{Training ground 44, Konohagakure}

{2:37 PM, 2nd July 13 Yrs ANB}

{3rd Person POV}

...

The battle didn't last very long, the simple reason was that Ren was a little bit too fast for genins and the Amegakure genin didn't have anything special about them that would allow them to win.

Ren rummaged through the weapons pouch of the second rain genin that was lying on the ground knocked out. On each of the genin's foreheads, a sleep seal tag was stuck.

'Well, I guess the difference in speed is a bit too much for them to react...' Ren thought as he clutched the extra heaven scroll that he got.

The difference between him and normal genin was a bit too much. And while it may seem like the biggest difference was speed, the main contributing factor to his quick victory was his vision and reflexes. His body was already used to fighting that bordering on Jonin-level speeds.

His luck was bad as he got a duplicate scroll, he pondered whether to keep moving towards the next gate and maybe try to attack another team when he sensed a massive chakra signature enter his range.

'That's Gaara's chakra signature,' Ren recognized it almost instantly, he had memorized Gaara, Orochimaru, and Kabuto's chakra signature.

'So he really was serious before when he was openly targeting his bloodlust at me... his name is red too that means he is considered an enemy by my powers.' Ren didn't get to think much as Gaara barreled his through the tree line.

He was clutching his eye as though he had been hurt but before Ren could question his absurd action of rushing towards an enemy while possibly being injured. Gaara removed his hand and Ren could see a perfectly fine pale blue-green eye.

'What was that all about, and why is he so fixated on me, did he figure out I sensed him so I could feel the demon sealed in him...' Ren couldn't figure out a possible reason for this targeted attack. But then again it could be as simple as he thought Ren was an easy target being alone.

'Still, if I continue to build on what Ibiki explained at the end of the first exam, this second exam could be contributed as the part where you had to safely deliver the info you stole back to the village...' Ren thought as he patiently waited for Gaara to make a move, he was confident in his strength to survive whatever he could throw at him.

'...And no amount of intel gathered should ever be assumed to be complete. So if possible, one should always aim for gathering more sets of information, while avoiding losing whatever you have gained.' Ren thought, this exam was a lot easy to figure out and had a lot clearer instructions.

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Gaara slowly started walking toward Ren, Ren quickly got into the starting stance of Strong Fist. No words were exchanged as Gaara waved his hand, his bloodlust intensified as a wave of sand left his gourd and flew towards Ren.

'Interesting, the bulky sand is quite a lot faster than I thought it would be...' Ren thought as he dashed sideways and dodged the attack, Gaara's expression turned more excited as he stretched his second hand controlling an entirely different wave of sand as if they were an extension of his hands, he clapped his hands together.

"Sand Release: Desert Hands" Gaara spoke in a grave tone.

Ren flickered and easily avoided being sandwiched between two gigantic-looking hands that slammed into his last position from either side.

'His sand is fast but it is easy to figure out and dodge his attacks. He gives away what his sand would do based on the way he moves his hands, or is it a trap that he wants me to believe...' Ren observed, the sand was moving faster now as Ren saw the connection between the sand break.

Gaara was now moving just enough sand that he figured he would need to kill Ren, the rest of the sand flew back to his gourd, so the sand's movement speed became a lot faster. The fight lasted for a couple more minutes as Ren kept dodging Gaara's sand.

'Alright, so it isn't that hard to dodge his attacks...' Ren thought as he got used to the rhythm, he was about to finish this fight when he sensed two more chakra signatures enter his senses.

'Never mind his teammates are here, should I risk it, his level is high enough that I could use his body to level up one time at least. Since his name is red that means he is aiming to kill me as well...' Ren thought for a moment, he decided that this was a perfect time to attack so he dashed straight at Gaara using his max speed.

He was pretty confident in his speed so he went with a frontal attack, 'Gaara shouldn't be able to dodge this, how should I hide him in my inv-'

Ren froze and backed away instantly as a wall of sand blocked his kunai, the sand then transformed into a clone of Gaara that tried to embrace him.

'What the fuck was that, how did he react to me, I'm pretty sure his eyes weren't able to follow my movements...' Ren concluded as he dashed back. He started dodging again as an enraged Gaara once again started blasting the clearing into pieces. Ren took a break and tried to figure out what happened.

Throughout his short career as a shinobi, one of the things that has been obsolete is that the INT stat was a clear indicator of everyone's reflexes. No one had been an exception to that rule but somehow Gaara defied that rule when he controlled a wall of sand to block his attack.

'Maybe it was luck?' Ren thought as he once again dashed toward Gaara. This time instead of a frontal attack he chose to attack from his blind spot. He feinted left and seeing Gaara get deceived he twisted his body by applying chakra to increase his grip and performed a roundhouse kick.

'...Dammit, again' Ren cursed in his mind, although he was able to bypass the wall of sand and he could have struck Gaara, he retreated as the sand was barely able to respond to his attack.

'It doesn't make sense though, I was pretty sure I was in his blind spot, is he a sensor, that's why he ran straight for me. I guess that would make some sense but then why hasn't he attempted to sense my reserves or anything...' Ren concluded, being a sensor himself he knew how hard it was to fight against one.

If your senses were developed you could even tell when someone would attach before they had even begun the process of attacking you.

'If he wants to kill me, judging by his bloodlust, and he's a sensor then it would be difficult for me to escape in just a 10 km radius. Maybe I should finish him off quickly and then leave, there shouldn't be 2 sensors in a team.' Ren concluded as he unsheathed his sword, judging by the reaction speed of Gaara he was pretty sure this much extra reach should be enough.

...