With the Silent Fruit's help, Zi Xu had another good night's sleep. No one was harmed except the clone, who was forced to practice using the Silent Fruit. We all know Labor Day is a holiday, but its name also tells us to labor, so it made perfect sense for the clone to work while the original rested.
"Oh, right. I'm supposed to report in today." After getting everything ready, Zi Xu left a clone in his room to keep training and headed to the Ninja Academy.
If the Ninja Academy was the initial selection process for Ninja, then this team assignment was a more formal affair. They were usually grouped into teams of three, with one teacher leading each small team. Unless something unexpected happened, their teacher wouldn't change, and the three of them would keep learning under that teacher while completing missions and taking the exams to become Chunin and Jonin.
Having slept so well, Zi Xu arrived at the classroom to find Chino and Hatsumi already there. Each team had a classroom of its own, though they would rarely use it in the future. Most of their missions would involve outdoor combat or fieldwork, so they wouldn't get much use out of the room.
Hatsumi was sitting beside Chino, showing her an unusual bug. When she saw Zi Xu come in, she waved him over.
"Zi Xu, Zi Xu, look! I found out that Light Bugs and Moonlight Worms can mate naturally. They can have offspring without any human intervention, and they can evolve naturally..." Hatsumi began showing off her discovery. Zi Xu nodded, though he was curious about something else.
"Why hasn't the teacher arrived yet? I thought I was already pretty late."
"No idea. Takeshi Goda said our teacher had something to take care of and told us to wait a little." Chino propped her chin on one hand, looking bored.
"How's your family treating you now?" Zi Xu asked casually, sitting obediently beside Chino.
"How do you think? Same as always. A stick and a carrot. That's how they've always treated Branch Family members, especially one like me, with impure blood." Chino sounded perfectly at ease, without a trace of emotion in her voice.
Zi Xu was about to say something when the classroom door quietly opened. The three of them turned to look. A man with close-cropped brown hair, a Headband worn like a face guard, a loose black combat outfit, and a green flak jacket walked into the room.
As he entered, the man instinctively surveyed his surroundings. When he saw the three of them, he gave them an apologetic smile and spoke up.
"Sorry I'm late. I'll be your homeroom teacher from now on. You can call me Tenzo. We'll be spending a long time together, so I hope we can all get along." Tenzo spoke gently and kept smiling, making him look easy to push around.
"Tenzo? You're Wood Release Tenzo? Aren't you with the Anbu directly under the Third Hokage?" From Chino's words, Zi Xu could tell that the gentle-looking man wasn't as easy to push around as he seemed. He was actually quite famous.
"Oh, I've been recognized. That's right. There's been a big shortage of teachers lately, so I've been assigned to your team. You could say it's a little vacation for me." Tenzo spread his hands, looking helpless. Zi Xu and Hatsumi, however, were completely baffled.
"Wait, Wood Release Tenzo? Is he famous? Wasn't Wood Release a jutsu unique to the First Hokage? Could it be..." Hatsumi glanced at the man in front of her, then thought of the first stone statue on Hokage Rock and the Headband that looked so much like the Second Hokage's. An answer surfaced in her mind.
Tenzo noticed Hatsumi's gaze growing increasingly strange. One moment she looked as if she'd figured something out, the next she wore a rather ambiguous smile, and then her brows furrowed slightly. Not knowing what odd ideas she was having, he hurried to explain:
"I'm not related by blood to either the First or Second Hokage. As for my Wood Release ability, I acquired it by accident. Now, let's see whether you're qualified to become Ninja."
Tenzo didn't seem interested in explaining his abilities any further and quickly changed the subject. The three weren't entirely satisfied with his vague answer, but they were also surprised to hear that he was going to test whether they were qualified to become Ninja.
"Does that mean we have to pass a test before we officially become Genin? What happens if we fail?" Zi Xu stood up and voiced his question. Tenzo still wore a smile as he delivered the coldest words in the gentlest tone.
"People who can't complete missions are worthless. For someone worthless, being barred from ever becoming a Ninja is the greatest kindness."
"So if we fail the test, we lose our Ninja qualifications? Then tell us what the test is." Chino summed it up and asked bluntly.
Tenzo gestured for them to follow him outside. This was probably a practical test, not something they could do in a classroom meant for written exams. As Zi Xu followed Tenzo out, he wondered why Tenzo had become their teacher.
First, Tenzo was in the Anbu directly under the Third Hokage. He took orders only from Hiruzen Sarutobi, which meant this was the Third Hokage's decision. Thinking about the makeup of their team, Zi Xu himself had been pretty average, around the upper end of the middle. Tenzo's reason for coming was probably not him. Of course, it was possible the Anbu had discovered his secret, but that seemed unlikely.
Hatsumi could be ruled out too. If she had mastered a branch of plague-carrying insects, that might have been a possibility, but her abilities so far weren't enough to make the Third Hokage and the others wary.
