----------------------------------------------
Extra chapters available in Patreon⚡
[Www.patreon.com/Samurai492 ]"
_________________________________
After Yuhi Shinku disappeared into the depths of the Forest of Death, Ren's team didn't immediately enter the central tower.
Instead, they stayed near the entrance.
Obito leaned against a tree with his arms folded, occasionally glancing toward the surrounding forest as though expecting someone to appear at any moment.
Rin finally broke the silence. "Ren... are we seriously waiting here to sell another hostage?"
"Why not?"
Ren answered without a trace of embarrassment.
"We have three usable hostages left. The exam only requires one. That means we still have two pieces of surplus inventory."
Obito's mouth twitched.
"Can you stop calling people inventory?"
"They're exam resources."
"That's somehow worse."
The three Konoha shinobi currently disguised as hostages remained silent, but their expressions had become increasingly complicated.
They had spent years training as ninja.
They had survived dangerous missions.
They had endured interrogation exercises, stealth operations, and battlefield simulations.
Yet this was the first time any of them had been treated like merchandise.
Ren ignored their wounded dignity entirely.
His reasoning was simple. There were bound to be teams that had reached the central area after failing to secure their rescue target. If one of those teams possessed enough scrolls, equipment, information, or something else useful, Ren didn't mind helping them pass.
Naturally, for an appropriate price.
Unfortunately, reality refused to cooperate.
They waited.
And waited.
The forest gradually became quieter as the afternoon light faded behind the thick canopy overhead.
No desperate buyers appeared.
Ren was beginning to suspect that anyone capable of reaching this area probably already had their hostage, while the teams that desperately needed one were still somewhere deeper inside the Forest of Death getting beaten senseless.
Just as he was preparing to abandon the idea, branches rustled nearby.
Ren's gaze shifted instantly.
Obito straightened.
Rin quietly moved one hand toward her kunai pouch.
A figure pushed through the bushes.
"Huh?"
Asuma Sarutobi stepped into the clearing and froze.
His eyes widened when he recognized the people standing near the tower entrance.
"Ren? Rin? Obito?"
Then his gaze traveled toward the collection of people standing behind them.
His expression became strange.
"You guys are already here?"
Two more familiar figures emerged from the trees behind him.
Kurenai Yuhi came first, followed closely by Namiashi Raidō. Behind them walked a tired-looking Konoha shinobi dressed as a hostage.
Raidō took one look at Ren's group and nearly stopped walking.
"Why do you have so many people?"
Kurenai stared.
"Four hostages?"
"Three."
Ren casually pointed toward the final prisoner.
"That one's a Grass ninja we captured along the way."
Silence.
Asuma blinked.
Kurenai blinked.
Raidō stared at Ren as though he'd just announced that capturing enemy shinobi was a hidden bonus objective.
Asuma eventually pointed toward the Grass ninja.
"Wait."
His brows knitted together.
"Are we supposed to capture enemy ninja too?"
"No."
Ren answered immediately.
Asuma's expression became even stranger.
"Then why did you capture him?"
"He attacked us."
Ren shrugged.
"And since he survived, killing him seemed wasteful."
The Grass ninja's face twitched.
That explanation somehow made his situation feel worse.
Rin quickly changed the subject before Ren could start explaining the economic value of prisoners.
"Asuma, Kurenai... did you meet Senior Shinku on the way here?"
Kurenai tilted her head.
"My father?"
Her eyes widened slightly.
"No. Why? Was he nearby?"
Ren exchanged a glance with Rin.
That reaction confirmed something.
Asuma's team had no idea that an examiner squad had been operating inside the Forest of Death.
Rin quickly explained what had happened.
The disguised hostages.
The ambush.
The genjutsu.
Yuhi Shinku revealing himself.
And finally—
Ren's one-on-one sword exchange with a veteran jonin.
By the time she finished, Asuma's expression had become unusually serious.
Raidō looked stunned.
Kurenai simply stared at Ren.
"You fought my father?"
"Briefly."
"And..."
Kurenai hesitated.
"...you won?"
"One exchange."
Ren corrected her immediately.
"That's different."
"But you knocked his sword away."
Rin smiled.
"Ren definitely won that exchange."
Obito eagerly joined in.
"You should've seen it! Your father's sword came down like—whoosh! Then Ren moved like—bam! And suddenly the sword went flying!"
Raidō stared at him.
"That explanation was terrible."
"You understood it, didn't you?"
"Unfortunately."
Kurenai barely heard them.
Her red eyes remained fixed on Ren.
She knew he was strong.
Everyone their age knew that by now.
Ren had returned from the southwestern front with achievements that most genin couldn't dream of accomplishing. Stories about him had already circulated through Konoha, though Ren himself rarely talked about them.
