Team assignment assessment

Nakagawa Ichirō glanced at the three of them, then walked over and sat down in front of them.

"While we're taking a break, let's introduce ourselves."

"Sure, sensei! We don't even know your name yet."

The good-natured Abe Rō asked happily.

"My name is Nakagawa Ichirō. As you know, I'm a Jonin. I'm thirty-five this year. I like grilled meat, and I dislike people who don't follow the rules."

After introducing himself, Nakagawa Ichirō looked at Abe Rō.

"Your turn. Introduce yourself the way I did."

"My name is Abe Rō. I'm ten this year. I like making friends, and I hate food with cilantro in it. My dream is to become Hokage."

"Hokage..." Another guy brainwashed by the Will of Fire. Yechen sighed.

Nakagawa Ichirō showed no reaction. Perhaps he had heard that sort of thing too many times. He looked at Ito Miyuki.

"What about you...?"

Ito Miyuki shot him a look, but answered obediently.

"My name is Ito Miyuki. I'll be ten after the New Year. I like fighting. As for what I hate..." Ito Miyuki thought for a moment.

"I hate boys who can't stand up for themselves. My dream is to become a strong woman like Lady Tsunade."

After saying that, she clenched her fists.

"Tsunade..." Yechen was speechless. Tsunade was powerful and famous, especially for that generous bust. Looking back at Miyuki, though, there was a deep gulf between them.

Of all the people she could admire, why Tsunade? Still, their personalities are pretty similar. She just falls a little short in the chest department.

As he was thinking, Nakagawa Ichirō's voice rang out.

"Your turn, Uchiha Ye Chen."

"My name is Uchiha Ye Chen. I'll be ten in three months. I like training, and I hate trouble. As for my dream..."

Yechen stopped there, for no other reason than that he had never thought about such a thing.

In his previous life, his dream had been to win five million in the lottery, find a beautiful wife, and have two children. That would have been a perfect life.

After crossing over into the Shinobi World, his survival was far from guaranteed. Someone could kill him at any moment.

All he had thought about was how to get stronger quickly and stay alive.

"Yechen..." Ito Miyuki nudged his arm with her elbow.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh..." Yechen pulled himself out of his thoughts.

"My dream is to awaken the Sharingan and become strong."

Although he said that, those were not Yechen's dreams. His true dream was to survive, and perhaps one day even leave this place.

"The Sharingan? What's that?"

Hearing this, Abe Rō was very curious, while Ito Miyuki frowned beside him. She had heard about the Sharingan from her parents. The Uchiha Clan's shinobi who awakened the Sharingan were all lunatics.

Before Yechen could answer, Nakagawa Ichirō spoke.

"The Sharingan is the Uchiha Clan's kekkei genkai. Even the weakest shinobi who awakens the Sharingan can put up a fight against a Chunin. The strongest..."

At that, Nakagawa Ichirō looked toward the Valley of the End. After a long silence, he slowly continued.

"The strongest can rival the God of Shinobi."

To veteran shinobi, the story of Madara Uchiha was no secret. Among the younger generation, however, very few knew about him.

Abe Rō and Ito Miyuki gasped. They did not know who Madara Uchiha was, but they knew the God of Shinobi. He was the First Hokage, the leader who had established peace in Konoha. The first face on Hokage Rock belonged to the God of Shinobi.

Just imagining someone who could rival the God of Shinobi told them how powerful he must have been. Although she had been a little worried at first, Ito Miyuki now deeply envied Yechen's bloodline.

Nakagawa Ichirō did not elaborate. Madara Uchiha was a taboo in Konoha, and careless talk about that man could bring trouble down on him.

Hearing Yechen's dream had simply stirred him enough to say something.

Although he did not know much about the Uchiha Clan, the fact that Yechen had been assigned to him meant one thing: Yechen had not awakened the Sharingan.

Otherwise, why would the Uchiha hand a shinobi who had awakened the Sharingan over to an outsider? They would have a Jonin from their own clan teach him personally.

This also meant the Uchiha had given up on Yechen, believing he had no chance of awakening the Sharingan. Nakagawa did not say that aloud. It was good for Yechen to have something to hope for, if only to keep him from slacking off in his training.

After roughly half an hour, Nakagawa Ichirō clapped his hands and stood up.

"That should do it. Let's begin the next assessment. What you just did was only a basic test. The crucial part comes next."

Nakagawa Ichirō paused, then gave them a mischievous smile.

"There's also something else you should know."

Gulp!

Abe Rō swallowed hard and asked cautiously,

"What is it?"

"If you fail the next assessment, you'll be sent back to the Ninja Academy to repeat a year..."

There's a deal that good?

Yechen's eyes lit up. Isn't that exactly what I wanted?

"What...?"

Abe Rō sprang to his feet in agitation. To him, being sent back to school was unacceptable.

"Nakagawa-sensei, you're joking, right?"

"Idiot..." Ito Miyuki curled her lip.

"That's been the rule every year. You don't even know that?"

"Heh."

Nakagawa Ichirō chuckled without offering much explanation. He reached to his waist, and a scroll appeared in his hand.

"Your next objective is the scroll in my hand. As for the time limit..." Nakagawa Ichirō glanced at the sky.

"Let's make it noon. And I'll add another penalty: anyone who gets eliminated won't get lunch."

Abe Rō's face fell.

"Sensei, you're a Jonin. No matter how capable we are, there's no way we can take that scroll from you. Isn't that just bullying us?"

Abe Rō looked rather slow, but he was not stupid. Nor was he like Naruto, who had no idea how far out of his depth he was. Abe Rō understood the gap between shinobi ranks.

Never mind the three of them-even thirty Genin could not snatch something from a genuine Jonin.

"What's the rush? I haven't finished yet," Nakagawa Ichirō said with a smile.

"For this assessment, I won't attack first, and I won't use anything beyond Genin-level abilities. You, however, can use whatever methods you like,

"Ambushes, poison-anything you're capable of using is fair game. Your only objective is to take the scroll from my hand."