{Konoha Academy, Konohagakure}
{2:28 PM, 1st July 13 Yrs ANB}
{3rd Person POV}
...
[INT check passed, INT> 75. Genjutsu unraveled.]
A notification appeared in front of Ren, he paused for a brief moment on his way up the stairs and read through the notification. He looked around in confusion trying to find a target but no one was around. A small crowd was formed on the second-floor corridor so he focused on the names trying to see if anyone stands out.
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[Uchiha Sasuke Lv - 26]
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[Uzumaki Naruto Lv - 24]
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[Hyuga Hinata Lv - 23]
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[Rock Lee Lv - 33]
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[Tenten Lv - 31]
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[Hyuga Neji Lv - 39]
...
[Tanigawa Yuki Lv - 18]
...
'There is just one red name in that whole crowd, and he doesn't look strong enough...' Ren concluded, his interest still rose as he walked toward the group. No one paid attention to him as the 2 Konoha rookie teams were locked up in a tussle.
"-stiny is already set, your team isn't strong enough to pass through these exams since you are teamed up with 'Hinata-sama'." Neji spat, his face still stuck in a stoic mask, but Ren could see and feel the hatred leaking from him.
'Now that's something, I haven't seen Neji ever lose his cool,' Ren thought as we walked closer, Team 7 looked like they were on edge, Hinata was agitated and her head was bowed down with Naruto standing in front of her.
Neji's eyes shifted and locked on with Ren's for a brief moment before he turned back to glare at Hinata's shadow. Naruto was the next one to burst, he took an aggressive step forward and spoke, "I don't care who you are or what happened to you but you don't get to talk to Hinata-chan like that..."
"N-neji-neesan..." Hinata stuttered again, her confidence was back to the academy days, and just when it looked like they were going to fight Tenten and Rock Lee stepped in between the two teams. While Tenten held Neji back, Lee took an entirely different approach, he walked up to Sasuke and challenged him to the spar.
While the drama was surely interesting, Ren focused on Neji. Almost a year and a half ago, the two of them competed for the top spot in the academy, and here they were again at the same starting line.
At first, Ren thought he would have become chunin by now but apparently, his team wasn't allowed to take part in the previous chunin exams because it had been just 3 months since they had graduated from the academy.
'Let's see how strong you have gotten...{Observe}' Ren thought and started reading meticulously at the new block that appeared in front of him.
...
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[Name: Hyuga Neji]
[Title: Konoha Genin]
[Level: 39]
[Chakra: 1580]
[STR: 78]
[VIT: 86]
[END: 79]
[DEX: 88]
[INT: 80{120}]
[CHA: 79]
[Control: 67%]
[Titles:]
...
[Member of the Hyuga Clan: +15% additional EXP gains towards Gentle Fist. Chakra Multiplier +10, + Special Perk {Byakugan}]
[Byakugan: +100% to INT. Precisely see through walls and other Yang entities. See in diameter of INT meters around the user, while changing into panoramic view the user could focus on objects 10 times farther.]
[Cursed Seal of Manji: -25% to INT. Special Perk {Byakugan} removed upon death.]
[Description: Hyuga Neji is a prodigy famed for his exceptional skills as a shinobi and his mastery of the Hyūga clan's Gentle Fist style, which focused on targeting the body's internal pathways to disrupt an opponent's chakra flow. Currently, a member of Konoha's Team #9 he displays extraordinary technique and prowess in Taijutsu and scouting, his potential is currently shackled by his skewed worldview.]
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...
Ren took a deep breath after looking through Neji's stats, he was strong, but still somehow weaker than Ren was expected. After a year and a half of training under a Jonin he expected him to be a lot more stronger than this.
'Did he somehow end up with a bad Jonin sensei, what about Tenten and Lee... {Observe}.'
Two new blocks appeared in front of Ren, Tenten had grown stronger but her upper limit was still low chunin level, at least from her physical stats. It was Lee who gave Ren a surprise...
...
