Rasa eyed his advisors in confusion when none of them said anything. The silence in the room stretched just long enough to become uncomfortable before the oldest advisor present, a man who already looked half skeletal, finally spoke in a hollow voice. "There is something off about that boy. Something missing, or maybe incomplete. If I had to describe it, I would say he reminds me of the way that bastard Danzo reads. Empty, but at the same time full of too much." The other senior advisors gave slow nods.
Rasa exhaled through his nose. "He is still a child. Do not fall into the same trap our people did." His tone was calm, but it did not fully dismiss the concern. The proctor of the third stage spoke next, choosing his words carefully. "Even so, he is definitely hiding something. His chakra reserves were the highest among all the contenders, and he was the youngest of them." Quiet murmurs spread across the table as he continued. "He was extremely dominant. His physical strength was surprising, and his speed was..." He paused for a moment before finishing honestly. "Terrifying. He flickers as if it is second nature, which is understandable given who his sensei is. Even then, he still outpaced the Uchiha boy."
More than one person in the room stiffened at that remark, having either failed to account for it or missed it entirely. The second-stage proctor scratched her head before adding, "Not to mention he used ninjutsu without hand seals. At his age, his chakra control is beyond everyone else in the competition." Rasa objected at once. "It was a simple jutsu. Impressive, yes, but not unheard of." A few of the senior shinobi nodded in agreement, unwilling to let the discussion drift too far into exaggerated rumors. The first-stage proctor cut in before the mood could settle. "That is true, but we all noticed the same thing. His Lightning Release was even more refined than that older girl from the Hidden Cloud, and yet he relied on ninjutsu far less than he could have. He is not stupid either. His written exam results were excellent, and his understanding of strategy is extremely mature for his age. Only that Sena girl surpassed him there." Rasa looked toward the other two proctors, and both gave small nods in confirmation.
The old senior shinobi spoke again, this time with a resigned bitterness in his voice. "What exactly are they feeding those children in Konoha? They have powerful shinobi at almost every generation. If it were not for the Nine Tails attack, they might have swallowed half the neighboring villages by now." Rasa did not reply immediately. His thoughts had already drifted elsewhere. He was not pleased with the way Konoha was steadily taking their missions, nor with how aggressively the Land of Fire had been swallowing the Land of Wind's trade and worsening the Hidden Sand's economy. Even so, any move against Konoha still felt deeply unwise. Not yet. Things were bad, but not bad enough for that kind of action.
After a while, Rasa's eyes refocused and he spoke again. "I do not believe the stories, but I do believe he is hiding something. He is likely stronger than what he showed." Several expressions around the room darkened at that. The idea alone was unpleasant. A boy of eleven had already performed at chunin level while likely holding back. None of them particularly liked thinking about what that might mean if he went all out, or what level he would actually be at.
The second-stage proctor broke through the silence. "From everything we observed, he worked well with his team. Their strategy was always precise, and he played his role properly every time." That mattered. It was one thing to be strong. It was another to actually function within a unit.
Rasa sighed and leaned back slightly. "That damned Shisui. He haunted us during his ANBU years, and now he is training the next powerful generation while still only fifteen himself. He still has too many good years ahead of him." The bitterness in his voice was impossible to miss. Then he straightened, and when he spoke again, his tone was firm enough to close the matter. "He will be recommended for a chunin promotion. Denying him would reflect badly on us. It would create political pressure, invite mistrust, and may very well cost us the chance to host the Chunin Exams again." No one objected. There was nothing to object to. Their leader's logic was too solid.
The old advisor muttered with open hatred, "Those Konoha bastards sent three genin, and all three made chunin. Dominantly, at that. This is a clear message to all the hidden villages." No one answered him. The room sat in heavy silence, their expressions dark and thoughtful as the full weight of it settled over them. If Konoha's next generation already looked like this, then a great many risky ideas people in the Hidden Sand liked to entertain suddenly seemed far less appealing.
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Noa POV
By the time we returned to our flat, my head was throbbing. Me and Kaen had both come dangerously close to tears from how brutal Shisui and Sena's lectures were. The worst part was that they were not wrong, which made arguing back nearly impossible. I could not exactly respond to a question like, "Do you understand how dangerous it is to leave your teammate to fight an enemy alone during a mission?" with, "He wanted to show off and I had to respect the bro code." In the end, though, even they took mercy on us after a while, mostly because we both looked like smoke might actually start coming out of our ears.
I ended up sprawled across the sofa, staring through the large windows at the beautiful Hidden Sand village beyond them. At night, the place looked almost unreal. Moonlight spilled over the pale stone buildings and the curved rooftops, turning the whole village into a quiet sea of silver and shadow. The desert wind whispered softly against the glass, and from this height the scattered lanterns below looked like stars that had somehow fallen into the streets.
Then we heard a knock on the door.
Shisui appeared beside it so quickly it was almost unsettling, putting us on guard. The moment he opened it, a Hidden Sand jonin stood there waiting. He looked to be in his early forties, broad-shouldered and thick with coiled muscle. His sun-darkened skin was roughened by years of desert wind, and faint lines had formed around his eyes from squinting beneath too much light and too many bad days. Streaks of white ran through his dark hair near the temples, and there was an old, fading scar cutting across the bridge of his nose. Even standing still, he carried the solid, grounded presence of someone who had survived many battles.
"I am Saburo, a senior shinobi of the Hidden Sand," he said in a respectful tone. "I am here to deliver a message from the Kazekage."
Shisui gave a small nod, lowering his guard slightly as Saburo continued. "I am pleased to inform you that all three of your genin have been deemed worthy of the chunin rank. We congratulate you on the powerful show of force. We are pleased that Konoha, our ally, is this strong. It means more peace, stability, and prosperity for both villages. Please pass our congratulations to the Hokage."
A real smile appeared on Shisui's face then, wide and bright enough that he suddenly looked his age again instead of the terrifying shinobi he usually seemed to be. Saburo reached into his vest and pulled out a sealed letter. "Here is the official document, written and signed by the Kazekage himself, to be delivered directly to the Hokage."
Shisui accepted it carefully. "Thank you for taking the time."
Saburo smiled back, the expression small but genuine. "It was my pleasure. I look forward to this amazing new generation showing their mettle in the future."
Shisui's eyebrow lifted slightly at the veiled meaning hidden inside those polite words, but he only nodded. Saburo inclined his head once more and turned to leave, his steps steady and unhurried as he disappeared down the corridor.
The second the door closed, Kaen started bouncing around like a lunatic, making Shisui shake his head and laugh. Sena, somehow, was actually smiling at the sight of it, the kind of quiet smile she only let slip when she forgot to hide it. As for me, I stayed where I was and kept my eyes on the window, looking out at the bright stars above the Hidden Sand while the noise behind me filled the flat with a warmth that made the moment feel surreal.
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