Teamwork

If Minato Shadow Clone had chosen to keep attacking Kakashi at that moment, the best he could have hoped for was mutual injury.

So Minato Shadow Clone decisively released Kakashi.

He leaped backward again and again as kunai struck the dirt beside his feet in rapid succession, making sharp hissing sounds.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

At last, Minato Shadow Clone had retreated a full four or five meters.

But the moment his feet touched down and he steadied himself, Obito's attack followed.

Obito had finished the hand seals for the Great Fireball Technique while running.

He held one palm upright before him and tipped his head back slightly.

His puffed cheeks deflated as a mass of flames erupted from his mouth.

The flames formed a huge fireball that rolled toward Minato Shadow Clone.

Minato Shadow Clone slid backward several meters across the ground.

He showed no panic as the huge fireball rolled toward him.

He dropped into a sideways roll.

The huge fireball rolled past less than half a meter from him, leaving a long scorched trail across the ground.

As soon as he regained his footing, Minato Shadow Clone swept a hand past his waist, and three specially shaped kunai appeared in his palm.

With a flick of his wrist, he threw them.

The kunai whistled through the air, flying toward Rin, Kakashi, and Obito respectively.

"Obito! Leave it to me!"

Rin's small face was grave. She had already moved into position between Kakashi and Obito.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Clutching kunai in both hands, Rin threw them once more.

The tips of Rin's three kunai collided with the tips of Minato's three kunai.

Sparks flew as a series of metallic clashes rang out.

The forward momentum of all six kunai canceled out, sending them ricocheting aside.

What Obito had quietly told Rin earlier was to keep her eyes on Minato's kunai.

Because all of Minato's kunai carried special Flying Thunder God markings, they couldn't give him a chance to get close.

As for the main offensive, Obito would handle that.

"Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Technique!"

By then, Obito had already finished the hand seals for his next ninjutsu.

He held two fingers upright before him, and as his puffed cheeks deflated, basketball-sized fireballs shot from his mouth one after another.

The fireballs followed winding trajectories, rushing toward Minato ahead with a roaring sound.

"Those two..."

Kakashi was still a little stunned, standing frozen in place.

He hadn't expected Obito and Rin to work together so seamlessly.

With Kakashi's intelligence, he naturally understood that this was a case of one plus one adding up to more than two.

Rin wasn't particularly strong on her own.

But all she had to do was stay within her assigned role and find ways to intercept Minato's kunai.

That alone was still an easy task for Rin.

Were they discussing this battle plan just now?

A trace of puzzlement appeared in Kakashi's eyes.

He tightened his grip on his short blade and charged in again, rushing toward Minato Shadow Clone nearby.

Obito and Kakashi engaged Minato's shadow clone together.

After an exchange of taijutsu blows,

Obito finally succeeded in using genjutsu to restrain Minato's shadow clone.

Then Kakashi drove his short blade into Minato Shadow Clone, making him burst into white smoke and securing their victory in the test.

The genjutsu Obito had used wasn't Sharingan genjutsu.

Instead, it was a genjutsu he had copied from Kurenai, called Tree Binding Death.

Kurenai's family genjutsu was, in fact, a high-level technique.

But Minato also had quick reflexes and had done extensive research into breaking genjutsu.

As a result, even a powerful genjutsu like Tree Binding Death, cast by Obito, had only restrained Minato for one second.

If Obito had used his Sharingan genjutsu against Minato Shadow Clone, however, that would have been another story.

He probably wouldn't have broken free so easily.

"You three did well!"

Minato jumped down from the tree and looked at the three of them with a smile.

"Obito, were you making a battle plan when you whispered to Rin earlier?"

Minato had watched the entire fight clearly.

Obito and Rin had clearly defined roles.

Rin provided cover while Obito led the attack. They had plainly been following a plan.

"Yes, Minato-sensei!" Obito nodded.

"Good! Very well done!"

Minato nodded in satisfaction, then turned to Rin. "Rin, tell me, what did Obito say to you earlier?"

"Huh?" Rin hesitated slightly. She turned to glance at Kakashi, but ultimately answered honestly:

"Obito said Kakashi was sure to rush in recklessly and fight you, so he asked me to find a way to cover him."

"Then, during the fight, all I needed to do was watch your shadow clone from the perimeter and find ways to keep you from getting close with your special Flying Thunder God kunai."

The more Minato heard, the more surprised he became.

Although the battle plan sounded very simple,

Obito had managed to devise it so quickly with limited information, and had also known to make use of teamwork. That was truly remarkable.

This little fellow... he has real leadership potential.

Minato looked at Obito and silently mused to himself.

But he soon collected his thoughts, swept his gaze over the three of them, and continued:

"The main focus of this graduation test was actually teamwork!"

"Before coming here, I thoroughly investigated all three of your abilities!"

"Kakashi and Obito are both outstanding, but neither of you could defeat my shadow clone one-on-one."

"That's why I came up with this test-to help you understand what teamwork means."

As he spoke, Minato's gaze settled on Kakashi.

"Kakashi, I'm sure you realize this too, but rushing in alone at the start was far too reckless."

"When you don't know how strong your enemy is, doing that is extremely dangerous."

Though those weren't particularly harsh words,

Kakashi knew they were all true, and he felt a little irritated.

"Yeah... I understand, Minato-sensei."

Kakashi answered expressionlessly.

But inwardly, he was considering how, once he fully mastered his new technique, his strength would surely increase greatly, giving him the confidence to win a fight alone.

Minato nodded in satisfaction. "Good. From this moment on, Team 7 is officially formed."

"You three should head home and rest."

"Meet by the bridge outside the Ninja Academy at eight tomorrow morning. We'll begin our official ninja missions."

"Understood, Minato-sensei!" Rin and Obito answered in unison.

Kakashi nodded impassively, turned, and walked straight away.

Minato's figure flickered as well, and he vanished using the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Rin addressed Obito. "Obito, you really saved me back there. Without you, I wouldn't have known what to do."

Rin meant every word.

She knew that, among the three of them, Kakashi and Obito were both quite strong.

If all three of them had charged in together to fight Minato's shadow clone, she might have ended up being a burden instead.

But with Obito's plan for her to provide support from the perimeter, Rin had immediately been able to demonstrate her strengths and advantages.

That made her especially happy.

Obito scratched his head and smiled. "It was nothing, Rin. We're a team, after all. Like Minato-sensei said, teamwork is important."