Minato Namikaze's Trial Result

For Long Ye, the choice was between helping Rin succeed and sitting back to reap the rewards. The thought flashed through his mind.

But he had no time to think it over. Minato Namikaze's Rasengan was already striking toward Rin's back.

Perhaps her attention had been drawn to the bell within reach, or perhaps Minato Namikaze's Flying Thunder God Technique was simply too fast. Rin did not notice anything at all.

"Zzt..."

Electricity burst from Long Ye's fist.

His Flowing Lightning-transformed fist changed into Tengu Form and struck toward Minato Namikaze ahead.

In the end, he still decided to help Rin succeed.

Although this outcome was equally cruel to him.

Because he would most likely be unable to use the Chunin Ninja Exams to advance to a One-Star Devil and awaken the Devil Fruit Power he had dreamed of—the Human Modification.

Minato Namikaze seemed to sense something. At the critical moment, the Rasengan he had been preparing to strike at Rin twisted around and met Long Ye's attack from the side and behind.

The high-intensity current of Beastification collided with the legendary Rasengan for the first time.

Electricity went berserk, erupting in a blinding white light.

Rin had only just gotten her hand around the bell and had not even had time to celebrate when she saw what happened behind her. Her eyes widened in shock.

Long Ye's body flew far away like a kite with its string cut, blasted back by the tremendous force released from the Rasengan.

"What powerful Lightning Release!"

Minato Namikaze exclaimed under his breath.

Although he had used the Rasengan to disperse the high-intensity current in Long Ye's hand, one of his own hands had been temporarily paralyzed.

And that was while he had used refined chakra to defend against it. One could imagine that if someone else had taken the attack by surprise, they would definitely have lost the ability to fight back.

"Boom!!!"

Long Ye's body slammed heavily into a large tree, triggering an explosive crash.

A tree so thick that two people could barely wrap their arms around it had been smashed into a huge depression by his mortal body.

"Long Ye!"

Rin's face went pale. After landing, she immediately sprinted over.

Seeing this, Obito and Kakashi lost all excitement over obtaining the bell and hurried over to check on him.

"Huh? I don't seem to be injured."

Long Ye stood up and found not the slightest injury on his body. Recalling what had just happened, he found it rather unbelievable.

"As expected of the Rasengan!"

Kakashi sounded impressed.

Hearing this, Long Ye immediately understood what had happened.

The Rasengan had been created by Minato Namikaze, and its power was exceptionally subtle.

That attack had looked as though he had taken a heavy blow, but in reality, that was not the case. The Rasengan's force had been transmitted through his body into the large tree behind him.

That was why the tree had been damaged so severely. In Long Ye's understanding, it was a method of using chakra similar to striking an ox through a mountain.

Seeing that he was unharmed, Rin let out a long breath of relief.

Recalling what had just happened, she also understood the cause and effect. As a result, the way she looked at Long Ye carried a trace of reproach.

She was very competitive and did not want to see the result she had fought so hard for come from someone else's help. Even if that person was Long Ye, it was still unacceptable.

Although she thought that way, she was also touched, and her emotions became tangled.

"Congratulations. You really did it."

Minato Namikaze walked over with a smile.

It should have been a happy moment, but no one was happy now.

The reason was naturally that Long Ye had not obtained a bell. According to the rules, he would be eliminated and would not be eligible to participate in the Chunin Ninja Exams.

"Teacher Minato, Long Ye lost his chance to compete because he was saving me. If not for him, I would have been the one sent flying by the Rasengan, so..."

"No!"

Before Rin could finish, Obito interrupted her.

"Don't forget, we're participating in the Chunin Ninja Exams. The first round is a qualifying match for team combat. Both sentimentally and logically, we should send our strongest member, and I..."

"Everyone knows that I'm called the dead last. Going would be pointless, and I might even hold you back. So my bell should belong to Long Ye."

Kakashi looked at him in surprise.

In his impression, quite a few people—including himself—had mocked Obito as the dead last more than once. But Obito had never admitted that he was the dead last. Yet today...

Long Ye suddenly smiled.

"Obito, what are you talking about? You hid it well, but I noticed long ago that you had awakened the Kekkei Genkai of the Uchiha and gained a One-Tomoe Sharingan. How could someone like you be the dead last?"

"It's only the Chunin Ninja Exams. They mean nothing to me. Whether Genin or Chunin, it makes no difference to me. I don't care about those things."

Although he said that, he still felt regretful inside.

Genin and Chunin truly made no difference to him, but the key was that losing his eligibility for the Chunin Ninja Exams meant losing his chance to advance to a One-Star Devil.

Obito fell silent, his mood clearly sinking.

All four of them had played an irreplaceable role in this operation. It could be said that without any one of them, the operation would not have succeeded.

Yet only three of them would gain eligibility in the end. This left them feeling uncomfortable, and each wanted to hand over their bell to help one of their other companions.

It looks like awakening the Human Modification Devil Fruit Power will have to be postponed again. Long Ye sighed inwardly.

Minato Namikaze looked at the four of them and said, "Rules are rules precisely because they cannot be changed. Besides, the other teams participating in the team battle also have three members."

Obito and the others naturally understood that.

The others were all groups of three. If they had four members, there would be no fairness.

"However..."

Minato Namikaze suddenly smiled.

Hearing that there was apparently a turning point, Obito and Rin immediately showed hopeful expressions.

Minato Namikaze looked at Long Ye, his eyes holding emotions that others could not understand.

"Just now, you could have stood by and waited for Rin to fail before taking the bell for yourself. But you gave up your own goal to help Rin. That was indeed admirable, only..."

Minato Namikaze hesitated.

He thought of Kakashi's father, White Fang of the Leaf.

Back then, White Fang of the Leaf had abandoned his mission to save his teammates, causing Konoha enormous and irreparable losses.

Later, even the people he had saved turned around and condemned him. That was what led to the tragedy—the suicide of White Fang of the Leaf.

Human nature could be seen in the smallest details. After what had just happened, Minato Namikaze already understood that Long Ye and White Fang of the Leaf were, in a certain sense, the same kind of person.

Such spirit was indeed rare, and betrayal would never come from people like them.

But clearly, whatever they did, they were too easily fettered by emotion. For ninja who placed "intelligence" and "the mission" above all else, that was obviously not a good thing.