{Academy training ground, Konohagakure}
{6:54 PM, 18th Jan 13 Yrs ANB}
{3rd Person POV}
...
[Status Window]
[Name: Ren]
[Title: Academy Student]
[Level: 20 Next Level: 1,500/20,000]
[Chakra: 580/580]
[STR: 76{-30}]
[VIT: 79]
[END: 86]
[DEX: 136{-70}]
[INT: 63]
[CHA: 58]
[Control: 50%]
Money: 56,500 Ryo
Attribute Points: 75
...
Ren stumbled a little as his tense muscles relaxed, he stared as the modifiers in front of his STR disappeared and the DEX modifier dropped to -40 he slowly walked towards his usual spot and collapsed against a tree.
'This is not working out I need a different formula because my body can not handle the resistance seal at level 6...'
Almost once a month Ren continued to increase the level of the resistance seal that he normally uses, while his body could handle a level 1 resistance seal for a whole day as he increased the levels on the resistance seal the time before his muscles started giving up, while it wasn't a problem before as he only increased the levels when he trained. His body only being able to handle the seal for somewhere around 45 minutes means he could even get any effective training done.
"You okay, Ren-kun" Ino-chan asked as she stopped by on her run, Ren nodded and motioned to her to continue as he collapsed and looked at the moving clouds in the sky. It's been almost 9 months since that disappointing day, the graduation exam starts tomorrow and Ren was ready for that Rookie of the Year title and to possibly complete the only quest that he currently had.
'My growth has been surprisingly all-rounded and I didn't have to use any points to speed up any deficiencies.'
Using points was one of Ren's plans, till now his body has gone through a rapid growth period but it seems he was reaching the limit of simply abusing the resistance seals. Ren has blissfully spent the last few months in peace, going through the daily grind and he focused more on his physical stats after mastering what little fuinjutsu he was allowed to.
'The R&D department...' Rinko-san's offer appeared in his thoughts once again it was tempting to completely focus on experimenting through seals but from the day he seriously started focusing on fuinjutsu Ren had envisioned a path for himself, a combat style integrating fuinjutsu into his arsenal and for that to happen he could not give up the combat side of things.
It was still a little difficult for him to turn down Rinko-san, she was his first sensei even though she refused to acknowledge that at all. The stoic look on her face when he declined...
Ren shook himself out of his thoughts as he sat up and stretched he looked at Ino-chan running past him and focused, her figure became marginally slower as she ran in slow motion for a second before she whizzed past him. It was one of the things he noticed after his INT crossed the threshold of 50, his dynamic vision was a lot better now he could focus on things easier, and during fights, he felt himself moving a little faster.
It took a lot of willpower for him to not dump all of his stats into INT as it was his slowest growing stat but he managed to hold himself back on the account of participating in the graduation exam tomorrow.
Ino completed her laps and gasped as she slowly trotted toward Ren, she asked in a concerned voice, "Don't overdo it, I had to help you back yesterday because you over-exhausted yourself, we have the graduation exam tomorrow remember."
"Yeah, I'm okay I'm done for the day I'll just go home and rest now," Ren spoke as he slowly stood up, his legs were a little wobbly but he was still feeling okay everything would be alright after a good night of sleep anyway.
"You need help?" Ino asked looking at his shaking legs but Ren waved her away, "You wanna meet tomorrow before the written exam since we don't have any classes we don't have to wake up early." Ren asked and got a positive response.
He looked at the setting sun one more time before they both started walking toward the Yamanaka clan compound.
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{Yamanaka clan compound, Konohagakure}
{7:14 PM, 18th Jan 13 Yrs ANB}
{Ino's POV}
She looked as Ren's fading silhouette slowly warped with the dark night there were plenty of lights around the Yamanaka clan compound as it was in one of the more populous areas of Konoha but the direction where Ren was heading was a little shady in nature.
After waiting for a moment she went towards the gate and nodded to the chunin who greeted her, the Yamanaka clan wasn't the biggest in Konoha but it was sizeable enough that they needed their own guards to adhere to the security protocols.
'At least he's back to normal, I hope he isn't trying to earn more money by taking late-night jobs.'
She wanted to follow him late at night at one point but her curfew on most days was at 9 and Ren stayed at the library late. At one point she would have envied Ren for his freedom but after being friends with him for almost a year she had gained a new perspective towards her luck.
"I'm home," she shouted as she put her sandals to the side and walked into the corridor.
"We're in the kitchen," she heard her mother shout.
She hesitated for a bit on having dinner first or taking a shower before she decided that she was too hungry to care at the moment. The door slid open easily and she saw her mother and father sitting on a small table with a blanket covering their feet.
"How was your training honey," Mom asked as Ino settled in the blanket.
"It was good," she smiled before she changed her tone and continued a little annoyed, "Ren just had to train himself into an inch of exhaustion again..." She looked at her father and hesitated before she asked, "Dad when do our teams get decided?"
She looked as Inoichi looked at her with his clan head face, "We had a meeting about it today, why do you ask?"
'I...' She hesitated, conflicting thoughts clashed in her mind as her strange feelings interfered with her question. She took a deep breath and asked, "What team is Ren in?"
She watched as Mom and Dad shared a small look and had to suppress an eye roll, "Just tell me it's not it is a big secret," she pouted almost habitually before she controlled her expression.
"It is not decided yet, he would most likely end up in a team with Hinata, Kiba, or Shino" Inoichi replied.
A feeling of relief overcame her as she sighed, she felt a little disappointed but it was an outcome she had expected. Their clans had a rock-solid alliance, and since all of them were clan heirs she knew she would end up with the two bozos and not on a team with Ren.
...
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AN- 1st Ino POV, there won't be many of them but I felt like she deserved a little screen time considering she's the FL. The love aspect in the story would be delayed for another couple of years till the MC is around 15-16 years old.
P.S.- 5 extra chapters on P.atreon at -p.atreon.com/Version_401