The next morning felt, well, as if it was lighter, probably because I was pretty much fired up from the previous day, excited about its results. I knew that it was because of the anticipation of seeing how well my papers did. I wonder if they found anything useful in there. I am not a battlefield strategist, but… oh well. That's up to them to turn my ideas into reality.
"Think they'll post it outside?" I asked as I walked alongside Minato toward the exam grounds, early in the morning.
"They should," he replied, hands in his pockets, "It would make the most sense. I wish Kushina could have taken it too..."
"This is stupid, dattebane!" I echoed her possible exclamation, thinking about yesterday's exam, making Minato chuckle. "Next time," I patted his back. "It will happen, I just don't think the Hokage or anyone else would let her mingle with the other villages' genins."
"Yeah… I know." He nodded, still smiling.
"At least you're in a good mood." I kept looking at him, "Confident, eh?"
"I simply slept well," He shrugged, "And I am more interested in the others' achievements than in ours because I know we did well."
We passed through the gates as he said that, and just like yesterday, the courtyard was already filling up, but we weren't the first ones this time around. Multiple groups had already gathered in their own little clusters, each village sticking to its own, just like before. As I tried to listen to what they were saying, the conversations turned out to be even lower, controlled enough to make eavesdropping hard, and I wasn't going to activate my eyes to start reading lips.
Even without that, I could tell the results were already out, nailed to a board next to the building's entrance, and most of the talks were about points and positions…
"Ah… Look, someone seems to be jealous," I muttered, elbowing Minato.
The Hyūga twins stood off to one side again, standing there silently like two statues. Hiashi Hyūga had his arms folded, eyes kept forward, while Hizashi stood just slightly behind him, mirroring him almost perfectly… I don't really remember what incident made him sacrifice himself, but… Eh. That was way off anyway. What was weird, though, was that they kept looking at us… Without breaking eye contact. What's up with that?
"Renji?"
"Nothing," I muttered, shaking my head, not wanting to antagonize the twins and finally looking away. That was when we heard the loud laughter coming from the board. "Yep. They too passed." I said, looking at Minato with one eye, watching him smile.
The source of the laughter was, of course, the trio, now in clearer view: Shikaku, his hands in pockets, Chōza, already eating a sandwich, and Inoichi, checking their placing in the rankings.
"Let's go, I want to see how they did," I muttered, increasing the speed of my steps.
"They seem to be a strong team, so I guess they got a high ranking."
"Oh, bet you that they are," I answered without hesitation.
"You say that with a lot of confidence." He muttered as we got closer, seeing the results on the board, "Looks like we lost a decent number." Minato added, already noticing the separators, as the teams and names that failed were listed below a thick, red line.
"Yeah," I nodded. "The first filter always goes hard. Alright," I muttered, rolling my shoulders slightly, "Moment of truth!"
"You're not nervous," Minato said with a chortle, "Stop acting like that!"
"Okay, you got me!" I joked, relaxing my posture, "Anyway, should I be?"
"Naturally, the answer is no."
"Exactly."
Was I surprised? No. Well… maybe just a bit, because I also had a perfect score. Minato's name was not a surprise, as for mine, I wasn't a hundred percent sure, but it was satisfying seeing it there. What was an interesting development was that both Minato's name and mine had an asterisk, and when I looked it up, it said that only Minato's papers can be accessed… as mine is the same. No, it isn't. What's up with that? Is Sakumo or the Hokage being sneaky? Well, I don't mind, I'm fine with others thinking that I simply copied him… but now I won't really know what they thought about my ideas! Eh… Bummer.
"Hah!" I exclaimed because I couldn't help it, while a grin spread across my face despite my unfulfilled curiosity.
"Perfect," Minato said simply, "I would have been surprised if it weren't like this."
"Oi!" A voice cut through between us just then, and we both turned, a bit surprised, but it was Shikaku coming towards us with Chōza and Inoichi behind him. "Perfect scores, huh?" He said, stopping in front of us, and as I glanced at their rankings, they were right behind us, in the 90% range, even ahead of the twins.
"Looks like it," I nodded, still grinning.
"Troublesome," he sighed, but there was a hint of a smile there. "Now we definitely can't ignore you."
"Inoichi already wasn't," I shot back, "I was surprised you didn't try to mind-control one of us."
"Shikaku made the deal with you," Inoichi cut in calmly. "So I kept myself to it."
"And you are dangerous," Chōza added between bites from his sandwich, "We still have a round before we actually need to fight each other."
"Flattering." I nodded, looking back and forth between them, "But I appreciate it."
"You all passed with pretty high scores, too," Minato said in the meantime, watching Shikaku, as he was the leader of their group.
"Barely matters how because we're through. And, we were thinking," he answered him, "it might be… beneficial… if we didn't treat each other as enemies, even if we end up facing each other in later stages."
"You mean… not kill each other in the forest stage?" I asked with a joking tone, "Don't worry, you don't need to renegotiate that with me. I also like keeping my word."
"I meant all the phases." He repeated, "Even if we are pitted against each other… Let's have a good match, and that's all."
"Yeah, I can work with that." Minato and I nodded. "That makes sense, we are from the same village after all."
"So we're friends now?" Chōza perked up, patting down his hands, finishing his breakfast.
"Let's not go that far," Shikaku sighed, still cautious, since they barely know us yet, "But we are comrades."
"Too late," I cut in, "We're already sharing air, and we should go and share some food, too."
"You're surprisingly easygoing." Inoichi muttered, looking at me, "Sayuri wasn't overselling it, huh?"
