The bell test (1)

Kazuhiko Sarutobi ignored Hayato Hyuga's doubts about Madara Uchiha's strength. None of the three boys had officially become genin yet, and if Madara wasn't good enough, he would naturally be eliminated in the upcoming test.

"What? Another test?! Are you kidding me? I only just managed to graduate from the Ninja Academy!"

The moment Hayato Hyuga heard there would be a test, his overbearing air wilted. Then he shot Madara Uchiha a vicious glare.

"You little brat, don't drag me down! If you make me go back to school, I'll kill you!"

Jingle, jingle~

While Hayato Hyuga was threatening Madara Uchiha, Kazuhiko Sarutobi took three bells out of the ninja tool pouch he carried.

"The rules are simple. I have three bells, and the three of you will work together to take them from me. Anyone who gets one passes. Let me warn you now: you must come at me prepared to kill, or the three of you won't stand a chance. Now, begin!"

As Kazuhiko Sarutobi finished speaking, Hayato Hyuga activated his Byakugan. Chakra made the veins around his eyes bulge, while his pupils turned stark Haku.

As a member of the Hyuga Clan, twelve-year-old Hayato Hyuga had already mastered the use of the Byakugan. Once he activated it, nothing around him could escape his sight.

"Holy shit!"

With his Byakugan active, Hayato Hyuga could see the chakra pathways inside other people's bodies. He could sense the enormous chakra reserves within Kazuhiko Sarutobi, but what he hadn't expected was that Madara Uchiha, who was five years younger than him, had roughly twice as much chakra as he did.

Looks like this young genius from the Uchiha Clan really does have something going for him.

Hayato Hyuga's shock at Madara Uchiha's chakra reserves was so obvious that Kazuhiko Sarutobi didn't need to ask what had made him cry out. According to his intelligence, Hayato had awakened his Byakugan long ago, and he had seen jōnin in Konoha before. Although Kazuhiko's chakra reserves were considerable even among jōnin, they weren't that much greater than anyone else's. Sōsuke Aburame was Hayato's friend, so his chakra wouldn't have surprised him either. By elimination, the only possible cause was Madara Uchiha.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

As Hayato Hyuga activated his eyes, Sōsuke Aburame pulled open his collar. Countless tiny black insects flew out of his body and hovered around him. Yet while those two were still preparing, Madara Uchiha's shuriken were already flying toward Kazuhiko Sarutobi, who had let his guard down a little.

This kid!

Kazuhiko Sarutobi, who had initially underestimated Madara Uchiha, immediately revised his assessment when he saw him attack. He had never imagined that this seven-year-old boy could make him genuinely fear for his life with shuriken alone.

He immediately used Substitution Jutsu. In an instant, the figure of Kazuhiko Sarutobi was pierced like a pincushion. As a cloud of smoke dispersed, what had been Kazuhiko Sarutobi turned into a hedgehog.

"Thirty degrees west, above the tree's second branch!"

Almost instinctively, Hayato Hyuga called out Kazuhiko Sarutobi's current position. Madara Uchiha's shuriken hurtled toward that spot as though Hayato's words had commanded them. The clang of colliding shuriken rang out in rapid succession. Kazuhiko Sarutobi had heard rumors that Madara Uchiha's shuriken skills far surpassed those of his peers, but he hadn't expected the boy's throwing technique to surpass even his own. Having lost the initiative and been caught under Madara Uchiha's barrage, he could do nothing but defend.

"Hayato Hyuga, keep calling out his position. Sōsuke Aburame, prepare an ambush forty-five degrees west. I'll drive our teacher over there."

The taciturn Sōsuke Aburame obeyed Madara Uchiha's orders without hesitation, slipping into hiding to prepare his ambush. Meanwhile, Hayato Hyuga kept a tense watch on Kazuhiko Sarutobi's position. From the moment Madara Uchiha attacked, both boys understood that he was on an entirely different level. Had his shuriken been aimed at them, they would have had nowhere to run. And so Madara Uchiha naturally became the leader of their three-man team.

I never thought a seven-year-old would push me this far. Lord Hokage must have had his reasons for asking me to keep an eye on Uchiha Itachi.

Kazuhiko Sarutobi reckoned he would get hurt if he let Madara Uchiha's shuriken keep pinning him down. No longer worrying about fair play, he rapidly formed hand seals, then slammed his right hand against the ground.

"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall Technique!"

An enormous earthen wall rose in front of Kazuhiko Sarutobi. No matter how hard Madara Uchiha threw his shuriken, they couldn't pierce a wall that solid.

Just as Kazuhiko Sarutobi thought he could catch his breath, a wave of searing heat swept toward him. An enormous fireball, powerful enough to destroy the earthen wall, hurtled straight at him.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

Kazuhiko Sarutobi knew ninjutsu, and so did Madara Uchiha.

"Hey, hey, hey! Isn't this a little much? Is this guy really seven years old? What on earth has Uchiha Fugaku been teaching his kid?!"

Madara Uchiha's great fireball tore through Kazuhiko Sarutobi's earthen wall with devastating ease. If Kazuhiko hadn't reacted quickly, he probably would have been injured. Looking at the destruction left in the fireball's wake, he couldn't help complaining about Madara Uchiha's monstrous strength.

Fortunately, Kazuhiko Sarutobi had always been cautious. Even against three genin, he took the fight seriously. Had he been any more careless at the start, Madara Uchiha's relentless bombardment really might have caught him off guard.

"Teacher, a ninja shouldn't let his guard down on the battlefield."

While Kazuhiko Sarutobi was complaining about Madara Uchiha's overwhelming strength, Madara's voice sounded beside his ear. A ninja Short Sword with an ink-black hilt and ink-wash patterns along its blade came slashing down at him. Sensing the attack, Kazuhiko Sarutobi immediately drew a kunai from his waist. The kunai clashed with the Short Sword, but the downward force of Madara Uchiha's weight and gravity wasn't so easily countered. His Short Sword slammed down, knocking the kunai clean away, and cleaved into Kazuhiko Sarutobi's body.