Chapter 24 - The Tower

A - Help Karin get to the tower safely.

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Chapter 24 - The Tower

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What a Genin knew and could do was only so much.

Shinji could feel the sense of relief spread through his body. He was worried and nervous. Being a leader came with a lot of responsibilities, like making the best possible choice. He was confident that he made the best and safest choice possible with the knowledge he had. But that didn't mean it left him free of responsibility.

He shook his head, dismissing such thoughts. Blaming himself during this situation will be a useless distraction. If he feels like it, blaming himself later is still an option.

If Karin was almost killed by a bear, what about other Genin roaming around? This forest was filled with dangerous and degenerate people. Shinji wasn't naive to the bad in this world. In this forest, the strong have power over the weak, whatever happens here stays here, if they kill the victim afterward.

"Can I help you with something else?" Muttered Karin, her cheeks red as she looked anywhere else but Shinji's eyes.

Bringing him out of his thoughts. He had seen the bite marks all over her body and somewhat was able to guess that there were a lot of painful things in this girl's life. With her healing ability and how it functioned.

'No wonder she wanted her teammates killed.'

"I still have Chakra, so if you need healing…" she glanced at him for a second, but looked away after meeting his eyes for a couple of seconds.

"No, I am okay," Shinji shook his head and instead looked North, where the tower is.

"Oh… okay," Karin looked down in disappointment.

"Stop thinking weird things," Sayuri interrupted her and then pointed towards Karin while addressing Shinji. "Also, what're we going to do with her?"

Shinji walked toward Karin, at first there was a trace of fear in her eyes. But then came acceptance, as a sweet, satisfied smile came to her face. "I am okay with this," she muttered to herself. "Getting killed by the guy I-"

Shinji picked her up like a sack of potatoes and put her over his shoulder. "C'mon we need to rush to the tower. We need to get out of here."

Normally he would have given her a piggyback ride, but he needed one of his hands free and it interrupted his reaction time toward the back. He couldn't see behind himself, but the cutting sound he kunai made in the air, the slight shift in the air, he needed to keep on guard. So this was the best way to carry her.

Sayuri stared at him as if she was looking at an alien. "Do you even understand human interactions? You're way too weird. All that training hasn't been good for your brain."

"What?" Shinji on the other hand looked at her weirdly too. But unlike Sayuri, he didn't bother looking into the situation too much. There is something more important to think about, like how to get out here and not confront people.

Kota, who had woken up, looked at his hand, clenching and unclenching his fist. He seemed in a trance, and Shinji knew that coming so close to death wasn't something easy to deal with.

"Kota, Sayuri, we have to go. Sayuri, you take care of the front," she had good senses and better hearing. Also if she carried Karin, then she would get tired since her stamina wasn't anywhere near Shinji's, as he could easily hold Karin and not inhibit his fighting abilities by getting tired. Plus, he had to keep an eye on Kota.

Fwish!

They started tree jumping, and Shinji's senses were sharp. He kept glancing at Kota every now and then.

'This was my fault. I made the wrong call going west and we were caught into an enemy trap.'

Maybe he should have gone and taken out Sasuke's team. They were undoubtedly the weakest, and he knew that he could handle them too.

Sayuri, as if reading his mind stated. "Don't worry about it. Your choice was the safest."

The thing was that he knew it too. There would be many other teams going after the weakest, and running straight to the tower would have been dangerous. Especially without having a scroll as you would have been just fish taking the bait. But now he could be stealthy.

"Ah, excuse me," Karin intervened. "I am a sensor and if you keep me safe I can sense quite far and have us not confront anyone until we reach the tower."

Shinji nodded, her value in his mind rose. Natural sensors like her were rare. "How far can you sense?"

"Normally around a hundred meters. But if I can concentrate and leave myself in your care, I can sense a little outside the Forest of Death."

Shinji almost stumbled at her answer. But hid his surprise. The whole Forest of Death? That was crazy long-range. He wondered if there was anyone else like her in Konoha? He somewhat knew about sensors, but even naturally gifted sensors can't sense Chakra even half that distance.

…

It took surprisingly little time to cross through the forest, and no team was encountered, mostly due to Karin's help. Shinji reasoned that maybe no one was desperate to make camp around the tower and wait for Genin to ambush, like a spider waiting for an insect to fly in its web.

