The lingering, heavy particulate cloud of Naruto's explosive red bean gas slowly cleared from the concrete hall, guided away by the gentle gust of the Third Hokage's localized wind technique.
Hayate Gekko wiped a stray tear from his eye before raising his dark sleeve to signal the end of the brief resting period, drawing the remaining genin back to the high balconies to finalize the remaining four matches.
The fresh air pumping through the exhaust shafts brought a cool, crisp draft against my skin, my dark cloak shifting as I leaned my elbows against the iron railing to observe the arena below.
Naruto marched straight into our alcove near the edge of the Team Seven area, his whisker-marked face locked in a sudden, deep look of confusion as his eyes bounced between my face and Karin's crimson hair. "Hey, Ren, Karin! It took my brain a second because I was celebrating my awesome win over Kiba, but I just checked the roster sheets near the podium. We have the exact same last name! Are we part of some secret hidden clan or something?!"
Karin's fingers tightened nervously against the hem of her loose lavender tunic, her red eyes widening behind her spectacles as her Mind's Eye of the Kagura read his presence. To her advanced sensory instinct, Naruto's gold chakra presence felt like an infinite, roaring ocean of pure vital energy, sharing the exact same ancient, deep ancestral texture that anchored her own bloodline. The sheer raw volume of his spirit caused her to shudder slightly, her gaze locking onto the orange-clad boy with an expression of profound, quiet reverence.
I offered the boy a warm, reassuring smile, keeping my deep voice level to ensure no shadow operatives could decode my past-life meta-knowledge. "The lands where your name originated fell decades ago during the old wars, Naruto," I explained softly, keeping my tone perfectly natural for a thirteen-year-old. "The original village was completely destroyed by rival territories who feared their exceptional sealing talents, leaving only a small handful of Uzumaki scattered across the great nations today. Your red hair is a direct visual proof of that noble lineage, Karin."
"Wow... so we really are related," Naruto murmured quietly, his usual loud, rowdy demeanor completely softening into a rare moment of deep, reflective silence as he looked at her crimson hair. He reached up to touch his own spiky blond locks, a strange mix of loneliness and immense pride flitting across his blue eyes as he processed the reality of having an actual family member standing right in front of him.
"You carry an incredibly vast, beautiful light within your body, Naruto," Karin whispered gently, her cheeks flushing with a soft pink tint as she felt the absolute absence of malice inside his soul. "It feels incredibly comforting... like a real home. I never knew anyone else carried this same heavy warmth."
I patted Naruto's orange shoulder with a light pressure, laying a subtle seed in his mind that he could follow later on, long after the upcoming crisis with the Hidden Sand had settled. "There are a lot of secrets tied to your name, bro. Once these exams are finished and the village stabilizing operations are complete, we can sit down at my family's herb shop and talk about who your parents really were. For now, you need to focus on keeping that explosive energy of yours ready for the final matches."
"You bet, Ren! I'm going to smash whoever they put in front of me!" Naruto roared cheerfully, his solemn mood instantly evaporating as he threw his fists into the air and dashed back toward Team Seven's waiting area.
The high brass bells of the tower began to chime across the hall, signaling the conclusion of our short break as the massive electronic ticker screen on the ceiling flared back to life with a sudden buzz. The glowing panels shuffled the remaining names before locking down Match Nine: Shiho vs. Wakana.
"You've got this, Shiho," Shikamaru Nara muttered lazily from behind our shoulders, his hands buried deep inside his dark pockets as his sharp eyes scanned her equipment. "Just don't let that Grass freak control your movement space, or his physical speed will tear your defenses to pieces."
I turned my head slightly, my amber-green eyes catching a brief, sharp glance from Temari standing near the Sand Village side, her dark eyes watching my posture with an extra layer of quiet interest. Remembering how Shikamaru had married her in the original timeline of my previous life, I couldn't resist the urge to play a little neighborhood prank on the lazy genius.
"I predict your future wife is who you will match up with in the final rounds, bro," I teased Shikamaru in a low, deadpan whisper, a faint smirk twisting my lips.
Shikamaru scoffed loudly, his face twisting into a look of profound, deep revulsion as he forcefully waved his hand to dismiss my words. "You've inhaled way too much of Naruto's gas, Ren. What if I end up fighting a guy down there? Geez... what a total drag. Stop talking nonsense and watch the stage."
The match opened with absolute, terrifying aggression as the foreign Grass ninja launched his body straight across the stone ground, his physical speed completely superior to Shiho's support-pool conditioning.
Shiho didn't waste a single drop of her limited stamina trying to match his speed; instead, she spent the first minute executing a series of clumsy, frantic dodges, intentionally taking minor scrapes against her arms to gather information. To the shouting crowd on the upper balconies, she looked like a helpless, panicking scholar running out of time, but her sharp brain was systematically decoding Wakana's exact footwork intervals, his acceleration paths, and his breathing patterns.