"People keep saying that behind my back, too?" I shrugged, "My Uchiha reputation is ruined!" And while they chuckled, I stretched my arms behind my head. "Well, since we're all being smart about this…" I continued as I looked at them, "How about some ramen?"
"Now?" Shikaku blinked, caught off guard.
"Ichiraku," I nodded. "Best place in the village, and we hadn't eaten yet. You neither, hm? Let me treat you guys."
"Free…" Chōza froze at once, "…Food?"
"One bowl." I added, shivering, "One free, the rest is on you, big boy."
"I'm in." He nodded without hesitation, making Shikaku sigh, shaking his head.
"Of course you are…"
"I think it's a good idea," Minato added, agreeing and looking at the others from Konoha, but surprisingly, nobody else was showing any interest in approaching us.
What I also noticed was that, besides people watching us, a pair of those scanning eyes stood out from the rest, and it was because they belonged to Sakumo. He was, who knows for how long, standing close by, watching us, or at least, I had the feeling he focused on me more than on the others. I was about to voice that feeling when everyone else finally noticed his presence, and those who had passed, still present in the courtyard, turned towards him.
"The second stage," he said aloud, after we all were facing him, "will begin tomorrow. Gather at dawn before the entrance to the Forest of Death."
"Now it gets fun," I muttered, hearing Shikaku sigh next to me.
"Now that is…" He glanced at me, "That is an Uchia-like line."
...
....
...
At the same time, deep beneath Konohagakure, far below where the sunlight may reach, beneath the roads, beneath even the foundations of the visible village, underground passages were built to house a darker side of the village. There, within a dimly lit chamber, a handful of lanterns were illuminating a group of masked, unmoving figures, belonging to the ROOT-movement, delivering the news that their master Danzō had ordered to get at all costs.
He was surprised by how hard it was and how long he had to wait for it, which partly satisfied him… After all, he taught Sakumo well, even if the man disagreed and still disagrees with everything ROOT stands for. But he wasn't angry, as he was still a powerful asset to the village, no matter the enmity between them. However… he was still his teacher, and he had his ways, so even if late, the scroll he asked for did land in his hands.
He had already read its first page, and it was uninteresting… But then the second page came into view, and he had to slow down. Then, he had to re-read it carefully, analyze every line and every word twice or thrice, even… Then, he had to extrapolate and theorize about every implication, possible outcome, and consequence…
Then, when he was done with that, he read it again.
"…Interesting." He muttered after about half an hour of doing nothing, just standing there, reading, before he finally lowered the paper slightly, his visible eye narrowing. "This… was written by a genin?" No one answered, of course, and they did not need to. He blinked his eye before returning his gaze to the document, as his fingers tightened slightly around the page. "…Guerrilla warfare. An apt name."
Danzō had seen war and lived it, right from an early age, studying under the Second Hokage… And it still filled his dreams whenever he went to sleep. He knew what it meant to fight enemies stronger than yourself, to sacrifice lives like they were kunai to throw out and hope they land.
But this?
"Sleep deprivation tactics…" he repeated, unable to hold back himself from smiling, "Targeted elimination of medical support… Psychological warfare through maimed survivors… This is not the thinking of a child," Danzō said quietly, looking towards the kneeling figures.
"Shall we investigate further, Danzō-sama?"
"No." He answered after a short consideration, "I already know enough from this paper alone." He turned slightly, walking slowly across the chamber, the paper still in his hand, his smile growing a notch on his face, which was rarer than anything his operatives had ever seen. "Renjiro Uchiha… You get more and more interesting as the years go by. Heh… An Uchiha…"
Most Uchiha were emotional, at least, going by his own experience. They were very driven and powerful, which could be exploited, but… But they were the most unstable people he knew of. What he had learned from working with them was that their strength came from feeling, which made them unpredictable; the stronger those feelings grew, the more unpredictable they became. And… that can't be allowed, not on the battlefield. However… this one…? Someone who can write these ideas out? Danzō glanced back at the paper, his smile solidifying.
"Curious." He muttered as he stopped, asking the question he had out loud, "Where did he learn this?" That was the problem that made him hesitant about what to do with this… kid. This Uchiha. "These methods… are applicable. Hm… They would increase operational efficiency by at least 30%. If not more… We will have to use everything, because war is coming and the other villages are already moving." He muttered to himself as his grip tightened slightly on the paper, "Konoha cannot afford inefficiency, not at times like this. Sacrafices will have to be made…"
As he came to a decision, he tapped his walking cane on the floor, and a ROOT operative appeared before him. The fact that he didn't drop to one knee, but only bowed his head, showed that, even amongst the rest, he was someone of a high level.
"These doctrines…" he looked at the paper again, before handing it over to him, "…will be adapted."
"For ROOT training, Danzō-sama?
"Yes. Streamline them and introduce them to our members. Start it from the top and let it trickle down to further refine it. I want to see an applicable version by the end of the exams and start integrating it into tactical exercises right after."
"It will be done. And… the boy?"
"Just as before: Observe and do not approach him directly. Rushing would be inefficient, especially considering that he is an Uchiha and Jiraiya's disciple." His eye narrowed as he said that, thinking to himself, muttering, "But that does not mean we ignore him. Monitor his growth, note his relationships and most importantly, his loyalties… And his weaknesses."
As his operatives disappeared, Danzō also began walking towards his home to further consider the ideas he had just read about. Then, he would have to visit Orochimaru. His experiments were going nowhere… With war coming, he had to have some results shown, so… He may just approve some of his requests for live subjects. Maybe some people could go missing in the Forest of Death… The exams were never… safe, after all.