Red Nara

- It's not a joke, Kei, even clan fighters who've been well-trained for such events since childhood can go crazy after such a shock, and Minami is a hereditary shinobi, but she has only an academy and no close relatives to support her," I said sternly, "that's why I'm asking you to be very careful and prudent if you're really serious about Okuno-san.

- Thanks, Ryo, I'll take your advice into consideration," he said seriously, "Unfortunately, I don't know much about this stuff, so if I have any questions, I'll ask you, given my experience.

- You're welcome.

Nodding contentedly - I was telling him about Keiko - I turned the slightly uncomfortable conversation to the topic of students. The boys' clan affiliation spoke for itself, but who knows their strengths and weaknesses better than a teacher, and I'd have the additional first-hand information to make the most effective bet once the opponents were known. Not that I needed to win, given the income from seal sales, but to show up at the first Chunin Exam and not bet on ours...? Not sporting, to say the least. Kei was going to use the sweepstakes in hopes of making a little money for his soon-to-be married life.

Hatake returned only a couple hours later, but he brought with him the tournament grid. There were nine teams, four of which were Sunovan, one each from Takigakure, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure, so most of our genin would be going up against the arena's hosts in their first fight, with only a couple of cases against shinobi of stone and lightning. Running my eyes over the names, I didn't recognize anyone familiar, until my eyes locked onto one Suna genin, Sasori. Unexpected.

- I don't know about the others, but we're already guaranteed to lose one fight," I hummed a little disappointedly.

A kugutsu genin against a clanless genin? The outcome was clear beforehand.

- О? And why is that? - Sakumo raised an eyebrow.

Yes and the rest of the jonin turned to me, waiting for an answer.

- If I remember correctly and believe the rumors, he is the grandson of Elder Chiyo, whose skills caused us so many poison casualties in the last war," I rubbed my chin thoughtfully through the cloth, "if he uses her skills in his battles, a single scratch will be enough to determine the winner. I don't know anything else, but I can get some information about him by tomorrow.

- I don't think it'll be that easy," Sakumo shook his head, "but you can try.

That's exactly what I'm going to do, but first a little preparation. With a nod to the jonin, I returned to my room and concentrated, dividing the chakra in my source into components and channeling most of the yin energy into creating the technique.

A couple of dark doppelgangers that appeared nearby immediately sank into my shadow, making me completely undetectable to everyone but my creator, and then I left the inn and headed towards the center of the village. It was time to do a little recon, and to look for people I was interested in, or rather, for one particular person-Pakura.

I've got more interesting stuff on patreon (+ 200 chapter)

patreon.com/Chill76