After his match, Shino leisurely walked back to the contestant area with his hands in the pockets of his coat. Noticing that Hinata was near Ino and Choji, he walked toward them with a subtle, slightly smug swagger that most people who did not spend considerable time near an Aburame clan member would not notice.
Reaching the group, Shino inclined his head and looked at Hinata over his sunglasses, locking his eyes with her.
Next to them, Ino's lips involuntarily curved into an amused smirk. He was acting so cool. She inwardly giggled. Some unattached girl might even swoon!
Of course, looking cool was the furthest thing from Shino's mind. He simply didn't want to look at her through the cracks in his sunglasses.
"You were right." He spoke in his usual measured manner, his tone completely serious and even a bit grave. "Why? Because my hive found over five hundred ninja hiding among the audience."
Ino and Hinata tensed at that, while Choji just cluelessly frowned and stopped eating his chips for a second, the implication flying over his head. Hinata frowned, "I see. That is... concerning." She nodded at Shino in gratitude. "Thank you for your effort."
She had put him up to this, and she felt a bit apologetic because it meant that during his match with Temari, a quarter of his hive was focused on this reconnaissance mission of hers.
But it was the best option. Even if somebody detected his bugs, they would be at worst mistaken for some Aburame ANBU patrolling. Something completely normal for an event like this.
"No problem. You are welcome." Shino nodded back, outwardly completely unbothered. But inwardly, he was very worried. He had come to the same conclusion as Ino and Hinata. Five hundred hidden ninjas in the audience were too many.
Konoha could at most spare fifty ANBU, and maybe another fifty to a hundred ninjas, either in a civilian disguise for some added protection or on a vacation watching the matches.
Given the heightened defenses of the village right now, there was simply no way there could be five hundred disguised ninjas viewing the matches in the arena. Not to mention, five hundred ninjas disguised as civilians would be a massive overkill and mismanagement of human resources.
They could be used for patrols or to man the walls. There was always somewhere more ninjas were needed. Putting this many of them to guard the arena? Not very likely.
Something was up, and Shino did not like the implications.
"Now then, I will be on my way." Shino said, stoically announcing his departure. "Why? Because I need to speak with my father about my match."
Sharing one more parting nod with Ino and Hinata, Shino turned around and started walking toward the door leading outside the room.
Hinata let out a relieved breath. Informing Shibi Aburame about the situation was a good call. She didn't really have an idea what to do about it. Maybe the Aburame clan head could deal with it. And even if not, he could always inform somebody who could.
This would get the ball rolling without alerting their enemies.
"That guy is definitely getting promoted, isn't he?" Ino wryly said and shook her head with a rueful sigh. She then glanced at the still confused Choji and playfully punched him in the shoulder. "Don't embarrass me, big man. I have faith in you." She told him in a friendly tone.
"Right." Choji gave her a weird look but nodded as he resumed his snacking. "I will do my best." He mumbled as the next match was announced and Choji was called into the arena.
What he didn't know was that Ino and Hinata were competing to see whose teammates would perform better. It was why Ino took so much time during the past month to train Choji and Shikamaru.
She had been very confident, but now, after Shino's performance, that confidence was slightly shaken. Winning or losing the match didn't matter. Shino had shown he is a competent ninja.
He sneaked a poison on his vastly superior opponent without her noticing and then promptly forfeited before getting defeated. In a real-life ninja situation, this signified lethally poisoning an unbeatable opponent before retreating.
How could he not be praised for it? In the ninja world, it wasn't always about who had the bigger fist. Having a big fist was nice, but if that's all you have, the second you meet somebody with an even bigger fist, you will die.
Being cunning and able to deal with superior opponents through underhanded means, though? That's the kind of talent every ninja village appreciated.
In a real battle, Temari would have been dead. Her victory didn't matter. Her impressive showing of wind ninjutsu didn't matter. The fact that she had completely suppressed him in that fight didn't matter.
The judges, the higher-ups, and the experienced Jonin were going to see that as plain as day.
The Konoha rookies were not really supposed to get promoted during these Chunin Exams. They were Konoha's elite academy graduates. The kids who were groomed to be Jonin, the future pillars of the village. They were here to show off the village's and their clans' might and to gain some combat experience because they were deemed good enough to compete, and it was relatively safe for them.
Promotion was highly unlikely because it would be simply better for them to stay with their Jonin Instructor and learn the basics for more than just half a year. Half a year was not enough time for the Jonin to teach everything there was about ninja-ing. Rather than rushing their rank to chunin, it would be better for them and the village if they were given the time to properly develop.
