The Bell-Ringing Contest Begins

Yu walked to the front of the group, where he saw his teammates and teacher.

Sai, whose skin was unusually pale, stood to his left and gave him a huge smile. But it was easy to tell that Sai's smile was fake, and it made him seem unpleasant.

Since Yu knew Sai's true identity and personality, he naturally showed no sign of surprise. Instead, he gave Sai a sunny smile of his own.

Standing to Yu's right was Fujiwara Chima, a girl with long, straight black hair who looked very aloof. She carried a longbow on her back, with two short batons hanging at her waist. Her Forehead Protector was worn around her neck like a necklace.

Fujiwara Chima didn't look easy to get along with. She merely gave her teammates a cold nod in greeting, the complete opposite of the smiles Yu and Sai wore.

"Come with me, you three."

Yamashiro Aoba spoke to them.

The four of them left the Ninja Academy and went straight to a restaurant on the street.

"Since this is our first time meeting, let's start by introducing ourselves. My name is Yamashiro Aoba, a Special Jonin of Konoha. I know how to do a lot of things—you'll find out more as time goes on." As he spoke, Yamashiro Aoba waved for the waiter to bring them some small dishes.

"My name is Yuyou Uchiha, and I'm currently a Genin. But I believe that one day I'll become the strongest ninja. I like anything that makes me happy, and I dislike anything that gives me trouble." After Yamashiro Aoba finished introducing himself, Yu was the first to stand and speak.

He hadn't revealed much with his introduction. It was fairly ordinary.

"My name is Sai, and I'm a Genin too. I like drawing, and I dislike the same things Yu does. I hope we can become friends." Sai stood up second, wearing his trademark hollow smile. When he finished, he politely bowed to the other three.

That left Fujiwara Chima.

"Fujiwara Chima."

Those four words were her entire introduction. Sure enough, Fujiwara Chima's personality matched her appearance perfectly: she was extremely aloof. Even while sitting with the others, she sat off by herself, and barely ever glanced at her teammates. She seemed entirely separate from the group.

Ugh! These teammates are the complete opposite of what I wanted. Yu sighed inwardly. He'd wanted a few teammates who were easy to get along with, but from the looks of it, his teammates weren't very approachable.

He was already familiar with Sai, since Sai had once been part of the protagonist's group as the fourth member of Team 7. He'd had plenty of screen time in the Naruto anime. More importantly, Sai was a member of Root.

Yu had no recollection of Fujiwara Chima at all. She hadn't appeared in Naruto, and he'd never even seen her at the Ninja Academy.

As for Yamashiro Aoba, he was one of the most popular ninjas among Konoha's supporting cast, with strong abilities in several fields. Most importantly, he was one of the Hokage's confidants.

Danzo's man and Hiruzen Sarutobi's man. What's the meaning of this? Are they trying to keep me under constant surveillance? Yu thought.

Sai was supposed to be a pawn Danzo would plant in Team 7 later on. Now Danzo had sent Sai out early, clearly targeting Yu. Yamashiro Aoba's purpose was even more obvious. As a Special Jonin, Yamashiro Aoba had always worked for the Hokage and had never been a team leader, so he had clearly been assigned to Yu as well.

Looks like Konoha still isn't comfortable with me being around. After my last encounter with the Anbu, I thought they'd stopped paying attention to me.

Yu had genuinely believed that. He hadn't run into any trouble for more than two years. Who could have guessed it had all been waiting for him here?

But Yu wasn't worried. For one thing, when it came to strength, the three of them together wouldn't be enough to beat him even if he used only one hand. He wasn't afraid of their teacher, Yamashiro Aoba, either. Aoba wasn't a combat specialist; otherwise, he wouldn't be a Special Jonin.

Yamashiro Aoba's role was probably that of a support ninja specializing in reconnaissance, cover, assistance, and interrogation. Of course, his own abilities were still decent—it just depended on who you compared him with.

So Danzo and Hiruzen Sarutobi sent Sai and Yamashiro Aoba to my side to gather information about me, Yu thought.

The rest of the meal was spent chatting and getting to know one another. There was no denying that Yamashiro Aoba was an excellent support ninja.

During their first group dinner, he was the one who kept bringing up topics, never letting the atmosphere grow awkward. Even the aloof Fujiwara Chima was drawn into the conversation and shared some details about herself.

Fujiwara Chima hadn't originally been a Konoha ninja. She came from another country beyond the Land of Fire. Her homeland had no hidden ninja village, only a few small ninja clans, and Fujiwara Chima belonged to one of them.

Her country had gone to war with another nation over a territorial dispute, and the ninja clans, including hers, had been forced to take part.

But no one knew where the enemy nation had recruited so many powerful ninja. The strongest ninja in Fujiwara Chima's clan was only a Chunin, while the enemy had several ninja who were Jonin.

The war that followed was therefore completely one-sided. Almost all the ninja in Fujiwara Chima's clan were killed, and the clan fell apart.

At the most dangerous moment, the Land of Fire signed a mutual assistance treaty with Fujiwara Chima's country. Once Konoha joined the fight, the enemy's ninja stood no chance, and the war ended quickly.

Fujiwara Chima, who had a strong talent for being a ninja, was then recruited into Konoha. After some training, she took part in this year's graduation exam, and was then assigned to Yu's team.

Watching the aloof young woman spill all the details of her background in one go, Yu couldn't help shaking his head.

No matter what, she's still just a little girl at heart. She has far too little sense of caution.

Yu and Sai were both active participants in the conversation, but they kept their answers brief no matter what topic came up. Yamashiro Aoba hadn't managed to lead them astray.

They ate until dusk.

When the four of them reached the restaurant entrance, Yamashiro Aoba was familiar with the routine, even though this was his first time leading a team.

"Tomorrow, I'll give you a test. If you can't pass, you'll lose the right to become a ninja and will have to return to the Ninja Academy for another year.

"I hope you'll prepare well. We'll meet here at nine o'clock tomorrow morning." Yamashiro Aoba spoke to Yu and the others.

"Understood, Aoba-sensei," Yu and Sai said at the same time. Beside them, Fujiwara Chima gave a slight nod, still as aloof as ever.

"Good."

Yamashiro Aoba nodded with satisfaction. It was his first time leading a team, but he felt he'd done a great job. He could give himself eight out of ten and leave two points for improvement.

"The bell-ringing contest. That sounds really interesting!" Yu waved goodbye to the others and smiled at the moon, just beginning to appear in the sky.

But Yamashiro Aoba, still excited about becoming a teacher for the first time, had no idea what awaited him tomorrow.

Although Hiruzen Sarutobi had told Yamashiro Aoba to lead the team and gather information about the three members, he hadn't shared his suspicions about Yu's strength. He'd only told Aoba to be careful.