"Finally! Took you long enough! We've already finished a whole round of food!"
Asuma couldn't help but tease as he saw Renzo return. Then, acting all casual, he threw in a question, "So, what did my old man want with you?"
Kurenai also looked curious.
"Haha, nothing major," Renzo replied with a smile, sitting down beside Asuma.
He grabbed a piece of grilled meat, tossed it into his mouth, and said while chewing, "The Hokage just praised my amazing talent and rewarded me with a new jutsu."
"Wow! Renzo-kun, you're amazing!" Kurenai immediately cheered, eyes sparkling as she looked at Renzo in admiration.
Asuma, on the other hand, felt like he'd just swallowed a fly. "Damn you! We all know you're talented, but do you have to brag like that?"
He had a sneaking suspicion that Renzo was rubbing it in on purpose. Also, he was seriously annoyed at his old man—he had done pretty well on their last mission too! Where was his reward?
The group burst into laughter, and even Asuma, caught up in the mood, couldn't help but chuckle.
Just then, the door to the barbecue restaurant opened.
A tall, handsome blond young man walked in, leading three other young ninjas.
Nohara Rin immediately noticed Renzo's group and waved enthusiastically. "Kurenai! Renzo-kun! Asuma-kun! You guys are here too! It's been a while!"
Obito, now distracted, turned to see them as well. The moment he spotted Renzo, his expression soured, and he scoffed, "Tch! Why are you everywhere? You're just as annoying as Kakashi!"
"What the hell... Obito, are you looking for a fight 😠?!" Kakashi shot a sharp glare at Obito, sending a chill down his spine.
Rin huffed, puffing up her cheeks in frustration. "How can you say that about Renzo-kun? We're all classmates, and you two are even from the same clan!"
Then, she quickly bowed and apologized to Renzo. "I'm sorry about that, Renzo-kun! Please don't mind him!"
"Meh, no big deal. I'm used to it," Renzo waved it off nonchalantly.
"Don't worry, Rin! This guy is always . I get it—he's just jealous of my looks and talent. I totally understand."
Renzo put on an exaggeratedly understanding expression, which made Obito clench his fists, veins popping on his forehead as he growled, "Damn you! You're still as unbearable as ever!!"
He had never gotten along with Renzo.
Think about it: Renzo was the top student in their class, excellent in every way, and to make things worse, he was way better-looking than Obito. Plus, they were from the same Uchiha clan, making the comparisons even more brutal.
Back in the Academy, people constantly compared the two.
And every single time, Obito got completely crushed.
Over time, he developed a mix of resentment, jealousy, and frustration toward Renzo.
And to top it all off, Rin seemed to like Renzo quite a bit.
That was something Obito just couldn't accept!
He was Uchiha Obito! The guy who would one day be willing to destroy the world for Rin! There was no way he could let Renzo take the spotlight!
If he had any chance of winning a fight against Renzo, he would've thrown a punch already.
Renzo ignored Obito's attitude and instead glanced at Kakashi, who was as cold as ever. He gave him a slight nod before shifting his gaze to Namikaze Minato.
The future Fourth Hokage really did have an incredibly warm and friendly presence.
Kakashi also took a moment to seriously observe Renzo. He had always been curious about this particular classmate of his—the one who was considered the strongest among their peers after he himself graduated early.
"Shinku-senpai! You're here too!" Minato greeted Kurenai's father, Yuhi Shinku, with a warm smile.
Then, turning to Renzo and the others, he beamed. "You must be Rin and Obito's classmates! You all seem very promising. If Obito was rude, I hope you won't take it to heart."
"You're too kind, Minato-senpai. It's just friendly teasing among classmates," Renzo replied with a respectful nod, along with Asuma and Kurenai.
Yuhi Shinku chuckled at Minato. "Minato, just got back from a mission with your squad?"
"Yeah," Minato scratched the back of his head with a smile. "Kakashi, Rin, and Obito just formed a team, so I'm helping them get used to working together."
"Seems like you're doing the same! Anyway, we won't disturb you guys—we'll just grab our own table."
He was about to lead his team to a separate area when Shinku raised a hand to stop him. "Hey, why not just join us? We can exchange pointers on leading a squad, and the kids can catch up."
"Would that be alright?" Minato asked, pleasantly surprised.
He enjoyed interacting with younger ninjas, and he genuinely wanted to learn more about squad leadership from Shinku. After all, this was his first time leading a team.
"Of course!" Shinku grinned.
Minato was a rising star—Jiraiya's student, one of Konoha's top prodigies, and an extremely talented ninja. Making connections with him was definitely a good move.
"Then, I'll take you up on that!" Minato said, giving a polite bow before calling Kakashi and the others to join them.
They pushed their tables together and continued their meal while chatting about their experiences since graduating.
At some point in the conversation, Obito found out that Renzo had already awakened his Sharingan.
"WHAT?! You awakened your Sharingan already?! Damn it… Why do you have such ridiculous luck?! This isn't fair!"
Rin sighed and gave Obito a look. "Obito… This isn't luck. It's called talent."
That only made him feel worse.
'I swear, Rin changes whenever she's around Renzo…'
"Ugh, I really can't stand you!" Obito shot Renzo a glare.
"heh..." Renzo smirked, unfazed.
At that moment, Kakashi, who had been silent for a while, spoke up. "Want to spar sometime?"
His voice was calm, but there was a serious look in his eyes.
"Sure! I've been curious to see the strength of our generation's most talented ninja," Renzo grinned, accepting the challenge.
After all, Kakashi was already a seasoned Chūnin, and Renzo was interested in testing his skills against him.
Plus, he was very interested in Kakashi's Chidori technique.
Although he hadn't chosen it from the Third Hokage's list, that didn't mean he didn't want it.
Actually, he quite liked the jutsu. If he could get closer to Kakashi, he might just find a way to learn it later.
There weren't many powerful Lightning Release jutsu out there.
Konoha wasn't like the Hidden Cloud Village (Kumo), where Lightning Release was abundant. If Renzo wanted more, he had to find a way himself.
Meanwhile, in the Pokémon world…
Eevee snapped out of its subconscious state, just like Uchiha Renzo.
It immediately noticed the massive boost to its physical and mental strength.
In fact, because Eevee's base stats were initially lower than Renzo's, the power-up felt even more significant to it.
At the same time, Eevee sensed a strange new energy flowing into its abdomen, separate from the Normal-type energy it naturally possessed…