As she stumbled across the stone ground, her fingers discreetly unspooled several thin paths of wire tools, using her exceptional chakra control to anchor the invisible metal strands against the low iron pillars and cracks in the masonry. She was seamlessly mapping out the entire geometry of the battlefield within her head, weaving a massive, invisible web that completely encircled the center of the ring. Once the setup was fully primed, Shiho intentionally dropped her guard, backing herself into a corner to bait Wakana into a heavy, highly predictable frontal charge.
"You're finished, you little Leaf rat!" Wakana roared sadistically, launching his torso forward with his kunai raised for a final physical strike.
"Now," Shiho whispered calmly.
She forcefully pulled her fingers back, snapping the hidden metal lines completely taut across the stone ground. Wakana's sandals caught the invisible strands, the high-tension wires instantly whipping upward to wrap tightly around his ankles, wrists, and torso, locking his body in a rigid, agonizing bind that completely halted his momentum mid-air.
Up in the stands, Shikamaru’s dark eyes widened in sudden, profound shock, a soft grunt of genuine respect escaping his lips as he realized he was the only spectator who had figured out her tactical setup before the trap even sprung. Watching a support girl look at a battlefield, calculate the geometric paths, and deploy a low-stamina, high-intellect trap with minimal chakra expenditure deeply impressed his tactical mind, mirroring his own shadow strategies perfectly.
"Fire Style: Searing Wire Conduit!" Shiho shouted aloud into the large room, her right hand forming a single-handed seal as she focused her fire chakra directly down the metal lines.
The invisible wires instantly flashed a bright, blinding white before glowing a searing, molten red under the stage light. The intense heat severely burned Wakana's limbs and completely cut off his circulation, the blinding pain forcing an immediate, screaming surrender as he collapsed flat onto the stone ground, completely knocked out.
The electronic ticker screen rolled its panels for the tenth time, the glowing panels shuffling before locking down the next matchup: Ren Shimogamo vs. Ino Yamanaka.
My jaw completely locked in surprise as I stared down at the glowing kanji, my mature filter scrambling to process the sudden, emotional twist. I looked up toward the podium where the Third Hokage sat watching our lines, realizing instantly that this matchup wasn't a random accident; Lord Hiruzen was deliberately inspecting our character and neighborhood bonds, choosing to audit our personal growth rather than our raw fighting ability.
I vaulted over the iron railing, my ninja sandals making a steady, heavy thud as I stepped onto the cold stone ground of the arena floor.
Ino Yamanaka stepped down from the opposite side, her long blonde hair swaying behind her purple training outfit as she walked with a slow, hesitant stride to stand just six feet away from my position. The moment the proctor raised his hand to signal the official start of the match, neither of us made a single physical movement, the absolute silence in the cavernous room turning incredibly thick.
Ino's brow furrowed grumpily, her blue eyes narrowing as she glared at my stone-faced expression. "Why aren't you drawing your weapons, Ren? Aren't you going to launch one of your advanced mud jutsus against me?!"
"I'm just standing here waiting for you to execute your Mind Transfer Jutsu to take over my body, Ino," I replied smoothly, my deep voice remaining perfectly flat and serious. "You've been practicing that technique for months, and I'm giving you the center of the floor to use it."
Ino's face turned an intense, furious shade of red, her knuckles tightening against her purple outfit as her internal feelings completely went to war within her chest. Under normal circumstances, she would have happily jumped at the chance to secure a fast victory to show off in front of Sasuke, but secretly, her entire heart was currently screaming at her to protect me. She had spent the previous night nursing my body through a deadly extraction fever, watching me bleed and suffer to save our classmates, and the thought of forcing a physical trade against my already damaged body made her feel physically sick.
A deep wave of guilt twisted inside my stomach as my past-life memories reminded me that Ino had never managed to pass the preliminaries or reach the final rounds in the original timeline. I refused to let her sacrifice her own career for the sake of my advancement, so I turned my torso toward the proctor to concede the match.
"Proctor, I—" I began flatly, preparing to submit my voluntary forfeit.
"Shut up, you complete idiot!" Ino screamed fiercely, interrupting my words as she forcefully slammed her foot against the stone ground. "Proctor! I forfeit this match! I submit my official defeat right now!"
I blinked in total confusion, my stone-faced mask breaking for a brief second as I looked into her furious, tear-stained face. "Ino... what are you doing? This is your chance to reach the final rounds."
"You got severely injured out there in the forest helping our teams survive, and I am absolutely not going to take advantage of an injured comrade just to get a stupid promotion, humph!" Ino snapped crossly, crossing her arms over her chest as she turned her head away to hide the deep crimson blush flaring across the red tips of her ears.
