With the meeting concluded, Ren left the restaurant and shook his head at the complex situation.

In Ren’s previous life, many people believed that putting the Rookie Nine in the Chunin Exams was highly irresponsible of their teachers. Especially Kakashi, who didn’t teach his team anything worth a damn up till that point.

But these people were wrong.

Ren was one of them in his past life. He believed that sending kids to an exam where they could die after giving them a half-assed half-year of training was criminal negligence.

But after living in the ninja world for so long, he had to admit he simply did not have the full picture. He lacked a certain perspective.

The Chunin Exams were for genins who wanted to be chunin.

It was that simple. There was no trick. No hidden meaning. That was it.

They were for people like… Tenten. She was pretty much on the level of an experienced genin who is ready to push for the next rank.

People like Gaara, Lee, and Neji? They should have been promoted long ago. They have the skills for it. They are strong enough. The only reason they were kept as genin was to show them off in these exams. But they did not represent the acceptable level for a standard chunin-wannabe genin.

Usually, having one proper ninja technique was enough. Mizuki was a chunin, and that guy’s only notable move was throwing big shurikens very well. And like it or not, he deserved his rank.

He was what an average chunin was like.

And the Rookie Nine? Most of them were from clans and had their clan techniques. They have been trained in their clan techniques for several years already. Even in the canon, they already were near the level where a low-level chunin should be at… at least, most of them.

Canon Ino and Sakura are not worth mentioning.

But most of them only required some basic physical training and experience, and they were pretty much ready to go for the chunin rank because they already had the required ninjutsu prowess for the rank-up. Even Naruto had his Shadow Clones, and Sasuke had his fire techniques and Sharingan. That was why they were going to be funneled straight into the Chunin Exams. With their abilities, they should have been just fine in a standard Chunin Exam.

Unfortunately, the upcoming exams are going to be anything but standard.

Kurenai and Asuma told Ren that since the Chunin Exams are held in Konoha this year, it was deemed much safer for the kids of clan heads to participate and experience it. Plus, the kids were much older than their canon counterparts, so any possible coddling due to their age was just not going to happen.

The next Exams will be in Iwa… and heh, nobody is going to send them there. That would be just giving Iwa hostages for free. Iwa was a very complex village. The kids of important Konoha ninjas would be liable to spontaneously ‘get lost’ wandering in it.

The exams after that will be in Kumo, and let’s just say that after the Hyuga incident, no clan member from any clan would step foot in Kumo for the Exams.

After that, it is going to be Kiri’s turn, and their civil war has just ended. That did not sound like a very safe environment.

No. Konoha is going to send clan kids only to the Exams held by their allies or those held in Konoha itself. Because of that, there aren’t as many opportunities as it might seem.

In Konoha or an allied village, the important kids are under certain security measures.

This was not an anime. This was reality. And the participants were not like Naruto. Stupid as a door nail. They usually did some basic info gathering beforehand. So, most of the foreigners would know who the kids of important clan heads were. Who they should watch out for.

And it is not such a massive leap of logic to realize Konoha will have the entire forest bugged to the brim with cameras. Anybody who does not realize such a simple thing does not deserve to be in the Exams in the first place.

You kill the heir of a clan in the Exam? Well, according to the unspoken rules, that means you are going to encounter an ANBU squad on your way home and will be sent on a one-way delivery mission to the Pure Lands.

That was just common sense.

Beating them up was fine. Injuring them was fine. But killing them was just assisted suicide.

That was where the confidence to send these barely trained kids to the Exams came from.

In the same way, the allied villages could not afford not to punish anybody who dared to kill an important genin from an allied village. That could threaten the alliance. So, similar protections and unspoken rules were set in place.

But of course, that only covered the ‘important’ kids. So, there was still a lot of killing going on in the Exams. But the foreign Jonin usually gave their charges an overview of who they should avoid and who they should not kill because, duh, they did not want to have an unpleasant meeting with an enemy ANBU squad on their way back either.

The third exam was different, though.

That was for the ‘elite’. The cool kids who survived the previous two exams. Plus, the Kages were invited to attend. Obviously, if some important genin from a village managed to get to the third exam, his Kage was more inclined to come.

If it is just some unimportant civilian schmuck? Why would they bother with them? They wouldn’t care. In which case, the same unspoken rules as in the second exam applied to the poor, unimportant kids.

No killing unless you are tired of living.

Naturally, from time to time, idiots like Naruto manage to get to that stage. So, they are told upfront that killing is frowned upon, and there is also the Proctor who is supposed to prevent any ‘accidents’ that could spiral into revenge later down the line.

The whole thing is way more complicated and has a lot more hidden implications than the anime had shown.

One of the primary reasons why Kages came to oversee the third exam was to give the participants from their village an ease of mind. An unspoken permission of ‘Feel free to go as hard as you want. Even if it results in the death of your opponent.’

The Kage would go back with the participants. Therefore, shielding them from any possible ‘intervention’ from ANBU of the slighted side.

Nobody would attack because that would have been a political and diplomatic disaster. Even if some moron killed a clan head’s kid during the third exam, attacking a Kage from another village to get revenge against a genin would be a height of stupidity that could spark the next war.

