Three days later, Ren was finally discharged.
The moment he stepped out of the hospital, he could feel the eyes on him. The rumor mill in Konoha was efficient. Everyone knew that Satoshi's son—a modest Chūnin—had suffered a chakra collapse and awakened a fully matured three-tomoe Sharingan at the age of fifteen.
In the Uchiha district, heads turned. Elders nodded with approval. Younger cousins stared with envy.
Ren ignored them all.
He played the part of the recovering patient perfectly, walking slowly until he reached his house, grabbing a few supplies, and then heading straight for the backwoods of the Uchiha compound.
He didn't stop at the usual training grounds. They were too open, too monitored. He hiked deeper, climbing past the warning fences until he reached a secluded ravine surrounded by dense, ancient timber.
"This should do," Ren muttered.
The air here was thick and still. Sunlight struggled to pierce the canopy.
Ren took a deep breath, closing his eyes. He didn't activate his Sharingan yet. He wanted to feel it with his new senses first.
Chakra was the energy produced from within—the fusion of physical stamina and spiritual energy. It burned like a fire inside the gut.
But the power he felt from the Quincy branch was different.
"Reishi Manipulation," Ren whispered.
He raised his right hand, reaching out with his mind to command the spiritual particles in the atmosphere.
Gather.
Nothing happened immediately.
Ren frowned. In the memories implanted by the Skill Tree, Reishi should have flooded toward him like water rushing into a void. But here? It felt like trying to suck air through a thin straw.
"It's... thin," Ren realized, sweating slightly as he focused harder.
The atmosphere of the Naruto world was rich in natural energy (Sage energy), but it seemed remarkably poor in pure Reishi (spirit particles). The density was barely a fraction of what a Quincy would expect in Soul Society or Hueco Mundo.
(PS: This weakness will be there until he unlocks Shinigami or Hollow Branch)
"I have to force it."
He gritted his teeth, his mental tendrils scraping against the empty air, pulling at every scrap of spiritual energy he could find in the vegetation and the soil.
Condense!
Slowly, agonizingly, faint blue motes of light began to drift toward his palm. It wasn't a flood; it was a trickle. It took ten times the effort he expected.
Finally, after nearly a minute of intense concentration, the light snapped together.
A bow formed in his grip.
The Heilig Bogen (Sacred Bow). It hummed with a low vibration, glowing azure.
"It's stable," Ren observed, panting slightly. "But maintaining it requires constant focus because the environment isn't feeding it naturally. If I lose concentration, it'll dissipate."
He turned his gaze toward a massive boulder about fifty meters away.
He pulled back the string of light.
Drawing the arrow was even harder. He had to rip more Reishi from the surrounding trees to form the projectile. The leaves on the nearby bushes withered slightly, turning brown as he drained them to fuel his attack.
Heilig Pfeil (Sacred Arrow).
"I can't spam this," Ren analyzed grimly. "Not yet. But let's test the power."
He released the string.
BANG.
The sound was sharp, like a gunshot. The streak of blue light tore through the ravine, impacting the boulder instantly.
It didn't explode. It didn't crack the rock. It simply erased a path through it.
The arrow pierced straight through the center of the stone, exiting the other side and burying itself deep into the cliff face behind it.
Ren lowered the bow, and it immediately dissolved into sparks as he let go of his focus. He walked over to the boulder.
A perfectly circular hole, the size of a fist, was punched clean through the granite.
"The piercing power is absolute," Ren noted, running a finger over the smooth, hot stone. "But the cost... In this world, the Reishi density is too low. I can't fight like a traditional Quincy, raining down thousands of arrows. I have to be a sniper. One shot, one kill."
He sat down on the grass to catch his breath. "I need to increase my compatibility. Or find a way to convert Chakra into Reishi."
"Ren?"
He froze.
The voice came from the top of the ravine. Ren stood up slowly, his face composing itself into a mask of calm. He looked up.
Standing on a tree branch was a young man with spiky hair and the standard Uchiha police uniform.
It was Yashiro Uchiha. A rising star in the Police Force, known for his aggressive stance on clan politics.
"I thought I felt a strange disturbance here," Yashiro said, hopping down to the ground. "You're supposed to be resting, cousin. Your father, Satoshi, would be worried."
"Just stretching my legs, Yashiro-san," Ren replied smoothly. "The hospital bed was making me stiff."
Yashiro glanced at the boulder with the hole in it. His eyes narrowed.
"Did you do that?"
Ren nodded. "I was testing my Lightning affinity. Trying to focus it into a single point."
"Lightning?" Yashiro walked to the rock, inspecting the hole. "To pierce stone this cleanly without shattering it... that requires immense control. It seems the rumors are true. Your awakening has elevated you."
He turned back to Ren, a serious expression on his face.
"The Clan Head has called a meeting for tonight."
Ren raised an eyebrow. "A meeting? Has something happened?"
"Tensions are rising," Yashiro explained, crossing his arms. "The friction on the borders with Amegakure and Suna is getting worse. There have been skirmishes. The Hokage is worried it might escalate into a full-scale war soon."
Ren nodded internally. So it hasn't started yet. We are in the prelude phase.
"The Clan needs to decide its stance before the deployment orders come," Yashiro continued. "Since you are now a three-tomoe user, you are considered an elite. You are expected to attend."
"I understand," Ren said. "I'll be there."
Yashiro smirked, patting him on the shoulder. "Good. We need strong blood. Don't be late."
He flickered away, leaving Ren alone in the quiet forest.
Ren looked back at the hole in the rock. The war was coming, but he had a little time. The Reishi was thin, his power was hard to use, and the politics were dangerous.
"Step by step," Ren whispered.