Testing Before the Exercise

"Special Jonin? Beaten into the hospital?"

Sasuke Uchiha raised his head in confusion, staring at the expressionless blond boy before him. He could not help saying, "Hey, what kind of joke is that!"

That was because he still lived in the Uchiha Clan Compound.

There was also a dedicated training ground near the compound, and he had arrived too early today, so he had not heard the latest gossip from around the village.

Obviously, the other person present knew about it.

Sakura Haruno spoke timidly. "I heard that rumor yesterday too. Sasuke might not know because he lives too far away... But no matter how I think about it, something like that seems impossible!"

Sakura Haruno glanced at Naruto Uzumaki beside her and could not help adding, "A Special Jonin might not be as strong as a Jonin, but they are still much stronger than Chunin!"

"Naruto just graduated. He was the Dead Last at the academy. No matter how you look at it, that news has to be fake, right?"

"..."

Sasuke Uchiha ignored Sakura Haruno's explanation. He looked at the bored Naruto Uzumaki. He knew a thing or two about this guy...

Back at the Ninja Academy, Sasuke had known very clearly that with Naruto Uzumaki's brain, he was the kind of person who could never keep his thoughts hidden!

Sasuke's eye twitched as he gritted his teeth inwardly. Had this guy already become capable of defeating a ninja at the level of a Special Jonin?

If he wanted to surpass that achievement, then he would have to defeat a Jonin!

Although Sasuke knew full well that he might not be able to defeat a Jonin head-on in his current state, there was a barely suitable opportunity before him—the Survival Exercise assessment mentioned by Kakashi Hatake!

The problem was... Kakashi Hatake still had not arrived. Just how long was he planning to be late?!

"I have some intel on our Jonin instructor..."

Naruto Uzumaki pulled a notebook from his pocket. Twirling a pen in his hand, he scribbled and drew in it as he spoke. "I got it from Teuchi, the owner of Ichiraku Ramen, and Ayame. I was afraid I'd forget, so I jotted down the important parts on the way here."

Sasuke snorted disdainfully. "Tch. What useful intel could a ramen shop owner and a waitress possibly provide?"

Sakura Haruno chimed in from the side. "Yeah, they're just ordinary people, while we're ninja! That Kakashi is a Jonin from the village. They probably don't even understand ninjutsu, so how could their intel be useful?"

"Fine, it looks like neither of you care."

Naruto Uzumaki rubbed his forehead helplessly and closed his notebook. "If I confirm the intel is accurate, I'll share it with you if you need it."

"Hmph, keep it to yourself!"

Sasuke Uchiha reached down and rubbed his lower abdomen.

The sun rose as usual.

As time passed, the weather grew hotter and hotter.

What puzzled Sasuke was that Naruto Uzumaki, who had clearly never been able to sit still at the Ninja Academy, was showing a rare amount of patience.

It was not until after ten o'clock that Kakashi Hatake finally appeared before the three listless children and waved. "Yo, you all got here early!"

Sakura Haruno flailed her arms furiously. "Hey, you're obviously the one who's late! We've been waiting here for more than five hours!"

Sasuke Uchiha frowned. "Jonin can be late too?"

"No, I'm just a special case!"

Kakashi Hatake pushed up the forehead protector that was threatening to slip off his head. He glanced at the silent Naruto Uzumaki beside him and said, "Given that one of you put on a very impressive performance in yesterday's battle, I'll be increasing the difficulty of the Survival Exercise assessment!"

"Huh? Why?!"

Sakura Haruno was the first to voice her displeasure.

She had finally been assigned to the same class as Sasuke!

Sasuke Uchiha merely waved it off. "Whatever. Let's just get this assessment over with quickly! I still need to get back to training..."

Naruto Uzumaki spread his hands. "I feel like I'm probably that so-called one student. Can I offer some suggestions?"

"No."

The Jonin instructor shook his head with a smile. He took out two jingling bells and stared at his three subordinates. "Before noon, you must take these two bells from me. Only those who get a bell will be qualified to graduate..."

"That means at least one of you will fail the assessment..."

"Or perhaps none of you will pass, and all three of you will be sent back to the Ninja Academy to start over..."

"And to show you my respect..."

Kakashi Hatake's expression gradually turned serious. "I'll fight at full strength. Ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu... I might even use S-rank Forbidden Jutsu!"

Sakura Haruno's little face turned pale with fright. "This kind of assessment could kill us! Do we really have to eliminate one person?!"

"Using S-rank... Forbidden Jutsu..."

Sasuke Uchiha's expression darkened as well. The only techniques he had mastered were C-rank ninjutsu, yet the moment he left the academy, he had to face S-rank Forbidden Jutsu!

Was this masked man really not just looking for an excuse to beat them up?

"I have a question!"

Naruto Uzumaki held his notebook in his hand and spoke word by word. "According to the intel I gathered, Sensei Kakashi should be someone who values his teammates..."

"If we follow Sensei Kakashi's assessment rules, one of us is bound to be eliminated. Wouldn't that leave our team incomplete?"

"..."

Kakashi Hatake froze. He looked at the little notebook in Naruto Uzumaki's hand, then wiped the sweat from his forehead. "You don't need to worry about that. The village will arrange for another Genin to join this team when the time comes..."

"As for the intel you gathered, it's all wrong! Teammates are not irreplaceable. They're just expendable tools for completing missions!"

By the end of his words, Kakashi Hatake's face suddenly became ferocious, instantly frightening the three little members of Team Seven!

He had thought Naruto Uzumaki's talent was already troublesome enough!

Who would have thought he was even trickier than expected! He clearly looked like a brainless fool, so why was he keeping intelligence notes now?!

If Kakashi did not scare him a little, he would expose the true nature of the assessment right away!

Naruto Uzumaki sighed and slipped the notebook back into his pocket. Seemingly casually, he asked, "I see. It looks like the intel I gathered is completely useless. Then, Sensei Kakashi, do you remember the teammates who sacrificed themselves?"

"I don't."

More and more cold sweat appeared on Kakashi Hatake's forehead. He could not help raising a hand to wipe it away as he forced himself to act cold. "Those who died because they lacked strength were worthless trash not worth wasting memories on."

Sakura Haruno's expression grew uglier and uglier. "..."

Even Sasuke Uchiha, fresh out of the academy, was somewhat horrified. "..."

Naruto Uzumaki added another jab from the side. "It looks like there's no other interpretation of these assessment rules. One of us is destined to be eliminated..."

Sakura Haruno snapped, "Shut up!"

"But some of the intel was true. I heard Sensei Kakashi had a terrible relationship with one of his teammates! It seems that guy later died in battle. Was his name Runtu?"

"His name was Obito."

Kakashi Hatake corrected him, then lowered his head and looked at Naruto Uzumaki. "Well done. In just one day, you managed to find out even that."

"That name feels somewhat familiar to me too."

Naruto Uzumaki grinned as he looked at Kakashi Hatake. "As his teammate at the time, how could Sensei Kakashi possibly forget his name?"

"Enough. If you can't take the bells from my hand..."

Kakashi Hatake shook his head and spoke with a serious expression. "No matter how much intel you gather, it will be useless!"

"Begin!"

Second update

Kakashi: Sensei Minato, there's a problem.

Minato Namikaze: Tell me what happened first...

Kakashi: Your son is a little devious.

Minato Namikaze: Hm? Is it because of the Jinchuriki issue?

Kakashi: It's much more troublesome than that. That rotten mouth of his is getting more and more irritating!

Minato Namikaze: Well, it's still better than Kushina's fists, right?

Kakashi: True...