Assessment

Tejima Shinichi's words left both Kobayashi Ken and Sato Yu stunned.

"Believe you?" Kobayashi Ken repeated instinctively, his face filled with confusion and lingering unease. "Shinichi, what do you mean?"

Sato Yu also looked at Tejima Shinichi.

Rather than answering directly, Tejima Shinichi asked, "Do you really agree with the rules Teacher Yamato laid out? There are only two Bells, which means one person is destined to return to the Ninja Academy for remedial training."

"Of course I don't agree!" Kobayashi Ken immediately retorted, his voice agitated. "This is completely unreasonable! We've obviously already graduated!"

Sato Yu was calmer. She looked at Tejima Shinichi thoughtfully. "Shinichi, did you notice something?"

Tejima Shinichi nodded, his gaze sweeping over the two of them. "This isn't a real elimination test. It's a trial."

"A trial?" Kobayashi Ken frowned.

"That's right." Tejima Shinichi analyzed, "Think about it. What is most important for a ninja? Teamwork. Yet Teacher Yamato deliberately brought out only two Bells, creating a situation where the three of us have to compete and one person must be sacrificed... That isn't logical."

He paused before continuing:

"If his real goal was to eliminate one of us, why bother assigning us to a team? Wouldn't it be enough to weed people out during the graduation assessment? After all, he's a Jonin... So what he truly wants to see isn't who can seize a Bell, but what choices we make under these rules."

Sato Yu's eyes widened slightly, as though she understood something. "You mean... he wants to see whether we'll fight among ourselves over the Bells? Or... whether someone would be willing to give up for their teammates?"

"Yes." Tejima Shinichi affirmed, "This is more like a test of our team awareness and belief in our comrades. If we really become suspicious of one another over two Bells, or even fight to take them, then that may be what truly disqualifies us."

As Kobayashi Ken listened to their analysis, the anxiety on his face gradually faded. Realization dawned on him. "So... we shouldn't be thinking about how to grab the Bells. We should... figure out a way together?"

"At the very least, we can't fall into the 'competition' trap Teacher set for us." Tejima Shinichi said. "We need to make a plan, one built on the premise that 'we are a team.'"

He looked at them and asked that question once more:

"So, do you believe me now? Are you willing to temporarily set aside your fear of the rules and face this test with me, as Team 1?"

Kobayashi Ken and Sato Yu exchanged a look, each seeing determination in the other's eyes.

"I believe you, Shinichi!" Kobayashi Ken nodded firmly. "You're right. We're on the same team. We can't start fighting among ourselves before we've even begun a mission!"

"I believe you too." Sato Yu's tone was resolute. "We need a plan. Shinichi, you're the strongest among us. You're the most suitable one to lead."

Seeing his two teammates quickly come to an agreement, Tejima Shinichi felt somewhat relieved.

Thankfully, these two teammates weren't blocks of wood. They understood after a little prompting, saving him a lot of breath.

"Good." Tejima Shinichi stopped wasting words and began assigning roles directly. "There isn't much time, so I'll keep it brief. Our core objective isn't to 'seize the Bells,' but to 'show Teacher that we possess the qualities he expects.'"

Training Ground 3.

Yamato leaned against a massive tree, his brows tightly furrowed. He once again pulled the wrinkled notebook from his ninja tool pouch and quickly flipped through it beneath the sunlight filtering through the leaves.

"According to Senior Kakashi... do this, then that..." he muttered, his fingertip tracing the messy handwriting. "Mm... Then see whether they'll give up their qualification for a comrade, or fight on their own..."

Yamato closed the notebook and took a deep breath.

"Understood. As long as I follow the steps, there shouldn't be any mistakes."

He looked toward the entrance of the training ground, estimating the time.

Those three children should be caught up in the anxiety and suspicion brought on by the rules right now.

After all, they had suddenly been told that their comrades might become their opponents...

Just then, three figures appeared at the edge of the training ground.

Yamato straightened up, ready to greet three subordinates who had likely already become wary of each other.

However, when his gaze fell upon Tejima Shinichi, Kobayashi Ken, and Sato Yu walking side by side, he could not help but freeze slightly.

Something was wrong.