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[Name: Rock Lee]
[Title: Konoha Genin]
[Level: 33]
[Chakra: 185]
[STR: 117]
[VIT: 107]
[END: 121]
[DEX: 153{-80}]
[INT: 105]
[CHA: 37]
[Control: 12%]
[Titles:]
...
[Mutated Tenketsu: Chakra Multiplier -5, -90% to Chakra control exercises]
[Eight Chakra Gates: +125% to all Physical stats when opened. Damages the body the longer it is used. Each Individual Gate gives an additional specific enhancement.
Max unlocked time: 1min.]
[Description: Rock Lee lacks the ability to perform ninjutsu or genjutsu due to a genetic condition that results in his inability to mold chakra effectively. Currently, a member of Konoha's Team #9 he displays extraordinary prowess in Taijutsu, his potential is only limited by his perseverance.]
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...
'What is up with those stats, and what's this special perk 'Five Chakra Gates', isn't that kind of broken?' Ren thought as he watched Lee follow Team #7 for a spar. He wanted to observe and gather more intel so he went along, the debuff along with Lee's DEX meant he was wearing weights or resistance seals so this should be an equal battle.
Lee followed Team #7 alone until they arrived at an open corridor on the other side of the staircase to the 3rd floor, Naruto was busy making sure Hinata was okay so Sasuke and Lee had an open area to fight.
"...I want to see for myself how I stack against a genius," Lee spoke, it was an interesting transformation that Lee had gone through. Lee hadn't been confident in his own strength before, he was loud and obnoxious in the academy but he did run his body ragged every day after the academy in the training grounds.
"..." Sasuke didn't say anything, Lee had blocked his kick before and while he had been holding back to be able to block his kick at least meant that his reflexes were good.
'Should I, we still have 25 mins before the deadline so I could see how strong he is,' Sasuke thought, he watched as Lee got into a stance that was eerily familiar.
'That's Ren's Taijutsu style,' Sasuke thought shocked, he still remembered Ren's deceptive taijutsu style, his feints were so real even his Sharingan was sometimes deceived. Sasuke looked up at the balcony, Ren was looking down on their spar in interest.
'Alright he may not be as fast or strong as Ren but he would be a good test subject to get used to Ren's taijutsu style.' Sasuke thought as he pulled both of his hands in front of him. Taking the basic stance of his interceptor fist he got ready for the taijutsu spar.
'Sure enough, he won't attack first,' Sasuke guessed and so he dashed toward Lee. Lee's eyes widened at Sasuke's speed, with his weights they were evenly matched which he wasn't expecting.
'He's almost as fast as Neji-kun,' Lee parried Sasuke's attack easily and tried to evade Sasuke's body. It didn't work as Sasuke was barely able to track his movements and react to him.
'No this is a little different,' Sasuke thought, his Sharingan flared to life once he realized that Lee's speed was still a little too much for him to track.
The two of them went back and forth neither gaining an advantage as although Sasuke was able to perfectly block Lee's attacks, his heavy attacks still destabilized Sasuke's body making sure that he wasn't able to counterattack.
'This won't work, he's faster than I expected... I need to open the first gate to use the primary lotus anyway so this should work...' Lee thought as he analyzed Sasuke's movements.
Lee realized the danger as Sasuke's eyes were able to see through his attacks, he opened the first gate and used the boost in speed to flash under Sasuke's guard. Sasuke immediately shifted and managed to block the incoming kick but the power of the uppercut kick still made him fly into the air.
"You are stronger than I expected, Sasuke-san, so I'll reveal to you my first trump-" Lee flashed behind Sasuke and used his two fingers to jab into Sasuke's pressure point.
Ren turned to look at the new figure that had appeared in the room, the man in a green body suit summoned a turtle who quickly jumped down.
'This isn't good...' Sasuke thought as he realized his body froze for a second. As Lee opened his bandages and got ready to open the first gate, a loud voice interrupted the spar.
"Lee, that's enough..."
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AN- So hehehe... uh, I went a little too hard on writing my original novel! Anyway I'm alive and well. I just need to balance everything!