Naruto: Reborn With An AI Chip

A thick, oppressive forest stretched ahead, its canopy dense enough to blot out even the midday sun. The entire Mist camp within the Land of Waves was buried deep in this shadowy expanse.

And now, hidden beneath the cover of night and foliage, a group from Konoha's elite squad—led by Morino Ibiki—twelve shinobi in total, including Renjiro—were waiting and hiding in silence.

The squad had mobilized late the previous night. After an urgent forced march, they arrived at this critical location before dawn.

The reason for such a hasty attack was that the Konoha camp had received vital intelligence from a deep-cover agent embedded within the Mist camp.

According to that intel, a Mist elite unit was transporting crucial information—detrimental to Konoha—back to their camp.

After careful analysis by experts, the data was judged to be 90% likely to be accurate.

Konoha certainly would not allow such highly important intel—so unfavorable to Mist—to slip back into the hands of the Mist camp. So, without hesitation, Ibiki handpicked an elite team to intercept it.

The road they now watched was one of the only viable return routes to the Mist camp

Ibiki's team had arrived at their current hiding place half an hour ago. Now, they were waiting—crouching in the mist and concealed by Genjutsu and other suppression techniques—while the most skilled tracker in the squad was searching for any traces or signs of the enemy nearby.

---

"Hey, Arkain, why am I even part of this mission?"

While waiting in boredom, Renjiro kept thinking about this question. Even if he got an answer, nothing would change, but he still wanted to know why a Genin like him was participating in such an important and dangerous mission.

Not to mention all of Konoha—even just within the Konoha camp in the Land of Waves—there were hundreds of shinobi, many far stronger than him: Special Jonin, Elite Chunin, and veterans. Why had they chosen a fresh Genin like him?!

Renjiro truly couldn't understand why he was part of this mission. His so-called 'Perception Ability' wasn't unique. The Hyūga had the Byakugan, and the Uchiha had the Sharingan—both clans had many experts far more capable than him in recon and detection.

[Beep! Mission Established... Information Compiling... Deduction Initiated... Deduction Completed!] Arkain's mechanical voice echoed in his mind.

Renjiro straightened his back and quickly said inwardly: "Give me your final conclusion."

[Beep! Conclusion: Carrying out secret missions behind enemy lines is a high-risk task with a high mortality rate. Whether it is the Uchiha or Hyūga clan, due to their special bloodline limits, if they are captured or killed by the enemy, it becomes extremely troublesome—whether they are abandoned or sacrificed. At the very least, other squad members would have to destroy their eyes, which delays escape and increases mission risk.]

"Unfortunately, that is very sad... but it's the cruel truth of the Shinobi World." Renjiro sighed inwardly as he thought of his status as an ordinary civilian shinobi.

[By contrast, non-bloodline shinobi—even if abandoned or eliminated—leave behind nothing of strategic value. Additionally, most detection-type shinobi from the Hyūga and Uchiha clans have already been reassigned to other fronts after the Bridge Demolition Mission, leaving this sector shorthanded. Your emergence as a previously unknown 'Perception Type' offered a convenient substitute, which is why Ibiki chose you to be part of his team.] Arkain continued after a slight pause.

"…So, I was the last bean in the jar." Renjiro mumbled with a bitter smile.

Still, the logic was solid. He knew that if Ibiki had a better choice, he wouldn't have chosen a newly graduated shinobi from the Academy for such an important mission.

"Forget it. There's no point in worrying about it anymore." Renjiro said to himself, then turned his thoughts elsewhere: "Arkain, what's the progress on the 'Body Stimulation' protocol I assigned?"

Body Stimulation—a theoretical enhancement that used chakra to stimulate cellular activity, aiming to drastically boost reflexes and neural response time.

There weren't many known shinobi with this kind of ability, but Renjiro knew of one person who had achieved superhuman reflexes by training his body with lightning: the Third Raikage of Kumogakure.

It was said that the Raikage's nerve conduction and reflex speed were on par with those of Minato Namikaze, known as the Yellow Flash. While it wasn't confirmed, the claim was likely not far from the truth.

During his fight with Zabuza, Renjiro had realized the limits of his ability. His Observation Haki Mode gave him enough time to read, plan, and counter—but his body simply couldn't keep up.

He could think of dozens of evasive maneuvers… and still get hit. The gap in physical strength and speed rendered his brainpower meaningless.

The result was just like the battle with Zabuza: Renjiro clearly saw Zabuza's attacks and even thought of many ways to deal with them, but because his physical speed couldn't match his mind, he could only defend passively—without the strength to fight back.

Although Renjiro's Taijutsu had reached a higher level and his speed had improved under Zeri's guidance, that alone wouldn't be enough.