Unlike what he had expected, the atmosphere among the three... was not one of suspicion or tension. Instead, it carried a sense of... calm?

Yamato suppressed his surprise, cleared his throat, and spoke according to the procedure:

"It seems you're all ready. The rules have already been explained. There are only two Bells..."

"Teacher Yamato." Tejima Shinichi calmly interrupted him. "May we begin?"

Yamato's words caught in his throat. He looked into Tejima Shinichi's dark amber eyes, which held no confusion or struggle, only stillness. Beside him, Kobayashi Ken and Sato Yu were also looking at him with equally determined gazes.

This reaction... had completely deviated from the script.

The situation left Yamato somewhat silent, but his years as a ninja quickly led him to a decision.

Hooking the Bells back onto his waist, Yamato looked at the three of them.

"Then... the test begins!"

The moment his words fell, he retreated in an instant, his figure blending into the shadows of the forest and vanishing from sight.

The training ground returned to silence.

Tejima Shinichi did not act immediately. He merely tilted his head slightly.

"Follow the plan."

Kobayashi Ken grinned, flashing his white teeth.

"I've been waiting forever!"

Tejima Shinichi did not hesitate in the slightest. The instant Kobayashi Ken finished speaking, his hands had already completed a series of hand seals before his chest.

"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet Technique!"

The ground shook violently as dirt churned madly. A savage earth dragon burst from the soil and lunged toward Yamato's position with terrifying force!

Boom—!

Thick trees in the training ground snapped in response, sending splinters and dust flying through the air!

Yamato leaped swiftly out of the smoke and dust, unable to hide the astonishment in his eyes.

What shocked him was not only Tejima Shinichi's hand seal speed, but also the earth dragon's scale and solidity—this was absolutely not the Chakra volume and control a newly graduated Genin should possess!

"Move!"

Kobayashi Ken shouted as he and Sato Yu charged out from opposite sides.

Kunai and Shuriken sliced through the air, sealing off Yamato's space to dodge left and right.

Yamato casually knocked aside the incoming ninja tools and nodded in satisfaction.

"Not only did they not fight among themselves, they're coordinating seamlessly... They even devised tactics."

By then, Kobayashi Ken and Sato Yu had already closed in, attempting to restrain him with Taijutsu.

"Too slow."

Yamato sidestepped Kobayashi Ken's straight punch and lightly tapped his wrist with his right hand.

Kobayashi Ken only felt a clever force pass through him, and his entire body involuntarily staggered forward.

At the same time, Sato Yu's low sweep was easily stopped beneath Yamato's raised foot.

"Your intentions are too obvious."

Yamato commented as he applied a slight force through his foot.

Sato Yu gave a muffled grunt and was forced back several steps before stabilizing herself.

"Damn it...!"

Unwilling to accept their attack being dismantled so easily, Kobayashi Ken gritted his teeth and lunged forward again.

His fist became an open palm as he struck directly for Yamato's throat.

Yamato tilted his head slightly, caught Kobayashi Ken's wrist with his left hand, then turned and flung him away.

"Thud!"

Kobayashi Ken's entire body was swung up by a tremendous force before he was slammed heavily into the ground with a dull impact.

"Urgh—!"

He cried out in pain, his back going numb as though all his internal organs had shifted out of place.

"How could... this..."

He lay sprawled on the ground, unable to rise for the moment. He could only pound the earth in frustration.

The brutal sight made Sato Yu freeze where she stood.

"Two attacks... both of them were so easily handled by Teacher Yamato... Even Kobayashi, who's best at Taijutsu..."

"Two attacks... both of them were so easily handled by him... Even Kobayashi, who's best at Taijutsu..."

The hand Sato Yu used to grip her Kunai began to tremble.

"Is this the strength of a Jonin? We can't even make him move a single step..."

Yamato turned his gaze toward Sato Yu, who stood rooted in place.

"Losing focus in battle is a ninja's greatest taboo."

His figure flashed, and he instantly closed in on Sato Yu.

Just as he was about to strike—

"Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu!"

Tejima Shinichi's voice came from underground.

"Good timing..."

Yamato still did not forget to comment. Then the Chakra beneath his feet erupted, and he leaped lightly upward.

