The sun sat low behind Konoha's rooftops, casting long golden streaks across the dirt of Training Ground Nine. Dust and smoke still hung faintly in the air — remnants of Ren's earlier fire and wind training.
He stood alone, steadying his breath, preparing for another round — when he suddenly stopped.
He sensed him before he heard him.
A soft, even voice:
"Still here. I expected no less."
Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, stood calmly a few feet away, pipe unlit in his hand, a small smile beneath his wrinkled eyes.
Ren turned and gave a respectful bow. "Lord Third."
Hiruzen walked forward at a measured pace, observing the charred training dummies, the half-buried scorch lines, the crumpled wind-damaged targets.
"I've read the mission reports," he said softly. "Courier work. Patrols. Infiltration testing. You've handled everything… quietly."
Ren nodded once. "It's nothing special. But I'm learning."
"Mmm." Hiruzen looked toward the open sky. "And yet, most genin your age haven't burned holes into the training field like this."
Ren said nothing — but his eyes narrowed slightly.
The Hokage smiled.
"Relax. I'm not here to question you. I'm here to give you something."
Ren tilted his head. "A mission?"
"Yes." Hiruzen turned to face him directly now, all trace of warmth leaving his tone. "One that requires more than power."
A pause.
Then:
"I want you to assist Iruka Umino at the Academy. Starting tomorrow."
Ren blinked. "…What?"
"Not as a student. As a quiet guide."
"Help your classmates — and others — better grasp chakra control, and basic jutsu."
"Your growth is far beyond their current level. But that's precisely why you're useful."
Ren didn't speak immediately.
"You want me to… teach?"
"To observe. Support. Correct. Quietly."
"Some respond better to someone their age than a full instructor."
"Iruka has noticed… not everyone learns the same way."
The wind stirred the edge of Ren's shirt. He looked at his hands — the same hands that had just launched a fire jutsu capable of cutting down a dummy in one hit.
"And what if they ask questions I can't answer?" he said finally.
"Then you listen," Hiruzen replied. "Learning to teach is also learning to understand people."
"And frankly… there are a few in your class who could benefit from someone like you."
Ren's mind flicked immediately to Naruto.
Then to Sasuke.
Then to Hinata.
Then — oddly — to Shikamaru.
"Will I still be able to train?" he asked after a pause.
"Yes," the Hokage said. "But now you'll be training others, too."
He turned, preparing to leave.
But then stopped, one hand resting behind his back.
"This is a test, Ren. Not of strength. Of patience."
"You've proven you can learn fast. Let's see if you can lead quietly."
He disappeared in a subtle shunshin, leaving only the scent of his pipe tobacco in the wind.
Ren stood alone again.
The field was silent now.
No more flames. No more wind.
Just an unexpected shift in purpose.
"Help them, huh…?"
He looked up at the fading light above Konoha.
Then, slowly, he rolled up his scrolls and turned home.
Not just to train.
But to prepare.
Because tomorrow…
he would return to the classroom not as a twin brother… but as a quiet teacher.