That means if Tenzo's arrival wasn't a coincidence, his only possible target is Chino. So this really does have something to do with the Hyuga Main House... Chino had told him that the head of the Ninja from the Land of Lightning who had kidnapped the Hyuga Clan's young clan leader in an attempt to learn the secret of the Byakugan had been killed by the current head of the Main House, Hyuga Hiashi. The Land of Lightning not only refused to admit to the kidnapping, but used the death of their Ninja leader as an excuse to make an unreasonable demand: they wanted to see the body of the Hyuga Clan leader.
Otherwise, they threatened to attack Konoha and the Hyuga Clan. Hizashi Hyuga had died in Hyuga Hiashi's place to save the Hyuga Clan and the people of Konoha.
The more he thought about it, the more suspicious the whole affair seemed. He had just one question: what had the Third Hokage been doing? Could the Hyuga Main House and Hiruzen Sarutobi have made the decision together? Could the Main House and the Third Hokage have manipulated even the Ninja leader from the Land of Lightning? Could Hizashi Hyuga have been "willing" to die under Hyuga Hiashi and the Third Hokage's "agreement"?
He committed this to memory, intending to remind Chino to be wary of Tenzo. They had followed Tenzo outside, and the three of them stood opposite him as he pulled out three Explosive Tags.
"The most important thing in a Ninja squad is trust between its members. My test is simple. These are Explosive Tags I made myself. Once Chakra is infused into them, they'll explode after thirty seconds. The tags will be passed around among the three of you, and one of them will eventually explode in someone's hands. You can't throw the tags away. I'll be watching. Whoever has one when it explodes is unfortunately out; the other two pass. It's that simple."
Tenzo activated one of the Explosive Tags in his hand. After a little while, he tossed it away. Soon afterward, it burst in midair with a brilliant flash and a cloud of smoke. The heat washed over their faces, proving it was a real Explosive Tag.
"Now, who should go first? Don't worry. Konoha's medical team is very advanced. No one will get hurt." The three of them were reflected in Tenzo's dark pupils, making him look a little unsettling.
Though he said they needed to choose someone to start, he had already activated an Explosive Tag in his hand. Zi Xu noticed and took it from him, all the while wondering what Tenzo was trying to accomplish.
As a Konoha teacher, he shouldn't deliberately let us get hurt outside of missions. Even if the Third Hokage and the Hyuga Main House wanted to push the Branch Family aside, they wouldn't do it this way. Is only the first of the three Explosive Tags real...? That was his guess, but he couldn't be sure it was right.
Hatsumi and Chino grew anxious when Zi Xu didn't move, but they knew him well. Although he was physically strong, they had never seen him take a risk just because of his physique.
"Teacher Tenzo, you said earlier that trust between squad members is the most important thing, right? But wouldn't a test like this drive a wedge between them? Even the people who pass won't truly feel happy. They might even spend the rest of their lives haunted by guilt... All things considered, I don't think there's any need for this test."
Zi Xu's tone was firmer than ever. He could feel the Explosive Tag in his hand growing hotter, but he still didn't throw it away.
Tenzo's smile faded. He stared into Zi Xu's eyes, his tone no longer as warm as before.
"Well said. But Ninja have to put their missions first. If you insist on thinking that way, you'll be eliminated."
Hatsumi anxiously called out to Tenzo. Several blue bugs flew toward Zi Xu.
"How can there be a rule like that? If you can't even protect your friends, what kind of Ninja are you?" As she moved, Chino also readied herself and darted toward Tenzo.
Tenzo didn't answer. He raised a hand, and his fingers turned into branches that wrapped around the bugs flying toward Zi Xu. Then he released a terrifying pressure that made Hatsumi and Chino struggle to breathe. Only then did they remember that the man who had seemed so kind all this time was a Jonin, a Jonin who knew countless ways to kill.
"..." He quietly watched Zi Xu, who held the Explosive Tag in his hand, and raised an eyebrow. The tag was getting hotter and hotter. This... didn't seem to be a dud.
Pong~ An explosion rang out. The smell of something charred mixed with the scent of burning wood. The Explosive Tag had gone off with a violent blast, but the explosion had taken place inside a wooden cage Tenzo had created.
Tenzo looked at Zi Xu, who was unharmed, and nodded with satisfaction. He smiled in a way that put everyone at ease.
"To be honest, I really did want to fail you. Looking at your records, your scores are mediocre across the board, and there's nothing that stands out. People like that have a high chance of dying on missions." He paused and stretched, then looked at Hatsumi and the others, who still hadn't quite figured out what was going on. At the same time, he returned the little blue bugs he had restrained to Hatsumi.
"But you can't judge everything by the numbers. You do have strengths beyond what the records show. And your teammates trust you a lot. That kind of trust can only be built after going through a lot together, so..." Tenzo paused, tossed away the charred wood in his hand, and waved to the three of them.
"Come on. What are you still standing around for? Class is about to start."
Chino glanced at Zi Xu, and only after seeing that he wasn't hurt did she feel a little relieved. She tugged along a thoroughly bewildered Hatsumi and followed after them.
He talks tough, but unexpectedly, he's a good teacher... Zi Xu decided, then followed the three of them ahead.
Before you continue