Somersault Cloud Slime

Kakashi hadn't arrived yet, but Yamashiro Aoba was already at the meeting point, along with Sai and Fujiwara Chima. Yu was the last to arrive.

"Sorry everyone, I got held up a bit on the way. I'm not late, am I!" Yu said with a smile to the other three.

"There are still over ten minutes until our scheduled time. Classmate Yu, you've actually arrived early. Since we're all here, why don't we head to the training grounds and start the test!" Yamashiro Aoba said to Yu and the other two.

Then, with a leap, Yamashiro Aoba landed on a nearby rooftop.

"You guys better keep up! This is the first part of the test. If none of you can keep pace with me, then the rest of the test will be pointless. You can just go back to the Ninja Academy and start over!"

Standing on the rooftop, Yamashiro Aoba adjusted his green sunglasses and said to the three.

Fujiwara Chima was the first to act among Yu and the other two. Although she couldn't jump onto a rooftop ten meters high in a single bound like Yamashiro Aoba, Fujiwara Chima's agile body used the wall for leverage, and after a few pushes, she successfully stood before Yamashiro Aoba.

Next, Sai gave Yu his signature fake smile and, using a method similar to Fujiwara Chima's, also leaped onto the rooftop. At this point, Yamashiro Aoba didn't wait for Yu to jump up but instead leaped forward.

The movements of ninjas were far more impressive than the qinggong in martial arts movies. Even Genin like Fujiwara Chima and Sai could leap and maneuver across Konoha's buildings.

"Sigh, I haven't even gotten on the bus yet!"

Yu had expected them to wait for him, but the "bus" had already departed before he even moved.

However, Yu didn't rush to catch up with the other three. He first took out a scroll and spread it on the ground, then bit his finger and placed it on the scroll.

[Summoning Technique]

As white smoke billowed from the summoning scroll, a Slime resembling a cloud appeared before Yu.

[Name: Somersault Cloud Slime]
[Bloodline: Pufferfish, Archerfish, Kapok Tree]
[No Self-Awareness]

This Somersault Cloud Slime was one of the valuable slimes he had successfully cultivated over the past two years.

Firstly, the Somersault Cloud Slime was the first Slime to successfully integrate a plant bloodline. Originally, the Somersault Cloud Slime had the potential to awaken self-awareness, but after merging with the plant bloodline, its self-awareness vanished.

The Somersault Cloud Slime's appearance resembled a white cloud because it mimicked the shape of a Kapok tree flower. This extremely rare plant's flowers look like clouds, making the Somersault Cloud Slime live up to its name.

Yu sat cross-legged on the Somersault Cloud Slime. The Slime, which was initially only the size of a cushion, began to rapidly expand, soon reaching the size of a table that could seat eight people. This was due to the Pufferfish bloodline. Pufferfish, a type of marine fish, can rapidly inflate their bodies when encountering danger to scare off predators, expanding to about ten times their normal size.

"Let's go."

Yu reached out and patted the Somersault Cloud Slime, transmitting his command through his mind. Although the Somersault Cloud Slime had no self-awareness, all slimes could perfectly execute Yu's commands.

Then, small holes appeared at the bottom of the Somersault Cloud Slime's body.

"Whoosh..."

Streams of powerful air currents shot out from the holes on the Slime's body, forming a strong propulsion. The Slime then slowly ascended into the sky. After reaching an altitude of about one to two hundred meters, several rows of larger holes appeared behind the Somersault Cloud Slime.

Then, the two Chakra Hearts within the Somersault Cloud Slime began to operate. Large amounts of Chakra flowed out through these holes, forming pillars of blue Chakra energy that generated powerful thrust.

(The Archerfish's ability is to spray strong jets of water from the holes in its jaws to strike prey.)

With a "whoosh," the Somersault Cloud Slime carried Yu and shot forward at an incredibly high speed, approaching the sound barrier.

Yamashiro Aoba and the others would never have imagined that Yu would chase after them in such a manner.

The world of Naruto did have technological advancements, with things like ships and engines being developed long ago. However, it was strange that cars did not exist in the Naruto world.

This was something Yu had found very puzzling before, but now he understood why cars didn't exist in the Naruto world.

It was because the existence, or rather, the invention, of cars was unnecessary. In this world, the power of technology resided in the hands of ninjas. When ninjas traveled, they had no need for things like cars, as they could reach speeds that even cars couldn't match using only their legs, while also ignoring any terrain. Cars had no reason to exist.

As for how ordinary people traveled, that was not something ninjas needed to consider.

Therefore, cars were not invented simply because ninjas didn't need them.

For example, in just a few minutes, Yamashiro Aoba and the others had already traveled from Konoha's urban area into the vicinity of the Forest of Death. This distance was over ten kilometers, and traversing towns would involve many obstacles. This was the capability of ninjas, hence the lack of need for cars.

While running, Yamashiro Aoba wasn't using his full speed, only slightly exceeding the speed of a normal Genin. He also kept looking back occasionally, wanting to ensure he didn't leave Yu and the others too far behind.

To his surprise, Fujiwara Chima was very fast. Even though he had accelerated slightly, she was still able to keep pace right behind him. Sai was similar; although he looked like he was struggling a bit, he could still keep up.

"According to the Ninja Academy records, this Uchiha Yu's taijutsu is really poor," Yamashiro Aoba thought to himself. From his perspective, he couldn't see any sign of Yu at all. This situation could only mean that Yu had been left far behind.

The Forest of Death had many open spaces suitable for training, and Yamashiro Aoba had already found a spot.

Upon reaching their destination, Yamashiro Aoba landed on the ground from a tree trunk. He then stood with his hands behind his back, looking at Fujiwara Chima as she arrived shortly after, and nodded with a smile. He also gave Sai, who arrived immediately after, a look of approval.

Next, Yamashiro Aoba's expression turned serious as he stared into the empty forest path. Although he wouldn't punish Yu, he still had to maintain the proper demeanor, as he was a teacher.

After waiting for about four or five minutes, there was still no sign of Yu. This was becoming a bit unusual. Even if a Genin was slow, they should have arrived by now, given twice the amount of time!

"You guys wait here. I'll go look for Yu." Yamashiro Aoba adjusted his green sunglasses. He had just contacted his Summoning Beast, but it hadn't found any sign of Yu either.

Yamashiro Aoba was afraid something had happened to Yu; such situations had occurred before.

Just then, a voice echoed from above them.

"Teacher Aoba, I'm here! I finally found you guys!"

It was Yu's voice.

The three looked up together and saw Yu in the air above the forest, lying on a white cloud and waving at them.

Upon seeing this scene, Yamashiro Aoba and the others wore expressions of utter astonishment.