Something was different when I arrived at training the morning after we'd all eaten at Kenji's house.
Ren sensei normally didn't arrive until the exact time he'd said to meet. Whether he hid and appeared or used the shunshin to rapidly transport himself I had yet to figure out, but that wasn't the case today.
When I arrived over an hour early, sensei was already there waiting. He had a worried frown on his face, and he was missing his sunglasses. In the brief time he'd been my teacher, he'd never gone anywhere without those things.
I flooded my system with chakra and whispered, "Kai." Nothing changed. I wasn't under a genjutsu, and sensei didn't appear to be in a henge.
I had thought that it would be a test to check my awareness but it was not one.
"Sensei? Is something wrong?" I asked.
"Wait until Kenji and Misa are here. I would rather explain this once." he said, sounding tense.
I nodded in acceptance. "Should I warm up?"
"Yes."
I busied myself with some light exercise to take my mind off things until my teammates arrived.
Misa was the first to arrive. She looked just as puzzled about sensei's abnormal behavior as I was, but she joined me in my exercises without voicing any concerns.
When Kenji arrived, Ren allowed for a little time for Kenji to warm up before gathering us together in a small circle.
A flash of fury passed across his face moments before he started speaking, but he schooled himself almost immediately.
"The three of you will be taking the Chunin Exams in Iwagakure nine months from now." Hiroshi announced like an executioner calling forth the condemned.
Kenji's eyes lit up. "Really, sensei? That's great!"
"No. It's bad." I said, reading the grave expression on Ren's face. I'd expected to have at least two years as a genin learning under him, but that plan had just gone out the window.
Now I'd be fighting through the Chunin Exams filled with adult genin willing and able to kill me as a child with no actual combat experience.
As if that weren't bad enough, the war ended somewhere around three years ago. That meant the villages would be sending ninja that they hoped would prove to their enemies that they were still strong.
There was one good thing though. It would mean that we would be dedicating more time to get stronger and the sooner I become Chunin, the sooner I would be able to start the search for where Orochimaru was keeping my parents. I sincerely hoped that I would find them alive rather than their bodies.
Judging by how Ren sensei was acting, this wasn't a voluntary decision on his part. "Did Shikaku-sama arrange this? I can…" I trailed off as Ren shot me a look that said, 'Shut up right now.'
"Konoha has recognized the three of you have great talent and are sending you early as a result, but you are not ready." Ren slowly explained, directing his words mainly at Kenji. "Our training schedule will change. You will be with me for twelve hours every day with one day off per week for you to rest and recover. I will be pushing you all very hard to prepare you."
"Will we be taking missions during this time, sensei?" Misa asked calmly, having accepted the news easily.
"No. Any missions we take would infringe on what little time I have to prepare you. The most we will do is a single C-rank near the time the Chunin Exams begin, but I do not know if we will have the time." Ren answered her question.
"Will I be able to work with Shikaku-sama on shadow techniques and my Crystal release?" I asked, having accepted that I didn't get a say in this.
Ren's eyebrows furrowed. "I will have a discussion with Nara-sama to arrange a day every week where he can train you. Misa, I will arrange the same with your clan."
"What about me?" Kenji said, sounding a little dejected.
Ren turned to him and said, "On those days, you will have private lessons with me. This will allow me to help you close the gap between yourself and your teammates."
Kenji looked around us nervously. "What will you teach me? I can use two chakra strings at a time now, but I can't make them invisible yet, and I don't have the chakra capacity for ninjutsu."
"Sensei, do you know how to make explosive tags?" I asked.
Ren turned to me, a light of understanding dawning in his eyes. "I do."
"Misa, would you like to explain your idea to Kenji?" I asked, not wanting to step on her toes lest she thought I was taking credit for her suggestion.
Misa smiled at Kenji and said, "If you learn how to make explosive tags, you could prepare all of your chakra intensive materials early and use your chakra strings to throw kunai with tags on them. You'd be able to support us from the rear while I attacked from the front and Kagen controlled the battlefield from mid-range."
I added,"And if happen to have some talent in Fuinjutsu, You might be able to specialise it further. It does not require much chakra either."
Kenji's face lit up. "That sounds awesome!" He rounded on Ren. "Can you teach me to make explosive tags, sensei!"
I raised my hand. "I would like to learn as well. The more of us that know how to make tags, the more of us can supply Kenji with them." That and, of course, I wanted to be able to make them for myself if the need arose.
"Misa, would you like to learn as well?" Ren asked. When Misa nodded, he said, "Alright, little genin. I'll teach you all how to make and use explosive tags this week, then we'll start our intensive training regimen when everyone can create the tags."
He pulled a seal out of his pouch and it popped into a quill, ink and a large helping of paper. "Let's get started!"
---------Author Notes--------
You can now read 15 extra chapters of the fanfic on my pat*reon.
pat*reon.com/BoogieWoogie266
Thankyou for your support!