Passed the Test

Konoha

Third Training Ground.

Naruto and Sasuke panted heavily.

Minato was far too good at hiding.

If Hinata had not had the Byakugan, they would never have found him.

After Minato headed into the forest, the three of them held a brief discussion and followed him in.

Unfortunately, the moment they entered the forest, Minato vanished without a trace.

Though the two rookies had plenty of combat experience, they were truly weak at tracking.

Fortunately, Hinata had the Byakugan, and they managed to find Minato's trail.

Minato never fought the three of them head-on, constantly evading their pursuit.

Only then did Naruto and Sasuke truly understand just how useful Hinata's Byakugan was.

After great difficulty, they finally caught up with him using Hinata's Byakugan, and the three of them swarmed him at once.

Naruto and Sasuke had eaten dust the whole way and both wanted to prove themselves.

So Naruto and Sasuke took the lead in attacking while Hinata supported them from the side.

But not long after they began their assault, their teacher vanished with a bang, leaving behind only a bell.

Only then did the three realize it had merely been a Shadow Clone.

Naruto and Sasuke had expended a great deal of stamina. Hinata was much weaker than them, and although she had not been much help during the attack—

She had used her Byakugan all the way to search for him, leaving her breathless and drenched in cold sweat.

"Hinata, take a rest. We don't know where Teacher created that Shadow Clone."

"We need to recover our stamina now."

Naruto suggested.

Sasuke had already leaned against a tree and sat down nearby.

Hearing that, Hinata obediently sat down. Her eyes throbbed with pain; she had overused her Byakugan a little.

Yet her expression remained excited, because they had not lost their teacher thanks to her guidance along the way.

It was also the first time Hinata had felt how convenient her Byakugan was.

Though she was somewhat worse than Naruto and Sasuke in combat, she could still be of help.

Naruto did not notice Hinata's private thoughts.

But when the three of them had just fought Minato, Naruto had clearly noticed that his father adjusted the strength of his attacks according to his opponent.

The force he used against Hinata was clearly different from what he used against the two of them.

Dad really was gentle.

Naruto secretly glanced at Hinata's expression, recalling how she always stood behind everyone else at the academy.

He seemed to understand why his father had done that.

After resting for a while, they recovered some of their stamina and Chakra.

Hinata stood up, and Naruto and Sasuke rose with her.

Naruto asked, "Hinata, have you recovered?"

Hinata nodded.

"I'm fine now. Let's continue looking for Teacher!"

Sasuke analyzed from the side.

"If we go farther in from here, we'll reach the depths of the forest. Teacher couldn't possibly have kept going deeper."

"The most likely possibility is that Teacher returned to the Third Training Ground by another route."

Naruto nodded in agreement. He also knew that farther in, the forest became incredibly vast.

"Hinata, sorry to trouble you."

Hinata looked energized. "Leave it to me!"

"Byakugan!"

Hinata activated her Byakugan at once and searched along the path they had taken.

After her painstaking search, she finally found traces of their teacher's Chakra where they had come from.

Hinata deactivated her Byakugan, looking slightly tired.

"Sasuke was right. Teacher is at the place where we gathered this morning."

Naruto struck his fist into his palm.

"Good! Let's keep up the momentum and take the other two bells too!"

Sasuke nodded. "Let's go!"

Naruto and Hinata hurried after him.

Before long, they returned to the place where they had gathered that morning.

Ikeda Shingo was already sitting in a tree, waiting for them.

"Your teamwork is fairly good, but you've only gotten one bell so far. Only one person has passed."

Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata had all spent considerable stamina, but Naruto was still the most energetic.

Only Naruto spoke up.

"Teacher, we'll definitely get all the bells."

Naruto and the others had just defeated Minato's Shadow Clone, so Minato already knew their level.

Hearing that, he smiled.

"Then what are you waiting for? It's almost noon."

Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata exchanged glances, then surrounded Minato.

Naruto first created a large number of Shadow Clones.

The Shadow Clones began probing attacks. Hinata did not act rashly; instead, she activated her Byakugan and observed the flow of her teacher's Chakra.

Sasuke also activated his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, his eyes tracking his teacher's movements.

Minato's attacks were incomparably swift. The hand holding his Kunai was like a killing machine as it swung.

Naruto's Shadow Clones burst one after another.

Amid the repeated bangs of Shadow Clones disappearing,

Naruto's Shadow Clones soon vanished completely. Naruto's original body exchanged a glance with Hinata.

Hinata hesitated slightly before raising three fingers.

This was the tactic they had discussed on the way.

Seeing it, Sasuke drew the Kusanagi Blade and charged in, launching a continuous barrage of attacks.

Amid flashing cold light, Minato had to devote some of his attention to dealing with Sasuke.

With the help of his clones, Naruto had already formed a Rasengan.

But he did not stop. Instead, he had another clone form a Rasengan as well.

He and his Shadow Clone each held a Rasengan and charged toward Minato.

As Minato used his Kunai to block Sasuke's Kusanagi Blade, Naruto's two Rasengan slammed toward him.

A Rasengan instantly appeared in Minato's hand and collided with Naruto's Rasengan, sending Naruto flying.

That Naruto turned into smoke and vanished.

Just as Minato was about to evade the second Rasengan,

Sasuke, whose blade had been knocked aside, formed hand seals and unleashed a Great Fireball Technique, sealing off Minato's escape route.

Minato nodded inwardly and adjusted his body at an angle with barely an inch of room, dodging Naruto's second Rasengan.

Minato's Kunai stabbed toward Naruto's shoulder.

At that moment, using the Great Fireball Technique to obscure his vision, Hinata had already appeared at Minato's side.

She spread both hands and struck with two palms.

Minato threw the Kunai in his hand at Hinata.

Hinata's eyes narrowed, and she struck aside the not-too-forceful Kunai.

Hinata's fighting spirit was at its peak, scenes of her usual diligent training flashing through her mind.

Naruto believes in me so much! I absolutely can't hold everyone back!

Gentle Fist Art, Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms!

Hinata swung both palms, pouring a storm of attacks toward Minato.

Approval shone in Minato's eyes as he continually deflected and blocked her strikes.

After Naruto's second Rasengan was dodged, he lost his balance, but red Chakra suddenly erupted from his body.

Blue light flared from Sasuke's hand.

Chidori took shape as Sasuke rapidly circled Minato.

As Minato deflected Hinata's Eight Trigrams Palms, he had to keep part of his attention on Sasuke.

The red Chakra around Naruto formed a massive claw and swung down.

A Rasengan appeared in Minato's hand and instantly struck the Chakra claw.

Sasuke charged in with Chidori.

His body completely blocked Minato's view.

Hinata, using the Byakugan to see through it, was entirely unaffected.

Her hand reached toward Minato's waist at an unbelievable angle.

Minato's waist suddenly felt empty.

The bell had been taken!

A smile appeared on Minato's face as he grabbed Sasuke and Hinata respectively and flung them away.

Sasuke was still able to adjust his posture in midair and land on the ground.

Hinata, however, had exhausted her strength. Naruto quickly used the Chakra claw to catch her in his arms.

Hinata only felt herself crash into a warm embrace.

"Hinata, are you okay?"

Naruto hurriedly set Hinata down.

Hinata's face reddened, but she was extremely excited inside. She raised the bell in her hand.

"Naruto, we did it!"

Naruto laughed heartily and gave Hinata a thumbs-up.

Sasuke also walked over and praised Hinata. "Well done, Hinata."

Seeing the three of them getting along so happily,

Minato looked deeply satisfied, especially as he gave Naruto and Hinata an extra glance. "Congratulations. You've passed the test."