Fifteen minutes after leaving the Academy, Ren and Kurenai arrived at a quiet training ground several kilometres from the main village district.
The clearing was surrounded by dense woodland, shielding it from the noise of Konoha's busier streets. Weathered wooden targets stood near the tree line, and a narrow stream flowed along one side of the field. Judging by the kunai marks covering the targets, Kurenai used this place regularly.
Sharp cracks echoed through the clearing as their practice weapons collided.
Kurenai stepped forward and delivered a fast diagonal slash. Ren angled his kunai to intercept it, allowing her blade to slide harmlessly past his shoulder. Before she could recover, he moved toward her unprotected side.
Kurenai reacted quickly. She turned with his movement and drove her elbow toward his ribs, forcing him to retreat half a step. She immediately followed with a low kick aimed at his knee.
Ren lifted his leg, letting the kick pass beneath him, and answered with a quick thrust toward her chest.
Kurenai twisted aside just in time.
The blunted kunai grazed her outer garment but failed to touch her body. She used the opening to create distance, landing several paces away with her weapon raised defensively.
For a few seconds, neither of them moved.
Ren's breathing remained calm and measured. Kurenai, however, was beginning to feel the strain. Fine beads of sweat had formed across her forehead, and her shoulders rose slightly with every breath.
Frustration flickered in her ruby-red eyes.
She had expected Ren to be stronger than the examination results suggested, but the difference between them felt wider than she had imagined. He was not overwhelming her with superior speed or strength. Instead, every movement seemed calculated to disrupt her rhythm.
Whenever she attacked, Ren was already positioned to counter her. Whenever she tried to defend, he forced her to move in an uncomfortable direction.
It felt as though he understood her intentions before she carried them out.
"Again!" Kurenai called.
She pushed off the ground, closing the distance in three quick steps. Her kunai swept upward in a controlled arc toward Ren's shoulder.
At the final moment, Ren shifted his body sideways.
The blade passed within a finger's width of his clothing.
His right hand shot forward and closed around Kurenai's wrist.
Chapter 26: After-School Private Tutoring
Fifteen minutes after leaving the Academy, Ren and Kurenai arrived at a quiet training ground several kilometres from the main village district.
Tall trees surrounded a broad clearing marked by wooden posts, battered targets, and several shallow impact craters left behind by previous shinobi. A narrow stream flowed along one side of the field, while the dense canopy overhead concealed most of the afternoon sun.
The location was isolated enough for them to practise without attracting curious classmates.
The sharp clash of kunai soon shattered the silence.
Kurenai lunged forward and slashed diagonally at Ren's shoulder. He stepped back just far enough for the dulled training blade to pass before his chest, then twisted his wrist and deflected her follow-up thrust.
Metal struck metal with a crisp ring.
Kurenai immediately attempted a low kick, but Ren lifted his leg and checked it with his shin. Before he could counterattack, she retreated two steps and raised her kunai defensively.
Her breathing had grown noticeably heavier. Fine beads of sweat covered her forehead, and several strands of dark hair clung to her face. Ren, by contrast, remained calm despite the repeated exchanges.
The difference only made Kurenai more frustrated.
"Again!" she demanded.
She drove forward, accelerating through the final two steps before thrusting her kunai toward his shoulder. The attack was faster than her previous attempts, but her determination caused her to lean too far into it.
Ren saw the opening immediately.
He shifted half a step to the side, allowing the blade to pass beside him. His right hand caught Kurenai's wrist while his left pressed lightly against her upper arm. Instead of opposing her momentum, he guided it forward and hooked one foot behind her ankle.
Kurenai's balance vanished.
She stumbled, released a startled cry, and fell onto the grass. Ren maintained his grip long enough to control her descent, preventing her from striking the ground too hard.
"Ouch…" Kurenai muttered. She stared up at the sky for a moment before turning an accusing look toward him. "You did that far too easily."
"That's because you made the same mistake again."
