"What are those three little guys discussing?" Nakagawa Ichirō tilted his head up slightly and glanced at the sky.
"Time's almost up. If they don't make a move, aren't they afraid they'll fail?"
"Here they come." The corners of Nakagawa Ichirō's mouth lifted slightly.
A bulge rose in the ground ahead and rushed toward him.
"That kid Abe Rō is pretty good with Earth Release."
"Earth Release-Double Suicide Decapitation Technique!"
Nakagawa Ichirō lowered his head slightly. A hand had already reached out of the ground and grabbed his ankle, dragging his entire body underground until only his head remained exposed.
"Fire Release-Great Fireball Technique!"
Ito Miyuki entered the clearing, rapidly formed hand seals, drew a breath, and spat out a fireball.
Boom!
The ground exploded, sending dirt flying. A figure leaped high into the air-it was Nakagawa Ichirō. He couldn't use abilities beyond Genin level, so he had to rely on his extensive combat experience.
"Fire Release-Great Fireball Technique!"
Having just leaped into the air, Nakagawa Ichirō abruptly looked up. Another Ito Miyuki was above him, already finished with her hand seals.
A massive fireball over a meter across hurtled straight toward him.
This is bad, Nakagawa Ichirō thought, forming hand seals with one hand. "Wind Release-Great Breakthrough!"
He wasn't using Wind Release to attack the fireball, but to blast himself out of its path.
Nakagawa Ichirō wielded a simple C-rank Wind Release Ninjutsu with effortless mastery. This was the strength of a Jonin.
They could turn a dire situation around by exploiting their surroundings and every advantage available.
With nothing to push off against in midair, Nakagawa Ichirō quickly dropped to the ground, where another Ito Miyuki awaited him.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Three shuriken cut off his landing spot.
Nakagawa Ichirō drew his kunai again to block them. Three metallic clangs rang out. He had thought that would be the end of it, but the Ito Miyuki in the air had already closed in, reaching for the scroll hidden against his chest.
"Oh no!"
Nakagawa Ichirō pushed off with his toes and retreated at top speed. Seeing Ito Miyuki's brilliant smile, he felt a sinking sense of dread. He had fallen for their trap.
The other Ito Miyuki had been waiting for him. Reversing her kunai so its tip pointed toward him, she thrust it hard at Nakagawa Ichirō's back.
A cloud of smoke rose immediately afterward, and Ito Miyuki's thrust struck nothing. A scroll fell from the smoke, and she caught it.
Poof!
Ito Miyuki changed back into Yechen.
That was right-the first Ito Miyuki to attack had actually been Yechen using the Transformation Technique, all to confuse Nakagawa Ichirō.
Under normal circumstances, that would never have fooled a Jonin. But Abe Rō had attacked with Earth Release first, followed by Yechen's Fire Release, with Ito Miyuki preparing the final attack overhead. Faced with those three successive strikes, even Nakagawa Ichirō hadn't had time to work out which was Ito Miyuki and which was Yechen.
What Yechen hadn't expected, however, was that the Nakagawa Ichirō they had been fighting was also a fake. A mere Shadow Clone had run circles around all three of them. Was this the strength of a Jonin?
Clap, clap, clap!
Just then, a figure emerged from the woods. It was none other than Nakagawa Ichirō.
"You all did quite well. Especially you, Uchiha Ye Chen. Your strength surprised me."
When did he use a Shadow Clone? Yechen hadn't noticed a thing the entire time.
He had thought his plan had succeeded, only to discover that they had been fighting a Shadow Clone all along.
They really are going easy on us in this year's tests!
"Now, let me announce that you've all passed the test. From today onward, the three of you are the Genin of my Team 7."
"Yeah!"
Abe Rō jumped for joy. Ito Miyuki wore a smile, but her gaze rested on the figure standing ahead of her.
Uchiha Ye Chen, just how much strength are you hiding?
When Yechen had used the Great Fireball, Ito Miyuki had faintly noticed that he was holding back.
"All right, to celebrate the official formation of our Team 7, I'll treat you to barbecue."
At that news, Abe Rō grew even more excited.
"Teacher Nakagawa, you're the best!"
Ding! Congratulations, host, on passing the team assignment test. Reward: one Graduation Gift Pack.
Hearing that notification, Yechen also smiled faintly.
"We're off to eat barbecue!" Abe Rō shouted, pulling Nakagawa Ichirō along as he headed back.
Yechen and Ito Miyuki followed quietly behind.
How long could such a heartwarming moment last?
Afternoon came.
The Uchiha Clan Compound.
Yechen returned home and chuckled as he recalled Nakagawa Ichirō's pained expression when paying the bill.
For the past month, Yechen had eaten nothing but dry rations or Soldier Pills. It had been a long time since he'd enjoyed a proper meal, so naturally, he had eaten his fill.
That single barbecue meal had cost a full ten thousand silver coins.
The Shinobi World's currency conversion was: 1 gold coin = 1,000 silver coins = 1,000,000 copper coins.
Ten thousand silver coins equaled ten gold coins. It would take several C-rank missions to earn that back.
Of course, as a Jonin, Nakagawa Ichirō could afford that much. He simply hadn't expected Yechen and Abe Rō to eat so much that they devoured half a month's spending money.
Those were trivial matters. Yechen gathered his thoughts and turned his attention to the Graduation Gift Pack.
Graduation Gift Pack rewards: Evolution points +100, Spirit-Transforming Fruit +10, Silver coins +1,000.
Yechen knew what two of those were, but what was a Spirit-Transforming Fruit?
Spirit-Transforming Fruit: consuming it gradually improves physical constitution. A single Spirit-Transforming Fruit also keeps hunger at bay for three days.
It was actually a fruit that improved his constitution and staved off hunger. That was far better than Soldier Pills.
Yechen took out a Spirit-Transforming Fruit. It was about the size of a small apple and completely white.
It tasted sweet and fragrant, countless times better than Soldier Pills.
And its ability to improve his constitution was exactly what Yechen needed.