Unity!

Unity!

An hour later, at the Seventh Training Ground.

"I'm glad you all arrived on time."

Lin Ke stood atop a rock, making his somewhat regrettable height look a little more imposing. For some reason, the harder he trained, the slower he seemed to grow. And because of his age, when standing beside fellow transmigrators who were already six feet or even taller at just a few years old, nine-year-old Lin Ke was only about four foot three in shoes.

Four foot three! It bothered him a little. A lot, actually. Xia looked thoroughly unconvinced and furious. At eleven, she was still too young to hide her emotions in front of peers her own age, even with ninja training.

However, after that minor clash earlier, she did not dare provoke him again.

Yuan Wei took the initiative to speak. "Lin Ke, what exactly did you call us here for?"

He no longer felt the initial excitement of becoming a genin. The conflict just now had been enough to cool his overheated mind.

"Whether or not we have something like friendship," Lin Ke said after seeing that the two were ready, briefly organizing his thoughts, "since we've been assigned to the same squad, we'll be comrades from now on. Comrades who need to carry out missions together."

"Trust is essential."

The two remained silent. Yes, after mental training and extensive ninja theory lessons, as long as they were not some hopeless dead-last who never attended academic classes, they generally knew what they were supposed to do.

After graduating from the Ninja Academy, they were no longer students or children. They were ninja.

"I hope we can reach a unified command structure before taking the Guidance Jonin's test," Lin Ke continued. "So, we'll use strength to determine who will be the commander among us. You have no objections, right?"

They silently agreed again.

Ninja had always believed that the strongest fist made the rules.

"Are you ready?" A rare smile appeared on Lin Ke's young face.

"Whoosh!" Xia and Yuan Wei charged in from the left and right. Being the same age and in the same class, they had participated in combat drills together before. Compared to Lin Ke, they were more familiar with each other and had better coordination.

My ninja path begins with beating up children, then.

Smiling, Lin Ke gathered chakra beneath his feet and used the Body Flicker Technique—

"Thud!" He appeared in a flash behind the point where they converged, one hand pressing down on each of their heads as he slammed them into the ground. One Tiger Kills Two Lambs!

There was no need to use the Substitution Technique against them.

In the distance, Nara Yan Shui, who had watched the whole thing, smiled. Having a talented student with leadership ability in the squad he led was a wonderful thing.

Jonin were not idle every day. Those who became Team Leader Jonin were inevitably people who held no village posts and were not stationed in special organizations like the Anbu. Leading genin was no pleasant assignment. Not only did it waste time, it also seriously slowed down their ability to take missions and make money.

The village had only one requirement for Team Leader Jonin: train a chunin. Once one of their students was promoted to chunin, the Team Leader Jonin was freed.

At the very least, they would no longer have to play babysitter.

That was why Team Leader Jonin all had their own ways of screening subordinates. Those screened out were Ninja Academy students with no hope of becoming chunin anytime soon, ninja who would need years or even over a decade to slowly improve. It was better to screen them out directly and send them back to the Ninja Academy to continue studying.

Most screening tests were the bell-grabbing exercise passed down from the Third Hokage. After all, it tested subordinates' abilities comprehensively, and no jonin believed three genin could actually take the bells. A small number used different methods.

But all roads led to the same goal: kicking genin with little potential back to the academy for retraining.

Therefore, among teams that successfully graduated and passed their Guidance Jonin's test, someone would generally be recommended by their Guidance Jonin and become a chunin within several months to around a year. The team would then disband, returning its squad number to the Ninja Academy to await inheritance by the next batch of students.

Of course, there were a few exceptions. Most Guidance Jonin certainly did not enjoy being babysitters.

To outsiders, genin who graduated from the Ninja Academy seemed to have a natural advantage when it came to promotion, making more and more people flock to enroll in the academy.

In reality, teams without the qualifications to become chunin in a short period would never be recognized by Guidance Jonin. The retraining rate, as high as two-thirds of all graduates, was no joke.

The apparent conclusion came purely from survivorship bias.

Nara Yan Shui was a typical member of the Nara Clan: meticulous, skilled in the Shadow Secret Technique, and highly capable. Likewise, troublesome people and matters gave him terrible headaches.

He was truly delighted to be leading a student this year who was qualified in both strength and intelligence.

As for the other two?

Accessories.

If Lin Ke had not been present, whether it was the reckless Yuan Wei, whose strength was lacking, or the proud and arrogant Xia, Nara Yan Shui would have considered both to have flawed personalities and sent them back to the Ninja Academy for retraining.

There was no need to keep observing.

Smiling, Nara Yan Shui used the Body Flicker Technique and left. The next morning, at the Seventh Training Ground.

Good.

When Nara Yan Shui arrived, he quietly observed his three subordinates.

Lin Ke stood in front as calmly as ever, his Forehead Protector tied around his left arm.

Yuan Wei sat on a wooden post to the right, several bandages stuck to his cheek and an eager expression on his face.

One of Xia's eyes was bruised and swollen. She sat on the left with a stern face and no expression, but the way she looked at Lin Ke no longer held yesterday's hostility and anger.

"Good morning," Nara Yan Shui greeted them, receiving three uneven responses.

Then, without further nonsense, he raised the bells in his hand and said casually,

"Then, as usual, try to take the bells from me."

He did not say anything about being sent back to the Ninja Academy if they failed the test. The real test had begun yesterday. With one subordinate capable of becoming a chunin, Fifth Squad had already passed. Today's test was more about gauging his subordinates' abilities.

As their superior—their direct superior with the authority to send them to their deaths—he had to know their abilities well in order to properly train and intervene during future missions.

"Don't treat me as an instructor. Treat taking these bells as an official mission, one that requires you to stake your lives on it."

Nara Yan Shui gave them that reminder, hung the bells from his waist—probably for convenience—and said, "Now—"

"Begin."

"Whoosh~" Lin Ke vanished from where he stood and flashed onto a distant rock. Yuan Wei and Xia retreated a short distance, firmly blocking the path in front of him.

They're already studying formations for cooperation?

Nara Yan Shui did not take the initiative to attack. He was very curious about Ice Release. Rather, many jonin who had heard about it were curious about Lin Ke.

Let me see...

The power of Ice Release!