But just as they got closer to the tower and were about to arrive into the vicinity.

"Three people to the right," Karin warned Shinji.

the sound of kunai cutting through the air rang in his ears, it was coming from the left. Shinji casually put down Karin and took out a kunai.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!...

Each projectile was easily deflected, Kota had taken his sword out. Unlike his usual nonchalant self, the Genin now had a murderous gaze, peering towards where the kunai came from.

"Calm down," Shinji calmly instructed him. "The shots were too straight and had a sequence to them."

Due to not knowing who his enemies were, Shinji decided to keep Karin's sensory ability a secret.

From the opposite direction which the projectiles previously came from. A group of three Genin from Hidden Sand Village came out.

Shinji noticed that it wasn't the red-haired Genin and his team, as they seemed to be quite strong. But this group seemed somewhat normal, and amongst them was a puppet user who was using Chakra Strings to what essentially seemed like a doll little girls play with. Two of the guys had slicked-back hair and wore black, ripped cloth as face masks. The girl in the team had blue hair tied in a ponytail.

"Was that a mechanical object? That's cool, it made no noise either and I almost thought it was humans that were throwing the kunai." Shinji nodded with a gleam in his eyes. He tried to make himself seem as friendly as possible, since the enemies were now face-to-face, he didn't want to fight needlessly. He also already had the two scrolls his team needed. Fighting would only be a disadvantage to him.

How to turn this situation into something good? What Shinji wanted the most right now was information. But how to get that out of the opposing team? His mind worked a hundred thoughts a minute. He wasn't some smooth talker or charismatic leader. So the only way he can deal with this is by-

"How did you know?" The man was curious. The team had two men and a female amongst them.

'I wonder how long it would take me to kill them?' - wondered Shinji. '30 seconds? Maybe 10?'

Remembering the other Genin that he had killed, Shinji guessed that around twenty seconds, or maybe a minute at worst. This team likely passed the exam due to luck until now. Of course, he had no intention to kill them, but when meeting a potential enemy, it was better to think of how to kill them, only then he wouldn't be surprised.

Still, seeing that they were from the Hidden Sand village, and seeing a reason to eliminate another team, he approached them with a smile and offered. "I have an extra Heaven Scroll. I will give it to you for some extra information on certain examinees."

The teammates looked amongst themselves. Shinji wasn't worried about this extra team participating. They were weak, and he would rather have the information he needed. If they still wanted to fight, then he would oblige.

"What information do you need?" inquired the only female member in their team. "Also show us the scrolls as proof."

Shinji smiled and took out a Heaven Scroll, showing that he had it. On the other hand, he also showed that he already had a pair of scrolls.

'It seems like they require the Heaven Scroll. This is lucky for me, as I can finally get some genuine information that I need.'

"The red-haired guy from your village, who is he?" Shinji's question made the other team grimace. He could see the fear in their eyes and likely felt that he would kill them. At least that was what Shinji thought they felt. He wasn't going to try and change those notions, as fear can be useful in this situation to make them talk.

"Uhhh, there is not a lot known about him in general," muttered the girl, whose name was unknown until now. She glanced toward her teammates, and they nodded. "Though he is the son of the Kazekage, he also possesses the ability to control the sand in his gourd and the sand around him."

"They also say that he is the demon's spawn and has a demon inside of him," added one of the guys.

"That's just a rumor though." added the other guy.

At that, Shinji noticed Sayuri's eyes narrow, and her lips thin. "Go on," she prompted them. "Tell me more about this demon."

"O -Okay," the man to the left stuttered, he was the one who had mentioned the demon first. "Well, they say that the One-Tailed Tanuki Demon who lords over the desert sands. That's why they say he can control sand and his sand automatically coming to its protection is what people say is the demon protecting its host."

"Satisfied?" Asked the female teammate, her body was rigid and Shinji could tell she was still nervous. But he would hold his word.

This deal was beneficial for him, but the enemy was a sandbag he could hit in the next round if it involved any kind of fighting. Also, these weak enemies could end up revealing their opponent's abilities.

There was no real danger on his part, so Shinji decided to keep his part of the bargain. Glancing toward his team to see if they had any other questions for the Sand team, or opposed this decision. Seeing that they didn't, he threw his scroll right into the female teammate's hand, as he had deduced that she was likely the leader amongst them.

