Hiruzen stood atop the Hokage Tower, hands resting on the railing as he looked out over the village.
The rooftops stretched endlessly beneath the evening sky, windows beginning to light up one by one.
"Well?" he asked, seemingly to no one, "First impressions?"
Hayate Gekkō slowly turned visible behind him.
"They don't fit," he said.
"One's too loud. One's too unsure. And the third…" He paused. "The third is already thinking about the end of his career."
Hiruzen turned, slightly amused. "Oh? Which one was that?"
"Takumi," Hayate replied. "Said his dream is to retire early and sleep until ten."
Hiruzen laughed out loud, "Hahaha, sounds like he and I share the same dream."
Hayate didn't smile. He knew that a ninja could never retire; it was his duty to serve the village till his last breath.
cough cough
"Too bad, for a shinobi, some dreams can only be just that," Hiruzen finally said with a serious face, and Hayate nodded.
"I know, Hokage-sama."
Hiruzen tapped his pipe against the railing.
"You must be wondering why I've assigned you a squad that's unlikely to pass the test."
"Not at all," Hayate replied calmly.
Hiruzen studied him with his sharp eyes for a moment.
"It's not that I doubt your ability, Hayate. It is, on the contrary."
The Third Hokage continued with a smile.
"In fact, one of your genin is… quite special."
Hayate's tired eyes sharpened just a bit. "Special?"
"Takumi," Hiruzen said. "As lazy as he might act, he's quite hardworking. And more talented than he lets on. He's even mastered an A-rank technique."
Hayate blinked once. "An A-rank?"
"Yes. The Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu."
Silence settled between them, broken only by the distant sounds of the village below.
"The Second Hokage's technique?" Hayate said slowly. "But that's a forbidden jutsu. Sealed in the Scroll of Seals."
"It is," Hiruzen agreed. "And he learned it while preventing that very scroll from being stolen."
Hayate stared for a moment longer than usual.
"…Just what happened in the village while I was away?"
Hiruzen waved a hand lightly. "Nothing that wasn't resolved. No lasting harm."
Hayate exhaled. "Still, with that level of ninjutsu talent, why assign him to me? I only specialise in kenjutsu."
"Yes, he could become a formidable Ninjutsu expert, but...," Hiruzen said, sighing. "...he lacks the kind of chakra reserves required for one."
Hayate frowned. "Lacks chakra… and knows shadow clones..."
"Hokage-sama, do you want me to teach him my Kenjutsu? But I already have a student."
Hiruzen smiled. "Yes, Yūgao has come a long way. But I don't think there's any harm in taking another student if Takumi's interested, but it's not just that..."
"Takumi also possesses exceptional chakra control... much like you."
Hayate's expression shifted as understanding settled in.
"You want me to teach him Jaraiya sama's Invisible escape technique?" Hayate asked.
"Only if you judge him worthy," Hiruzen added. "Takumi is talented, yes..." Hiruzen continued, "...but, He also lacks anchors binding him to this village."
Hayate understood what he meant.
Talent without attachment was dangerous for any ninja village.
"I can only rest easy with someone I trust watching over him," Hiruzen said, lighting his pipe with his finger.
Hayate lowered his head in acknowledgement. "I understand, Hokage-sama. I'll keep an eye on him."
Hiruzen smiled faintly, turning his gaze back toward the village.
-
Holy freaking Ōtsutsuki, that was rough.
I bent down and picked up the two bells from the dirt, hands still shaking slightly.
Yeah. It was the bell test.
I knew it was going to be hard, but I didn't expect it to be this lopsided. Hayate-sensei hadn't even taken us seriously. He didn't need to. The gap between us was just that big.
Still… I'd learned something important.
Kuro and Misaki weren't nearly as bad as I'd expected.
Kuro ran his mouth constantly and had zero regard for anyone's feelings, and Misaki was clumsy and second-guessed herself into paralysis—but both of them were actual ninja material.
Honestly? They were already better than Sakura.
Okay, maybe they could use some more brains.
At first, our teamwork was awful.
Kuro fought well on his own, but he had no awareness of what anyone else was doing. He attacked where he wanted, when he wanted.
Misaki was the opposite. She was so aware of everyone that she became afraid of interfering at all. Every move she made came a second too late because she was afraid of getting in the way.
It didn't take long to realise that if we were going to pass, I'd have to coordinate them.
That turned out to be harder than it sounded.
It's hard to coordinate with others when your opponent can turn invisible and then reappear somewhere else, slashing his sword at your face.
Luckily, I had the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
With a clone covering my blind spots, the fight stopped feeling like a first-person horror game and more like a badly balanced strategy game.
Kuro and I stayed close, forcing Hayate to keep moving. The clone stayed back with Misaki, relaying timing and helping her limit Hayate's movement with well-placed shurikens.
It still wasn't enough.
Hayate blocked everything with a stupid wooden sword that was stronger than steel.
'Chakra Enhancement Bullshit! Really makes my cheat look worthless.'
I had to pull out my own enhanced kunai.
[Ordinary Kunai] +8
Attack: 10
Additional Attack: 16
Upgrade Requirement: 18
It was my only one.
In fact, it was my only kunai.
Being a ninja was expensive; this was all I could afford with all my savings.
