"It's already five o'clock. Why hasn't anyone shown up yet?"
Training Ground 1.
The agreed time was five in the afternoon, but Uchiha Izumi had arrived early, at half past four, to wait at the training ground.
Sasuke Uchiha had come along too, curious about the members of Izumi's future ninja squad. The two of them chatted casually.
"They were probably held up by something. After all, it's an elite ninja squad, and their instructor is a jonin."
They're already here? Hearing Sasuke pretend not to know who they were, Izumi's thoughts stirred. Then she vaguely sensed someone watching her. Instinctively, she tightened her grip on her long sword and suppressed the urge to turn around.
Sasuke's deliberately lowered voice reached her. "Don't pretend. They'll see through it."
At that, she followed her instincts and turned around.
Sasuke played along, asking in confusion, "Izumi, what's wrong?"
"Nothing. I just feel like someone's watching me..."
"Watching you? Could it be your future teammates?"
"I'm not sure..."
After more than two years—nearly a thousand days and nights spent together—Sasuke and Izumi had learned to work seamlessly as a team.
In the woods not far from the training ground, atop a large tree.
A Hyuga with shoulder-length dark green hair and dressed in a maid outfit had veins bulging at the corners of her eyes as she stared in the direction of Izumi and Sasuke.
Beside her, a girl with long purple hair and a Konoha Ninja flak jacket stood with her arms folded. "Natsu, what do you think of Uchiha Izumi?"
Hyuga Natsu narrowed her eyes. "Her chakra is several times greater than that of others her age—even greater than mine. Her organs beat strongly, and her cells hold tremendous strength."
"She's also extremely alert. She's already noticed me."
"The moment she sensed me, all her muscles tensed. I can tell her body is capable of an explosive burst of power."
"From the way she instinctively reached for her long sword after sensing someone watching her, I'd say she's confident in her swordsmanship. She must be highly skilled with a blade."
"Finally, there's special chakra in her eyes. Given that she's an Uchiha, she must have awakened the Sharingan."
"Taking all that into account, I'd say she's proficient in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu."
The Sharingan?
And she was skilled with a blade?
Proficient in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu?
The purple-haired girl stared at her in astonishment.
She remembered that Izumi's Ninja Academy file only mentioned her outstanding taijutsu, skill with shuriken, and knowledge of the Three Body Technique and two Fire Release Ninjutsu.
There was no mention of swordsmanship or the Sharingan at all...
Hizashi Hyuga, who had been silent beside them with his eyes closed as he leaned against the tree, opened his eyes after hearing Natsu's analysis. Then he formed a hand seal with one hand.
"Byakugan!"
Sure enough, the moment Hizashi turned his gaze toward her, Izumi's muscles instinctively tensed again, ready to unleash a powerful attack. Everything else matched Natsu's assessment perfectly, too.
He deactivated his Byakugan and nodded approvingly. "Well done, Natsu. Your ability to gather information with the Byakugan has become even more precise."
Hizashi's words clearly confirmed Natsu's judgment. The purple-haired girl stared at him in surprise. "So... Uchiha Izumi was already able to crush her entire class at the Ninja Academy without even showing her full strength?"
"That must be it." Hizashi nodded, believing that Izumi had reached this level because the Uchiha Clan knew how to recognize talent and teach according to each person's abilities.
He couldn't help envying their system of selecting people based on merit. Comparing it with his own clan's system of enslaving the Branch House to the Main House left him with a crushing sense of inferiority.
Unaware of what Teacher Hizashi was thinking, Natsu felt a little pleased by his praise. She deactivated her Byakugan, then turned to the purple-haired girl with a serious expression. "Yugao, I've never seen anyone this age with such exceptional physical abilities and such a vast amount of chakra. And she has the Sharingan, too. Be careful..."
She said nothing about Izumi's swordsmanship.
She didn't think Izumi's swordsmanship could possibly match that of her teammate, Uzuki Yugao!
"The more talented she is, the more useful she'll be to our squad, right?" Uzuki Yugao didn't seem concerned. In fact, Izumi had sparked her interest, and her fighting spirit was rising. Impatient, she said, "It's about time. I'm going to test her!"
With that, she used the Body Flicker Technique and vanished.
"How can she be like that..." Natsu said helplessly.
In her eyes, Yugao was a battle maniac, especially when she ran into a skilled swordsman. That was probably why she had applied to join the Anbu.
Unfortunately, this new addition to their squad meant that the time when she could join the Anbu had become a distant prospect.
"Let's go, Natsu," Hizashi said. "We should head over too. We don't want them accidentally hurting the Uchiha family's second young master."
Natsu bowed slightly. "Yes, Lord Hizashi."
They're here... Seeing the leaves rustle where she'd sensed the gaze, as though something had brushed past them, Izumi quickly stepped in front of Sasuke. Her long sword rang as it left its sheath, held crosswise before her. She cried, "Who's there?"
No one answered.
A figure suddenly appeared in front of Izumi, her long sword transforming into a sharp flash of cold light!
Izumi didn't choose to meet the attack head-on. "Worried about hurting" Sasuke, she quickly grabbed his clothes and leaped backward. As she dodged the attack, her eyes shut and opened, turning crimson with Two-Tomoe. She unleashed a Sharingan Genjutsu.
But her opponent had clearly been prepared. She didn't meet Izumi's gaze. Instead, she pushed off the ground and immediately gave chase.
Why attack without even saying a word... Izumi grumbled inwardly. Forced to "split her attention to protect" Sasuke, she retreated while swinging her long sword, defending herself. The clash of metal rang out again and again, sparks flying everywhere!
Behind her, Sasuke put on a panicked expression with great effort.
Just then, Hizashi and Natsu appeared. Sasuke acted out the relief of someone who had glimpsed hope in a desperate situation to perfection. "H-help! Help!"
What a seasoned actor!
With a Body Flicker, Hizashi appeared behind Sasuke, picked him up, and leaped several times, carrying him dozens of meters away.
"Phew, I'm safe!" Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief. Then, seeing that neither Hizashi nor Natsu seemed inclined to intervene, he hurriedly asked, "Why aren't you helping her?"
"Young master of the Uchiha," Natsu said, giving him a polite little bow before explaining, "We're here to assess Uchiha Izumi for graduation, so there's no need to worry."
"You're the ones testing Izumi?" Sasuke blinked, then pretended to let out a sigh of relief. "That's good."
"Of course. You were startled because Yugao acted recklessly, and as her teammate, I must apologize on her behalf. I'm sorry. I hope you can forgive us."
With that, Natsu bowed again.
Is this girl really that polite? And she's even calling me "you"... Sasuke blinked, then hurriedly waved his hands as though flustered. "N-no, you don't have to. Responding to an unusual situation is part of the test, right? I understand. You really don't need to apologize."
Hearing that, Natsu sighed with relief, tilted her head, and smiled, her eyes curving into crescents. "Thank you for understanding."
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