Shinji then turned toward Karin, with a gentle smile on his face. He planned to stay in the good graces of such a godly healer. If in the future he had an injury that might end his career, like some permanently cut tendons or muscles, he will go to her. "Let's go in the tower together, stick close, and as soon as we enter go to the top office and announce your resignation."

Karin's teammates were dead and there was no way she was going to pass the exam. But she would still at least spend some time in comfort in Konoha. Shinji was a little perplexed whether he should help her more, get her out of the terrible situation she is in. Did he have the ability to help her?

…

After that, he walked into one of the rooms and read a riddle about heaven and earth, Which showed how one should train their body or mind, depending on which aspect they were lacking. Shinji without even a second passing understood the riddle's meaning and threw the Heaven and Earth scrolls on the ground simultaneously.

*Pooof*

In a cloud of smoke, Kakashi came out, he was laying on the ground while reading a book. He looked up at Shinji and sighed. "Your team was the only one in Konoha that had to send a Jonin like me to handle you. Also yes, you would have been knocked out if you had opened the scrolls while in the forest."

Shinji felt like Kakashi was at a good part in his book. He had tried the Icha Icha Paradise books before, but they were mostly softcore smut. Very boring, as the plot mostly developed around the perverted protagonist.

"Really? But I think there were other people, like Lee's team that would need more than just a Chunin if they were to be knocked out without being harmed."

Kakashi's one eye stared at him and narrowed. "Stop trying to nit-pick."

"I'm just saying," Shinji shrugged. "I doubt we were the only team that had a Jonin summoning. Also why Yamato -sensei or Guy -sensei aren't here is because they trained me and might be biased in their actions."

Normally Shinji wouldn't take a risk and argue with a Jonin like this, as he didn't want to get on the bad side of a Jonin-ranked ninja. But from Guy, he had learned a lot about the Eternal Rival that he always spoke about.

"You're too troublesome," Kakashi sighed. "Anyway, you've passed the exam and have seven days of rest until the exam is over."

"Also, you've passed the Forest of Death in only eight hours, that's pretty good," he then smirked. "Still, you weren't first."

'Why does he seem amused by that? Did he make a bet or something? Was it Guy or Yamato -sensei? Guy doesn't seem like the kind of guy to gamble with something like money. Yamato -sensei probably would though.'

"Can you tell me who was first?" Shinji wanted to know who he should look out, for the most. Though he could somewhat guess a couple of people who were likely first, but didn't like making assumptions like that.

"That would be called favoritism. And I am anything but unfair."

*Poof!*

And just like that, the silver-haired Jonin disappeared in a puff of smoke, while laying down as he never took his eyes off the book while they talked.

Sayuri commented on Kakashi's behavior. "Glad we don't have him as our teacher, he looks lazy."

Shinji was a little iffy on that as while Kakashi might be a lazy teacher. He didn't know that as he had never been directly taught by Kakashi, but by the man's demeanor, there was a lot to say. But he remembered the one time the Jonin gave him some advice on hand-seals, it was very good and helped him tremendously.

*sigh* "Well, that was a rollercoaster of emotions," Sayuri added while side-glancing at Kota, who seemed out of it a little. In the Forest of Death, they didn't have time to try and reassure him.

Shinji, as the leader, bowed towards his teammates. "Sorry, Sayuri, Kota, it was my decision that led us to this situation. Especially Kota, you almost died because of my decision and I am willing to step down from my position as team leader."

To Shinji, being a team leader wasn't about just having the power to make decisions over his teammates. The title was nothing in his eyes. A leader is supposed to make the right decision, and he was willing to accept the responsibility that came with the good decisions, and he would do the same with the bad ones.

Since they were out of the Forest of Death, Shinji didn't want this to develop into a problem in the future so they had to talk about it now.

"Hahaha," suddenly Kota laughed. His weird, unreadable expression from before was gone. "I didn't know even you Shinji, could say something so stupid."

Then Kota's eyes turned sharp, veins crawling up his neck and forehead as if he was mad at something. "Don't blame yourself for my mistake. We were attacked, and as the weakest in the team, they attacked me. It's not your fault, and it's pissing me off just hearing you say that."