But it was worth it. The blade cut clean through the wooden sword and struck Hayate in the chest.
Unsurprisingly, instead of blood, smoke burst outward.
It was a Shadow clone.
We'd been fighting a freaking clone the whole time.
Fortunately, the bells tied to its waist were real.
"Congratulations," Hayate said, appearing behind us. "You got them."
I turned slowly.
"Unfortunately, there are only two bells," he continued. "Which means one of you will be going back to the academy."
"What?!" Kuro blurted. "But who?"
"That," Hayate said calmly, "is for the three of you to decide."
"Us?"
"Yes, this is your first mission. You must choose one, or all of you will fail."
Hayate said before he vanished again.
'This disappearing act is getting old fast.'
I looked at my teammates.
Misaki's expression was stiff. She already knew.
"Man, this sucks," Kuro muttered. "After all that, he pulls this? And it's pretty obvious who it's gonna be, right?"
"I'll go back," Misaki said quietly. "It was mostly you guys anyway, and I just got in the way."
Yes, Misaki was the obvious choice.
And as rule number four of the Shinobi handbook clearly states, "A shinobi must always put the mission first."
So they had to sacrifice her for the mission.
But the handbook also says that a shinobi must see the hidden meanings within the hidden meanings.
If a situation like that ever came up on a real mission, there were only three choices.
Abandon a teammate to complete the mission.
Abandon the mission to save your teammate.
Or stay behind yourself so the others could escape and finish the job.
Now, if he were on Team 7, the answer would've been obvious—choose your comrades over the mission. But Kakashi was an outlier. He'd said it himself. In the shinobi world, people like him were considered scum.
Then there were some old bastards, like Danzo, who would love nothing more than a shinobi who's willing to sacrifice even his closest friends for the mission and the village.
But as Kakashi said, they were worse than scum.
And then there were the more balanced types. The ones willing to stay behind and face the enemy alone so their team could complete the mission.
People like Hiruzen. Tobirama too—if you ignored his particular bias against certain red-eyed folks.
I had a fair idea which camp Hayate belonged to.
"No," I said loudly.
Both of them looked at me like I'd grown another head.
"We wouldn't have made it here without you, Misaki," I said. "None of us could've done it alone."
"Well, that might be true," Kuro said slowly, "but I don't see how that means I have to go back to the academy. I wanna be an awesome ninja."
"You're never going to be an awesome ninja if you start by sacrificing your teammate," I snapped.
Kuro became quiet for the first time.
"But what do we do then?" he asked. "Hayate sensei said one of us must go back..."
"It's fine," Misaki said. "You guys don't have to worry about me."
"No," I said. "I'll be the one to stay behind."
"What!!?"
"How's that any different? Isn't it still sacrificing a teammate? And a useful one too." Kuro said flatly.
Misaki buried her head into her chest in shame.
"Kuro!" I gave him a stern look.
"What!" he protested. "It's true."
It was useless talking to him. I handed him a bell and turned to Misaki.
She still had her head lowered, but I could see tears flowing down her cheeks.
I gently lifted her face, "Rule #25. A shinobi must never show their tears during a mission." I said, placing the second bell in her hand.
God, I'm gonna be a top-class actor by the time I retire. There's so much drama in this village
"...but...you won't...be a ninja..." she said, looking at me, trying to wipe her tears. She looked pitiful.
I hoped I'd never have to make this kind of decision on a real mission.
Cause I already knew who I'd choose.
"It's alright, I'm not giving up yet," I said.
"What else are you doing if not giving up?" Kuro scoffed. "Whatever, Takumi, I'm not gonna argue with you anymore. Do whatever you want." He said, looking away. He was definitely not as heartless as he seemed.
Hayate appeared in front of us without warning.
"So, have you all decided? Are you ready to go back to the academy, Takumi?" He asked.
"Who said I'm going back to the academy?" I said.
"Huh?"
Hayate paused.
"You already gave the bells to both your teammates, how do you plan to pass now?" he asked.
"Hah, I'm gonna fight you for it," I said.
"Fight me? Do you think you can win?" Hayate said menacingly, pulling out his real sword this time.
"No, but I'm not gonna give up without trying...." I said, readying my kunai to face him, "... even if it kills me."
The silence was palpable. For a moment, I was sure that I had fucked up.
"Good," Hayate finally moved, slashing his sword at me. I moved with my kunai to block.
But before I made contact with the sword, he disappeared.
'Fuck, behind me.' I tried to turn as fast as I could, but it was too late. He was already behind me.
Slash
Hayate's sword came straight at me, but this time, it was much faster.
It was clear that he'd just been toying with us till now.
Everything seemed to have slowed down as the sharp blade came down at me.
They say one's final moments can stretch long enough to encompass a whole lifetime.
But I don't quite know what that means, because luckily, it wasn't my time yet.
Clink
Clink
Two tiny kunai blocked Hayate's long blade inches from my face.
I looked at the two shaking hands, "Kuro...Misaki..."
"You're...going too far, sensei..." Kuro said, gritting his teeth.
"I volunteer... to go back to the academy..." Misaki said with a determined look.
Hayate stepped back and sheathed his sword. "You pass," He said, with a faint smile. "All of you."
-To be Continued...
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