Qualification and the Third Hokage's Surprise

Tsunade lunged out from the shadows of the flank forest like a streak of lightning, aiming directly for the seemingly unguarded back of Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Her timing was perfect, occurring at the exact moment Hiruzen Sarutobi's attention was fully focused on the stunned Jiraiya.

Oh no...

Conversely, Orochimaru, who was hiding in the shadows on the other side, cursed inwardly.

Tsunade's attack was far too reckless, and the opening she had left was so obvious that it was clearly a trap waiting for them to take the bait.

Sure enough, feeling the gust of wind attacking from behind, a knowing smile curled the corners of Hiruzen Sarutobi's mouth.

Just as Tsunade's fingertips were about to touch his clothes, he gave his wrist a casual flick. The two golden bells tied with red strings slipped from his hand, tracing an arc as they flew lightly toward an open space on the other side of the training ground.

"Jingle..."

Instinctively, Tsunade's pupils constricted, her gaze uncontrollably following the movement of that golden glint.

In that mere thousandth of a second of hesitation, her movements suffered a fatal pause.

Oh no...

Tsunade realized it too, sensing that things had taken a turn for the worse.

Because of what the Third Hokage had said earlier about being sent back to the Ninja Academy if they failed to grab the bells, she had been far too fixated on them.

The next moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi moved, his five fingers closing into a palm as he struck toward Tsunade's face.

It's too late...

Tsunade felt a chill in her heart; at such close range, she had no time to mount any effective defense or dodge!

Was she going to follow in Jiraiya's footsteps and be taken out in a single move?

However, just at that moment...

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Several sharp whistling sounds suddenly rang out!

A few shuriken, flashing with cold light, struck from behind Hiruzen Sarutobi at an incredibly tricky angle, like vipers emerging from their den!

"Oh?"

A flash of surprise crossed Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes.

It wasn't just because of the timing and stealth of the attack.

What surprised him more was that the target of this attack wasn't him, but the bells he had thrown away as bait.

In the blink of an eye, Hiruzen Sarutobi had already calculated the flight path of the shuriken, which would inevitably knock those two bells away.

However... thinking you can grab the bells just like that is a bit too naive...

Hiruzen Sarutobi made an instant decision, abandoning his suppression of Tsunade. He spun his body, reaching out to grab the bells in mid-air.

But just as his fingertips were about to touch the bells, an unexpected change occurred!

The shuriken flying toward the bells suddenly burst with a "pop" just before they made contact!

Thick white smoke billowed out, perfectly shrouding the area where the bells were falling and the hand Hiruzen Sarutobi had extended.

"Hmm?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi paused for a split second, then realized what had happened: had he used the Transformation Technique to disguise smoke bombs as shuriken?

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

Without time to think, Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a low shout, exhaling a violent gust of air that instantly blew away the smoke before him.

As his vision cleared, the bells were firmly in his grasp.

However, Tsunade, who should have been within his attack range, had already vanished without a trace.

Hiruzen Sarutobi tucked the bells away and cast an intrigued glance toward the bushes where Orochimaru had been hiding.

He hadn't expected Orochimaru's first reaction to be rescuing a teammate rather than grabbing the bells.

That judgment, that decisiveness, and the use of such an unexpected tactic...

This child named Orochimaru was far more interesting than his file had described.

Meanwhile...

Tsunade was being pulled by Orochimaru into the grass at the edge of the training ground.

As soon as she stood steady, she felt her face burning with heat, feeling both embarrassed and annoyed.

On one hand, it was because of her shyness; she had never been held by the hand by another boy before.

On the other hand, she clearly realized that if not for Orochimaru's timely rescue and clever smoke cover, she would likely have been eliminated by their teacher in one move, just like Jiraiya.

"Let, let go! Who asked you to meddle in my business..."

Tsunade shook off the wrist he was still holding, her cheeks flushed, and spoke somewhat unnaturally.

Even so, the arrogance in her tone had completely vanished...

"Sorry, it's impossible to snatch the bell from the teacher alone. I need your help."

Orochimaru didn't mind at all; he let go of his hand, his voice remaining as flat as ever.

He looked at Tsunade quietly and said slowly...

On the other side, Hiruzen Sarutobi had tied Jiraiya to the wooden post in the center of the training ground.

"Let me go! Teacher! I can still fight! That was just an accident! Give me another chance!"

Jiraiya said, feeling rather unreconciled, his feet kicking wildly in the air.

"You just stay there for now..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi turned a deaf ear, simply brushing the dust off his hands and casting his gaze once again toward the depths of the silent forest.

He was actually quite curious: how would these two completely different little ones challenge him next?

And just then, there was movement in the forest.

The first to rush out was still Tsunade. She took a deep breath, chakra faintly coating her fists, and charged at Hiruzen Sarutobi again with an unstoppable momentum.

This time, her attack wasn't reckless; she launched her assault steadily and surely.

Relying on the amplification of chakra, every strike carried astonishing power.

It was clearly the use of the secret taijutsu techniques of the Senju clan, vaguely showing the prototype of her future "Strength of a Hundred."

Have you calmed down?

Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled, parrying Tsunade's attacks with taijutsu.

Tsunade's strength was indeed impressive, but in terms of technique and experience, she was still too immature compared to him, the "Professor of Ninjutsu."

However, at that very moment, a ghostly figure appeared silently in the blind spot behind Hiruzen Sarutobi.

It was Orochimaru!

