Team 7 assembled, the bell test

Early the next morning, in a classroom at the Ninja Academy.

Sunlight fell through the window frames onto the desks, and tension mingled with excitement in the air. The Graduation Exam was over, and the new graduates were about to receive their team assignments-the true starting point of every student's ninja career.

Iruka stood before the lectern with a roster in his hand, his expression gentle yet solemn. The students sat ramrod straight below him, their eyes glued to the roster as their hearts involuntarily beat faster.

"I'll now announce the team assignments." Iruka opened the roster and swept his gaze across the room. "Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno will form Team 7. Your supervising Jonin is Kakashi Hatake."

A low murmur immediately filled the classroom. A genius, a dead last, and a prospective medic paired with the Copy Ninja made for one of the most closely watched teams of their year. Naruto slapped his desk and sprang to his feet, his face brimming with excitement; Sasuke kept his eyes lowered, the gloom around him undiminished; Sakura blushed and stole a glance at Sasuke, her eyes full of delight.

Iruka raised a hand to quiet them, then changed the subject, looking toward the slender figure in the back row. "In addition, with Lord Hokage's special approval, Lin Chen will temporarily join Team 7 and participate in its initial team assessments and missions. His subsequent assignment will be arranged separately."

His words were a stone that sent a thousand ripples across the water.

The entire classroom erupted.

"What? Lin Chen's going to Team 7 too?"

"Are you kidding? He could crush three Jonin candidates single-handedly, and he's starting with Genin missions alongside us?"

The students were in an uproar, their faces filled with disbelief. Everyone knew Lin Chen's strength had long since surpassed that of a fresh graduate. Assigning him to an ordinary Genin team made no sense whatsoever. Sakura turned to look back in surprise. Sasuke clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white, resentment and humiliation surging within him again-even the team assignments put this man right before him. It was clearly a deliberate attempt to humiliate him. Only Naruto thought nothing of it, waving happily instead. "Wow! With Lin Chen joining us, Team 7's definitely going to be the strongest!"

Lin Chen sat in the back row, lightly tapping the desk with his fingertips, his expression perfectly calm.

He understood it all.

This was no ordinary team assignment. It was a deliberate move by the Third. Putting him in Team 7 served several purposes. First, a Jonin like Kakashi could watch him throughout, making surveillance and control easier. Second, placing him in the destined protagonist's central storyline was an attempt to bind him with team bonds and mission rules, forcing him to follow the prescribed pace. More importantly, Team 7 was a core node anchored by the Heavenly Dao. Placing him there would give the Will of the World greater justification when it imposed corrections to suppress him.

Three birds with one stone. An exquisitely calculated move.

The corners of Lin Chen's lips lifted almost imperceptibly. Trying to pen me up inside the storyline? Fine. Team 7's storyline only offers more opportunities-the Land of Waves mission, the Chunin Ninja Exams, Orochimaru's surprise attack, Uchiha Itachi's return. Which of them isn't a major opportunity rich with resources? Since they're letting me in, I have no intention of holding back. Konoha wants to bind me with the plot, so I'll use that very thread to strip every last destined opportunity bare.

"Lin Chen, do you have any objections?" Iruka asked tentatively.

"No." Lin Chen looked up, his tone flat. "I'll follow the village's arrangements."

His attitude was proper, and he was thoroughly cooperative, leaving no room for fault. Iruka breathed a sigh of relief, gave them a few reminders, then dismissed everyone, telling them to gather at the Training Ground that afternoon for their supervising Jonin's entrance test.

That afternoon, dappled shadows lay across the Training Ground.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura arrived early. They stood in a row, the atmosphere between them delicate. Naruto looked this way and that, occasionally bouncing on his feet; Sasuke leaned against a wall with a cold expression, the oppressive air around him lingering; Sakura clutched the hem of her clothes, both nervous and expectant.

Lin Chen arrived neither early nor late, strolling in at precisely the appointed time. Unlike the others, he wasn't tense. His steps were unhurried and his expression indifferent, as though he had merely come for a walk.

"Lin Chen! You're here!" Naruto immediately waved. "I heard Kakashi-sensei's super strong. We've got to do our best!"

Lin Chen nodded slightly and surveyed the Training Ground. The fluctuations of rules in the air were more pronounced than usual. Several concealed presences lurked deep within the woods-the Third, Root ANBU, and a faint trace of cold chakra that didn't seem to belong to Konoha.

An Akatsuki scout.

A cold glint flashed in Lin Chen's eyes. It looks like the news about the Chunin Ninja Exams being moved forward was true. Akatsuki's people have already infiltrated Konoha ahead of time. The Heavenly Dao's corrections, Konoha's surveillance, scouts from enemy nations-all crammed into this little Training Ground. How lively.

"Yo, you're all here early."

