CHAPTER 224: IF THE BARRIER SURVIVES MY CURIOSITY, IT DESERVES TO DEFEND THE CLAN

{Current Stones - 1000}

{Needed Stones - 1280}

~~~

Ren had no idea that the simple act of activating a base barrier would end up setting him up for a marriage meeting. Right after the massive barrier dome shimmered into existence, he had been too busy with other matters to even consider what kind of political ripples it might cause.

At first, he tried to study the barrier itself by examining its flow of chakra, the seals hidden within its structure, but after a few minutes he had to admit that most of it was beyond his current understanding. There was no point wasting time when he had other priorities. He decided he would assign a few shadow clones to work on deciphering it later.

His attention shifted to the token in his hand.

At a casual glance, it looked like nothing more than a simple emblem, a small piece of carved material bearing the Senju clan’s symbol. But Ren hadn’t found it by chance. After leaving the dining room earlier, his chakra had naturally guided him toward its hidden location, as though it were calling to him.

The moment he held the token, he instinctively understood how to use it. This wasn’t because it was some ancient Senju heirloom capable of directly transferring information into his mind, no, the explanation was much more practical.

The surface of the token was covered in microscopic carvings, minute Fuinjutsu inscriptions that spelled out the token’s functions and operating method. Any trained eye could have read them, but they were so finely etched that most people would never notice.

After activating the barrier, Ren had immediately injected chakra into the token again and purged every single chakra signature recorded in its registry.

This effectively reset the barrier’s recognition system. From now on, it would alert him whenever someone entered the dome, unless they were of Senju blood or among the extremely rare few capable of erasing their presence to an absolute degree. There weren’t many in that category, thankfully.

Even then, the barrier wasn’t designed to warn him about every passerby. This was, after all, the clan leader’s personal barrier token, it was tuned to only register the presence of individuals above a certain power level. Ordinary intruders or guests would be handled by the clan’s Fuinjutsu department.

Ren guessed the token should have been in Tsunade’s possession, but for obvious reasons she had left without taking it. Someone must have hidden it away here for safekeeping or perhaps for other reasons. Either way, it was in his hands now.

Of course, wiping the signatures meant he’d have to re-register the few people he didn’t want to be alerted about. That wouldn’t take long fortunately, as it was a very short list.

He glanced out toward the kneeling figures of the clan elders waiting outside. They had been there for quite some time. With a faint sigh, he shook his head. He’d told them repeatedly that kneeling like that was pointless, that it wasn’t going to earn them anything except sore joints and possibly an early grave. But if they insisted on dying from stubborn pride, that was their choice.

Right now, he had far more pressing work to handle, namely, moving his clone workshop from his home into this estate. This house wasn’t just bigger; it also offered much better privacy. The barrier in his home’s basement had been set up by the Third Hokage himself, and Ren had no illusions about the old man’s ability to bypass it whenever he wanted. There was also the uncomfortable matter of Hiruzen’s so-called "telescope technique."

Yoru and his father had both told him that the telescope couldn’t actually be used to spy on him directly. But even with their assurances, Ren could never quite relax about it, especially now that his relationship with the Third was... let’s just say, not as friendly as before, so, it was better to hide the clones here, behind a barrier he was almost certain could block that particular spying method.

Almost certain.

He let out another sigh, both resigned and faintly amused at the paranoia that came with power.

Shaking his head, Ren finally turned toward the elders outside and called out, "All of you, come in."

There was some movement as the elders straightened up from their kneeling positions, but to his mild annoyance, Yoshido was the only one who actually stepped forward. The older man walked with measured steps, passing through the torii gate before stopping just inside.

"The civilian branch members are not allowed to enter the ancestral house once the barrier has been activated again," Yoshido said, his tone firm but respectful. "Doing so would be considered an insult to their protectors."

Ren gave him a look that said Really? That’s your reason? but Yoshido continued anyway.

"While the clan was dormant, they were permitted to enter in order to clean the place on occasion. But now that the barrier is active again, they are not allowed inside."

Ren’s gaze remained as his lips pressing into a thin line. "Cool," he said dryly. "Then I guess I’ll be cleaning this big-ass house myself and doing all the chores too. Because unless you’ve got some secret chakra-enhanced knees hidden under those robes, I’m pretty sure you’d be dead within a week if you tried doing it yourself."

Yoshido held his gaze for a moment, clearly weighing how far to push his point, before finally letting out a long sigh. "Unexpected situations demand different measures. Please... invite them in."

Ren tilted his head slightly, glancing back toward the elders still standing uncertainly beyond the gate. "Alright, you all, come in. This is an order."

They exchanged a series of hesitant looks, clearly conflicted, but an order was an order. Eventually, they filed in one by one, stepping through the gate to stand behind Yoshido in a loose formation.

Ren shook his head again, baffled by their single-minded adherence to old customs. He supposed he shouldn’t be surprised though, he’d been raised in a modern world, but these people had been born and raised with the idea that the Senju clan was their protector, their pillar, the one they must serve and revere without question. In their minds, stepping into the ancestral home after the barrier had been raised wasn’t just improper, it was sacrilege.

He didn’t push it any further. Instead, he turned his eyes back to Yoshido. "Do you have information about what’s left of the clan prepared, or do you need some time?"

"I began preparing it the moment I received word from the ANBU Commander," Yoshido replied with a small nod.

Ren gave an approving nod, then turned his head toward the courtyard outside and raised his voice. "Boss-man, if you’re already here, come on in. Why are you getting shy now?"