Ren released her wrist and offered his hand. Kurenai accepted it, allowing him to pull her back onto her feet.
"When you attacked, all your weight shifted forward," Ren explained. "That increased the speed of your thrust, but it also gave me control over your balance. I didn't need to overpower you. I only redirected the force you had already committed."
Kurenai glanced down at her feet.
Ren moved beside her and demonstrated the stance. "Keep your centre of gravity beneath you. Your feet, hips, and shoulders must move together. If your opponent evades or redirects your attack, you should still be able to stop, turn, or retreat."
"That sounds simple when you say it."
"It isn't simple," Ren admitted. "Knowing what to do and forcing your body to do it under pressure are two different things. That's why we're practising."
He stepped back and gestured for her to prepare again.
"Your method of generating power also needs work. Whether you're thrusting, blocking, or throwing a punch, don't rely entirely on your arm. The movement should begin from the ground."
Ren planted his rear foot firmly.
"Push through the sole of your foot. Let that force travel through your leg, turn your hips, rotate your back and shoulder, and only then extend your arm. If every part moves together, even a smaller fighter can produce enough force to break through a stronger opponent's guard."
Kurenai carefully copied the motion without attacking. Her first attempt was stiff, but Ren corrected the position of her feet and showed her how to relax her shoulder.
Many of these principles had come from the advice of Might Duy and Hizashi Hyūga. Ren had only recently begun applying them himself, yet repeating their explanations made him sound surprisingly experienced.
Perhaps this was what people meant when they said that teaching someone else deepened one's own understanding.
"All right," Ren said. "Try attacking again, but don't focus on speed. Make the movement smooth first."
Kurenai nodded and advanced.
Her next thrust was slower, but her balance remained centred. When Ren deflected the blade, she did not stumble. Instead, she pivoted with the force, recovered her stance, and slashed toward his ribs.
Ren blocked it, but this time the impact produced a much sharper clang.
Kurenai's ruby-red eyes lit up.
"That felt different."
"Because you used more than your arm." Ren pressed forward, forcing her to retreat while maintaining her guard. "Don't become distracted just because something worked once. An enemy won't wait for you to celebrate."
Kurenai narrowed her eyes and pushed his kunai aside. She attempted another low kick, then used the motion to spin away before Ren could catch her leg.
They exchanged several more attacks. Kurenai still lost each round, but the improvement was obvious. Her movements became less hesitant, her stance remained steadier, and she stopped throwing herself recklessly into every opening.
By the time they paused, her earlier frustration had been replaced by cautious satisfaction.
"You're a better teacher than I expected," she admitted while wiping the sweat from her forehead.
Ren raised an eyebrow. "What exactly were you expecting?"
"After what you said this morning? I thought you might tell me to sit in front of my kunai and discuss my feelings with it."
"That would be ridiculous." Ren placed his training blade back inside its pouch. "Kunai don't have favorability levels."
Kurenai studied him, unable to determine whether he was joking.
Ren maintained a perfectly serious expression.
She eventually shook her head and decided not to ask.
After taking a short drink of water, Kurenai looked toward the training posts. "Could I ask about your Three Basic Techniques? Our instructor always says my Transformation and Clone Techniques possess form but no spirit. They look correct at first, but anyone who observes them carefully can see through them."
She turned back toward Ren.
"Yours are completely different. You defeated Homon by using techniques everyone else considers suitable only for the Academy. Is there a trick?"
Before Ren could answer, his system interface appeared.
The personified techniques had apparently been listening to the entire conversation.
[Clone Technique: Hmph. Who does this girl think she is? Her clones probably stand there with empty eyes and stiff faces. They wouldn't fool a half-blind dog.]
[Transformation Technique: Little Clone, that's unnecessarily cruel. She is asking because she genuinely wants to improve.]
[Clone Technique: I'm only telling the truth! Ren, show her what a real Clone Technique looks like. Otherwise, she might think all clones are as lifeless as hers.]
