After looking over the words on the paper, Yashui nodded with satisfaction. He had the little crow deliver the letter to the Three-Legged Golden Crow, then dispelled the Summoning Technique.
However, Yashui didn't receive a summons from the Three-Legged Golden Crow even by the time the bell test began the next day. It seemed the incident about "the Three-Legged Golden Crow disliking Yashui for leaving his fly unzipped and refusing to let him into the Hundred Bird Nest" hadn't actually happened.
At nine in the morning, Yashui and Hachiko arrived at the training ground right on time. Yashui had prepared plenty of ninja tools: ten kunai and twenty shuriken. That should be enough for a mock battle. Besides, he'd spent all his money on them.
Though kunai and shuriken were cheap, disposable tools, they were actually rather expensive. But without ninja tools, the chances of losing your life were much higher. Faced with a choice between their lives and their wealth, most ninjas chose their lives.
As for why they never saw ninjas who wouldn't buy shuriken to save money, that was because all such ninjas had died on missions.
Compared to Yashui's heavily packed ninja pouch, Hachiko's was much flatter. Her family was poor, and they'd already spent a fortune sending her to the expensive Ninja Academy. Hachiko hadn't earned any money as a ninja yet, but she'd already spent plenty as one.
"You're here pretty early," Choza Akimichi said as he arrived at the training ground.
It wasn't until Choza Akimichi made his formal entrance that they could appreciate just how enormous he was.
Choza Akimichi was like a little giant, standing out from the other ninjas in both height and build. He wore armor with the character for "food" emblazoned on the center. In his hand was a staff even taller than he was, making him look incredibly imposing.
Just standing in front of him was enough to feel the pressure of his height and size.
"Now that everyone's here, let's get started." Choza glanced at his two students. Both of them were ready.
"But Xun isn't here yet." Hachiko raised her hand. "What if she died on the way?"
After hearing Hachiko's question, Choza let out a breath. "Don't worry. She won't die on the way. She got here even earlier than you two."
After speaking, Choza looked toward the woods. A moment later, Xun emerged from between the trees. Like Choza, she carried a long staff. "Hey, Hachiko! You hoping I'd die or something?"
The moment she appeared, Xun taunted Hachiko, boldly pointing the end of her staff at her. Frightened, Hachiko hid behind Yashui, too scared to come out.
"She doesn't mean any harm... she's just not very good with words... don't be mad. We're all going to be teammates from now on." Hachiko was already hiding behind Yashui. If he didn't say something, he'd hurt her feelings.
"Humph. If we didn't have a test coming up, I'd have beaten you two up already. Even if you found two more people, you still wouldn't be a match for me!" Xun kept taunting them, now openly insulting the whole group.
Yashui and Hachiko both held back. How could they fall for such an obvious provocation? The only person in all of Konoha who might take the bait was probably Uzumaki Naruto.
"Ahem..." With all the commotion, Choza had nearly been overshadowed by Xun. "Let me explain the test first."
"For this test, you'll have to snatch these from me." Choza showed the three of them two bells, then fastened them to his belt.
"Why are there only two?" Hachiko raised her hand again. "Did you forget to bring one because you're forgetful, sensei?"
"No..." Choza wiped the sweat from his forehead. "There are only two bells because..."
Before you continue