"As for Soji..."
Nara Motonari shifted his posture, sitting cross-legged and lightly tapping his knees.
He looked at the boy sitting upright before him and began speaking slowly, in a more serious tone than before. "When it comes to adaptability and vigilance, you've done nearly everything within your power to perfection. The secret techniques you perform with special tools are even harder to guard against. Setting aside the objective limitations of your combat experience and perspective, you'd have a better chance of surviving on the battlefield than most Chunin...
"But Soji, from my point of view, you still have weaknesses of your own."
The time-honored technique of giving someone a slap and then a sweet date worked everywhere. From the moment he heard the long string of praise at the beginning, Yamada-kun had been waiting for this pivotal turn.
So when the word "but" came out, Soji wasn't surprised at all. Instead, he felt relieved.
He clasped his hands and bowed deeply once more.
"Please instruct me, Sensei."
"From using Shadow Clones as decoys to turning off the lights to confuse your opponent, every step of your response followed the rules in the textbooks. But that intricate, tightly linked plan also exposed your weakness in basic abilities."
At this point, Nara Motonari couldn't help glancing at the girl who still hadn't fully emerged from her slump.
"Erina, honestly, if you'd been the one behind the door, and you'd discovered that an unidentified ninja was pretending to be a teammate to trick you into opening it, how would you have responded?"
"Uh... I'd have set up talisman traps beforehand?"
"What if you hadn't had that much time?"
"Then I'd use a Flash Tag to lure them in, and an Explosive Tag to blow the door open, so I could catch my opponent off guard!"
Nara Motonari nodded at her answer, then turned to Akimichi Todo.
"What about you?"
"...I might use the Multi-Size Jutsu?"
Sensei Motonari still gave no assessment. He merely nodded, then turned his attention back to Soji.
"Todo and Erina's methods aren't necessarily better than yours, but they're more adaptable than your complicated design and put fewer demands on the surroundings.
"Soji, your secret techniques are powerful, and you're smart enough to use them creatively. But that won't change the shortcomings in your ninjutsu and Taijutsu. It might sound strange coming from a ninja who also relies heavily on secret techniques, but as your teacher, I still have to remind you that sticking to one path and refusing to turn back isn't a good idea."
Perhaps to avoid wounding the pride of a gifted young boy and provoking a rebellious streak, Nara Motonari deliberately touched the recently healed wound on his cheek as he spoke, warning Soji through his own example not to repeat his mistakes.
Soji appreciated his teacher's thoughtfulness, but from a practical standpoint, this somewhat contrived performance was hardly necessary.
It was true that the boy was currently relying on a one-trick-pony approach.
But that was only a temporary solution, based on the objective limits of his energy, talent, and resources.
Not to mention whatever other surprises the unscientific cheat in his head might offer in the future; even without outside help, Soji already had a complete, well-developed plan for strengthening his own abilities once he reached a higher rank.
He'd heard the bucket theory so many times in his previous life that his ears had grown numb, and he knew all too well the dangers of having a narrow skill set.
Now that Nara Motonari had hit the nail on the head, it only confirmed Soji's own thinking from another angle. How could he possibly feel even the slightest bit rebellious?
So the boy smiled and nodded, then leaned forward and took hold of the other man's arm, putting a stop to his teacher's one-man show in his capacity as a medic.
"Yes, Sensei. I'll keep your advice in mind.
"But please don't scratch the wound too hard, even if it itches, before I examine it. You might break the skin."
As Soji spoke, his eyes were clear and sincere. Their gazes met, and Motonari immediately understood his student's intentions from the subtle changes in his expression.
"I see. I suppose I was overthinking it... Tsk, you really don't seem like a kid at all."
"What do you mean?" Soji bowed again, deliberately misunderstanding him. "Those are just basic medical principles. Anyone who studies diligently can learn them in less than half a year."
"Let's just say that's true, then."
Nara Motonari waved a hand and rubbed his stiff shoulder.
The serious expression he'd maintained since starting his lecture crumbled away, and he seamlessly returned to his usual listless, sickly look.
"That concludes tonight's impromptu exercise. But tomorrow's meeting time and location remain unchanged. That's all. Dismissed!"
"Yes, Sensei!"
The three children got up to see him off, but Motonari politely declined.
He told them to go home and get some rest early. Tomorrow's mission wouldn't be any easier than tonight's surprise attack. Then he vanished into the night in a flash.
The three children left behind looked at one another, at a loss.
After tonight's special test, both Todo and Erina were even more worried about what tomorrow might bring.
"Sigh... I wonder what they'll make us do tomorrow." Akimichi Todo rubbed his bruised eye, slouching with a long face.
"Worrying now won't help. Rather than imagining things and making ourselves anxious, we should get in shape and prepare for anything."
Soji comforted his teammates, then drew the chubby boy closer and used the Mystical Palm Technique to heal the injury around his eye.
"Soji, you're the only one who can say that now..." Erina patted the boy on the shoulder from behind, having already recovered from her earlier dejection. "You took down the jonin leading the team! I've never even heard of anyone doing that before~"
"I only did my best." Soji first put on a gentle expression, then changed the subject back to his earlier fight with Sensei Motonari. "But you should stop talking about taking down our team leader. This was only a test, after all. It doesn't count."
"Wow! That just makes me even sadder, you know?" Erina deliberately put on an expression of a tough girl bursting into tears. "So Todo and I aren't even good enough to 'play around' with Sensei..."
"That's not what I mean. Our different temperaments just make us more or less adaptable to new surroundings." Soji carefully controlled the flow of chakra over his palm, his expression still steady and calm. "Medical ninja aren't suited to fighting head-on, after all. You and Todo actually have more potential than I do. Once you've adapted to the changing environment, I'll have to count on you to look after me."
"Ha! Don't worry. If that day ever comes, we'll definitely protect you~"
...Whatever the three children discussed among themselves, Nara Motonari didn't head straight home to rest after leaving them.
It went without saying that a team made up of an Akimichi Clan member, a Sarutobi descendant, and a holder of a special bloodline couldn't have been formed by some supposedly random assignment. And as Team Five's jonin leader, Nara Motonari had responsibilities to the relevant departments beyond his daily teaching duties.
Thanks to the long-standing friendship between the Ino-Shika-Cho families, there wasn't much to report to the Akimichi Clan. But he had to give Lord Hiruzen a thorough report about Erina's circumstances.
Fortunately, he'd reported the operation to infiltrate the estate and launch a surprise attack in advance. So after reaching the Hokage Office, Nara Motonari soon got straight to the point.
"Overall, Miss Erina performed noticeably better than an ordinary student...
"If it weren't for the unexpected situation involving Yamada Soji, her response would have been impressive enough."
Before you continue