"The Academy teaches jutsu. The field teaches consequences."
Early Spring – Field Training Mission
The snow had melted into wet slush, and mud clung to their sandals like stubborn regrets. The Academy's top students were selected for a C-rank simulation exercise — the first of its kind in years.
It was supposed to be a team-building trial.
Renji had a bad feeling the moment he saw the mission scroll.
The Teams
The class was split into four-man squads under the watch of active chūnin.
Team A: Naruto, Renji, Hinata, and Kiba.
Proctor: Ebisu.
Naruto frowned immediately. "Why's that guy our leader?"
Kiba smirked. "I call dibs on being squad captain!"
Hinata just glanced between them, voice soft. "I-I don't mind… being support…"
Renji stayed quiet.
He'd read the map, the terrain, the objective — capture the enemy flag hidden within Training Ground #17, across two kilometers of forest filled with traps, summoned beasts, and roaming genjutsu traps.
It was a trial… but it could hurt.
Badly.
Phase 1: The Descent into Trees
"Spread out, but keep in sight!" Kiba barked, taking the lead.
Akamaru growled softly. Hinata moved silently beside the tree line, Byakugan active. Naruto trailed Renji, loudly stepping on every twig.
"Don't worry, I'll find the flag!" Naruto beamed.
Renji sighed. "You're going to alert every wild beast in this forest."
"Maybe that's my plan!" Naruto said, puffing his chest.
Hinata giggled behind her sleeve.
Phase 2: The First Trap
They didn't see it — not until it was too late.
Kiba tripped a seal wire, and a paralysis glyph exploded in a burst of violet light.
"Tch—!" he grunted, falling to his knees as his limbs stiffened.
Akamaru yelped.
"Hang on!" Naruto rushed in.
"No! Wait—" Renji shouted—
But too late.
Naruto triggered the secondary tag.
A fire-style explosion tag embedded under leaves.
The air shimmered red.
BOOM!
Emergency Response
Renji didn't think — he reacted.
"Suiton: Mizujōheki!"
A wall of pressurized water exploded from his palms, shielding Hinata and Kiba from the blast's full impact. Naruto, caught mid-air, was hurled back, hitting a tree hard.
Smoke. Fire. Coughing.
Renji's ears rang as he pulled Kiba to safety.
Kiba groaned. "Ugh… can't move…"
Hinata reached Naruto, checking his pulse, fingers trembling. "H-he's okay. Bruised ribs, maybe a concussion…"
Renji turned to the trees.
"They've increased the trap difficulty," he muttered. "This isn't a simulation anymore."
Phase 3: The Rogue Shinobi
"Impressive reaction time."
A voice echoed through the trees — soft, sibilant.
A figure dropped from the canopy. Not a genin. Not a chūnin.
He wore no forehead protector.
His eyes gleamed gold.
A missing-nin?
Ebisu was nowhere in sight.
The figure cracked his knuckles. "The Academy lets brats play war now? Let's see what you're made of."
Renji stepped in front of the others. His chakra surged.
"Hinata, take Kiba and Naruto. Hide."
"I—"
"Now."
The air dropped ten degrees.
Renji vs. Rogue
The man moved fast — no hand signs, just pure taijutsu.
He came in low, aiming a sweeping leg.
Renji jumped, twisted mid-air, and launched two water needles from his fingertips.
The rogue dodged with a grin.
"Water user? Cute."
Renji formed seals faster than most genin could think.
"Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu."
A water dragon erupted from a puddle — too large for an Academy student. It crashed through the forest, swallowing the rogue whole.
But when the mist cleared — he was laughing.
"Not bad, kid. You're not like the others."
He rushed Renji again.
The Awakening
The rogue was fast — faster than Renji could match physically. His vision blurred from dodging. A kunai grazed his shoulder.
Blood dripped into his palm.
And something snapped.
Like a door opening.
Time slowed.
Suddenly, Renji could feel the rogue's movements before he made them. His vision sharpened — not into sight, but into chakra pulses, intent, pressure.
He knew what the rogue would do before he did it.
It wasn't Sharingan.
Not Byakugan.
Something else.
Counterstrike
Renji dodged the next strike by inches, twisting under the rogue's elbow, planting his palm flat against the man's stomach.
A fūinjutsu symbol glowed between them.
"Seal Release: Internal Lockdown."
The rogue froze — every nerve spasming.
His chakra flow turned inward, tangled, locked.
He collapsed, twitching.
Renji stood over him, breathless, covered in sweat and dirt, the seal fading from his palm.
From the shadows, Ebisu finally emerged, bleeding from the head.
"I lost track of him… you saved them."
Renji didn't answer. He was still… buzzing.
What the hell just happened to him?
Later – Medical Bay
Naruto lay in bed, muttering. "Stupid traps…"
Hinata sat beside him, bandaging his hand. Kiba had a neck brace. Akamaru got free meat.
Renji sat outside the curtain, staring at his palm.
"Fūinjutsu…" he whispered. "But I never learned that…"
Footsteps.
Iruka stepped in.
"I heard what happened," he said, unusually serious. "Renji… you used a seal technique from the Uzumaki archives."
Renji looked up. "I don't know how. I just—knew."
Iruka exhaled.
"That's not something to ignore."
Elsewhere – The Hokage's Office
Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at a written report.
"Renji…," he muttered.
He turned to an ANBU. "Call Jiraiya. Quietly."
End of Chapter 6