The Traditional Bell-Grabbing Exercise (Part 1)

"Meikyō, Nami, Ryo."

At Training Ground 14, a blue-haired handsome man leaning against a large tree waved at Meikyō and the others, who had arrived fully equipped.

He was Dan Katō.

Meikyō had brought a wakizashi today, which he had bought with the one hundred thousand ryō Fugaku had funded him with a few days ago.

For one thing, a wakizashi was cheaper than a proper tachi. For another, a tachi's blade was too long for Meikyō's current build.

After several days of practice and Uchiha Yu's guidance, he had barely managed to get started on the first half of Uchiha Style Swordsmanship.

According to Uchiha Yu, the entire first half of Uchiha Style Swordsmanship was meant to lay the foundation for the second half.

And if one could master Uchiha Style Swordsmanship to its utmost limits, one could become one of the Ninja World's strongest. However, compared to honing their swordsmanship, most Uchiha preferred to strengthen their Sharingan as their primary means of increasing combat power.

"Teacher Kato! What are the requirements for the combat exercise? Tetsu Maru and I are ready!"

Inuzuka Ryo looked eager to show off his skills, while Tetsu Maru howled and ran happily through the group.

"Today's combat exercise is about this."

Dan Katō stretched out his hand and shook the two bells in it at his three subordinates.

So it really was bell-grabbing!

Just as I thought, Meikyō thought.

This was also one of Konoha's old traditions. It had first been invented by the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, to emphasize the necessity of unity and cooperation. Later, Jiraiya passed it on to Minato, Minato passed it on to Kakashi, and finally Kakashi passed it on to Naruto and the others, expanding it into even more concepts.

Because bell-grabbing truly tested the various abilities and attitudes of newly graduated genin, it had long since spread among Jonin Instructors.

Kibata and the others were probably grabbing bells from their Jonin Instructor at this very moment as well.

"The objective of the exercise is to take these two bells from me. Only those who get one will pass."

Dan Katō wore another bright smile, though it looked somewhat like a mischievous grin.

"So only two of us can pass?"

Aburame Nami asked, pushing up her sunglasses.

Dan Katō smiled and nodded.

"Nami is right. You may begin now. And Nami, that was an excellent sneak attack, but it won't be of any use against a Jonin."

As Dan Katō spoke, he suddenly turned and dodged a hand made of black insects that attacked from behind him.

"Alright, it's started! Tetsu Maru, we—"

"Ryo, wait."

Meikyō reached out and pressed down on Inuzuka Ryo and Nami's shoulders, signaling them not to act rashly.

"Teacher Kato is a Jonin. With our strength, if we don't adopt suitable tactics and attack head-on, we absolutely won't achieve anything. Before that, we should minimize unnecessary probing and avoid exposing our own information."

Inuzuka Ryo scratched his head, feeling that Meikyō's words did seem to make some sense.

"Oh? You really won't probe me? In that case, while I may not know your information, you don't know mine either. Besides, I was the examiner for your graduation assessment. Do you really think I don't know your information?"

Dan Katō looked at Meikyō and the others with a teasing smile.

He really wanted to know how Meikyō and the others would react next.

"Teacher Kato."

Meikyō looked into Dan Katō's azure eyes and said:

"An elder in my clan once taught me some things from his experience. Probing is itself part of a tactic, and knowing that the enemy understands some of your information is also important information in itself."

When Uchiha Yu had bragged about his accomplishments in his youth, he had mentioned some related experience to him. Though it differed somewhat from what Meikyō had said, the meaning was essentially the same, so Meikyō was not exactly making things up.

"Is that so? It seems you have an excellent elder, Meikyō. But how long will it take you to discuss your tactics? Never mind, I'll give you an hour. I'll go rest and come back later."

With that, Dan Katō put both hands behind his head and sauntered away.

Meikyō immediately understood. Dan Katō was deliberately finding an excuse to leave, giving them enough time to prepare their tactics.

Afterward, Meikyō pulled Inuzuka Ryo and Aburame Nami to a secluded corner to discuss things.

"Let's first share the information each of us has gathered."

Surprisingly, the usually quiet Aburame Nami was the first to speak.

Inuzuka Ryo, who had been rubbing Tetsu Maru's head, froze.

He had never even considered gathering information.

"Master Dan is actually quite famous in the village. According to my father, he is one of the few Jonin ranked only below the Konoha White Fang. He has completed twenty-two S-rank missions, one hundred and three A-rank missions, and two hundred and eleven B-rank missions. There's no need to mention C-rank and D-rank missions. In short, his mission record alone shows that Master Dan is truly one of the village's finest ninja. Taking bells from him will be far more difficult than facing an ordinary Jonin."

Aburame Nami said all that in one breath, as though she wanted to make up for everything she had not said before, or perhaps say everything she needed to say at once so she would not have to speak afterward.

"The information I gathered is similar to Nami's. But I heard Master Dan is highly skilled in a certain kind of forbidden technique. Still, I don't think he would use it against us. At the very least, since Master Dan is giving us this test, it means he will definitely give us a chance to pass."

"Next, let's each explain the abilities we possess so we can formulate suitable tactics."

Meikyō said as he looked at Aburame Nami and Inuzuka Ryo.

Of course, he understood that the purpose of Konoha's old bell-grabbing tradition was to test the importance of teamwork.

And with Hatake Sakumo not yet having met with disaster, this test had not yet developed the additional meaning of the importance of comrades.

Since he knew what Dan Katō was trying to do, as long as his teammates did not act recklessly, Meikyō was fairly confident that he could lead the team through this little test.

And judging from their current behavior, neither of his teammates was a problem child. Aburame Nami was quiet, while Inuzuka Ryo, though also easygoing and outgoing, had clearly received a good education due to his background. He would not be as noisy and impulsive as Naruto.

If his little team were really like the future Team 7 or Team Minato, with too many people whose personalities stood out too strongly, getting them to work together would probably be quite troublesome. And if they were caught up in the glory of being the main characters during wartime, their chances of survival on the battlefield would likely be worrying.