But Yuhi Shinku was different.
That was her father.
Kurenai understood exactly how powerful he was.
Shinku might not stand among monsters such as the Sannin or Minato Namikaze, but among Konoha's jonin, he was unquestionably an elite combatant. His genjutsu alone made him dangerous, and anyone foolish enough to assume he relied entirely on illusion techniques would quickly discover that his swordsmanship was equally formidable.
Yet Ren had managed to disarm him.
Even once...
That was astonishing.
Kurenai's eyes unconsciously softened.
Ren noticed the expressions around him and sighed.
"Don't exaggerate what happened."
He raised one hand.
"Senior Shinku wasn't fighting seriously. It was a test, not a death match. Neither of us used everything we had."
Asuma folded his arms.
"Still..."
He studied Ren carefully.
"Even if he wasn't using his full strength, disarming a jonin isn't exactly normal."
Ren smiled faintly.
"When have you ever thought I was normal?"
Asuma opened his mouth.
Then closed it.
Fair point.
He had known Ren long enough to understand that comparing him to an ordinary genin was probably meaningless.
Asuma himself was considered talented.
He was the Hokage's son.
He had received excellent instruction and possessed far better resources than most young ninja.
But after struggling through the Forest of Death to rescue one hostage—and nearly being ambushed by a team from Amegakure along the way—he couldn't help feeling slightly depressed while looking at Ren's group.
They hadn't merely completed the objective.
They had somehow accumulated hostages.
Captured an enemy shinobi.
Fought the examiner squad.
Then defeated one of the examiners in a sword exchange.
And apparently, after all that...
They had been waiting outside the tower to conduct business.
Asuma rubbed his forehead.
"Why haven't you entered the tower yet?"
Ren looked genuinely surprised by the question.
"We had two extra hostages."
"...Yes?"
"So we thought we'd sell them."
Asuma stared.
Behind Ren, all three disguised Konoha shinobi developed increasingly dark expressions.
"You were actually serious about that?"
"Of course."
Ren looked toward the forest.
"If another team arrived without a hostage, we could trade one to them. Weapons, information, supplies, money..."
He paused thoughtfully.
"Depending on demand, I was considering an auction."
The disguised shinobi nearly exploded.
Rin coughed into her fist to hide her smile.
Obito turned away because his shoulders had begun shaking.
Asuma looked toward the sky.
For some reason, every time he interacted with Ren, the concept of the Will of Fire became slightly harder to explain.
"Would that even be allowed?"
"Nobody said it wasn't."
"That's not the same thing!"
"Rules are rules."
Ren smiled.
"If they wanted to forbid hostage trading, they should've written it down."
The Konoha shinobi disguised as hostages exchanged looks.
One of them seemed genuinely concerned that Ren might raise this argument directly with the Hokage.
Kurenai giggled quietly.
Asuma heard her.
His mood worsened immediately.
After everything their own team had gone through, seeing Kurenai laughing at Ren's ridiculous ideas somehow irritated him far more than it should have.
Rin glanced toward the darkening forest.
"Anyway, it's getting late."
She pointed toward the tower.
"We should go inside. At least there'll be somewhere safe to rest."
Raidō nodded immediately.
"Agreed."
Asuma sighed.
"Yeah. Waiting here probably won't accomplish anything."
Ren reluctantly abandoned his business venture.
"Fine."
With that decision made, the two teams headed toward the tower together.
Six young ninja.
Four disguised Konoha shinobi.
And one thoroughly miserable Grass prisoner.
They formed such a large procession that any other examinee team spotting them from a distance would probably have assumed an entire squad of instructors had arrived.
The central tower loomed above the surrounding trees like a dark stone fortress.
Ren pushed open the heavy wooden doors.
Creeeeak—
The sound echoed through the structure.
A cool, dry smell drifted from inside.
Everyone instinctively became quieter.
The tower's interior was far larger than it appeared from outside.
A massive circular chamber occupied the ground floor, its ceiling disappearing into a high dome supported by thick stone pillars. Torches burned along the walls, their orange flames throwing long shadows across the floor.
Several doors lined both sides of the chamber.
Some appeared to lead toward sleeping quarters.
Others probably connected to storage rooms or administrative areas.
Bookshelves occupied several corners, though most of the books looked old enough that Obito immediately lost interest.
Once the doors shut behind them, the disguised hostages visibly relaxed.
One of them finally stepped forward.
"Congratulations."
He looked between Ren's team and Asuma's.
"You are the first two teams to reach the central tower."
Obito's face lit up.
"First?"
"Yes."
The chunin nodded.
"There are beds and lounge chairs in the surrounding rooms. Rest here tonight."
His expression became slightly more serious.
"Based on previous exams, most surviving teams should reach the tower within the next day. By this time tomorrow, the list of candidates who passed the second stage should be finalized."
