"These are the ninja info cards I've collected," Kabuto said, pulling a thick stack from his pouch and fanning them out for the group. "It's all the data I've gathered over the last four years. About two hundred cards in total."
"You have detailed information on everyone here?" Karin asked, her interest piqued.
"Of course," Kabuto replied, adjusting his glasses so the light glinted off the lenses, hiding his eyes. "It might not be perfect, but as long as you can give me a general description, I can find them."
"Well then," Karin said, her voice slow and deliberate, a dangerous smile. "How about you find me Naruto Uzumaki, senpai?"
"Naruto? Let me see." Kabuto gave her a quick glance before searching through his cards. "As one of the nine most anticipated rookies in this exam, I've gathered a fair bit on Naruto-kun... Ah, here we are."
He pulled a single card from the stack.
Karin leaned in, a pleasant smile fixed on her face that didn't quite reach her eyes. 'If this information is any good,' she thought, 'I'll kill you right after this.'
She wasn't the only one. Sasuke and Neji moved closer, their expressions hardening as they focused on the small card in Kabuto's hand. A silent, unspoken agreement passed between them. If this man's information was too good, he was a threat that needed to be eliminated. Even Rock Lee looked ready for a fight.
The poor guy had no idea that in his attempt to make a good impression, he'd just been targeted by Konoha's most dangerous group of genin. It wouldn't matter if he was as strong as Kakashi, or even stronger. He wouldn't be walking away from this if he knew too much.
"Naruto Uzumaki," Kabuto read slowly, holding up a card that displayed Naruto's picture and basic stats. "It says here Naruto-kun has very strong taijutsu and a unique talent with ninja tools. His teammates are Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha..." He trailed off, his eyes widening slightly. "One hundred and twenty D-rank missions? Fifty C-ranks? And zero B-ranks."
He looked up from the card, his surprise genuine. "Are you sure you all just graduated this year?"
In the four years since his own graduation, Kabuto had only completed 163 D-rank missions and 28 C-ranks.
'Nothing about the Land of Waves,' Sasuke thought, his interest immediately fading. This senpai was useless.
Neji, too, looked away with a quiet sigh of disappointment.
"Gaara," Sasuke said, naming another target.
After a moment of searching, Kabuto produced Gaara's card. Aside from his mission count, nearly every other field was filled with a question mark.
"Incredible," Kabuto murmured, "a genin who's completed a B-rank mission."
'A B-rank mission was supposed to be amazing?' Neji thought about the several he had already been on with Guy-sensei.
'This is no different from looking at his official registration card,' Karin thought, rolling her eyes. Every ninja had one that listed their mission history. He was just a genin, after all. Not a threat. Still, she decided he deserved a lesson for that smug attitude.
While the others looked away in disappointment, Naruto noticed something else: faint, almost invisible markings on the edges of the cards. 'Some of these are coded with Root's encryption... I really need to poach him from Orochimaru.'
Before a battle, intel is everything. After a battle, logistics are everything. Kabuto Yakushi was an expert in both.
"Alright, you worthless maggots, shut your mouths!"
The shout cut through the noise, and a cloud of white smoke erupted at the front of the room. When it cleared, the proctors for the first exam stood waiting, led by the imposing figure of Ibiki Morino, a Tokubetsu Jonin from Konoha's Torture and Interrogation Force.
The first part of the Chunin Exam was a written test. On the surface, it was a test of knowledge, but its true purpose was to gauge a genin's ability to gather information. The questions were designed to be impossible for any genin to solve on their own.
Of course, there were exceptions.
Sakura Haruno and Hinata Hyuga were top of their class for a reason. Not even twenty minutes after the exam began, both of them were nearly finished, their pencils moving with quiet confidence. For them, the complex problems were just... simple.
--**--**
On the outskirts of Konohagakure, a ninja in a Root mask stepped out of the shadows, blocking the path of another traveler wearing a wide straw hat.
The traveler kept their head lowered, their face hidden in shadow, revealing only a single eye. "My lord, can I help you with something?"
A heavy pressure settled over the traveler, an oppressive aura emanating from the Root agent. It was a genjutsu designed to paralyze, to leave an opponent completely at his mercy. The traveler, feigning a simple inquiry, took a slow step forward. And then another.
Just as he was two paces away, the Root ninja spoke.
"It's been a while, Orochimaru-sama."
A low chuckle came from beneath the hat. "So, it's you." The traveler looked up, revealing a pair of golden, slitted pupils. His voice was a dry rasp. "Did that old dog Danzo send you?"
"One should not speak of Danzo-sama with such disrespect," Naruto replied from behind the mask, his tone imbued with the unwavering conviction of a zealot.
The real Naruto, of course, was here, completely unfazed by Orochimaru's killing intent. The one sitting in the exam hall was merely a shadow clone. After all, there was no rule stating you had to use your real body for the test.
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed, and a palpable killing intent flooded the forest. "So... does Root intend to stand in my way?"
Naruto remained perfectly still, his posture unyielding. "I am only here to remind you, Orochimaru-sama, that your actions may attract the attention of another of the Sannin."
That gave Orochimaru pause. "That fool Jiraiya is back in the village?"
Naruto said nothing, letting the silence answer for him. "Rest assured, Root has no desire to be your enemy. We simply need to borrow something... that you no longer have any use for."
"And what of mine has Danzo set his sights on now?" Orochimaru asked, the pressure in the air slowly receding.
"The Ryuchi Cave contract scroll."
"Fufufu..." A dry, humorless laugh escaped Orochimaru's lips. The temperature dropped, and the very air seemed to thicken around them. He wasn't projecting killing intent anymore, this was something colder, a deep and genuine rage.
Unfazed, Naruto produced a small, sealed bottle from his robes. The moment Orochimaru saw its contents, a preserved piece of Hashirama's living flesh, the pressure in the forest vanished, replaced by an undisguised look of greed.
"What does he want the scroll for?" Orochimaru's voice was tight, his focus locked on the bottle. He was fighting the urge to snatch it, an act that would mean a complete break with Danzo.
"You failed," Naruto stated simply. "Danzo-sama is preparing to succeed."
The agent's words were heavy with implication, and Orochimaru understood perfectly.
Orochimaru's lips twisted into a smirk "Fufu... Danzo is as greedy as ever."
"Danzo-sama's intentions," Naruto said, his voice ringing with zealous conviction, "are not something we mortals can fathom. He is the teacher while we are his students, we are just his instruments..."
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