Kakashi's Trial

Morning mist draped Training Ground Seven like a gauzy veil. Cool dew coated the grass and wooden posts, soaking the hems of their pants whenever they stepped on it. By the time Uchiha Rin arrived, Naruto was squatting beneath an old camphor tree, yawning with his head bobbing. Fine droplets of morning dew clung to his blond hair. Sakura Haruno leaned against the trunk on the other side, adjusting the ties of her ninja tool pouch with her fingertips, her eyes carrying the fatigue of too little sleep.

Their agreed-upon five o'clock had long passed. Nearly an hour later, unhurried footsteps finally sounded through the woods. Kakashi Hatake arrived with that orange-covered book tucked away, crunching over fallen leaves. His one exposed eye swept over the three of them. He casually pulled two bronze bells from his ninja tool pouch, weighing them on his fingertips as their soft chime spread through the mist.

"The rules are simple." He tied the bells to his waist, his tone casual. "Get a bell from me before noon, and you pass. Fail to get one, and you go back to school for remedial training."

The moment he finished speaking, Naruto charged forward with a kunai clenched in hand, his shout startling sparrows from the branches. His movements were nimble by the standards of newly graduated genin, but Kakashi saw nothing but openings. In the blink of an eye, the man before him turned into a wooden log—the Substitution Technique was stiffly executed, and he had not even concealed the chakra fluctuations.

The instant Naruto froze in surprise, wind whistled behind him. Before he could turn around, a moderately heavy kick struck his lower back. He flew straight into the camphor tree, shaking dew from the branches in a shower. He choked and coughed several times, unable to get back up for a long while.

Sakura Haruno was not as reckless as Naruto. Gauging Kakashi's position, she flicked her wrist and sent three shuriken flying in a triangular formation, sealing off his left, right, and front. But just as the silver flashes reached him, Kakashi vanished into thin air, appearing behind her the next second.

A light blow landed on the back of her neck. Sakura's vision went black, and her body went limp. He caught her with one hand and gently lowered her onto the grass.

Only Uchiha Rin remained standing in the field. His feet were shoulder-width apart, one hand resting on the hilt at his waist. He had not moved an inch from beginning to end. His gaze settled on Kakashi, taking in his relaxed stance, the arm hanging at his side, and his seemingly careless position that had in fact sealed off every possible avenue of attack—there was not a single opening.

"What, giving up?" Kakashi looked at him, his lone eye carrying its usual hint of amusement.

Uchiha Rin did not answer. His thumb pushed open the guard as he slowly drew his short blade.

The clear ring of steel drifted softly through the woods. A thin, cicada-wing layer of light wrapped the pale blue blade, making it resemble a pool of frozen moonlight in the morning fog. His fingers tightened around the hilt, and a familiar warm pulse traveled into his palm—the chakra he had infused the night before lay steadily dormant within the blade's core. For now, he did not intend to use it.

He wanted to test the blade's edge first.

Lowering his center of gravity, he pushed off the ground and shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow. Dew sprang from the grass beneath his feet, yet he made almost no sound. Kakashi did not move, clearly not taking a freshly graduated genin seriously. Only when the blade's wind was right before him did he raise his arm and block with a kunai.

Clang—

The sharp crash was piercing as metal fragments scattered.

The standard-issue kunai in Kakashi's hand had been cleanly cut in two by that unremarkable short blade.

The pupil beneath his forehead protector contracted slightly. He kicked off the ground and retreated instantly, only stopping after opening a distance of two meters. He glanced down at the broken kunai in his hand. Its cut was smooth and even. When he looked back at Uchiha Rin's short blade, its edge was as bright as new, without so much as a tiny scratch.

"...Interesting."

Kakashi's voice lowered. Most of his earlier carelessness had vanished, and for the first time, his tone carried genuine seriousness.

Just then, Naruto climbed up from the ground clutching his waist and charged in again with a roar. Kakashi tilted his head aside to evade his punch, then swept out a leg and knocked him flat again. His eyes remained on Uchiha Rin's blade. "Where did you get that sword?"

"I bought it." Uchiha Rin sheathed the blade halfway, his voice even.

"Which ninja tool shop?"

"The one on the corner."

Kakashi fell silent for two seconds, then sighed helplessly. "Fine. We'll talk about it later. Continue."

For most of the rest of the morning, the three of them used nearly every method they had. Relying on his abundant chakra, Naruto launched wave after wave of Shadow Clone Technique clones in frontal assaults, a dense crowd of figures surrounding Kakashi. Sakura Haruno moved between cover, using shuriken and kunai to precisely disrupt his movements and seal off his dodging routes. Uchiha Rin stayed concealed on the flank, always slipping in through blind spots, the edge of his short blade forcing Kakashi to respond seriously every time.

But the gap between them was ultimately an insurmountable chasm. No matter how the three took turns attacking, Kakashi calmly dissolved every assault. His figure moved through the woods like a gust of wind no one could catch. He never struck hard, only kicking them away or knocking them down with just enough force. His control was precise, leaving them weak and aching without ever truly injuring them.

The sun gradually climbed higher, and the mist vanished completely. At last, the three could no longer hold on and collapsed onto the grass one after another, gasping for breath. Naruto's blond hair was soaked with sweat and stuck to his forehead, and he barely had the strength to lift an arm. Sakura Haruno braced herself upright with one hand on the ground, her chest heaving violently while even her fingertips trembled.

