The Hokage Office -

The next morning, Renjiro met up with Hiruzen to report the mission. After the discussions were done, Hiruzen asked Renjiro, "The next Chunin exam will start soon. Do you plan on nominating the genins?"

Renjiro nodded, "Yes. They are quite strong. Becoming chunins shouldn't be an issue to them. Their teamwork is good as well. They were able to kill an Elite chunin during the mission with ease, though he was handicapped by the terrain."

Hiruzen nodded, "Yes, that's good progress." He suddenly sighed, "I had selected quite a few genins and gave them to capable jounins so that they can be trained quickly. I planned to keep track of all of them, but unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to follow up on them."

Renjiro didn't respond. After all, he was well aware of how busy the Hokage was.

Hiruzen asked, "Can you tell me the current power of the genins and their future prospects?"

Renjiro nodded, "Sure old man. As I said, all three are very strong. Hoka is still obsessed with Hyuga's Gentle Fist style. But he has learnt quite a few jutsus to help him fight at mid-range. He has learnt a few Earth and Water Release jutsus. Once the Hyuga family begins training him seriously, he will have no issue becoming a Special Jounin in a few years. Even becoming a Jounin should be doable for him. As for Elite Jounin, it's too soon to comment.

As for weaknesses, Hoka still prefers Taijutsu a lot. So it creates a few vulnerabilities for him. He'll need a few rank B missions to iron out that flaw. He does have a decent amount of chakra reserves. So learning a few rank B jutsus should aid him a lot."

Hiruzen nodded and replied, "Nice. As for the weakness, almost all Hyuga share it." He sighed before continuing, "They are obsessed with their Gentle Fist."

Renjiro nodded. Very few Hyuga ninjas choose to learn non-Hyuga jutsus. Hiruzen continued, "Once he becomes a Chunin, I'll have him join multiple B rank missions. What about the other two?"

Renjiro began talking about Mieko, "Mieko is well-balanced. She is good at Ninjutsu, Genjutsu as well as Taijutsu. And like all Uchiha, she is good with shurikens and wires. Just having the Sharingan makes her strong. Like all Uchiha, she has a strong affinity to Fire Release and can also use Earth Release jutsus for defense.

She shouldn't have any issue becoming a Jounin once her chakra reserves grow. Elite Jounin too might be attainable for her. But I can't comment much on it right now.

As for her weaknesses, she doesn't have any in terms of her technique. But she is very impulsive. And she is very arrogant. In the last 8 months, her arrogance has decreased considerably, but it's still there nonetheless."

Hiruzen nodded, "Yes, the sharingan does boost their confidence a lot." While saying, he sighed internally, 'The differences between Uchiha and the village are increasing day by day. I hope they calm down and let this old man live in peace.'

Renjiro continued, "Lastly Fujin. Surprisingly, his growth has been the fastest in his team. He has become a very capable sensor. If we consider just that aspect, he is already as good as Jounin rank sensors.

His chakra reserves are already at the Jounin level. He has learnt Samurai Saber Techniques and is very good with Wind Release. He has also learnt Senju Taijutsu style and has very good chakra control. He can also supercharge Wind jutsus with ease. He also learnt Earth Release jutsus for defense."

Hiruzen's eyebrows rose when he heard that Fujin had learnt Senju Taijutsu style. This was something he didn't expect. He wondered, 'Does Fujin have Senju or Uzumaki ancestry?'

Renjiro continued, "Also, he is very fast, and can perform Body Flicker and Wind Instantaneous Body jutsu without any seals. In fact, the way he operates is quite similar to our Anbu. I'd recommend you recruit him into Anbu. In fact, I'd recommend you to break the tradition and not wait till he turns 13 to recruit him.

Regarding his future prospects, I'm confident that he'll become a Jounin at the very least. Likely even become an Elite Jounin. I'd recommend you give him Wind Vacuum style jutsus when you think he is ready. It will make him much more lethal.

As for his weaknesses, he is way too careful. Even during spars. So he has no experience whatsoever in fighting in crunch situations. And while his behavior might not show any arrogance, Fujin is very arrogant. Likely even more than Mieko and Hoka. And he probably doesn't even recognize his arrogance. Fortunately, it doesn't affect him during battle."

Hiruzen laughed lightly on hearing that, "They are geniuses and young. Even you were quite arrogant when you were young."

Renjiro just sighed seeing that Hiruzen was teasing him.

Hiruzen continued in a slightly more serious tone, "I'm surprised that you have such high hopes for him. And the fact that his Chakra reserves grew this quickly and about him learning Senju Taijutsu style."

Hiruzen thought for a moment and said, "I'll keep an eye on him once he becomes a chunin. I'll consider your recommendation to recruit him into Anbu as well."

Renjiro nodded.

Hiruzen continued, "Anyways, you have done a great job with the kids. Now ensure that they captivate the Daimyos in the exam."

Renjiro replied, "Alright." He discussed some more matters with Hiruzen, before leaving.

Fujin, Hoka, and Mieko took a week's break, resting and reflecting on their performance.

Fujin analyzed his performance and concluded, "There isn't anything I'd do differently. The mission kinda went way too well, to be honest. The only issue I could consider is that I didn't fight any chunin level ninja head-on. But again, there wasn't really any opportunity to do so. And forcing it to happen would have been idiotic.

That said, I did have a few good ideas to improve my Wind element further and make my fighting style even more lethal But, I will probably need to learn Mystical Palm jutsu first. Or have a medical ninja with me Hmm, even that might not be safe enough. I may need to make some protective gear as well. Oh well, I'll try those ideas later."

Not finding anything to improve, Fujin just trained by himself for 7 days. In the following week, Renjiro once again put his students through a gruesome training session.

Finally, on one fine day, Renjiro assembled the team after training was done. And he handed them 3 forms.

The kids took it and observed. They were instantly excited. Renjiro said, "I have nominated you all to the Chunin exams. If you are all willing to participate, fill in the forms and give them to me tomorrow."

The genins immediately said, "Thank You Sensei."

Renjiro's face softened. He smiled and dismissed the team. When everyone left, he sighed while smiling, 'I have grown attached to these kids. I couldn't even tell them that this was their last training session with me as a team.'

He then looked up at the sky, his smile dying down and a serious and rather grim expression appearing on his face, 'I hope that their fates are different than their seniors.'

The next day, all 3 submitted their application to participate in the Chunin exams. The first exam will be a return test, which will be conducted a week later. Renjiro gave the entire week off to the genins. The genins hence did their own training, while meeting every afternoon, for brainstorming more ideas regarding combination jutsus and teamwork.