A languid voice came from above a tree trunk. Kakashi leaped down, his white headband fluttering slightly in the breeze. His mask covered his face, leaving only one smiling eye exposed, and he wore the same nonchalant air as ever. "I'm your supervising Jonin, Kakashi Hatake. I'll be handling your initial training and mission assignments."

His gaze passed over the four of them, lingering on Lin Chen for half a second. A hint of complicated emotion flashed in his eye before his lazy, casual demeanor returned.

"The entrance test is simple-take the bells." Kakashi raised a hand to display the two golden bells at his waist. "The four of you have until noon to take these bells from me. Anyone who doesn't get one won't get lunch and will be tied to a post to reflect."

"Huh? Only two bells? How are four people supposed to split them?" Naruto immediately shouted.

"Rules are rules," Kakashi said lightly. "The ninja world has always been about survival of the fittest. If you want to survive, you need to learn to fight for resources."

He recited the usual lines, but he had something else in mind. The Third had specifically instructed him to conduct the test as normal while focusing on observing the limits of Lin Chen's abilities. The standards for ordinary students clearly didn't apply to this unfathomable genius. To his surprise, however, the instant he announced the start of the test, the first to charge wasn't Lin Chen but an impatient Naruto.

"Watch this! Shadow Clone Technique!" Naruto formed hand seals, producing two crooked clones in a burst that lunged at Kakashi with their arms flailing.

Kakashi shook his head helplessly and easily dodged with a flicker of movement. A casual flick of his hand dispersed all of Naruto's clones, while the original fell flat on his face. "Too slow. Too many openings."

Sasuke snorted at the sight, leaping forward and throwing several shuriken before following close behind with a fierce, tricky Taijutsu combination. But before Kakashi, his movements were still pitifully slow. Without even activating his Sharingan, Kakashi sidestepped a few times to evade every attack. A light touch of his fingertips sent Sasuke off balance and staggering backward. Sakura stood rooted to the spot, so nervous that she didn't know what to do with her hands or feet, not daring to step forward.

In just a few minutes, Kakashi had run circles around the three regular graduates. They couldn't even touch the hem of his clothes.

After repelling the three, Kakashi finally turned his gaze to Lin Chen, who hadn't moved an inch.

"Lin Chen, aren't you going to make a move?" His tone was probing, and the chakra throughout his body quietly tightened as he prepared to respond with his full strength.

Everyone's attention instantly converged on him. Naruto looked up from the ground, Sasuke stared hard at him while panting, and Sakura held her breath.

Lin Chen finally moved. He took two slow steps forward. His pace wasn't fast, yet it carried a strange rhythm, as though each step landed on a node in the flow of chakra.

"It's just taking bells. There's no need to make it so complicated."

Lin Chen spoke indifferently, raised his hand, and flicked a fingertip. There were no hand seals, no eruption of ninjutsu, not even a violent fluctuation of chakra. Yet Kakashi's pupil abruptly contracted, and every hair on his body stood on end-his Sharingan clearly saw a nearly imperceptible wind blade glide silently past, cutting precisely toward the cord holding the bells at his waist. Its speed and concealed trajectory far surpassed ordinary Wind Release Ninjutsu!

Kakashi instinctively twisted aside, moving so fast he left an afterimage.

Ding-the bells chimed softly.

He barely evaded the wind blade, but it still grazed the cord at his waist, leaving an extremely fine cut.

Wind Release? Instantly cast? Shock surged through Kakashi's heart. Instantly casting Wind Release without hand seals, with such precision and such fine chakra control, was simply beyond a Genin's abilities. Even a Jonin specializing in Wind Release might not possess such mastery. Little did he know that Lin Chen had plundered the complete explanations of the Five Great Nature Transformations from the Scripture Repository and devoured a Heavenly Dao rule fragment. His chakra control had already reached its pinnacle. Instantly casting basic nature transformation techniques was merely a casual act for him.

"Quick reflexes." Lin Chen's tone was flat, making it impossible to tell whether it was praise or an assessment.

Just then, something suddenly changed!

A savage beast's roar erupted from the woods at the edge of the Training Ground! Crash! Trees toppled in swaths as a giant, pitch-black Ninja Wolf with scarlet eyes burst through the undergrowth and lunged toward the Training Ground, its bloody maw gaping! Its chakra was violent and cold, laden with a thick, uncontrolled killing intent. It was unmistakably a summoned beast tainted by evil energy!

"What is that?!" Naruto cried out in shock. Sakura went deathly pale with fright, and even Sasuke instinctively took a step back.

Kakashi's body instantly tensed, his Sharingan snapping wide open, his eye filled with gravity. "An out-of-control summoned beast? No, this evil energy..." He could clearly sense an unfamiliar, chilling power hidden within the Ninja Wolf, driving it to slaughter madly. This wasn't an ordinary testing accident at all. It was more like a prepared surprise attack! Stranger still, the Ninja Wolf's target was clear: it bypassed Naruto and the other two and lunged straight at Lin Chen.