Uchiha Rin leaned against a tree stump, his breathing off rhythm as well, a thin sheen of sweat on his brow. His hand did not loosen around the hilt as he watched Kakashi in the distance—standing in the sunlight, his clothes barely rumpled, without a trace of sweat, leisurely swinging the bells at his waist.

"Time's almost up," Kakashi called. "Are you still going to continue?"

Naruto gritted his teeth and tried to force himself up, but his knees buckled and gave out again. Uchiha Rin did not move, though his mind rapidly reviewed the morning's fight.

He noticed something: from beginning to end, Kakashi had never taken the initiative to attack even once. Every counterattack had only been meant to neutralize their assaults and drive them back. It was more like he was testing something than simply crushing them with superior strength.

He suddenly remembered what Iruka had said in class at the Ninja Academy—the heart of a genin survival exercise had never been individual strength, but teamwork.

Having grown up in the slums, he had long been accustomed to acting alone. But as he looked at the two people beside him, breathing hard, something inside him stirred faintly.

Supporting himself with his blade's hilt, he stood and walked between them. He crouched down, lowering his voice. "Listen. He's waiting for us to run out of strength and give up. Charging him head-on won't work. Attack from three directions at once, and he won't be able to block us."

Naruto's eyes lit up at once, and he clenched his fist. "Yeah! Why didn't I think of that? Let's do it!"

Sakura Haruno nodded immediately as well, pushing herself to her feet. Determination returned to her eyes.

The three exchanged a look. There were no unnecessary words, yet they all tightened their grips on their ninja tools. Morning light fell over them, and for the first time, they looked like comrades.

Naruto charged out first, forming hand seals at lightning speed before shouting, "Shadow Clone Technique!"

More than a dozen shadow clones scattered at once, rushing Kakashi from every direction with fists and kicks, leaving no gaps. Kakashi raised a hand and knocked away the two clones before him. Seeing their numbers, he pushed off and retreated. The moment he did, silver flashed from the flank—Sakura Haruno's three shuriken came flying in with perfect timing, sealing off his retreat.

Kakashi twisted at the waist and dodged the shuriken sideways, but in that instant, a pale blue flash of cold light suddenly lit up from his blind spot.

Using the trees for cover, Uchiha Rin had already circled around to Kakashi's rear flank. He lunged forward in a low stance, thrusting his short blade straight ahead. His target was not Kakashi himself, but the cords fastening the bells at his waist.

The strike was swift and precise. The blade cut through the air with a faint whistle, reaching him in an instant.

Kakashi reacted quickly and judged the situation at once—he could not block that blade head-on. He forcibly twisted his body aside in an extremely awkward motion to avoid the edge, while reaching back to seize Uchiha Rin's wrist.

But the moment his fingertips brushed the other's sleeve, he stopped.

The cool blade tip was pressed against the cords holding the bells. One inch farther, and it would cut through the fabric. Uchiha Rin flicked his wrist lightly, and the two thin cords snapped. The two bronze bells fell steadily into his palm.

Chime.

The soft sound was especially clear in the silent training ground.

Naruto stared blankly for two seconds before erupting into a thunderous cheer, jumping high into the air. "We did it! We did it!"

Sakura Haruno let out a breath and smiled sincerely. Her tense shoulders finally relaxed as she sank onto the grass and exhaled deeply.

Kakashi straightened up, glanced down at his empty belt, then looked toward the boy holding the bells. After a moment of silence, the eye above his mask curved into a genuine smile of approval.

"Not bad," he said. "All three of you pass."

Naruto excitedly circled the other two, babbling nonstop about how cool that last strike had been. Uchiha Rin sheathed his blade and tossed the bells back to Kakashi. Catching them, Kakashi rubbed one bell between his fingertips before his gaze returned to the short blade at Rin's waist. "Let me take a close look at that sword another day."

Uchiha Rin nodded without asking anything further.

Kakashi said no more. He turned and headed out of the training ground, then stopped after a few steps and waved without looking back. "Tomorrow morning, eight o'clock. Meet at Konoha's village entrance. We have a mission."

As soon as he finished speaking, his figure vanished down the forest path.

Naruto came over and gave Uchiha Rin a heavy pat on the shoulder, nearly making him stagger. "Hey, that strike just now was way too cool! Where did you buy that sword, anyway? Take me there to check it out sometime!"

Uchiha Rin glanced sideways at him but said nothing. He merely pushed open the guard again with his thumb and drew the blade halfway. The pale blue glow reflected in his eyes, brighter than it had been in the morning mist.

"Whoa—" Naruto leaned closer, clicking his tongue in amazement. "One look and you can tell this isn't ordinary stuff! You really got an incredible bargain!" Sakura Haruno came over too, curiosity in her eyes. "It really is special. It actually cut through a standard kunai. You're so lucky."

Uchiha Rin pushed the blade back into its sheath and looked up at the sky. The sun had already risen halfway up the heavens, its light filtering through the clouds and falling warmly across the grass.

He lowered his eyes to the short blade at his waist. The warmth of its wooden hilt still lingered in his palm. The question he had pondered over and over the night before surfaced again—what exactly was this blade's origin?

But at the same time, another unfamiliar feeling quietly rose within him.

Today was the first time he had not fought alone.

The wind carried the scent of fresh grass as it passed by. The shadows of the three youths fell beneath the sunlight, close together.