Ren nodded.
Then his gaze moved toward the Grass prisoner.
"One more thing."
The prisoner immediately stiffened.
Ren pointed toward him.
"Take him with you."
The chunin raised an eyebrow.
"He might have useful intelligence regarding Kusagakure's movements."
Ren continued calmly.
"The Hokage and the village's intelligence division will probably want to question him."
The Konoha shinobi exchanged glances.
One nodded.
"Understood."
The Grass ninja swallowed.
Until now, he had still possessed a tiny amount of hope that he might somehow escape during the exam.
That hope vanished as the chunin grabbed his shoulder.
Within minutes, the instructors and their prisoner disappeared through one of the tower's side corridors.
The atmosphere immediately became much more relaxed.
Asuma dropped his backpack against the wall.
"Finally."
He pulled out several wrapped food packages and bottles of water.
"We've still got plenty. Want some?"
Obito accepted before Ren could answer.
"Absolutely."
Rin laughed.
Ren reached into his own equipment pouch.
"In that case..."
He produced several sealed bottles.
Asuma's eyes brightened.
"No way."
Raidō leaned closer.
"Is that...?"
"Raw Cola."
Ren grinned.
The drink had been prepared beforehand with help from Mikami Tajima, and carrying it through an exam might have seemed unnecessary to most people.
But Ren had priorities.
Moments later, the group sat together beneath the warm torchlight.
Food wrappers opened.
Cups were filled.
For the first time since entering the Forest of Death, nobody needed to worry about ambushes, traps, enemy ninja, or enormous wild animals.
Obito immediately began reenacting portions of their earlier battles, adding increasingly impossible details each time.
Raidō repeatedly corrected him.
Rin eventually gave up trying to stop either of them.
Asuma quietly drank his cola.
Then he noticed movement from the corner of his eye.
Kurenai had shifted closer to Ren.
Very close.
Asuma's fingers tightened slightly around his cup.
Kurenai lowered her voice.
"Ren."
"Hm?"
"When you fought my father..."
Her red eyes gleamed with curiosity.
"What did you actually use?"
Ren glanced toward her.
"You already know most of it."
"I do?"
"The swordsmanship was from Kakashi's family."
Kurenai nodded slowly.
She had seen Ren use techniques derived from the Hatake style before.
"And the taijutsu?"
"Might Guy's family."
Kurenai paused.
Her expression became blank.
"...What?"
Ren calmly took another drink.
"Hatake swordsmanship and Might Guy's taijutsu."
Kurenai stared at him.
The more she thought about that combination, the stranger it sounded.
"So you defeated my father using techniques borrowed from two completely different families?"
"Borrowed is a harsh word."
Ren looked offended.
"I prefer 'learned through cultural exchange.'"
Kurenai burst out laughing.
The sound was soft, but in the quiet tower, Asuma heard every bit of it.
His eyebrow twitched.
What irritated him most was that Kurenai's attention never left Ren.
She looked at him differently now.
There had always been admiration there.
Ren was talented, confident, unpredictable, and somehow capable of turning even the Chunin Exams into something entertaining.
But after hearing that he had crossed blades with her father...
That admiration had changed.
Deepened.
Kurenai leaned slightly closer.
"Still..."
Her voice became quieter.
"That's amazing."
Ren looked at her.
For a moment, Kurenai seemed to realize just how close she had gotten.
A faint flush appeared on her cheeks.
She immediately looked toward her cup.
Asuma saw that too.
Crack.
Everyone turned.
Asuma slowly looked down.
The wooden cup in his hand had developed a thin fracture.
Raidō stared at him.
"Why are you crushing your cup?"
"I'm not."
"You're definitely crushing it."
"I said I'm not."
Obito narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
Then his gaze traveled from Asuma...
to Kurenai...
then to Ren.
Understanding dawned.
A wicked smile gradually appeared across his face.
"Ohhh."
Asuma's head snapped toward him.
"Don't."
"I didn't say anything."
"You were about to."
"I was just breathing."
"Stop breathing like that."
Rin pressed both hands over her face.
Ren, meanwhile, appeared completely unconcerned.
Or perhaps completely unaware.
He leaned back against the stone wall and closed his eyes.
Whatever happened tomorrow, their second-stage qualification was effectively guaranteed.
But outside the tower, the Forest of Death remained restless.
Not every team had been as fortunate.
Not every team had reached safety.
And somewhere among the trees, the remaining examiner squad was still hunting.
More importantly, the Chunin Exams had only just begun to reveal what they were truly testing.
Beyond these walls waited stronger opponents, hidden rivalries, and battles where no examiner would stop the blade before it struck too deep.
For tonight, Ren could rest.
Tomorrow—
the real competition would begin.