Utilizing the master assassin stealth experience he had gained through the Animus from the Assassin's Creed world, he perfectly concealed his presence, only erupting at the very last moment before launching his attack!

Two shuriken were fired first, sealing off Hiruzen Sarutobi's angle of evasion.

Immediately following, the chakra under his feet exploded violently. It wasn't a standard speed boost, but rather highly condensed chakra erupting instantly, granting his body an explosive speed that transcended its limits!

An application of the Body Flicker Technique?

Hiruzen Sarutobi was surprised once again.

This technique of explosive chakra acceleration required extremely refined chakra control and was certainly not something an ordinary genin could master.

Orochimaru was just a commoner by birth; logically, he had no way to access such secret or high-level techniques...

Does that mean he figured it out on his own?

Surprise was surprise, but Hiruzen Sarutobi's movements were not slow in the slightest.

With a flick of his wrist, he produced a shuriken, precisely knocking away the incoming projectiles with a wave of his hand.

At the same time, he turned sideways and forced Tsunade back with a whip kick.

He then turned to face the rapidly approaching Orochimaru, engaging him in close-quarters combat.

But as they fought, Hiruzen Sarutobi noticed something wrong.

Orochimaru's taijutsu was fierce and steady, but his method of exerting force was completely different from the mainstream taijutsu of Konoha!

It didn't rely solely on chakra enhancement; instead, it focused more on the body's own sinew and bone power, with muscles and chakra erupting in coordination to produce a short, highly penetrating force!

"Heh~"

Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi's reaction, Orochimaru smiled, because this was not the taijutsu of this world.

It was the Baji Quan from the Under One Person world...

The more they fought, the more alarmed Hiruzen Sarutobi became.

In Konoha, and indeed the entire ninja world, the core of all taijutsu styles—whether Strong Fist or Gentle Fist—was to amplify power through the circulation of chakra.

For example, the Eight Inner Gates, or the chakra-burst acceleration technique Orochimaru had just used, all relied on chakra eruptions to gain explosive speed and power.

But Orochimaru's boxing style seemed to be walking a completely different path, one that focused more on tapping into the potential of the human body itself, supplemented by chakra...

Is this really something a six-year-old child could create on his own?

The look in Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes as he looked at Orochimaru had shifted from initial scrutiny to genuine shock.

Noticing Hiruzen Sarutobi's reaction, a flash of cunning light crossed Orochimaru's eyes.

His purpose in specifically using Baji Quan was exactly this; he believed that with the Third Hokage's level, he would be able to discern the differences between the two worlds.

And this was the moment he had been waiting for—the moment when the Third Hokage put all his attention on him and revealed a flaw!

This is... a technique commonly used by magicians, known as Misdirection...

In the next instant, Orochimaru stepped back sharply, and at the same time, a smoke bomb hit the ground. With a "bang," it exploded, instantly swallowing both of their figures.

Oh no!

Hiruzen Sarutobi realized what had happened; he had made the same mistake as Tsunade just moments ago.

Almost at the same time, Tsunade launched another attack from the other side, several shuriken flying in a triangular formation, whistling toward Hiruzen Sarutobi amidst the smoke.

Facing this sudden assault, Hiruzen Sarutobi merely shifted his body, easily dodging all the shuriken with a sidestep.

But the moment the shuriken brushed past him, he keenly sensed something abnormal—the weight and the sound of one of the shuriken cutting through the air were clearly off! It was too heavy!

The thought had barely crossed his mind when that unusual shuriken flew past him and suddenly exploded into a puff of smoke with a "poof!"

As the smoke cleared, it wasn't shuriken fragments that appeared, but a white-haired, spiky-headed boy with a defiant, baring-teeth expression—Jiraiya!

So that was it!

Hiruzen Sarutobi reacted in an instant.

"Hehe! Sensei, take this!"

Jiraiya laughed and charged forward again; at this distance, he could already reach the Bell.

And just as Jiraiya attacked, Orochimaru and Tsunade also lunged forward simultaneously.

They formed three different positions, faintly surrounding Hiruzen Sarutobi in the center.

Watching the three little ones attack from three directions with such determined momentum, a genuine smile appeared on Hiruzen Sarutobi's face.

This ingenious chain of tactics, from the initial feint and rescue to the coordination of smoke and the Transformation Technique, and finally the combined strike... without a doubt, the one orchestrating all of this had to be Orochimaru, who possessed the ability to capture his attention.

Not only did he possess astonishing talent and learning ability, but he also understood how to utilize his companions and fight in coordination...

That child Orochimaru was truly so excellent that it was... a headache.

However, if he were to have the Bell snatched away by three newly graduated brats just like that, what would happen to his dignity as the Third Hokage?

Facing the trio's aggressive combined assault, Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep breath, his gaze suddenly turning sharp.

"Well done!"

He let out a low shout, stepping forward instead of retreating in the face of their pincer attack.

His figure wove through the gaps in their attacks like a phantom, his hands flying as he parried, blocked, deflected, and guided; relying solely on pure taijutsu, he dissolved their joint assault as smoothly as flowing water.

Seeing that their fierce round of attacks had been fruitless, the three did not give up and were just about to regroup and pounce again.

"That's enough."

Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly withdrew his hands and spoke to the three of them.

"Hoo~"

Hearing this, Orochimaru let out a sigh of relief; it seemed his goal had been achieved.

Tsunade and Jiraiya looked at each other, unable to react for a moment.

"The test is over, the three of you... have all passed..."

Seeing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled, his gaze sweeping over the tense trio as he slowly announced...