A few hours later, Yohei was gently shaken awake by Souma, who somehow looked exactly as composed as he had at sunset – barely a hair out of place. Yohei wriggled out of the bedroll, earning a miserable groan from Ren, who'd cocooned himself in the remaining warmth. Muttering curses at the cold, he shrugged back into his jacket, then pushed himself to his feet and did a few light stretches to get his blood moving.
The moon still hung high when his shift began. Staying awake was a battle – bugs chirping, leaves rustling, wind brushing branches… exactly the kind of sounds he used to play to help himself sleep in his other memories.
Still, he was grateful for the calm. It meant nothing big, hungry, and territorial had wandered close enough to sniff them out. Even if he wanted to believe in his own strength – at least against anything low-level he might run into here – there was a tight, unfamiliar anxiety in his chest at the idea of fighting something that genuinely wanted to kill him.
Or maybe… maybe it wasn't unfamiliar. Maybe he'd just never let himself look at it before.
Had he ever actually thought about what it meant to become a shinobi?
How many people he'd have to kill?
How many he'd have to murder?
How many he'd need to deceive?
Could he pretend to be someone else, build trust with strangers, then betray them because the mission demanded it?
Could he drag home the runaway daughter of a noble – someone terrified, begging for help – because returning her was "the job"?
Could he, someday, send children into danger, knowing some of them wouldn't come back, because the numbers said that was the path that saved the most lives?
…
He knew the answer.
He didn't.
Yohei didn't need much introspection to find his answers. There wasn't even room for doubt.
If he were ever ordered to do something that violated his morals, he'd refuse – no matter what it cost him. Even if they branded him a traitor to Konoha. Even if they killed him for it.
Some people would probably call that cowardice. Or stupidity.
But Yohei had never claimed to be brave, or smart.
He was more afraid of becoming a monster than he was of dying.
He'd already died once, after all.
-~=~-
"Sleep well?" Yohei asked in a teasing whisper as he shook Ren awake, taking in the… regrettable position the smaller boy had ended up in.
Souma, apparently, was a cuddler. A strong cuddler. And Ren was, unfortunately, pretty much teddy-bear-sized.
"I'm going to kill this fucker," Ren hissed, trying – and failing – to pry himself out of the white-haired boy's arms.
Yohei snorted. "You sure are cursing a lot now. Didn't think you even knew this many swears before."
"Yeah, well, I noticed neither of you is a hot chick, so I realized I don't need to pretend to be charming."
"I'm not charm-worthy?" Yohei put a hand to his chest with mock offense.
Ren finally managed to wriggle free and crawl out of the bedroll, rolling his eyes. "Grow your hair out, get a few dozen centimeters in the tits department, and then we'll talk."
"You're a tits guy?" Yohei asked, face twisting in exaggerated disappointment.
"You got a problem with that?" Ren shot back, eyebrow arched.
"No, no, nothing," Yohei said quickly – too quickly. "I mean, it's a little basic. Boring choice, really. But hey, nothing wrong with being basic."
"Oh, fuck you. Fine then – what do you like in a woman?"
"Look, there's nothing wrong with tits. They're great! But do I think a woman needs tits to be hot? Fuck no. Now, hips and ass on the other hand…"
Ren scoffed. "Even guys can have wide hips and a big ass. Only real women have a pair of fat tits."
"I mean, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck…
"
They lock eyes – Yohei grinning like he's just tossed a grenade, Ren staring flatly back at him.
A long beat.
Then both of them burst out laughing.
"You're ridiculous," Ren said between chuckles. "Aren't you going to sleep? This is my shift now."
"And let you get blackmail material on me like I just got on you? Not a chance." Yohei's grin widened.
"Fucker," Ren muttered, rolling his eyes as he walked to the edge of the rocky outcrop where they'd set up camp. He plopped down, arms crossed. "If you're not going to sleep, then do something useful and tell me what you think of my plan."
"Oh? You already have a plan?" Yohei grinned as he followed after him. "Knew I could count on you, Wimpy."
"You'll see wimpy when I give you third-degree burns in our first training match," Ren shot back, flipping him off without looking. "Anyway – shut up and sit down. I'm still figuring out the details."
"Alright, alright," Yohei said, lowering himself beside him. "Hit me."
Despite hurrying him, Ren stayed quiet for a moment, gathering his thoughts. When he finally spoke, his voice was steady.