A third message appeared several seconds later.
[Substitution Technique: Her movements are less convincing than Ren's. Also… discussing this is interrupting my nap. (－ω－) zzZ]
Ren almost laughed.
The attitudes of the Three Basic Techniques had changed considerably as their favorability increased. The difference became especially obvious after he gave the Water Clone Technique to the Clone Technique as a limited outfit.
The Clone Technique remained proud and sharp-tongued, but she now responded to nearly everything he did. Compared with her earlier indifference, her current behaviour was practically affectionate.
Ren dismissed the messages and looked toward Kurenai.
"It will be easier if I demonstrate."
He walked toward the stream and formed a sequence of hand seals. Chakra surged through his network before flowing into the nearby water.
The surface of the stream trembled.
Several ribbons of water rose into the air, twisted together, and rapidly assumed human shapes. Colour spread across their liquid bodies until four perfect copies of Ren stood beside him.
The Water Clone variation of his Clone Technique had been activated.
Kurenai's eyes widened.
Ordinary Academy clones were intangible illusions that could neither attack nor physically interact with their surroundings. Ren's clones were different. Their feet pressed into the grass, their chests rose and fell with steady breaths, and each one carried a distinct expression.
One clone folded his arms. Another crouched to inspect a footprint on the ground, while the remaining two moved in opposite directions to surround Kurenai.
Even knowing the technique had come from the nearby stream, she could not immediately identify the original.
"Those aren't ordinary clones," she said.
"They're an advanced variation," Ren admitted. "But the principle remains the same. A convincing clone shouldn't resemble a painted statue. It must behave like the original."
All five Rens turned toward her at once.
"When you make a clone, you concentrate so heavily on reproducing your appearance that you forget everything else. People don't remain perfectly still. They breathe, blink, shift their weight, and react to their surroundings."
The clones began moving through the clearing. One drew a kunai, another climbed a tree, and a third charged directly at Kurenai before stopping an arm's length away.
Kurenai flinched despite herself.
A moment later, the four clones collapsed into streams of water that rushed back toward the creek.
Ren formed another hand seal.
Smoke burst around his body with a soft pop. When it cleared, the boy had disappeared. In his place sat a small gray-and-white kitten with bright eyes and a dark patch covering one ear.
The kitten looked up at Kurenai and released a quiet meow.
Kurenai gasped before crouching in front of him.
The transformation was flawless. Individual hairs shifted in the breeze, the kitten's whiskers twitched, and its ears turned toward distant noises. Even its breathing matched the rapid rhythm of a small animal.
Kurenai cautiously extended one finger and touched its head.
Warm fur brushed against her skin.
"This is incredible," she whispered. "It doesn't feel like a transformation at all."
She ran her hand along the kitten's back and laughed when its tail flicked impatiently. "You even copied the fur. Ren, did you use a substitution and bring a real cat here?"
The kitten gave her an offended look.
That only made Kurenai's smile widen. She placed both hands beneath its front legs, apparently intending to lift it.
Ren immediately wriggled free.
He had agreed to demonstrate the Transformation Technique, not become Kurenai's pet for the afternoon.
With a powerful push of his hind legs, he leapt onto the lowest branch of a nearby tree. He moved lightly along it, adjusted to the unfamiliar balance of four legs, and jumped toward the ground.
Smoke surrounded him in midair.
Ren emerged from it in human form and landed in a crouch. He straightened as if fleeing from an enthusiastic girl while disguised as a kitten had always been part of the lesson.
Kurenai looked disappointed. "You could have stayed like that a little longer."
"We're training," Ren reminded her.
"That was part of the training."
"For you, perhaps."
Ren cleared his throat and returned to the subject before she could demand another demonstration.
"The Transformation Technique isn't a painted shell that you place over your body. You need to understand what you're becoming. Imagine its weight, breathing, posture, heartbeat, and habits. If you transform into an elderly person but continue standing and moving like a child, even a perfect face won't fool anyone."