But Shino's performance was great, and it would be surprising if they didn't throw that Chunin rank at him after this.
Ino felt really peeved about that. That bitch, Hinata, didn't even care about their competition! She did not go and train her teammates. She didn't take it seriously. And yet, she was currently winning, and her teammates...
Ino shook her head with a wry expression, looking at the mostly empty bag of chips Choji handed her before he headed into the arena.
Hell, the lazy-ass Shikamaru was not even here! He mumbled something about the toilet thirty minutes ago and hadn't returned yet. If she didn't know better, she would think he was avoiding her!
Well, scratch that. Ino rolled her eyes, knowing fully well that he was definitely avoiding having to watch the battles with her.
He was probably sleeping on the toilet or something.
...
Back in the arena, Omoi met Choji, and they got into their supposed starting positions.
"I have to fight an Akimichi?" Omoi frowned, a trace of despair showing on his expression. "How unlucky." He muttered, loud enough for Choji to hear.
"How so?" Choji, the lovable but clueless ball, responded by tilting his head in curiosity.
"Well, you see..." Omoi trailed off with a small frown, but then he shook his head and shrugged, deciding that it didn't matter if he shared his thoughts or not.
Karui always slapped the back of his head and told him he was way too pessimistic, but Karui was not here. So, what could go wrong? Well, a lot could go wrong. He could start talking and not notice the proctor starting the match. The Akimichi might not be courteous enough to remind him. He might lose and not even know how! And-
"Er, are you okay?" Choji asked, bringing Omoi back to reality, much to the proctor's amusement as he watched the boy's pre-battle talk.
He was okay with letting them speak. This was the kind of show for the audience that was lacking before the first match.
"Ah, yes!" Omoi sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, "You see, I was just thinking. What if I beat you? You could get depressed and lose weight. Then the Akimichi clan would blame me. They will ask Konoha to request reparations from Kumo. But Kumo will not agree. It could turn into a conflict. Maybe even the next war! Would fighting you mean that I will be responsible for the next ninja war?"
"And what if I am held responsible, and Kumo decides the way to resolve this is to give me to the Akimichi clan? They will betrothe me to some nice, but chubby girl, and expect me to make the next generation of dark-skinned Akimichi. But I don't want to marry a chubby girl! I prefer busty onee-samas. Wouldn't I be very unhappy if that happened?"
"Or what if you beat me? Wouldn't I be instantly marked as a failure who lost to some fatass?"
Choji's eye twitched, but after his training with Ino, where she called him that practically every five minutes, his reaction to such insults was no longer extreme.
Omoi, however, hadn't noticed, and with an expression full of dread, he continued, too absorbed in his monologue. "It would make me a laughing stock in Kumo. But Kumo's reputation would be hit, and to regain it, they would need to show their strength. The Raikage would get angry and declare war against Konoha. Iwa would join. Then Kiri would join. And Suna, too! Before we know it, we could be at war, and after a prolonged conflict, to make peace, as the reason for its start, I would be given to Konoha and will have to marry some chubby Akimichi girl as a show of trust."
Pale, Omoi looked at Choji with an expression that was screaming he was on the brink of self-induced despair due to his overthinking.
"Won't I be responsible for the next ninja war regardless of the outcome!? And I still don't want to marry some chubby Akimichi girl either! Isn't this match a lose-lose scenario for me? What should I do!? My dream of marrying a busty onee-sama would be forever lost!"
Omoi exclaimed and almost fell to his knees under the exasperated and silent stares of the audience. Nobody had any idea how to react to... that.
"Why not forfeit?" Choji suggested while innocently blinking.
Omoi opened his mouth, about to agree, but then he stopped himself, and his expression grew dark as he realized what the most likely reaction of the Raikage would be if the man heard he forfeited without fighting.
His face paled even more, and he frantically shook his head before pulling out his sword from its sheath. He could do without a busty onee-sama in his life. But he absolutely could not forfeit this match!
"Better not." He mumbled while audibly gulping. Looking at Choji with a determined expression, he proclaimed with bitter tears streaming down his cheeks. "I am going to beat you, and I am also resolved to marry a chubby Akimichi girl!"
Choji gave him a strange look, but decided to simply shrug. He didn't have a female cousin around Omoi's age anyway. The closest was Chika, who was like seven right now, and he doubted his clan would be willing to engage her with a Kumo ninja. Especially one as weird as his opponent.
"Good luck with that?" Choji responded, scratching the back of his head, quite a bit confused about what was even going on anymore.