Chương 62

Before Gaara could make his move, Baki came forward and stopped him. If Gaara started a fight here, it might start an ugly situation and they didn't need it at the moment. Everything was going with the plan. Hayate at the end announced that Rei was disqualified from the exams and thus wouldn't compete in the next rounds. This caused quite the uproar among whole rookies and they were dumfounded that Rei, who was one of the strongest against them, just got booted out.

Naruto was the verge of shouting again but Rei put his hand on his mouth and made him stop. He really meant when he said titles were just hollow when one didn't have the strength to back it up. Danzo too declared himself as the Hokage. What happened in the end? Died like a dog. Well, honestly he deserved it too. After creating quite the unrest, the matches went on. Next was Choji's match which at the end Choji lost and this was the last match to happen.

And later Hiruzen came and spoke of giving them a month of preparation and the last phase would be a tournament. Of course, this old man, went around the circles for that. Hiruzen looked at Rei at the end, who was still among Team 7 and smiled. This little guy really surprised him and even went against the rules just to save his fellow Konoha-mate. The more Rei was growing, the more he was liking. He had nothing but appreciation for Rei and was a bit annoyed that Rei had to give up.

He would have loved to see him bloom in the finals, but well. This was it for him. Rei was home and the moment he was back, his parents almost assaulted him. No physically of course, emotionally. They had already heard that Orohimaru was here and now Rei told them that he gave up the exams at the second round. They couldn't understand why Rei would do that, but after knowing what happened they were glad that he did so to save his friend that he had made. Daichi was proud of it, rather than berate him.

He understood it long back that his son never created about titles, and just wanted to live in peace. But Hana was a bit disappointed and Rei promised her that in the next exams, he would pass it with flying colors. He really didn't care if he was chunin or jonin. He had his own things to follow and now that the exams were over he could just relax. And also train the new ability that briming inside of him. Elsewhere inside the Hokage Tower, the atmosphere was significantly less peaceful.

The door to Hiruzen's office opened without warning and Danzo walked inside. There wasn't even an attempt at politeness. The old warhawk looked annoyed, which for Danzo meant he looked one step away from ordering someone's assassination. Hiruzen glanced up from his paperwork and immediately frowned.

"Danzo."

"Hiruzen." The silence between them lasted only a few moments before Danzo got straight to the point.

"I want an explanation." Hiruzen already felt a headache coming.

"For what this time?"

"Rei Amagi." That made Hiruzen pause slightly.

"What about him?" Danzo's eye narrowed.

"A no-name shinobi from a civilian family somehow knows dozens of techniques. He has chakra reserves beyond what should be normal for his age. He possesses ridiculous combat ability. And now I am hearing reports that he used a space-time technique." Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Hiruzen's eyes narrowed.

"You've been gathering information again."

"I am protecting the village."

"No. You're spying." Danzo's expression darkened.

"I am asking a legitimate question. Why would you give Hiraishin to a child? Do you have any idea what kind of technique that is? Minato Namikaze himself needed years to master it." That part genuinely surprised Hiruzen. Not because Danzo was angry. Because Rei had apparently progressed much further than Hiruzen originally believed. The old Hokage remained silent for several moments before speaking.

"What I teach to the shinobi of this village is none of your concern."

"It becomes my concern when a child starts displaying abilities that rival elite jonins."

"And whose fault is that?" Hiruzen asked coldly.

"The boy studies harder than most adults. Every report I receive says the same thing." Danzo scoffed.

"You're repeating the same mistake. Again and again.."

"What mistake? Following your advice in the Uchihas was one of my worst mistakes of my whole life." Hiruzen hissed.

"Listen carefully, Danzo." Danzo frowned.

"You will not interfere with Rei." Hiruzen continued.

"You will not investigate him. You will not approach him. You will not send Root after him. And if I discover that you've been placing your agents around him or any member of Team 7, I will personally dismantle Root myself." The threat hung heavily in the room.

"And if you ever barge into my office again demanding explanations for my students, I will throw you out myself. Now get out." [A/N: Danzo: You will regret it Hiruzen. Hiruzen: I am the Hokage] Rei didn't know that two old friends went on a small scuffle in the Hokage tower, even if he knew, he wouldn't have cared. Learning Hiraishin wasn't a crime. He wouldn't even be surprised if Orochimaru ratted on him to Danzo.

They could think of it as Hiraishin and that was the reason he sent his friends and vanished himself under the eyes of Orochimaru because Hiruzen would definitely think he was progressing in Hiraishin. Rei took rest the whole day and meditated. He had fought a hard battle and though his chakra reserves weren't affected much, that didn't mean he wasn't exhausted. The next day he was back at the MCU and he wasn't alone. Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and even Kakashi was here.

Unlike the original story Kakashi didn't have to safeguard Sasuke and thus he was free but he was also worried since Orochimaru came after them. Thankfully there was this other world where they could always escape to.

"Rei... Thank you for saving Lee. Guy is immensely grateful and want to thank you personally." Kakashi said.

"It's okay. I am glad that he is alright." Rei didn't pay much heed to it, but Naruto and others were still pissed. If Rei passed then all of the 4 Team 7 would have passed, but Rei had to forfeit just because he saved someone. It was unfair to them and even Sasuke thought so.

"Hmph. That bushy brow should provide you gifts. No.. He should sign the contract with you." Naruto declared. This made everyone, including Rei, look at Naruto with weird eyes.

"What? Did I say something wrong? He saved him, so he should sign the contract and also see this world." Naruto doubled down.

"Naruto, from when did you start thinking of manipulation?" Rei asked. Wasn't his influence a bit too much for him to even suggest that? He was corrupting Ashura.

"Eh! That is not manipulation. He would see a new world and you will get more powerful." Naruto said. Sasuke and others agreed, only Kakashi was silent looking at Rei. He wanted to see what Rei would reply.

"Yes, in a way that is true but even if I don't, it's fine. I didn't save him because I wanted his signature and acquire his abilities using my kekkei genkai. I saved him because he was our friend. Not everything has a price. Friendship, I believe, that is based on a price isn't friendship but a business." Rei said. This made all them for some reason smile. Rei really treated them as friends and not some people with whom he could sign contract for getting more powerful and even Kakashi was impressed.

He was a far better kid than he ever was. Obito would have loved him. [A/N: No dude, he would have hated him] Though Rei felt a bit hypocritical saying those words as he really had used them a bit and used manipulation, but he now genuinely saw them as friends. Or else, he could have allowed Sasuke to be taken away by Orochimaru. But for some reason he felt this guy deserved a better chance so that in the future, he wouldn't have many regrets.

That " some reason" was probably the friendship that he had created with this team and his sensei. Soon Rei took them and finally introduced Karin. Last time they didn't have time to be properly introduced, so Rei now had properly brought them to this new girl. Kakashi was instantly baffled seeing the red hair. That made him remember Kushina but he didn't speak it out loud.

"What is your full name?" Sakura asked as she found her cute and thought maybe she could bond with her like she did with Ino before.

"Karin.. Uzumaki."

"Eh? Uzumaki.. Naruto, that is your surname." Sakura said.

"Huh. You are an Uzumaki too? Are we siblings?" Naruto asked and curious. He was an orphan so the mere thought that some blood relative remained gave him excitement.

"That's highly unlikely given there is negligible age difference between you two. Both of you were brought up in different villages too, so no. Maybe some distant relative." Rei said.