Hidden in the stands, the Third shot to his feet, even forgetting to smoke his pipe. "What's going on? Who released that summoned beast?!" he demanded sharply of the ANBU behind him. The Root ANBU looked equally bewildered. "Lord Hokage, we didn't arrange this!"

Kakashi's heart sank, and he immediately moved to intercept. But the moment he moved, he saw Lin Chen standing exactly where he was, without shifting his body or even turning around.

At the very instant the Ninja Wolf's enormous claw was about to strike.

Lin Chen tilted his head slightly.

[Ding! Summoned beast Ninja Wolf controlled by an evil power detected!]

[Trace amounts of Akatsuki evil energy and Heavenly Dao rule fragments detected!]

[Available for plunder: ninja beast berserk bloodline, scent-tracking instinct, evil energy resistance, rule fragments!]

[Critical multiplier: sixfold!]

Plunder.

As the thought formed in his mind, an invisible devouring force erupted.

The Ninja Wolf froze abruptly in mid-lunge! Its raging chakra instantly subsided, the blood-red color rapidly faded from its eyes, and the cold evil energy within it was drained completely dry. With a whimpering howl, the giant Ninja Wolf lost all its ferocity. Its massive body slammed heavily into the ground, throwing up a cloud of dust as it passed out completely.

Less than a second passed between its savage attack and its unconscious collapse.

The entire Training Ground fell deathly silent.

Kakashi remained poised mid-charge, his Sharingan wide with shock. The Third froze in the shadows of the stands, unable to recover for a long while. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were utterly dumbstruck, their minds blank. That terrifying giant Ninja Wolf had just collapsed for no apparent reason?

Lin Chen slowly withdrew his gaze, as though he had merely done something insignificant. His fingertips moved slightly, and the two golden bells slipped silently from Kakashi's waist, floating gently into his palm.

A soft jingle rang out.

"I've got the bells." Lin Chen looked up at the thoroughly stunned Kakashi, his tone as casual as if he were saying the weather was nice.

Kakashi looked down at his empty waist, then at the bells in Lin Chen's palm. The corners of his mouth couldn't help twitching. His attention had been on the Ninja Wolf the whole time, and he hadn't noticed at all when the bells were taken. The gap in their strength had become so great that even he struggled to comprehend it.

"...The test is over." Kakashi took a deep breath and composed himself. "Everyone passes."

The original rule was to eliminate one person, but in the face of someone on Lin Chen's level, the rules had long since lost their meaning. More importantly, that summoned beast's surprise attack had been far too strange.

He looked at Lin Chen and asked gravely, "Do you know where that Ninja Wolf came from?"

"No idea." Lin Chen shook his head indifferently. "Probably an out-of-control ninja beast that escaped from somewhere."

Naturally, he wouldn't reveal the truth. That Ninja Wolf had carried both Akatsuki's evil energy and Heavenly Dao rule fragments. It was clearly a probing attempt at suppression orchestrated by the Will of the World through an Akatsuki scout. It wanted both to test his strength and to shift the blame onto Akatsuki, accomplishing two goals in one move. Unfortunately, it had merely handed him more spoils. Not only had it failed to harm him in the slightest, but it had delivered a ninja beast bloodline, evil energy resistance, and rule fragments, giving him a better understanding of Akatsuki's power.

In the shadows, the Third slowly sat down, his brows tightly knitted and his expression utterly grave. "Investigate! Investigate this thoroughly, immediately! How did a summoned beast carrying evil energy get inside Konoha?!" He knew this matter was anything but simple. Taken together with all the previous strange incidents, it gave him a faint premonition-a storm that would sweep across the Shinobi World was quietly approaching, and Lin Chen, this unpredictable variable, stood at its very center.

With the test over, the others dispersed to rest and recover. Kakashi called Lin Chen aside.

At the edge of the Training Ground, the wind rustled the leaves.

"Three days from now, there's a C-rank mission: an escort to the Land of Waves," Kakashi said solemnly. "If you don't want to go, you can request a different assignment." He had a vague feeling that this mission wouldn't be peaceful.

Lin Chen looked up, a faint gleam flashing in his eyes.

The Land of Waves mission. Team 7's first important mission in the original plot, and the plot node where Zabuza and Haku appear and Orochimaru's Spy begins infiltrating. The Heavenly Dao really can't wait to push me into the storyline.

"No need to change it." Lin Chen's voice was calm, carrying an unquestionable certainty. "I'll go."

He had just been worrying about having no opportunities to harvest more gains. Zabuza's Kubikiribōchō and Silent Killing Technique, Haku's Ice Release Kekkei Genkai-they were all prime prey delivered right to his door.

Kakashi looked into his calm eyes and finally just nodded, offering no further persuasion. He had a feeling that this journey to the Land of Waves was destined to be anything but peaceful. And Lin Chen, this sharp blade, would ultimately unleash an edge on a true battlefield that would make the entire Shinobi World tremble.