt the enemy down on their own.
A perfect technique… except for one problem. Every time Ren reached the section explaining how to make the flames track their target, the text might as well have been ancient alien script.
It was like doing a math exam: the first question, you answer with confidence; the second, you barely scrape by with a formula; but by the third question, it's pure gibberish.
"No way around it… I'll have to ask Orochimaru."
Ren closed the scroll, stood, formed the seals, and vanished from his home.
The best part about taking Tsunade as your master was her connections—solid as bedrock. Become her disciple, and with just a little shamelessness, you could practically count all three of the Legendary Sannin as your teachers.
When Ren found Orochimaru, the man was also buried in a book, studying new jutsu. This Orochimaru wasn't yet the infamous "mad scientist" he would one day become—just an eager student with deep admiration for Hiruzen Sarutobi, determined to master every ninjutsu in existence.
Before asking about Fire Release, Ren glanced at the book in Orochimaru's hands. Damn… he couldn't understand a single word. So this was the difference between a genius of ninjutsu and an ordinary person?
"What is it?" Orochimaru's eyes held a trace of fatigue. It seemed that even for him, studying this kind of "arcane scripture" was exhausting.
Ren quickly flipped open the worn manual he carried, stopping at the section on "Ninjutsu Tracking."
"Uncle Snake, could you help me with this part? I just can't wrap my head around it. Why does it say here that the 'Horse' seal is the key to tracking? And here—how exactly is this chakra-based sealing structure constructed?"
Orochimaru's brows furrowed deeper. He took the book from Ren, scanned the passage he'd pointed out, then suddenly flipped dozens of pages backward in rapid succession—like speed-reading through space and time—before stopping and reading carefully again.
Ren didn't understand what he was doing, but he respected it. He dragged a chair over and sat quietly by the side.
The manual was about a hundred pages thick. Orochimaru didn't read the whole thing; instead, he pinpointed the parts Ren had asked about and the sections he might struggle with.
The truth was, this jutsu wasn't particularly difficult—it simply required cross-disciplinary understanding. The Dragon Flame Song Technique involved three separate fields: elemental ninjutsu itself, tracking ninjutsu, and sealing arts.
Most jutsu didn't cross into multiple disciplines. And few shinobi, apart from people like Orochimaru or the Third Hokage, were obsessed with collecting and mastering every kind of technique.
In other words—Ren had come to exactly the right person. If he'd gone to Jiraiya, the two of them would probably just be staring blankly at each other right now.
After more than an hour, Orochimaru finally closed the book, his eyes glinting with the confidence of someone who had just cracked a puzzle.
"This technique isn't hard, but it does require you to understand concepts from other fields. Have you ever studied tracking techniques?" Orochimaru asked, organizing his thoughts.
Ren shook his head blankly.
As if expecting that answer, Orochimaru rose and pulled a massive tome from the bookshelf—Tracking and Counter-Tracking: The Scent of Chakra.
The book was as thick as a brick. Ren's expression froze. So this was the price of power? Even after transmigrating, he still had to chew through these massive tomes?
Seeing him obediently take the book, Orochimaru smiled faintly.
"You don't have to read all of it. Just focus on pages 277 to 405. That should be enough for you to understand the tracking portion."
"Yes, Uncle Snake." Ren answered without complaint.
"Good. Once you understand how tracking works, we'll integrate that concept into the jutsu. For that part, you'll need sealing techniques. Have you studied sealing before?"
This time Ren didn't hesitate—he shook his head at once. "Just tell me what book I need, Uncle Snake, and I'll get started."
"You're even learning to answer quickly now. Not bad. I'm almost regretting not taking you on as my disciple." Orochimaru's lips curled in a rare smile. He wasn't without a sense of humor—it was just that most people bored him far too much to make him smile.
A moment later, another heavy tome landed in Ren's hands—The Uzumaki Clan: Are Sealing Arts Nature or Command?
"And how much of this do I need to read?" Ren asked with faint hope.
"All of it."