Tejima Shinichi burst from the earth below and pounced at him, only to be struck precisely in the shoulder and neck by a hand chop in midair.

Then—

"Poof!"

Tejima Shinichi turned into a cloud of white smoke and dispersed.

"Just a Shadow Clone?" The sudden development made Yamato's heart tighten. "The real body is..."

Before he could finish, a sharp sense of danger struck from behind!

Yamato did not even have time to turn fully before he caught sight of that impossibly fast figure from the corner of his eye—

At some point, Tejima Shinichi had circled behind him. His right hand was half-clenched around a highly condensed azure sphere of Chakra that emitted a piercing hum, pressing forward with a suffocating pressure!

"This speed?!" Yamato's pupils suddenly contracted. What shocked him even more was the form of that technique. "This Chakra rotation... Could it be—Rasengan?!"

Though shocked, his rich combat instincts had already driven his body to react.

Almost the instant he recognized the Rasengan, he completed a one-handed seal and violently swung his wrist behind him—

"Wood Release: Wood Stake Wall!"

Several thick, curved wooden beams shot rapidly from the ground behind him, instantly intertwining and locking together to form a solid arched wooden shield, barely intercepting the Rasengan's path!

Boom—!!

The Rasengan slammed violently into the center of the wooden shield, erupting with a deafening roar!

The highly compressed Chakra clashed fiercely with the hard wood, annihilating each other. The rampaging Chakra currents generated an Airwave that sent Yamato's hair and clothing flying backward, while wood chips were crushed by an invisible force and scattered in every direction!

A deep depression was bored into the hastily formed wooden shield by the Rasengan. Its fibers snapped inch by inch, but it ultimately did not shatter completely, stubbornly protecting Yamato.

He blocked it... But this kid actually mastered the Rasengan! And at such a high level of completion! Yamato's heart churned like a stormy sea. How did he learn it?

With his attack failing, Tejima Shinichi's eyes remained calm and unruffled.

Using the recoil, he flipped backward and landed steadily several meters away.

At the edge of the training ground, Kobayashi Ken and Sato Yu, who had just regained their footing, had long forgotten their earlier embarrassment. They stared wide-eyed at the wooden shield that was slowly fading away, its center bearing obvious damage, and at the Jonin Instructor standing before it.

"W-what kind of ninjutsu was that?" Kobayashi Ken's eyes were round as he stammered. "Wood... suddenly growing out of the ground?"

Sato Yu pointed at Yamato in equal shock. "Teacher, you... What kind of ninjutsu did you just use? I've never seen a defensive technique like that!"

Hokage's Office.

The Crystal Ball clearly displayed everything happening on the training ground.

The instant Tejima Shinichi rushed forward at astonishing speed and revealed the Rasengan, the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, shot to his feet with a startled sound, nearly dropping the pipe in his hand.

"That technique is... Rasengan?!" His wrinkled face was full of shock. "How could he possibly have learned that technique?! Who taught him?!"

The Rasengan was extraordinarily difficult to learn. Aside from Minato and Jiraiya, the only person confirmed to have mastered it and still be in the village was Kakashi...

Sarutobi Hiruzen stared intently at the black-haired boy within the Crystal Ball.

The Rasengan Tejima Shinichi had used was stable in form, with an astonishing degree of Chakra concentration. He was clearly extremely proficient with it—it was a completed technique with genuine killing power!

"Jiraiya is away year-round, his whereabouts uncertain. It's impossible for him to secretly teach a Ninja Academy student. Kakashi?" Sarutobi Hiruzen thought rapidly. "He certainly has the ability to teach it, but why would he do so? And he's never mentioned it... The Teshima Clan has no special connection with Kakashi..."

Having ruled out the known paths of inheritance, the remaining possibility made his heart sink.

"Could it be... that he figured it out himself?"

Even he found the thought absurd, but considering the strength this child had displayed during the assessment... it did not seem entirely impossible.

"If he truly trained it by himself... then this talent can no longer be described as merely 'outstanding'... It is simply genius-level."

Sarutobi Hiruzen took a deep drag from his pipe, yet even the acrid smoke seemed unable to calm the turmoil in his heart.