Anko Mitarashi let out a wild, knowing cackle from the high balcony above, while Karin Uzumaki quietly folded her arms, her advanced sensory power allowing her to easily read the intense, swirling wave of protective affection and romantic confusion currently dominating Ino's chakra. Both of them knew with absolute certainty that my physical body was completely healed and fully stable thanks to Karin's Uzumaki vitality, meaning Ino's fierce, protective excuse was based entirely on her own deep worry for my health.
I offered my childhood friend a jackpot, respectful nod, choosing not to make the situation difficult for her as I accepted her voluntary surrender. "Thank you, Ino," I murmured softly, my deep voice carrying a genuine warmth as we turned our bodies around to walk back up the stone stairs together.
My mature filter concluded that Ino's internal feelings must be getting incredibly complicated because this life's version of myself was significantly stronger and more stable than the ordinary civilian recruit from the original timeline. I resolved to just let things flow naturally, firmly convinced in my own mind that she only viewed me as a close neighborhood childhood friend rather than a romantic partner. I would find out exactly how hilariously wrong that calculation was in the future.
The electronic ticker screen rolled for the eleventh time, displaying the most explosive, canonical climax of the entire preliminary phase: Rock Lee vs. Gaara.
The physical trade that unfolded across the concrete arena floor was nothing short of spectacular, the sheer raw violence of the combat causing the surrounding genin to freeze in absolute terror.
Rock Lee dismantled his heavy leg weights to achieve impossible, blinding speed, his ninja sandals tearing across the stones as he bypassed Gaara's automatic sand defenses to deliver a continuous rain of physical strikes. As the battle neared its grimmest threshold, Lee crossed his fingers to forcefully unlock the Hidden Gates of his internal chakra network, his skin turning a violent shade of crimson as his vital energy radiated from his body like a solid wall of fire.
I leaned my elbows against the iron railing of the balcony, my amber-green eyes watching the manic, murderous energy swirling around Gaara's sand shield. I looked over at Might Guy standing just a few inches away, my voice dropping into a low, completely serious tone that carried zero hesitation.
"Gaara of the Sand is a complete maniac, Guy-sensei," I warned the green-clad Jonin quietly, my face remaining stone-faced as I watched Lee's muscle fibers begin to violently tear from the strain of his own technique. "If you don't step down onto those stones to call this match immediately, Lee is going to get killed or permanently crippled out there. That guy's sand is far stronger than Lee's remaining stamina, trust me."
Might Guy remained entirely motionless on the balcony, his knuckles turning absolute white against the iron railing as my urgent warning rang in his ears. His dark eyes watched his beloved student's desperate movements with a profound, deep agony, but he hesitated a split second too long, trapped in a brutal internal conflict between protecting his student's physical body and honoring the boy's burning desire to prove his ninja way to the stadium.
Because of that tragic delay, Gaara's sand forcefully rose from the dirt before Guy could jump, catching Lee mid-air to crush his left arm and leg in a vice-like grip with a series of sickening, heavy cracks. Right as the psychotic Sand boy prepared to execute a lethal finishing move against the immobilized genin, Guy finally broke his paralysis, using his standard Body Flicker to materialize right on the stone ground to forcefully swat the sand away to end the match.
"The winner is Gaara," Hayate Gekko announced solemnly, while the medical squad rushed forward to place Lee's broken body onto a stretcher.
Match Twelve finished right after, showcasing Chōji Akimichi's Human Bullet Tank getting completely neutralized by the directional sound waves of Dosu Kinuta's mechanical arm device, closing out the entire preliminary bracket with absolute Sound Village dominance.
Lord Hiruzen Sarutobi stepped back up to the front podium, the smoke from his long pipe drifting lazily through the high rafters as he addressed the remaining survivors. "The preliminary phase is officially closed. All advancing genin are granted exactly one month of independent preparation and training downtime before the final rounds commence in the central stadium."
The moment the assembly was dismissed, an administrative group of Anbu agents moved through the shadows to take Karin away for her official quarantine and mind reading session, led directly by Ino's father, Inoichi Yamanaka. Anko Mitarashi offered me a sharp, reassuring wink from the exit door, confirming she would personally sponsor Karin's security and keep Root agents completely boxed out of her quarantine ward. I didn't have a single clue that during the mind sweep the following morning, Inoichi's advanced sensory examination would accidentally pull up the hyper-vivid memory of me sucking on Karin's most private upper-inner thigh skin in the forest, a discovery that would fuel an immense amount of hilarious future gripes back at the Yamanaka compound.
I adjusted my dark cloak, offering Shiho a warm goodbye as she prepared to join the elite cryptanalysis pool, before turning my steps toward the main exit gates alongside Naruto and the remaining members of Team Ten.
The fresh evening air felt incredibly clean as my ninja sandals finally cleared the dark threshold of the tower, my mind completely focused on the upcoming training month as I walked slowly down the forest path toward home.