Early the next morning, Kazuhiko Uchiha left home and headed to a jewelry shop on Konoha Commercial Street. He sold the diamond necklace he had bought with dollars in the mission spacetime for eight hundred thousand ryō in Shinobi World currency.
Wealthy for the first time, Kazuhiko Uchiha went on a wild shopping spree. He bought a fine Black Iron Katana worth four hundred thousand ryō, ten Explosive Tags at five thousand ryō apiece, a bottle of ten premium Military Ration Pills at fifteen thousand ryō each, and a pile of small ninja tools such as kunai and shuriken worth two hundred thousand ryō altogether.
Once he finished shopping, Kazuhiko Uchiha had breakfast at Ichiraku Ramen, then headed to his classroom and sat down to wait for that day's graduating team assignments.
Half an hour later, a Ninja Academy teacher appeared at the podium, took out a list, and announced the teams.
Team One: Romen Hyuga, Kuhisa Nara, Yasuta Ueda
Team Five: Kazuhiko Uchiha, Yū Inuzuka, Kaori Ikemoto
Team Twelve: Tsuki Ohno, Yoichi Higashiyama, Mei Shirakawa
Soon, all of that year's graduates had been assigned. After a few words of encouragement, the Academy teacher handed the remaining time over to the captains responsible for leading the new graduates.
This graduating class was unremarkable in both talent and standing, so the higher-ups paid them little attention. Most of their captains only had Chunin-level strength. There were just three Special Jōnin captains, each leading a team that included members of Konoha's ninja clans.
"Team Five, follow me."
A fierce-looking ninja with several ugly scars on his right cheek stepped forward. He waved Kazuhiko Uchiha and the other two over, then led the way out the door.
Kazuhiko Uchiha exchanged glances with his two future teammates before following Team Five's captain out.
The captain did not stop until they reached Training Ground Number Seventeen in the village. Turning to the three of them, he said, "I'm Special Jōnin Toma Furukawa, and I specialize in Earth Release. You can call me Captain Tōma or Teacher Tōma. I'll be your captain for the foreseeable future."
Once all three nodded their understanding, Captain Tōma continued, "To help us work together better on future missions, let's follow the usual custom and introduce ourselves so we can get to know one another."
Yū Inuzuka, who wore the Inuzuka Clan's signature face paint and held a black ninja dog in his arms, immediately volunteered. "I'll go first! My name is Yū Inuzuka, and this is my partner, Jūbimaru. I specialize in my clan's Taijutsu and reconnaissance. I like taking walks with Jūbimaru, and my dream is to raise him into the strongest ninja dog."
"Woof, woof..." The little black dog named Jūbimaru barked along.
"Kazuhiko Uchiha. I specialize in Taijutsu and Fire Release." After Yū Inuzuka finished, Kazuhiko Uchiha wrapped up his own introduction in just a few words.
He wasted no words, giving off a faint air of aloofness. In that respect, he certainly lived up to his Uchiha surname.
"I'm Kaori Ikemoto. I specialize in genjutsu and Medical Ninjutsu, though I'm not very good at either yet. I'll work even harder from now on, and I look forward to learning from all of you."
Kaori Ikemoto was a lively girl with short brown hair and a gentle smile. Her blue eyes shone with the energy and enthusiasm expected of someone her age, a stark contrast to Kazuhiko Uchiha's mature mindset.
"It looks like our team has a fairly well-rounded set of skills." Captain Tōma nodded in satisfaction after hearing their introductions, then shifted to a serious tone. "But to get a clearer picture of your abilities, we'll now have a simple combat test. Any objections?"
"No," the three members of Team Five answered in unison.
As rookie ninja just starting out, they naturally had to follow their captain's arrangements. None of the three in Team Five were troublemakers, and no one questioned him.
"Good. Then the test will begin in five minutes. Your task is to last five minutes against my shadow clone. Of course, it only has the strength of an elite Chunin."
Captain Tōma clearly regarded them as ordinary Genin and had not set them a particularly difficult test. After speaking, he left a shadow clone standing where he was, while his real body leaped onto a distant raised platform to watch.
"Kazuhiko, Yū, what should we do?"
Kaori Ikemoto, the weakest fighter among them, glanced at Captain Tōma's shadow clone, then turned to discuss their next move with her teammates.
"How about this? Kazuhiko and I will fight head-on, while you stay back and try to disrupt Captain Tōma with genjutsu. What do you think, Kazuhiko?"
As Kazuhiko Uchiha's classmate, Tsume Inuzuka knew something of his previous strength and offered her suggestion. Unfortunately, she had no idea that the current Kazuhiko Uchiha was already far stronger than he had been yesterday.
"That works." Kazuhiko Uchiha had no objections and agreed.
Although this was supposedly a test of their individual abilities, it was also testing their teamwork. So even though Kazuhiko Uchiha was confident he could hold his own against the shadow clone alone, he did not refuse to cooperate with his teammates.
The five minutes passed quickly. At Captain Tōma's signal, Kazuhiko Uchiha and Yū Inuzuka sprang into action.
"Four Legs Technique! Fang Over Fang!"
Yū Inuzuka used his clan's secret technique, gathering chakra in his limbs and crouching on the ground like a beast. Then he spun rapidly, charging at the shadow clone like a drill.
Although he was not a Taijutsu specialist, the shadow clone still possessed a Special Jōnin's perceptiveness and easily saw through Yū Inuzuka's movements. As Yū approached, he reached out and seized his right arm, forcing him to stop spinning, then sent him flying with a kick.
"Konoha Whirlwind!"
Taking advantage of the opening as the shadow clone attacked, Kazuhiko Uchiha abruptly dashed to his side and aimed a side kick at his waist.
Naturally, the shadow clone would not let Kazuhiko Uchiha land the kick. He raised his right arm to block, then clenched his left hand into a fist and struck at Kazuhiko's chest.
Kazuhiko Uchiha sidestepped the blow, retreated several paces to create distance, and rapidly formed hand seals.
Just as the shadow clone was about to pursue him, Kaori Ikemoto fulfilled her supporting role and immediately unleashed the genjutsu she had prepared.
"Genjutsu: Drowsiness!"
A wave of fatigue washed over the shadow clone's mind, making him drowsy. But in less than a second, he dispelled the rudimentary genjutsu.
"Now, Jūbimaru! Beast-Man Clone! Fang Over Fang!"
Seizing that brief delay, Yū Inuzuka and Jūbimaru, who had transformed into his likeness, coordinated to unleash their combined secret technique-Fang Over Fang.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"
Kazuhiko Uchiha also locked onto the shadow clone with his mental power. Flames shaped like balsam seeds spewed from his mouth and, guided by his primal energy, shot toward the area around the shadow clone, limiting his room to dodge.
Caught in their pincer attack, the shadow clone could no longer remain as relaxed as before and used his first ninjutsu.
"Earth Release: Double Mud Wall!"
Two solid earthen walls rose in front of the shadow clone, blocking their attacks separately. Then, exploiting the brief sluggishness when Yū Inuzuka's secret technique ended, he rushed up beside Yū and Jūbimaru and knocked them both unconscious with knife-hand strikes.
"Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu!"
The shadow clone used another Earth Release technique and vanished into the ground.
Kazuhiko Uchiha warily leaped into the air, only to discover that the shadow clone had appeared beneath Kaori Ikemoto, grabbed her feet, and dragged her into the earth.
After dealing with two of them in one go, the shadow clone emerged from the ground again and fixed his gaze on Kazuhiko Uchiha, the sole remaining opponent.
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