Kurenai's smile faded into concentration.
"I understand the explanation," she said, "but I don't know how to create that feeling. When I perform the technique, I can only picture what the target looks like."
"That's probably why your transformation has form but no spirit."
Kurenai frowned. "How do I fix it?"
Ren considered the problem.
He could demonstrate repeatedly, but imitation alone would not reveal what was happening inside Kurenai's chakra network. To diagnose the exact flaw, he needed to sense how she shaped and distributed her chakra.
"Perform the Three Basic Techniques one at a time," he suggested. "If you're comfortable with it, I'll place my hand between your shoulder blades and try to sense your chakra flow. That should help me identify where it becomes unstable."
Kurenai hesitated briefly before nodding. "All right. Tell me if I'm doing anything wrong."
She turned away from him and stood in the centre of the clearing. Ren positioned himself behind her and placed his palm lightly against the upper part of her back.
Kurenai's posture immediately became tense.
"Relax," Ren instructed. "I'm only observing the movement of your chakra. If your muscles remain stiff, your chakra flow may change as well."
"I know," she replied, drawing a slow breath. "I'm ready."
Her hands moved through the seals for the Transformation Technique.
Chakra gathered within her body before spreading outward. Ren closed his eyes and concentrated on the sensation passing beneath his palm.
Kurenai's chakra reserves were impressive for an Academy student, and her control was not poor. However, the chakra shaping her transformation lacked consistency. Some sections were unnecessarily dense, while others were so thin that the structure could easily distort.
Ren could sense the problem, but describing the precise solution was more difficult.
Before he could organize his thoughts, the system interface appeared again.
Transformation Technique, who had remained quiet throughout the demonstration, finally spoke.
[Transformation Technique: Ren, her chakra is strong, but she spreads it too loosely. She is trying to give every part of the transformation equal importance.]
Another line followed almost immediately.
[Transformation Technique: Tell her to imagine dressing herself. The chakra should cover the entire body in one smooth layer, but most of her attention must be concentrated on the features that define the transformation—the face, voice, posture, and proportions.]
Ren's eyes opened.
The explanation was concise, intuitive, and far more precise than anything he had planned to say.
Clone Technique quickly joined the conversation.
[Clone Technique: Her breathing is wrong too. She creates the clones and then forgets to make them imitate her rhythm. It's obvious! Let me explain when she performs my technique.]
Even the sleepy Substitution Technique contributed a message.
[Substitution Technique: Her timing is predictable. She waits until the attack nearly reaches her before beginning the chakra exchange. Dangerous habit. (－_－)]
Ren stared at the interface.
He had originally believed the personified techniques could only help him improve his own abilities. Yet they could observe Kurenai's chakra through him, identify weaknesses, and explain how those weaknesses should be corrected.
His teachers were not merely skilled shinobi.
They were the ninjutsu themselves.
Who could possibly understand the Transformation Technique better than the Transformation Technique? Who could diagnose a clone more accurately than the Clone Technique?
A strange smile slowly appeared on Ren's face.
Kurenai glanced over her shoulder. "Did you find the problem?"
"I did," Ren replied. "Actually, I found several."
Her expression immediately became nervous. "Is it that bad?"
"No. Your foundation is better than you think." Ren removed his hand and stepped around to face her. "You've simply been using the wrong method."
He raised one finger.
"We're going to rebuild your Transformation Technique from the beginning. By the time this lesson ends, even your father shouldn't be able to identify you at first glance."
Kurenai's uncertainty gave way to determination. She straightened her posture and prepared to repeat the hand seals.
Ren looked at the system messages once more, excitement rising within him.
He had accepted this tutoring job because he wanted the money.
But if the Three Basic Techniques could guide him in correcting other people's ninjutsu, then two thousand five hundred ryō was about to become the least valuable thing he gained from this lesson.