Chapter 44 – New Student
{Error!} {Error!} {Error!} {Error!} {Error!}
{Ding! Warning, the Final Trial is in Error —}
{Alert! Cancelling the Final Trial.}
{Sealing the memories of participants.}
{Warning to "LAST WILL" — DO NOT MANIPULATE THE TIMING OF TRIALS!}
"Tsk."
The dark Ren snorted as Hinata and Ino's eyes closed. Ren, Hinata, and Ino were instantly sent back to reality.
Ren blinked as his back was covered in sweat.
"What happened?" he muttered, confused.
Shikamaru approached him with a frown.
"What happened?" he asked again.
Ren shook his head slowly.
"Nothing. I just spaced out."
"Well, then you missed Naruto's ridiculous victory. Kiba is gonna be super mad," Shikamaru sighed.
Ren smiled faintly.
In front of him, Hinata and Ino exchanged confused glances. Choji looked at them in confusion.
"Hey, Naruto won. Why did you two stop cheering?"
Others also looked at Hinata strangely. She was the one who started cheering first, so why did she stop when Naruto actually won?
Hinata and Ino were confused as well.
"Oi! Hinata, I won!" Naruto shouted from the arena, waving his arms excitedly.
He was clearly happy about the victory and everyone cheering for him, especially Hinata since she was the first one to support him.
"Ah- ye-yes... well done, Naruto-kun," Hinata said softly with a gentle smile.
Sakura nudged Ino from the side.
"What happened?" she whispered.
Ino shook her head.
"Nothing."
On the platform above, Hiruzen smiled warmly.
'Naruto finally has some true bonds,' he thought proudly.
Just then, Genma raised his hand.
"Next match: Sakura Haruno vs Ino Yamanaka!"
Ren's mouth twitched.
"Well, this is gonna be a very bad experience for Sakura," he sighed, already feeling pity for her.
"Blonde, you're up," Sakura said while looking at Ino.
Ino glanced at Hinata before sighing helplessly.
"Sorry, Sakura."
She walked down into the arena while Sakura followed after her. Internally, Sakura was already cursing Ino.
'What does she mean sorry? And why did she look disappointed?' Sakura thought irritably.
Ino also cursed her own luck. She wanted an exciting fight. She wanted to show off in front of Ren, but with Sakura as her opponent, she wouldn't get that chance.
Genma raised his hand.
"Match start!"
The moment he disappeared, Sakura charged forward.
"Hiyaa!"
She swung her fist at Ino, but Ino casually tilted her head and avoided it effortlessly. Sakura kept attacking while Ino dodged every strike with ease.
A feeling of despair rose inside Sakura.
'Was I really this far behind?'
Ino suddenly moved and placed her hand on Sakura's neck.
"Over."
Genma instantly raised his hand.
"Match over! Winner: Ino Yamanaka!"
Ino sighed lightly. She was already at least peak Chunin level with her full strength, while Sakura was still just a Genin with decent chakra control and intelligence.
From Ino's perspective, only Ren, Hinata, Lee, and that Gaara guy were real opponents she needed to take seriously.
Hinata smiled calmly since she already knew the result. The two of them had trained together for hours and fought countless sparring matches.
No one understood Ino's strength better than Ren and Hinata.
Hiruzen nodded in satisfaction at Ino's performance.
"The Yamanaka Clan has a good future," he muttered thoughtfully.
Genma announced the next match while Sakura and Ino walked back up. Ren looked at Sakura's dejected face before noticing Ino's pleading expression.
He smiled faintly and walked toward Sakura.
"You know Ino is a lot stronger than you. You had absolutely zero chance of winning against her."
Everyone frowned at his blunt words. Naruto wanted to protest, but Shikamaru stopped him.
Sakura stared at Ren in disbelief, but Ren continued calmly.
"Understanding the gap between you and them is the first step. Now that you know how weak you are, stop slacking off and stop acting like a fangirl. Start training seriously."
He looked directly into her eyes.
"You have great talent for medical ninjutsu. You will become a great kunoichi."
Sakura wiped her eyes and looked around. Her gaze eventually landed on Ino.
"Ino is super caring. She didn't hold back because she was worried. If you keep living under the illusion that you are strong enough, it will only endanger you. So work hard."
Naruto swallowed the words he wanted to say. Ino and Hinata smiled slightly.
Sakura suddenly took a deep breath and slapped both her cheeks.
"Yoush!"
Everyone turned toward her.
"Oww, that hurts..." Sakura winced immediately, clutching her cheeks.
Everyone's mouths twitched.
Sakura blushed in embarrassment.
"Ahem... sorry about that. I needed a wake-up call."
She scratched the back of her head awkwardly before her eyes sharpened with determination.
"Well, like Ren said, it's time for serious training."
Hinata and Ino nodded.
"Good, now you finally und—"
Before Ino could finish, Sakura suddenly turned toward Ren and bowed deeply.
"Ren, please teach me!"
Ren blinked in surprise.
Hinata and Ino's smiles froze instantly as veins popped on their foreheads.
'This bitch—' Ino cursed internally.
Sakura completely failed to notice the dangerous glares directed at her. The others unconsciously took a step back after sensing the sudden pressure in the air.
"Woah, I just got goosebumps for no reason," Naruto muttered nervously.
Choji nodded in agreement.
Ren scratched his head awkwardly.
"Well... that's not really what I meant—"
"Please, Ren! You're already helping me with medical ninjutsu, so pretty please!" Sakura begged again desperately.
Ren hesitated. He genuinely didn't know what to do. Sakura was the only candidate chosen by the system who still wasn't officially his student.
"Fine, but you have to train seriously. No slacking off," Ren finally said.
Sakura's mood brightened instantly as she hugged him tightly.
"You are the best!"
"Damn it, Ren! Let's fight!" Naruto shouted in jealousy while glaring at Ren and Sakura.
Shikamaru simply sighed.
"Troublesome."
Hinata and Ino glared at Sakura as if they wanted to tear her apart.
After all, until now, only the two of them held the status of Ren's students. Even Akari and Karin weren't officially his students.
That special position belonged only to Hinata and Ino.
{Ding! Sakura Haruno accepted as student!}
Ren smiled faintly. Now, all the student candidates selected by the system had officially become his students.
Just then, another prompt appeared before his eyes.
{Ding! All candidates have become host's students. Exclusive Mission Triggered.}
{Mission — Make all students Kage Level.}
{Reward — Unknown.}