Strength Assessment Battle

The three members of Squad Three—Higashino Makoto and Uzuki Yugao—had parents with similar job types.

Hayate Gekko's mother had already passed away from illness.

As for Yugao Gekko, even Hayate had once said he didn't know which department in Konoha his father worked for.

Higashino Makoto guessed it had to be Anbu—only that department had higher confidentiality requirements than regular ninja.

But he figured it was the Hokage's direct Anbu, not Root. Danzo wouldn't take married ninja with kids, or those hot-blooded green youths shouting about youth all day, unless you had a charming hand warmer in your belly.

His guess was right. Yugao Gekko had indeed recently retired from Anbu. Because of the war, suitable leading jonin were hard to find, so the Third had him return to the regular ninja roster to lead Squad Three.

After all, the three in this squad had great talent, and their parents knew each other well—he was the best fit.

Yugao Gekko carried the sharp, efficient style of Anbu operations. After learning about Higashino Makoto's abilities, he was inwardly surprised and asked directly, "How far have you mastered medical ninjutsu? How do you compare to Hui?"

Higashino Makoto: "I lack experience, but in terms of jutsu mastery and chakra's healing effect, I've already surpassed my mother."

"Is that so? Remarkable talent. What about sensory ninjutsu?"

"Within a 3-kilometer radius, as long as there's a chakra signature, I can sense it."

In truth, Higashino Makoto's perception ability came as a side effect of White Natural Energy's body modification. Even during the day when he didn't absorb natural energy, his body spontaneously fused with the environment to some extent.

His perception range grew with his chakra, and there were other strange functions—like being able to sense others while ordinary perception ninja couldn't detect him, unless they used Sage Mode.

He could share his abilities, but not everything. Ninja needed to keep their methods confidential—that was standard practice, something Higashino Jiro had taught him when he was four.

"You're nearly a perfect all-rounder ninja." Yugao Gekko praised him, then thought briefly and said, "Given your combat traits, I originally defined Squad Three as a battle-breaching team. But I didn't expect Makoto's abilities to be so comprehensive. I'll need to adjust your future mission plans.

Now, continue the check. You have one minute to form a battle plan, then attack me."

With that, Yugao Gekko used a Body Flicker to leap away, arms crossed, eyes slightly closed, keeping distance from the three.

Seeing this, Higashino Makoto immediately pulled the other two behind a big tree and asked, "How much do you know about the teacher's strength?"

Uzuki Yugao thought for a moment: "He's very strong. I'm no match at all."

That was obvious. Higashino Makoto gave her a flat look: "Out of the three of us here, which one can you beat?"

Uzuki Yugao: "..." Makoto, if you keep telling the truth, we won't be friends anymore.

Hayate Gekko was concise: "You know the Hayate Clan Combat Style. Father is just an adult, upgraded version of me."

"So it's a close-combat type focused on swordsmanship. Then Gekko attacks first, Yugao supports from the side, and I'll hide in the shadows looking for an opening."

"Got it!" The two had always followed Higashino Makoto's lead, and this was no exception.

Plus, their combat skills and tactical awareness were far above those genin who graduated in six years during peacetime.

Once decided, Hayate Gekko and Uzuki Yugao quickly moved out from left and right, flanking Yugao Gekko in the field.

Gekko charged from behind the tree, raising his hand to fire dozens of filial shuriken at his own father.

Actually, there weren't that many shuriken, nor was it the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique—an A-rank jutsu developed by the Third. It was just a simple genjutsu application to confuse the target's judgment.

Yugao Gekko didn't move his feet, but a kunai had already appeared in his right hand. With a series of clinks, he deflected all the real shuriken. Clearly, low-level genjutsu interference had no effect on him.

During this, Uzuki Yugao charged from the other side, hands finishing their hand seals.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough."

A simple C-rank Wind Release opener. In the hands of a strong person like Orochimaru, this jutsu could turn a forest into a typhoon-stricken wasteland, but Uzuki Yugao was still miles away from being a strong person.