Shinji nodded. "Sorr-"

"Don't apologize!" His friend interrupted him. Looking down in disappointment at his hand. "The way I saw it, you didn't make the wrong decision. Instead, you saved my life and even healed me so no residue injured would cripple me. You stopped me from certain death. So stop apologizing, you made the best choice possible, and I agreed with it. Don't let such things ruin your mood, don't even think about it."

"For once, I agree with the knucklehead," Sayuri shrugged, pointing at Kota. "His life is his responsibility. Yes, as a team we help each other when we can, but during that initial attack none of us had the time to think about anything else other than to jump back and dodge."

After taking a breath, she added. "Also, in my opinion, your decision was the next. Going straight to the tower would have had us meet some dangerous people. The kind that could afford to charge straight to the tower. Going after Sasuke's team… Well, let's just say we wouldn't be the only ones."

She glanced around. Shinji, having known her quite well by now, it seemed like Sayuri wanted to say something but stopped herself and instead added. "They were the weakest team and other ninjas were bound to go after them. I thought your decision was the best too."

"Me too," Kota gave a thumbs up.

…

After walking out of the room they used the summoning scroll, a Chunin greeted them. Shinji remembered him as one of the gate guards. The man gave them a room number, which would be their resting place until the week was over and he also told them where they could order food and at which hours.

Walking to their room, it was a simple one-bedroom, three beds, and a bathroom door on the other side of the room. Except for beds and sheets, the room was relatively empty.

Kota was the first one to go and lay down into bed, moaning about how it feels like forever since he had slept in a bed, even though he had just slept yesterday in one. Due to finishing the exam so fast, Shinji and his team didn't need to camp out, or even hunt for food. Well, even if it came to that, they wouldn't need to go hunting since as a precaution Shinji had prepared 6 months of rations just in case… he likes being prepared for these kinds of situations. A whole storage scroll was filled with different-tasting ration bars.

'Better not needing it and having it, than needing it and not having it. Also, it isn't like the money spent on it was wasted as I can eat these nutritious ration bars after training.'

"Guys. I have to tell you something," Sayuri stated, interrupting both Shinji and Kota from their thoughts. "The Demon that the Hidden Sand team talked about. They exist. Also, let me warn you, they're very dangerous."

…

In their room, Sayuri explained what she knew about the tailed beasts and Jinchuuriki. Also dropping the bomb that Konoha's Junchuuriki was Naruto. Now Shinji had somewhat of an understanding of why the yellow-haired prankster had passed the Genin Exams even though he failed it at first.

'Now I have more dangerous knowledge about the village. I need to keep my mouth shut about this.'

While laying down in bed, many thoughts went through Shinji's mind. In the end, he contemplated what he would do for the rest of the week he had left.

He knew not to fatigue himself too much as there was an exam just around the corner, but a little training hurt nobody.

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[Choose one of the choices, and white it down in the comments below:]

A - Train Chakra Strings. An interesting technique, something that Sayuri introduced to Shinji. It could increase his Chakra Control to a level very few ninjas bothered to train at. Which might give him an edge during the next phase of the Chunin Exams.

B - Read some medical books. Today's situation with Kota has made Shinji anxious, seeing your friend bleed to death and knowing that he couldn't do anything. Today he was lucky to have Karin around. But what about next time something like this might happen?

C - Read Medical Books and Train Chakra Strings. Shinji is used to doing multiple things at the same time, and can even use it as training. (This option is available due to Multitasking Trait)

D - Talk with Yamato about Karin. You saw those bite marks and knew that her situation wasn't that good. Explain her ability, last name, and how she could be useful to the village and ask if it was possible to get her out of her situation and help her. A healer like that was nothing short of a miracle for him and his team. But Shinji deduced that Konoha has its dark side, like every hidden village, so he didn't want to bring her into a worse situation, but wants to get some advice about the situation from a Jonin he trusted. If it didn't work out, then he would do something else for the rest of the week. (If this vote wins. The second most voted choice will take effect if the talks fail or are too short.)

E - Spy on the other contestants and try to figure out their abilities.

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A/N: Join discord where I post the dice rolls of the chapter and their effects. And discuss with other readers about plans for Shinji:

https://discord.gg/wbwRTqd7jr

P.S: For every 150 Power Stones, Shinji gets a reroll in a bad dice roll. (which determines luck-related events). Also, the re-roll counter is on discord.