"That friend must be Teacher Mokgetsu," Obito thought to himself, having been too shocked by Kakashi earlier. Now that he thought about it, it was quite strange for Minato to become his guiding teacher.
After saying goodbye to Teacher Mokgetsu, it turned out the new guiding teacher was very similar to Teacher Mokgetsu, Namikaze Minato.
"My name is Nohara Rin. I like planting flowers and drawing, hate war, and my dream is to save more people injured in war and make it disappear," Nohara Rin introduced herself.
"I'm Uchiha Obito. I like many kinds of food, anything made by Teacher Mokgetsu, and I hate doing problems and war. My dream is to become Hokage and end the war," Obito followed closely.
Upon hearing Obito's dream, Minato gave him an approving look.
"I'm Hatake Kakashi. If I have to say what I like, currently it's cultivation, but as for my dream, I don't really want to say," Kakashi thought for a moment before speaking.
In fact, his dream was to protect his companions, but with Obito here, wasn't it like telling Obito directly that he wanted to protect him? Kakashi found it hard to even think about it.
"That's almost like saying nothing," Obito remarked helplessly, as such concise self-introductions already lacked content, and Kakashi further left things unsaid.
Kakashi remained indifferent, completely ignoring Obito's words.
"Since everyone knows each other now, it's time to start our first training," Minato said with a smile while taking out two bells.
"This training is mainly to enhance your teamwork skills. If you can snatch a bell from my hand together, it will be considered a success."
This was a training secret Minato had learned from those old guiding Jonin, all of whom spoke highly of it.
"So why are there only two bells? Is it that the whole team succeeds if we take even one bell, or does only the person who takes a bell succeed?" Obito asked curiously.
At the beginning of their internship, Teacher Mokgetsu also made them snatch bells, but she used three.
Minato was stumped by Obito's question. Now he also felt it was strange why there were only two bells, suggesting there must be a hidden meaning, as the training wouldn't deliberately eliminate someone.
"Because there are only two bells on me now. But as long as any one of you grabs it, it counts as passing," Minato said after a moment of confusion.
He remembered that the key to this training, as explained by an old Jonin yesterday, was to "go easy" once students were observed making earnest attempts at teamwork attacks, pretending to be careless so the students can grab the bells.
"If you can't complete it, this training will continue until you do. You can attack me at any time," Minato reminded them after hanging the bells on his waist.
He wasn't clear about Rin's specific strength, but both Obito and Kakashi had decent Taijutsu, as he had seen them train once; their movements were pretty fast.
After explaining, Minato leaned against a tree and started reading a book, quietly waiting for Kakashi and the others to initiate their attack.
"If they fail to grab the bells, should I console them or act more sternly?" Minato wondered absent-mindedly as he read.
It was his first time teaching students, and they were all disciples of Mokgetsu. If he didn't teach them well, how could he explain it to her?
"Obito, Kakashi, have you two done similar training before? You guys don't seem surprised at all," Nohara Rin asked curiously, gathering Obito and Kakashi together.
Kakashi was hard to say, but from what she knew of Obito, he would definitely ask questions.
As Nohara Rin expected, Obito nodded and replied, "Yes, during the internship, Teacher Mokgetsu also made us snatch bells."
"That's a bit disappointing. If only I had been selected back then," Nohara Rin felt regretful. Having no experience was troublesome for her; she didn't want to be the team's burden.
"It's actually nothing. This training is about the team's cooperation. Experience or not, it's the same," Obito reassured her with a smile.
Having been taught by Mokgetsu for so long, Obito realized the importance of information. While Mokgetsu remained a mystery, they at least knew some of her abilities, unlike Minato, who was unfamiliar to them. So, he thought trying to snatch bells from different people meant there was no such thing as having experience.
"The only known information for now is that Captain Minato is very strong, possessing a super-speed Instant Body Jutsu. We need to collect more information," Kakashi chimed in.
They knew Minato was strong from Mokgetsu's words, and they had seen the Instant Body during battle; it was unbelievably fast.
"We should set up traps, collect information, and lead him to the trap zone," Kakashi began to devise a strategy.
In facing an opponent as strong as Minato, better traps could provide them with more opportunities.
"Rin, come with me. I've learned a lot of traps from Teacher Mokgetsu," Obito, prepared to show off his skills, didn't oppose Kakashi's leadership.
Despite having bested Kakashi before, Obito knew he wasn't good with tactics and strategies, so he decided not to compete with Kakashi.
"Here, here, and there," Kakashi observed the positions and began setting traps with Obito and Rin.
Having suffered at Mokgetsu's hands, Kakashi dispatched his Shadow Clone to closely watch Minato while setting traps, wary of Minato using a Shadow Clone to distract them.
Traps set, Kakashi learned from his Shadow Clone that Minato hadn't moved and proceeded to the next step.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Obito quickly formed seals, Chakra gathering in his throat, and spat a three-meter-high fireball toward Minato's position.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!
Kakashi threw a slew of shurikens to reduce Minato's evasion space.
"Fire Release: Flame Bomb!"
Minato didn't evade; instead, he smiled slightly, forming seals and executing a Fire Release ninjutsu.
In battles, he rarely used Five Major Basic Elements Transformation Ninjutsu because the seals required were incompatible with his specialty, the Flying Thunder God. But that didn't mean Minato didn't know these techniques; after all, he hadn't mastered the Flying Thunder God immediately upon becoming a ninja. He had practiced a fair amount of Wind and Fire Releases earlier.
A blazing flame formed a giant fireball from Minato's mouth, neutralizing Obito's Great Fireball, and continued to advance toward Obito and Kakashi.
"Fire Release…" Kakashi silently noted this jutsu before dodging.
Kakashi gave Obito a glance, to which Obito tacitly nodded, and they both headed toward the trap zone.
The students began their assault, and Teacher Minato, assuming they were ready, immediately pursued them.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!
As soon as Minato entered the woods, Nohara Rin activated the traps laid out, sending a barrage of shurikens at him.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough."
All along, Minato had been on guard, having not seen Nohara Rin. He quickly employed Wind Release to blow away all incoming hidden weapons.
"He also mastered Wind Release," Kakashi noted another piece of information. Most Jonin had mastery over two types of Nature Transformation.
"Leaf Great Whirlwind!"
As the hidden weapons were sent flying, Obito rushed in, performing a Tornado Kick on Minato.
"The coordination is decent, but it would be better if someone else attacked with you," Minato dodged Obito's attack, seized his leg, and lifted him while smiling, puzzled why Kakashi didn't attack simultaneously.
"Hehe, Senior Minato, you'd better be careful next time. We have more than just this up our sleeves," Obito giggled without a hint of panic.
Minato threw Obito toward a big tree nearby.
Bang!
Obito dissipated in a puff of smoke; it was a Shadow Clone.
"Shadow Clones being able to perform such a level of Fire Release suggests they're more exceptional than I thought," Minato was a little taken aback.
He didn't have time to think further, as Kakashi and the others maintained a tight attack rhythm. Immediately, two large wooden stakes swung toward him.