Each to Their Own

Yu was in an awkward position atop the Somersault Cloud Slime. He'd planned to race ahead of Yamashiro Aoba and the others, then make a dramatic entrance from the sky and show off. Instead, he couldn't find them anywhere.

The Somersault Cloud Slime was so fast that Aoba and the others, running along the ground, couldn't keep up. Yu had left them far behind in the blink of an eye. But when he turned back, he couldn't find them.

The Great Forest of Death was full of towering ancient trees. Finding a few people in there was like searching for a needle in a haystack. Luckily, it only took Yu a few minutes to find them. Otherwise, he would have had no choice but to go back and wait.

Yu guided the Somersault Cloud Slime down to the ground and said sheepishly, "I was going too fast earlier. I didn't notice that I'd lost sight of you. I'm really sorry for wasting everyone's time."

The three of them were still too stunned to react.

"N-no problem."

Yamashiro Aoba spoke, but his eyes stayed fixed on the Somersault Cloud Slime. He never would have imagined that Yu could fly in from the sky.

After all, flying was a dream for every ninja. It was incredibly useful for travel, scouting, combat, and much more.

"Yu, is this...?"

Unable to contain his curiosity, Yamashiro Aoba pointed at the Somersault Cloud Slime and asked Yu. People who worked in intelligence were especially curious by nature.

"This is my Summoning Beast, the Somersault Cloud."

Yu readily explained it to the three of them. It wasn't something he needed to keep secret. Besides, he wanted to make Slime Summoning Beasts his trademark, just as Orochimaru of the Sannin summoned snakes, Tsunade summoned Katsuyu, and Jiraiya summoned toads.

"Summoning... Beast?"

After hearing Yu's answer, the three of them took another close look at the Somersault Cloud Slime on the ground. In their minds, Summoning Beasts were all kinds of animals: Ninja Cats, Ninja Dogs, Ninja Tigers, Ninja Birds... Those were what Summoning Beasts looked like. The Somersault Cloud Slime in front of them hardly seemed like a beast at all.

"I know you're puzzled by how the Somersault Cloud looks, but he really is my Summoning Beast. It'd be hard to explain all the details. Once we've spent more time together, you'll understand," Yu said with a smile. Then he released the Summoning Technique. The Somersault Cloud Slime vanished in a puff of smoke.

The Summoning Technique was practically a must-have for traveling and daily life. Ordinary ninjas rarely had the chance to learn it, but the Uchiha clan had a method for practicing the Summoning Technique.

Although being an Uchiha hadn't yet given Yu the powerful Kekkei Genkai known as the Sharingan, his current strength was also thanks to his Uchiha heritage. So Yu felt a strong connection to his clan.

Though Yu had been friendly, Aoba and the others could tell from his tone that he didn't want to say more about his Summoning Beast.

If he didn't want to talk about it, they couldn't keep pressing him. No matter how many questions they had, they could only hold them back for now.

In particular, Yamashiro Aoba had received a mission from Lord Hokage: observe Yu and gather all the information he could about him.

This strange Summoning Beast called the Somersault Cloud was certainly something he needed to investigate. But Aoba knew it was unwise to ask too many questions at that moment. It might make Yu suspicious and even backfire.

They would be spending a long time together, so Aoba was sure he'd be able to learn more about Yu eventually. There was no need to rush.

A lot of valuable information slipped out unintentionally in everyday life, and Yamashiro Aoba was good at picking up on those little details.

"All right! Now that everyone's here, you've passed the first test. Next is the second and final test." As he spoke, Yamashiro Aoba pulled a pair of bells from his ninja tool pouch.

He shook the bells in front of them, and they rang out clearly.

"Your task is to take these bells from me before sunset. If you succeed, you'll pass the test and become real Genin. But if you fail, you'll have to return to the Ninja Academy."

After finishing, Yamashiro Aoba adjusted his green sunglasses and gave them a meaningful smile.

"Are there any restrictions on the test?"

Fujiwara Chima, who usually didn't say much, spoke up at that moment.

Yamashiro Aoba gave Fujiwara Chima a thumbs-up.

"That's an excellent question. There are no restrictions on how you try to take the bells. Use whatever means you like—as long as you manage to get them from me," Yamashiro Aoba said with a smile.

Though he was only a Special Jonin, overpowering students who had just graduated from the Ninja Academy would be easy. Fujiwara Chima hadn't graduated from the Ninja Academy, but after a comprehensive assessment by Konoha, her strength had also been rated at the Genin level.

So, after weighing everything up, Yamashiro Aoba had reached one conclusion: the chance of this test going wrong was practically zero.

The bell test was a Konoha tradition. It was meant to foster teamwork, encourage teammates to help one another, and build an initial sense of trust within the team.

But not every team leader used this test. For one thing, it was troublesome. For another, things could go wrong. If a teacher got hurt by his own students, he'd be a laughingstock. He'd be too embarrassed to speak to other ninjas, especially in a place as small as Konoha, where so many ninjas knew one another.

Hiruzen Sarutobi hadn't explained Yu's true strength to Yamashiro Aoba. That way, Aoba could gather information more naturally. If he knew how strong Yu really was, he'd be sure to give himself away during their daily interactions.

Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't want Yu to find out that Yamashiro Aoba worked for him. No one liked being watched by others, especially people as powerful as Yu.

"All right. You have half an hour to discuss tactics with one another. Of course, you can also choose to begin the test right away." With that, Yamashiro Aoba leaped onto the trunk of a nearby towering tree, showing that he wouldn't eavesdrop on their discussion.

The three on the ground looked at one another. They were all members of Team 99 now, but fighting together as a team would be difficult. They didn't know what the others were capable of.

"How about we discuss it first?" Yu was the first to break the silence.

"Let's start by looking at each other's strengths."

Fujiwara Chima spoke as she took the longbow from her back.

"Then let's each fight on our own and see how things go before we discuss tactics!" Yu said.

"I agree," Sai said with a smile.

In the end, fighting on their own was the result of their discussion—and a tactic in its own right.