As night fell, the lights of Yakiniku Q glowed warm.
"Cheers!"
Kenji raised his glass of juice along with Haruto, Kaede, and Aoi.
Tonight, the place was packed. Word of the alliance between Konoha and Suna had spread through the village, and everyone wanted to celebrate the end of the war. Every decent restaurant in Konoha was doing record business. Yakiniku Q, being the premier barbecue spot in the entire village, was nearly impossible to get into. Kenji had only managed to secure a window seat by calling in a favor from Fūza.
The restaurant buzzed with laughter. Smoke rose from dozens of grills, carrying the mouthwatering scent of cooking meat. Servers weaved between tables carrying platters of raw ingredients and pitchers of drinks. Civilians and off-duty ninjas alike filled every available seat, all eager to enjoy good food.
"I still can't believe the war's over," Kaede said, biting into a piece of beef that dripped with rendered fat. His eyes closed briefly in appreciation. "A few months ago we were fighting for our lives in the Land of Rain, and now we're sitting here eating barbecue. Feels surreal."
"Yeah, the whole thing started out of nowhere and ended just as suddenly," Kenji agreed. He used his chopsticks to place a fresh slice of marbled beef on the grill. The fat immediately began to sizzle and melt, filling the air around their table with rich aroma. "That's how wars go sometimes. All the build-up, the fighting, and then one day it's just over."
"Sensei, did you go straight to the battlefield after graduating too?" Aoi asked. All three of them had been rushed through Academy and sent directly to the front lines. They'd never experienced what "normal" genin life was supposed to look like.
"No," Kenji shook his head, turning the beef on the grill so it cooked evenly. "After graduation, my team spent about half a year doing D-rank missions. We helped villagers catch runaway cats, pulled weeds from gardens, picked up trash, delivered letters for merchants. Boring stuff, mostly. After that we did some C-rank missions like dealing with bandits and escorting cargo. It was only after proving ourselves on those that we got sent to the front lines."
"There were missions for picking up trash and pulling weeds?" Aoi's eyes widened. The concept clearly seemed bizarre to her. "That doesn't sound like ninja work at all."
"It's not glamorous," Kenji admitted with a slight smile. "But it serves a purpose. Builds teamwork, gets you used to following orders, and teaches you that not everything in this job is exciting. Plus it helps the village and keeps genin out of danger while they're still learning the basics. You three haven't done any of those, have you? How about I take a few D-rank missions in a couple of days so you can experience them firsthand?"
"No!" Haruto immediately waved his hands in protest, reaching up to adjust his forehead protector. "We're chunin now! We can't do missions meant for genin!"
"Hahaha, I'm just messing with you," Kenji laughed at the serious reaction. "Besides, chunin are only authorized to take C-rank missions or higher anyway. You wouldn't even qualify for D-rank work anymore."
He plucked the now-perfectly cooked beef off the grill and distributed pieces to each of them. They ate in silence for a moment, enjoying the food.
Then he set down his chopsticks, his expression shifting slightly.
"There is something I want you three to try."
All three looked up immediately.
"What is it?" Kaede asked.
"The bell test."
"The bell test?" Aoi tilted her head. "What's that?"
Haruto and Kaede also looked puzzled, clearly having never heard of it before.
Kenji leaned back in his seat, organizing his thoughts. "When genin graduate normally through the standard Academy program, before they start taking real missions, their jonin instructor gives them a test. In the bell test, the teacher wears two bells on their belt, and the three students have to try to take them. They're told that anyone who doesn't get a bell will fail and be sent back to the Academy."
"Hold on, sensei." Kaede's eyes narrowed as he worked through the logic. "If there are three students but only two bells, that means one person is guaranteed to fail. That's not fair at all!"
"Exactly," Kenji said. "It's deliberately unfair. That's the entire point of the test. The instructor always intends for the students to pass in the end. The bells themselves aren't the real goal. What the test actually measures is how the team handles a situation where there aren't enough resources to go around. Do they fight each other for the bells? Do they sabotage or betray their teammates to get ahead? If they do any of that, all three fail automatically."
He picked up his juice and took a sip before finishing his explanation.
"A teammate is someone you're supposed to trust with your life on a battlefield. Someone who'll watch your back when you can't see the enemy. If you'd stab them over something as trivial as a bell in a training exercise, you're not fit to be a shinobi. That's the real lesson of the test."
"Oh!" Aoi said. "So teammates should support each other instead of competing!"
"Exactly," Kenji confirmed. "In the field, you'll face situations where you have to make hard choices. Share limited supplies, decide who takes point on a dangerous mission, or cover for each other when someone's injured. If you can't trust your team, you're all dead."
He smiled then.
"But you three are different. You've already fought side by side on the front lines. You've proven you can work together and rely on each other. So if we do the bell test, it won't be about teaching you teamwork. You already know that. Instead, I'll use it to gauge your current strength and see how you've developed. What do you say? Want to give it a try?"
"Yes!" Haruto raised his hand first.
"We'll definitely get those bells," Kaede added with confidence. "We'll shock you with how much stronger we've gotten!"
"I want to try too!" Aoi nodded enthusiastically.
"Alright, it's settled then," Kenji said decisively. "Tomorrow morning. Training Ground Five. Be there at dawn."
"We won't let you down!" all three said in unison.