A subtle flicker of movement appeared just behind him, and before anyone could blink, Yoru was standing there, his presence silent and steady.

Yoshido glanced over at him and dipped his head in greeting. Yoru returned the gesture with a curt nod before speaking. "Yoshido will inform you of the clan’s current living status. However, you also need to decide what to do about the clan’s business next."

Ren turned around to give him a dry, unimpressed look."Eh? You’re talking like you don’t already have every single detail neatly planned out in that head of yours. Why make me go through the hassle when we’re going to end up following your plan anyway?"

Yoru’s tone didn’t shift even a millimeter. "That is because I am the ANBU Commander of the village," he said flatly. "Not your nanny who takes care of your personal matters. Right now, you are the clan heir of the noble Senju. In Clan Head Tsunade’s absence, you are the sole decision-making authority. Which means you need to do your own work."

Ren visibly slumped at that, his face taking on an exaggerated sulking expression. "C’mon, Boss-man, I’m just a little boy. I haven’t even hit my teenage years yet. How can you expect me to handle this kind of heavy-handed political crap?"

"Deal with it," Yoru said in the same flat tone, cutting him off without hesitation.

And with that, he simply resumed standing silently behind Ren, as if the conversation had never happened.

At that moment, the small token in Ren’s hand pulsed faintly. He looked down at it, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Hm," he murmured, "Utakata-sensei is here."

Sure enough, when he lifted his gaze, he saw Utakata stepping through the torii gate. The man’s pace was unhurried, but his eyes weren’t on the people gathered, his attention was locked on the shimmering barrier that encircled the ancestral grounds.

Utakata didn’t say a word until he reached them, at which point he gave Ren a brief nod before turning his gaze back to the barrier, studying it like an old friend he hadn’t seen in years.

"It’s been a long time since I last saw this barrier," he said finally, his voice carrying a touch of nostalgia. "Yet... there’s no sign of the passage of time on it."

Ren nodded in agreement, "Yeah. It’s a great piece of work," he continued as he examined the barrier himself, "Honestly, I kinda want to see how much punishment it can take before it finally breaks down."

The air went still. Everyone present, Yoshido, the elders, even Utakata paused to give Ren a look.

Feeling the weight of their stares, Ren raised his hands defensively. "What? It’s natural to be curious! Don’t tell me none of you want to see for yourselves just how tough the Senju clan’s barrier really is."

Utakata sighed and shook his head, clearly choosing not to argue.

Yoru, however, didn’t hesitate. "There are more important matters to deal with than indulging in nonsense," he said flatly.

Then, without waiting for a response, he turned and started walking toward the house with the kind of confidence that made it seem like he was the rightful owner of the place.

"Let’s head inside. I’ll inform you of the matters you’ll be dealing with from now on."

Ren rolled his eyes but didn’t argue. Instead, he clapped his hands twice. A faint flicker of movement appeared behind him, and Kimura materialized silently and kneeled down.

Over the months Ren had been away on high-risk missions, Kimura’s training had been... intense, to put it mildly. Sometimes Ren took him along in person, but more often than not, Kimura was left with one of Ren’s clones. That clone’s only job was to drive him through a brutal, borderline-suicidal training regimen.

Chakra sealed, weights strapped on, Kimura would run, jump, and fight until his body was on the verge of collapse. When he inevitably pushed himself past the limit, Ren’s clone would step in, using medical jutsu to completely heal the damage and even use the yang chakra to nourish the torn muscles, leaving them stronger than before.

The results spoke for themselves, Kimura’s strength had skyrocketed, his level shooting up to Level 71 in just a few months. He now knew the Eight Gates technique and could open up to the fourth gate with ease. The fifth gate was still a massive strain on his body, but even that was a milestone most shinobi never reached.

The main reason he could push so far without crippling himself was because Ren’s constant yang chakra nourishment had turned his muscles into something far tougher than the average shinobi’s.

Ren had even been considering passing him the modified version of the Eight Gates, though for now he was holding back, waiting until he removed the mental seal buried in Kimura’s mind, just to be cautious.

It wasn’t just physical training either. Ren made Kimura produce a shadow clone every day, and into that clone’s mind, he crammed every scrap of tactical, historical, and strategic knowledge he could.

The goal was simple, keep Kimura’s intellect growing at the same pace as his raw strength. That way, when the time came, Kimura wouldn’t just be a weapon, he’d be a capable assistant in any situation.

After months of this regimen, Kimura had gone from an average jonin to a high-jonin-level combatant with a sharp enough mind to hold his own in planning and execution. His focus, like Ren’s, still leaned heavily toward growing even stronger, but he was no longer a blunt instrument.

Ren wasn’t too concerned about the seal in Kimura’s brain anymore either. His clones had managed to capture several Root operatives while sweeping through the organization’s hidden bases.

Now, those same clones were dissecting Danzo’s sealing techniques, and with Ren’s natural Ex-Uzumaki Fuinjutsu Talent, he was confident he could crack it within a few weeks at most.

Utakata, meanwhile, had tensed when the unfamiliar figure appeared behind Ren, his stance ready to attack.

"Sensei, relax," Ren said casually, raising a hand. "He’s my person. Don’t worry about it."

Utakata gave Kimura a long, scrutinizing look, his expression unreadable, before finally giving a single, slow nod. With that, the group began moving toward the house together.

~~~~~

{It’s fun to write about clan business among politics and other things so it’d be continuing for a little while more before one final exciting arc, after that I’d be taking a month long break for my exams and when I return it’d be time for the Shadow’s War Arc.}

{If you want, you can support me on pat-reon}

{ h t t p s : / / w w w . p a t r e o n . c o m / Z e e n o n }

{You know what else}

{280 Stones = Extra Chapter}

{STONES!!!!}