Minato Namikaze's Trial

Long Ye crashed to the ground as the girl who had charged in recklessly tackled him.

"Rin, why are you so heavy? You've nearly crushed my bones."

Long Ye let out a pained howl.

Rin hurriedly climbed off him, her cheeks flushed and her expression embarrassed and indignant.

"I'm injured. Pull me up!"

Long Ye pretended to be extremely weak and held out one hand.

"Hmph!"

Rin slapped his hand away.

"I'm not falling for that. Tao Gui was tricked by you and ended up captured alive. Get up. I have something to tell you."

Long Ye climbed to his feet sheepishly.

"Is it more good news? Every time you come running over excitedly, you always forget to knock."

"All right, all right. I was reckless this time. It won't happen again."

Rin pouted, but when she remembered why she had come, her eyes lit up with excitement again.

"Long Ye, do you know who sent me to find you?" Rin asked mysteriously.

"Sent you to find me? No. Who was it?" Long Ye asked, puzzled.

"Can't you take a guess?" Rin was somewhat dissatisfied with his blunt honesty.

"Could it be... Lord Minato?" Long Ye ventured.

Rin's face fell. "How boring. You guessed it in one try."

Long Ye smiled awkwardly.

It wasn't that he wanted to guess correctly. It was just that, in all of Konoha, he couldn't think of anyone besides Minato Namikaze who could send Rin to find him.

"What does Lord Minato want with me?"

Rin suddenly smiled. "The teacher sent me to find you because he wants you to start training under him with me, Obito, and Kakashi."

"What? You mean Lord Minato is going to personally teach me ninjutsu?"

Long Ye was startled.

Rin nodded repeatedly. "That's what the teacher said himself."

"Oh, it's getting late! Let's go. The teacher might already be waiting for us."

Without giving Long Ye a chance to say anything else, Rin grabbed his hand and dragged him away.

There was a small grove in the mountains behind Konohagakure, where ninja usually conducted live-combat training.

At that moment, a tall figure and a short one stood in an open area of the grove.

One of them was the Konoha elite jōnin Minato Namikaze. Standing before him was Kakashi, whose silver hair was partially hidden by his mask.

"Teacher..."

As Rin's voice rang out, two figures leaped rapidly between the trees. After a few breaths, they arrived before the two of them.

"Lord Minato..."

Long Ye still observed the proper etiquette.

Minato Namikaze smiled and nodded.

"Rin has probably already told you why I called you here. This isn't merely my decision—it's also the Hokage's. From today onward, train under me."

Long Ye naturally had no reason to refuse, so he agreed at once.

The four of them waited and waited, but Obito still failed to appear.

Half an hour soon passed.

"That Obito..."

Minato Namikaze wasn't angry, but his expression was one of utter helplessness.

Being late was Obito's trademark. Minato Namikaze had warned him more than once to develop a better sense of time and stop being late, or he would never become a qualified ninja.

Yet every time, Obito would agree readily, only to be late again the next time. It gave Minato Namikaze a terrible headache.

Long Ye had always been curious about this as well. He had once asked Obito about it in private. According to Obito, every time he was late, it was unavoidable.

For example, one time he had encountered an old woman on the road. Seeing that she had trouble walking, he had supported her all the way home. There were countless stories like that. As for whether they were true, that remained a mystery.

"Obito's lateness is a disease. It's incurable."

Kakashi mocked him expressionlessly.

Rin smiled awkwardly. "Teacher Minato, please wait a little longer. Obito must have run into some emergency. He'll be here soon."

"Teacher Minato, I'm here!"

With a roar, a figure came leaping through the trees in a frantic rush.

"Kakashi! You sneaky bastard! You were secretly badmouthing me behind my back again, weren't you?"

Obito was panting heavily from exhaustion, yet he still didn't forget to bicker with Kakashi.

"Idiot, everyone can see what's wrong with you. Do I even need to badmouth you?" Kakashi fired back without backing down.

"You..."

"All right, all right. Why are you two arguing again?"

Rin hurriedly interrupted them.

"Huh? Long Ye, you're here too?"

Obito finally noticed the extra person.

Long Ye smiled. "We may be training together from now on. Lord Minato has allowed me to train with you."

"What? That's fantastic! Hahahaha..."

Obito was extremely excited, then glanced at Kakashi.

"With you joining us, our team will be even stronger. You'll completely make up for Kakashi's weak link and let Team 7 become Konoha's greatest team!"

Kakashi sneered. "Know your limits. You should know perfectly well who the weak link is."

Obito drew a breath and was about to launch into another tirade, but Minato Namikaze interrupted him.

"That's enough. Stop arguing. I'm here today to tell you that one of you may not be able to participate in the upcoming Chunin Ninja Exams."

"What?!"

Obito's expression changed drastically.

"Teacher Minato, who won't be able to take the Chunin Ninja Exams? It must be Kakashi, right?"

Minato Namikaze smiled. "It might be Kakashi. It might be you. It might even be Rin."

Seeing their anxious expressions, he didn't keep them guessing and got straight to the point:

"In this Chunin Ninja Exam, the preliminary round is a team battle, so every team must have the same number of members. In other words, each team must have three people..."

"As you can see, with Long Ye joining us, the team I lead now has four members. That means one person is extra, and the extra person must be eliminated. As for who gets eliminated, naturally, the strongest will remain."

"Huh?"

Rin's mouth fell open in surprise, and she looked somewhat reluctant.

To her, none of the three people beside her was unnecessary. At the same time, she didn't want to give up the chance to become a Chunin—a chance that came only once a year.

"That's fair!"

Kakashi nodded first, expressing his complete agreement.

Obito shot him a sideways glance. "It is fair. In a moment, you'll know who's getting eliminated. I'll bet a hundred ryō that it's you."

"A hundred ryō? That's all you've got?" Kakashi mocked him coldly.

"Enough. I'll explain the rules of the competition."

Minato Namikaze cut off their argument.

At the mention of "rules," all four of them pricked up their ears.

Minato Namikaze raised one hand. When he opened it, three bells tied with red cords fell with a clatter.

"These three bells in my hand are your tickets to the Chunin Ninja Exams. Whoever takes one earns the right to participate in the Chunin Ninja Exams."

"So the problem before the four of you is how to cooperate and take the bells, while competing against one another during that cooperation. There are only three bells, so someone is destined to gain nothing."