They spent the rest of dinner talking about techniques they'd learned and battles they'd survived. The conversation was lighter now. By the time they finished eating and said their goodbyes outside the restaurant, all three students were excited for the next morning.
Kenji watched them head home, then started walking back to his own house. He was curious to see how they'd approach the test. They'd all grown during the war. It would be interesting to see how that growth translated into combat ability.
---
The next morning, Kenji arrived at Training Ground Five just as the sun was beginning to rise over the horizon. The training ground was one of the standard facilities scattered throughout Konoha, a large open field surrounded by forest. It was the ideal place for combat exercises.
His three students were already there, warming up and discussing strategy. They fell silent when they noticed him approach.
He pulled three small bells from his pouch and held them up. He gave them a shake.
"Normally this test uses two bells. But since we're using it to measure your strength, I'm making an exception. Today there are three bells. One for each of you. Let's see if you can take them from me."
He attached the bells to his belt where they hung in plain sight, jingling softly with every movement.
"Got it!" the three students responded in unison.
Before the words had even fully left their mouths, they scattered. Kenji tracked them with his eyes as they moved to surround him from three different angles.
Good instinct, he noted.
They'd learned not to bunch up and make themselves easy targets.
Haruto's hands blurred through seals. Chakra flooded through his body and his skin darkened, turning the color of obsidian. He charged forward from Kenji's left side, building momentum before launching himself into a roundhouse kick aimed at Kenji's ribs.
Kenji didn't dodge. He simply raised his arm and caught the kick, his hand wrapping around Haruto's ankle and stopping the attack cold.
Haruto's eyes widened slightly in surprise. Earth Spear significantly boosted his physical capabilities. That kick should have had serious force behind it.
But before he could react, Kaede struck from the opposite side.
The katana came slashing in from Kenji's right, wrapped in sharp wind chakra. He was aiming for Kenji's waist.
Kenji still didn't move his feet. Instead, at the last possible second, he yanked hard on Haruto's ankle and pulled the Earth Spear user directly into the path of the blade.
"Watch out!" Kaede yelled, desperately trying to redirect his swing. But it was too late.
Lightning chakra suddenly erupted from Haruto's body in a pale blue corona of electricity. The current raced down Haruto's leg, jumped to Kaede's katana the instant the blade made contact, and surged into Kaede's body.
"Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder!"
Kaede's muscles locked up as the electricity coursed through him. The wind chakra coating his blade provided some resistance, weakening the lightning's effect, but it wasn't enough to completely negate it. He was paralyzed for maybe half a second.
Half a second was all Kenji needed.
He released Haruto's ankle, spun on his heel, and drove his foot into Kaede's chest. The kick sent him flying backward. Kaede tumbled through the air before hitting the ground and rolling several times before coming to a stop.
At the same moment, Kenji twisted his upper body to avoid a fist aimed at the back of his head. Aoi had circled around during the chaos and attacked from his blind spot, her fist crackling with concentrated chakra.
He had no intention of testing his durability against that kind of power. A direct hit from her enhanced strikes could break bones.
Meanwhile, Haruto was in trouble.
Lightning Release countered Earth Release. The electrical current hadn't just stunned him, it had disrupted his Earth Spear technique. The hardened layer covering his skin cracked and crumbled. Electricity raced through his nervous system, making his muscles spasm painfully.
"Gah!" he gasped through gritted teeth.
Kenji grabbed him by the collar while still dodging Aoi's increasingly desperate strikes, and hurled Haruto through the air toward where Kaede was just starting to get back to his feet.
"Haruto, remember this," he called out while continuing to weave around Aoi's fists. "Don't rely too heavily on Earth Spear for defense. Elemental advantages can shatter your technique instantly. In real combat, that's a fatal weakness. You need backup plans."
Haruto crashed into Kaede and both of them went down.
Watching her two teammates taken out so quickly made Aoi's attacks become more frantic. Her punches came faster and faster. But Kenji stayed just out of reach.
Every time she threw a punch, he shifted just enough to avoid it. When she tried a high kick, he ducked. When she feinted left and struck right, he'd already moved. It was like fighting a ghost.
"Sensei, stop dodging and fight me properly!" Aoi shouted in frustration. Every attack missed by centimeters, it was driving her crazy.
Then Kenji deliberately slowed down.
The bells at his waist swayed more noticeably as he moved, creating a opening.
Aoi's eyes locked onto them. She lunged forward, reaching for the bells with her left hand while preparing to strike with her right if Kenji tried to counter.
But just as her fingers brushed the cool metal, Kenji moved.
He pivoted sharply on his back foot. Her grasping hand caught nothing but air. At the same moment, his right leg came around and drove into her stomach.
The kick wasn't enhanced with chakra or special techniques, but it didn't need to be. The force and timing were perfect. Aoi's breath exploded out of her lungs and she was launched backward, sailing through the air.
Kaede, who'd finally gotten back to his feet and shaken off the lingering effects of the lightning, caught her before she could hit the ground. His arms wrapped around her waist and he absorbed her momentum, sliding back a few meters but keeping them both upright.
"You okay?" he asked, setting her down carefully.
Aoi nodded, still trying to catch her breath. "Yeah. Just... ow."
All three students were now grouped together about ten meters away from Kenji. They looked at each other, then at their instructor who stood completely relaxed with all three bells still hanging from his belt.
Not even breathing hard.