Chapter 51: Ninja Info Cards

"Are you the newbies who just graduated from the Ninja Academy?"

The speaker adjusted his round glasses, one hand on his hip. His expression was slightly impatient, his tone admonishing as he addressed the six Genin from Team 7 and Team 8—particularly the loud-mouthed Naruto and Kiba.

"This isn't some school field trip. All that shouting and bickering is seriously annoying!"

Kiba, who had just been arguing with Naruto, frowned at the tone and snapped back without hesitation, "And who the hell are you, acting all high and mighty?"

"I'm Yakushi Kabuto."

Sensing Kiba's hostility, Kabuto spread his hands in a helpless gesture and said to the group, "Take a look around you."

They were seated near the entrance, and the foreign Genin—already irritated by how loudly Naruto had slammed the door earlier—looked even more annoyed by Naruto and Kiba's bickering. Their raised voices were drawing attention from all over the room. The six rookies quickly realized with alarm that they were attracting a lot of unwanted attention.

Worse, their outburst could easily be interpreted as immaturity and lack of discipline. Other participants were probably already writing them off as inexperienced and impulsive.

"Everyone's on edge because the exam's about to start," Kabuto said with a soft chuckle, watching them look around. "But you should be careful. Don't give anyone a reason to target you."

"Tch," Kiba scanned the room and scoffed at the sight of several Ame-nin (Hidden Rain ninjas) staring back coldly. He muttered under his breath, "Just a bunch of nobodies acting all tough."

Before he could say anything more, a hand landed on his shoulder and pressed down with subtle force. Kiba turned and saw it was his teammate, Aburame Shino.

Expressionless behind his round sunglasses, Shino's tone was calm but firm: "Kiba, there are too many people here. If a conflict breaks out, the enemy could easily gather intel on us. Don't be reckless."

Kiba clicked his tongue but said nothing more, shooting one last glare in the direction of the Rain Genin.

"Thanks for the advice, Kabuto-senpai."

Compared to the brash Naruto, Kiba, and Sasuke, it was Sakura, the only girl among them, who took the initiative to express gratitude.

Kabuto smiled kindly at her, ignoring the hostile look Naruto threw his way. Waving his hand nonchalantly, he replied, "It's no big deal. You're all still new to this. Reminds me of how I used to be. Besides, there are a lot of foreign ninja in this exam. Since we're all from Konoha, I'm happy to help if I can."

"This is your second time taking the exam, right, Kabuto-senpai?" Sakura asked, picking up on his earlier words.

"No, it's my seventh." Kabuto scratched his nose a bit sheepishly. It wasn't exactly something to be proud of—seven attempts and still no success. "The exam's held twice a year. This is my fourth year trying."

"Then you must know a lot about the exam!"

For the first time, the normally quiet Shino spoke. Though it was phrased as a question, his tone made it clear he already believed the answer.

Kabuto glanced at the reserved, low-profile Shino—his face half-hidden behind a high collar—and nodded. "Yeah."

"Wow, Kabuto-senpai, you're amazing!"

Naruto, seemingly unaware of how that might sound, suddenly blurted out the compliment, causing Kabuto to awkwardly scratch the back of his head with a wry smile. Sakura immediately smacked Naruto on the back of the head and apologized to Kabuto.

"It's fine," Kabuto said, stopping her with a laugh. "Since I'm your senior, why don't I share some intel with you rookies?"

As he spoke, he reached into the pouch at his waist and pulled out a thick stack of palm-sized cards. He placed them on the ground, catching everyone's attention.

Naruto was the first to ask, staring in confusion, "What are those?"

"These are Ninja Info Cards," Kabuto explained, noting the puzzled expressions around him. "To put it simply, it's a way of recording information using ninjutsu. I convert intel into encoded symbols and store them inside these cards."

He held one card up for everyone to see.

"Even though they look like plain blank cards…" Kabuto flipped one over—sure enough, there was nothing on it. "But once I use my jutsu…"

He placed the card on the ground, formed a one-handed seal, and touched the blank side with his index finger. As chakra flowed into the card, an image began to emerge—an intricate 3D display filled with numbers and charts.

"This is how I unlock the hidden intel inside."

The others finally understood and nodded in realization, but Shino silently frowned.

This kind of tool—while it looked simple—actually required a high level of mastery. Even someone as skilled as Nara Shikamaru likely couldn't pull this off.

"To conceal and reveal data like this using chakra control, transformation jutsu, and barrier techniques… There's no way an average Genin could create something like this," Shino thought to himself, eyes narrowing. "This Yakushi Kabuto… is a serious threat."

"And someone this capable has taken the Chūnin Exams seven times? Just how hard is this test?"

Shino had interacted with other foreign Genin before and knew their strength wasn't necessarily far beyond his own. He couldn't understand why someone like Kabuto hadn't passed. There had to be more to it.

Sakura, still staring at the holographic display and the data on the card, asked thoughtfully, "What kind of information is this?"

"It lists all the participating villages in this year's Chūnin Exams," Kabuto said, pointing at the figures on the card. "Total number of candidates, and how many each village has sent."

Everyone nodded in understanding, and Sakura murmured in admiration, "So detailed and easy to read…"

Kabuto smiled, a bit proud of himself. "I spent four years gathering this intel. There are 200 cards in total. It wasn't easy putting all this together."

Sasuke's eyes flicked toward the thick stack of cards in Kabuto's hand. "Do you have individual profiles too?" he asked.

"Of course," Kabuto nodded. "The information isn't 100% complete, but I've compiled personal data on every participant—including all of you."