Even someone as strong as Zabuza was only a Chūnin. Above him were elite Chūnin, Special Jōnin, Jōnin, and even more well-known figures. Powerful beings were everywhere. If Renjiro wanted to live long enough to become one of them, he had to become faster and stronger.

To increase his speed, there were only a few viable options.

The first was to train in Taijutsu like Guy and Lee, developing explosive speed through sheer physical conditioning. But that required years of dedication and time—something Renjiro didn't have right now.

The second option was to learn the Body Flicker Technique, but Renjiro's current qualification level wasn't high enough to access it. Not to mention, his chakra reserves were so limited that he could only perform Thunder Ball three times before running dry.

The final method was a dangerous one: a training technique that relied entirely on Lightning Chakra to stimulate the body's cells, drastically enhancing speed and reflexes.

If successful, Renjiro was confident that his strength would increase by leaps and bounds.

Fortunately, his chakra nature was Lightning, perfectly meeting the requirement for the "Body Stimulation" training method. That was why Renjiro had ordered Arkain to deduce a relatively safe method for initiating the process.

[Status Report: Project 'Body Stimulation' – Progress: 19%.]

Looking at Arkain's mechanical status update, Renjiro frowned slightly. The progress was slower than he had hoped.

"Still too slow… I need better reference data." He muttered.

"Next time I get access to a library or scroll vault, I'm downloading everything." Renjiro made a silent promise to himself.

Fweeee..!

Just then, a faint whistle echoed from not far away, interrupting Renjiro's thoughts.

"It's about to start…"

His body tensed, and his heart skipped a beat. That sound was the prearranged signal—it meant the target had been found.

---

At the same time the Konoha squad confirmed enemy movement, the Mist unit—resting nearby—also sensed something wrong. One of their sensory-type shinobi detected a disturbance.

"It's an ambush! Move now!" The Mist-nin reacted swiftly.

Back on Konoha's side, Morino Ibiki gave a silent signal.

The hidden operatives dispersed instantly, taking up tactical positions and executing their rehearsed strategy: do not engage directly. Instead, herd the Mist unit into a kill zone—corner them first, then strike.

The goal was simple: capture the Mist ninjas before they could return to the Mist camp.

"I hope everything goes smoothly according to plan." Renjiro thought nervously as he moved alongside two other shinobi, maintaining formation.

Ibiki's entire plan hinged on precise coordination. The Mist team likely had sensory-type shinobi as well. To funnel them properly into the trap, Konoha's squad needed accurate intel and perfect timing. That's why they needed a detection-type… someone like him.

Although Renjiro was nervous due to the high difficulty of the mission, what made him even more uneasy was his role as a sensory-type shinobi. After all, his supposed identity was a bluff—he wasn't formally trained in sensory techniques. He didn't know if he could complete the task Ibiki had entrusted to him.

"Hey, Arkain." Renjiro whispered in his mind as they slowly advanced through the mist: "If my mental power is so strong… does that mean I have a natural sensory affinity?"

[Beep! Mission Established! Scanning Database... Memory Match Completed... Cross-referencing with Lightning Nature… Re-deduction Completed… Recommendation Ready!]

[Beep! Deduction Result: Based on the host's high-level mental strength and Lightning-natured chakra, a new Sensory-Type Technique has been extrapolated and reconstructed.]

"What?! Seriously?!" Renjiro was stunned. It was an unexpected yet pleasant surprise. Without hesitation, he gave the order: "Transmit the data to me immediately."

In response, Arkain transferred the full blueprint of the newly deduced technique directly into Renjiro's brain.

After reviewing the core mechanics, Renjiro's expression shifted to one of disbelief: "Why does this look… very familiar?"

The technique involved enhancing the five senses through mental power, projecting an invisible field of perception capable of detecting movement, chakra signatures, and even emotional intent—whether malicious or benign.

If combined with lightning-natured chakra and scattered outward, it would greatly enhance precision while reducing mental strain, it was a perfect fusion of his Lightning Affinity and strong mental prowess.

Renjiro rubbed the back of his neck, then a realization struck him: "This is… basically an enhanced version of the Mind's Eye of the Kagura, isn't it?!"

This new technique could best be described as a unique evolution of the Mind's Eye of the Kagura, amplified through Lightning Chakra. It combined sensory perception with neuro-enhancement—like a chakra-based neural radar or mental echolocation system, with potential for both offense and defense.

Now, Renjiro possessed two sensory-like abilities, each with different mechanisms.

"I'll call this new one… Mind Net." Renjiro said inwardly, his heart was brimming with excitement.

---

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