It just wouldn’t be worth the effort. They would simply try to snipe the moron later down the line when he doesn’t have his Kage next to him.

And that changed the unspoken rules of the third exam.

Ren raised his hand and exasperatedly rubbed his forehead as he walked through the street. He did want Ino and Hinata to compete in the Exams. That was the plan. They could earn their Chunin promotions there.

But at the same time, Ren also found solace in the fact that the girls did not ‘need’ to participate if they didn’t want to. Or if his plans changed.

Apparently, that was a misguided hope.

Ino and Hinata will be participating in the Exams whether they like it or not. They did not have a choice.

Releasing a sigh, Ren’s feet carried him near the academy. He looked at the building with a frown on his face as he activated the telepathy seal and sent an equivalent of a mental knock to Ino and Hinata’s minds.

Feeling the connection between their minds snap into existence, he instantly heard Hinata’s concerned voice.

‘Ren? Is something the matter?’

‘Yeah! We are a bit preoccupied here, honey. The teams are about to be announced.’ Ino mentally huffed and sent him a mental nudge, followed by a kiss.

Ren felt a phantom sensation on his lips and touched them as his frown involuntarily changed into a small, rueful smile.

It always amazed him how much Ino could do with her mind. He and Hinata would have never been able to do something like this. At least, not without a massive amount of practice. But the rules were a bit more relaxed for their beloved Yamanaka.

‘Awww. I can feel your love from here. It’s adorable.’ Ino started. ‘And Hinata is now blushing. Hehe.’

Ren’s smile widened, and he closed his eyes. Taking a deep breath while focusing, he decided to get to the point.

‘… I need you to hold back, girls.’

As he said that, silence instantly spread through their mental connection, and Ren started to feel bad. Both Hinata and Ino were so eager to stop hiding their prowess.

‘What!?’ Ino mentally exclaimed, making her displeasure very clear through their connection.

Hinata, however, just returned an amused, ‘Okay.’ with an equivalent of a mental shrug.

Well, alright. It was mostly Ino who was eager to show off. Hinata was fine either way. She was strong enough to protect herself by now. She wouldn’t be soloing her clan, Itachi-style, anytime soon, but she was a solid Jonin-level combatant who not only mostly focused on ranged combat, which was her clan’s weakness, but also knew all the weak points of their fighting style.

She wasn’t afraid of her clan anymore. But that didn’t mean she would go and bust some heads straight away. The girl enjoyed her moments of peace and was invested in not rocking the boat.

Because she knew that one day soon, her peace was going to be disrupted. It was inevitable.

‘Can you please do that for me, Ino?’ Ren wryly asked.

‘But why?’ Ino mentally whined, but Ren could feel she had already accepted, even if she didn’t voice it out loud.

‘We agreed that you can show chunin-level prowess right off the bat and slowly push that to low Jonin-level prowess by the time the Chunin Exams roll in.’ Ren slowly spoke, dragging his hand through his hair. ‘I… didn’t really think that through.’

Admitting that was a massive blow to his already shriveled ego. It hurt. Right in the feels.

He was so overly focused on his showdown with Orochimaru, he didn’t consider what complications Ino and Hinata’s prowess could cause. His talk with Kurenai and Asuma indirectly threw it in his face.

For one, the higher-ups will be eagerly watching the teams with clan heads’ kids.

Two, Orochimaru might get alerted. Or worse… interested.

Other villages would get reports from their spies and could also get interested, too. Two clan kunoichi graduating from the academy straight with chunin-level prowess was rare, but it did happen. Especially considering Ino and Hinata’s identities.

But the same two kunoichi getting to Jonin-level prowess in under half a year?

Yeah… no.

Ren would rather snip any potential thing that could spiral into a quite disgustingly big butterfly effect in the bud. He might fail. But he shall still try.

For all he knew, if Iwa and Kumo properly attended, Orochimaru might get them to ally with him for the attack, and that would have been a ‘GG’ for Konoha.

Ren would love to be an optimist. But he already screwed this world with just some trivial words when he was a little kid and now the graduation age was sixteen, instead of thirteen.

He wasn’t looking for a repeat performance.

‘You can still start with a low Chunin-level prowess, girls. Just… stay on that level, please.’ Ren sighed when he heard Ino’s unhappy groan, ‘I just got to know that the upcoming Chunin Exam will be mandatory for you. Showing your abilities before then is not wise. Focus on preparing your teammates, instead.’

‘Will we be at least able to go all out during the Exam?’ Hinata asked because Ino was too preoccupied with silently fuming.

‘Yes.’ Ren said and chuckled at the eagerness that instantly burst from both of his girls. ‘You should start thinking about your performance and the techniques you are going to debut with.’

‘Oh, don’t worry. I’ll make it spectacular!’ Ino, no longer a fountain of displeasure, excitedly exclaimed while Hinata mentally hummed.

‘Alright. I’ll make sure my teammates will be prepared. Iruka-sensei is almost here, so we will need to go.’

Sending the girls a mental nod, Ren cut the connection and released a deep breath as his shoulders sagged.

Honestly? He absolutely sucked at this planning thing, didn’t he?

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep