{Konoha Academy, Konohagakure}
{2:35 PM, 1st July 13 Yrs ANB}
{3rd Person POV}
...
[Might Guy Lv- ?]
Ren stared at the man in green spandex, everything about him just screamed unhinged to Ren. He looked down at the red turtle scolding Lee and then at Sasuke who managed to regain his balance and land on the ground.
'The spar is over, looks like that technique Lee takes a huge toll on his body...' Ren stared at the trembling Lee and used {observe} once again, according to his status, all of Lee's physical stats had a 50% penalty.
'Still, he managed to break through Sasuke's guard when he had Sharingan active, his speed must have broken through to low-Jonin level for that last kick to work...' Ren thought as he tried to get an approximate idea how Lee's technique worked.
'His abysmal chakra reserves surged suddenly when he attacked, in the worst-case scenario it would be my clue to dodge. But his speed was enhanced by at least 25%. I can't really measure the strength increase without blocking that attack...' Ren thought as Guy-sensei jumped from the railing and started berating Lee for using such a dangerous technique right before the exams.
Ren looked at the wall clock stuck above his head and then walked towards the stairs to the third floor. It was about time to head in for the first part of the exams.
Ren arrived at exam room 301 in a few seconds, he sensed Kakashi hiding at the other corner of the hallway. Since he didn't show up when Ren sensed him he didn't need to address the white-haired Jonin. He opened the door and slipped into the exam room.
He had been in this classroom before in his 3rd year at the academy, his senses kept pinging as almost 100+ genin flared their chakra at him. The room was quiet as everyone was tense before the start of the chunin exams, everyone was glaring at one another trying to figure out any faults or advantages they could use later in the exams.
...
The eerie silence was broken by Ino's excited shout, "Ren-kun! Over here!"
In the closest corner to the main door stood most of Konoha's teams, among them Team 10 was also lounging around. Shimakaru slapped his forehead and sighed getting an annoyed look from Ino as Ren walked to their group.
"You guys ready?" Ren asked as he smiled slightly at Ino's antics.
"What a drag..." Shikamaru muttered his catchphrase as his eyes roamed around the room. Now their small group had the attention of quite a lot of people.
"Of course, I have a surprise planned for you later, you better not think about messing up with our team..." Ino replied as she grinned, Ren smiled at her antics before he gave a nod to Choji and began scoping out the room.
'...Otogakure, finally some clues to the origin of these spies.' Ren thought as he looked at various Red names scattered around the room. Interestingly enough there were a lot more Red names than he was expecting.
'Why do all Suna shinobi have Red names without exception, one or two I could have chalked it up to personal grievances, but all of them shouldn't have been marked on as enemies.'
Ren remembered the time he had encountered the Kumo team in the last mission, their names had been orange in the beginning but later turned Red when they fought. So even Kumo, with whom Konoha has a treaty of nonaggression, was initially marked as a neutral party.
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'There is no reason for all Suna shinobi to be hostile since Konoha and Suna are in a formal alliance, so their names should at least be orange unless they are planning something during these exams.' Ren thought he froze as a blue block appeared in front of him suddenly.
...
...
[EPIC STORY QUEST ALERT!]
[Konoha Crush!]
[Despite the might a shinobi is capable of showing the world is ruled by 5 Damiyo's and their noble families. The nobels fund their shinobi village who in turn keep the other shinobi villages in check. The balance of the world is hanging on the balance that could be disrupted on the whims of 5 entitled families. The burden of some of the decisions of the last war now falls on Konoha to settle.]
[Main Quest: Survive the Konoha Crush.]
[Side Quest I: Defeat an enemy genin.]
[Side Quest II: Defeat an enemy chunin.]
[Hidden Quest I: ?]
[Hidden Quest II: ?]
[Hidden Quest III: ?]
[Hidden Quest IV: ?]
[Rewards:]
[Main Quest Completion: 100,000 EXP]
[Side Quest Completion: 1000 EXP per genin, +10 Reputation [Konoha Allies].]
[Second Side Quest Completion: 10,000 EXP per Chunin, +25 Reputation [Konoha Allies].]
[Hidden Quest I Rewards: ?, ?, ?]
[Hidden Quest II Rewards: ?, ?, ?]
[Hidden Quest III Rewards: ?, ?, ?]
[Hidden Quest IV Rewards: ?, ?, ?]
[Failure: Death]
{This is an epic quest and is Mandatory}
...
Ren stood frozen as he reread the quest block a couple more times before mentally dismissing it away, he stared at the red names staring in his direction.
'Calm down...calm down, one step at a time...' Ren thought as he tried to regain composure, he needed to plan things according to the info he could gather.
'Alright, let's first see which groups are unanimously against Konoha...' Ren started cataloging the red names based on their villages.
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura's shriek interrupted his thoughts for a minute as Team #7 finally decided to show up, Ren glanced at the commotion before he ignored the rest of his batchmates and focused on scouting.
There were 24 teams excluding Ren that took part in this exam, only Kabuto's team was full of red names the rest of them were clear. 10 Teams belonged to Sunagakure and all of them were red names. Of the 7 Amegakure teams, 4 of the teams had one or two members with red names.
Kusagakure and Takigakure fielded 5 and 4 teams respectively in the exams and all of them were neutral, which left the only team that came from an unknown origin.
The Otogakure team wasn't much in terms of levels, they were hovering around level 20 so they weren't entirely a threat. But since they were the only team participating in the chunin exams from Otogakure he couldn't entirely be sure that Oto had something to do with this 'Konoha crush' event.
'But, since their spies have been roaming the streets of Konoha for the past year, there is a possibility that this Otogakure village is involved in the conspiracy...' Ren stared at the three Oto shinobi, and just as he was about to use observe to gather more intel he sensed someone break off from their team and started walking towards them. He may have ignored it if it was someone else, but he had memorized Kabuto's chakra signature as a precaution so he was instantly alert...
Kabuto walked up to Team #7 their eyes collided for a brief moment and Kabuto gave Ren a hesitant smile before he warned, "You're rookies aren't you? You're making a lot of noise and drawing a lot of attention. I'd try and be a little quiet if I were you." The glasses-wearing shinobi recommended.
"Some of the other genin, like the ones from Ame, are a little bit antsy and are looking for a reason to get in a fight," Kabuto spoke getting the attention of all the rookies.
"And you are?" Sasuke asked he wasn't interested in dealing with anyone new his mind was still hung up on the fight.
"I'm Yakushi Kabuto!" Kabuto greeted with a smile on his face.
"Kabuto-San, you seem to know some things about the exams," Sakura noted, she was hanging by Sasuke, and seeing that the brooding Uchiha had no intention of moving the conversation along she decided to help.
"Is this your second time taking them?" Sakura asked.
"Actually it's my seventh," Kabuto answered, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
"Seventh? That says a lot about your skill." Naruto mumbled under his breath and Hinata pulled his sleeves trying to shut him up.
Kabuto, despite Hinata's attempts heard Naruto's remarks, he frowned and explained, "Don't say that. These exams are tough! Most people don't pass their first few times, and a few of them actually die! The exams, as well as the competition, are pretty overwhelming."
"S-Seriously?" Chōji gulped, he was demolishing the packet of chips at an increasingly faster rate now that he was nervous.
"Yeah. The exams are tough. But hey, maybe I can help you guys out a little since it's your first time" Kabuto said as he pulled out a set of orange cards from a pocket. "With my ninja info cards."
...
'...Ninja info cards...' Ren thought as he stared at Kabuto, trying to figure out what kind of scheme the silver-haired genin was trying to pull.