Still, she wasn't using it to attack directly. The jutsu scraped fiercely across the ground, kicking up a thick cloud of dust and dirt toward Yugao Gekko's position.

The moment his vision was blocked, Gekko and Yugao—one drawing a blade, the wielding a kunai—charged in together.

As a seasoned jonin, Yugao Gekko wasn't fooled by such tricks. He didn't even draw his sword, still using the kunai to precisely block Gekko's descending blade in the dust, then shoved him away with force.

While blocking Gekko, he lifted his left leg to just the right spot, letting Uzuki Yugao run into it herself.

With a slight push, the little girl was sent flying too.

Their coordinated attack was practiced, but the gap in strength was too large—it had no effect.

At the same time, Higashino Makoto suddenly appeared above his head, kunai in hand, stabbing downward.

"Clang!"

A metallic clash. The kunai that had blocked Gekko flashed to above his head, stopping Higashino Makoto's ambush.

Yugao Gekko frowned slightly, wondering why Higashino Makoto would use such a suicidal attack. After all, in midair, you couldn't move freely. Once the attack failed, you had no follow-up options—you became a sitting duck.

While puzzled, he didn't stop moving. He adjusted the angle of his right-hand kunai, forcefully sweeping aside the descending one, throwing Higashino Makoto off balance.

At the same time, his left hand shot up, lightning-fast, grabbing for Higashino Makoto's neck.

If the strongest—Higashino Makoto—was captured, the other two would be easy. With his own son and his old friend's daughter, they couldn't last three seconds.

But suddenly, the situation changed. Higashino Makoto, falling toward his grasping hand, shifted horizontally in midair to behind him, kunai slashing at the back of his head.

Yugao Gekko had no idea how Higashino Makoto's body had repositioned without any leverage, but he had no time to think. His combat instincts made him spin to block.

Another "clang"—he blocked it. But at the same time, another kunai appeared from a blind spot on his side, pressed against his neck.

The Higashino Makoto feinting from behind turned into white smoke—it was just a shadow clone.

"Teacher, looks like I win."

Yugao Gekko turned his head to look at the ground, where the soil showed no change at all.

"So you had a shadow clone hidden all along, using Earth Release to burrow beneath my feet during the fight, waiting for the critical moment to strike a fatal blow?"

"Not a bad tactic. What's more impressive is your training in Earth Release Nature Transformation—when you emerged, the ground didn't even stir."

When a ninja moves through earth, they use a property of inclusion or permeation. The simplest technique, Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique, already incorporates this Nature Transformation.

More advanced techniques include Earth Release: Underground Fish Projection Technique or Earth Release: Underground Submersion Technique. The principle is the same—temporarily converting soil and rock into a fluid state with Chakra, allowing the ninja to hide or move within it.

The earth nurtures all life, and when life ends, the earth embraces and decomposes it all, returning dust to dust, soil to soil.

"So, Teacher, have we passed your strength assessment?"

"You passed. But at the cost of sacrificing two of your comrades. So, faced with this situation, what choice will you make? Ignore them and kill me? Or accept the terms I'm about to propose?"

Behind both Hayate and Uzuki, who had just been pushed aside, stood a Yugao Gekko each, a Kunai pressed against their throats.

Ninja battles are usually over in an instant. By the time the two had their attacks repelled and Higashino Makoto took over, they were already subdued—everything happened in the blink of an eye.

The two felt somewhat awkward. If this were a real battlefield, they would have become leverage for the enemy to use against their comrade—the classic dead weight.

If the mission took priority, then Higashino Makoto should eliminate the enemy, even if it meant his teammates might die. Kakashi gave that a thumbs-up.

If comrades came first, then he would fall into the enemy's rhythm, and the result could be the entire squad wiped out. Obito, pushing a boulder off his body, reached out and gave a thumbs-up.