"First – what I said yesterday still stands. Shirakumo-san has expectations for this exam. He couldn't have known I'd have prior information about him, so designing something that mirrors the missions he usually takes just to fake us out… that doesn't make sense."
He exhaled sharply.
"The real problem is that I don't think the three of us fit what he wants in a genin team. Not personality-wise – we actually work pretty well together. I mean compatibility. Fighting styles. Skill sets."
"So what? We just give up, go home, and try again with another sensei next year?" Yohei asked with a raised brow, tone dripping with teasing.
"Fuck no," Ren scoffed. "Just because he wants us to pass in a specific way doesn't mean we have to care. You were right yesterday – we won't beat him through attrition. We don't have the stamina or the techniques for that. But he chained himself with rules. Some he said out loud, some he didn't."
Yohei leaned forward. "You're talking about his behavior."
"Yeah. Move between us if we split. Stay at the perimeter if we're paired. Stay in our sight if we're all together. You said he didn't have to follow any of that – and that's true. But we don't need him to keep it all the way to the end. We just need him to keep it long enough for us to set the board."
Ren pulled a senbon from the pouch on his leg and used the tip to scratch a square into the dirt, dividing it into neat, angular sections.
"One benefit of running around like headless chickens yesterday is that we covered basically the whole terrain. I've got a pretty solid idea of what we can do with it."
"Traps," Yohei said immediately.
"Yep," Ren agreed. "A lot of traps. All of the traps. Remember what he said? For the first part of the exam, he'll do nothing except keep away from us – and I'm pretty sure that includes disarming traps. Now, none of us can make anything subtle enough to fool him, but we don't need subtle. Honestly, it's better if they're obvious so none of us get caught. As long as there's enough of them, we can use sheer quantity to… well, trap him."
"Hm… And how do we get time to set all that up?" Yohei asked, rubbing his chin.
"We flip the game on the bastard," Ren said, a wicked grin spreading across his face. "He had us running after him all afternoon and night – so now it's his turn to run. I'm thinking you and Souma pair up. You two pretend you're trying to catch him through-" He dragged the senbon through the improvised map, slashing several sections. "-all of this here. Meanwhile I'll be turning this corner-" he circled a small section near the entrance gate "-into a very special kind of hell. When you're tailing him, start lagging your speed a bit after a couple minutes. Pretend you're tired or bored. Saves your energy and sells the act."
Yohei nodded along, impressed. "Sounds great, but how're we gonna guide him into the traps?"
Ren gave him a confident, borderline smug smile. "Remember what we talked about on the rooftop yesterday?"
Yohei's eyes widened. "Yeah, but can you-?"
"Guess we'll find out." Ren shrugged.
Yohei laughed. "That's insane. You think we'll get in trouble?"
"Well, he did say we could do anything, right? So I'm betting he can't complain." Ren stood up, stretching with a long yawn – only to grimace and sniff under his arm. "Ugh. Before anything, I need a bath. You think Souma's okay with being woken up now? I know it's my turn for watch, but-"
A monstrous rumble ripped through the forest – something between a roar and a pig's scream. Deep, wet, and close. The ground vibrated beneath them.
Both boys froze and traded looks, worry widening their eyes as the sound grew louder.
"I don't think he'll have much of a choice," Yohei muttered, turning sharply toward their sleeping teammate. "Souma! Danger incoming!"
Souma's lilac-blue eyes snapped open on the first heartbeat. By the second, he was already upright – kneeling, sword drawn and gleaming for the first time since Yohei had met him.
The bedroll behind him-
"Son of a- MY BEDROLL! What the hell, Souma!?" Yohei yelped.
What remained of it lay in shreds, fluttering to the ground like confetti.
Souma blinked, tilting his head in confusion as he stood. "My apologies. I thought it was an emergency?"
"It kind of is! Scatter!" Ren barked.
'Don't have to tell me twice,' Yohei thought as he kicked off the ledge, letting a tiny something slip from his hand to the ground.
A heartbeat later, a massive shape slammed into the rocky outcrop where he'd been standing.
"GHROOHHHK-KRAAAH!"
Mid-fall, adrenaline stretched time thin. The thing looked like a boar – if the boar had been raised on steroids, growth hormones, and maybe the souls of bodybuilders. Towering, thick slabs of muscle bulged under coarse dark fur. Its tusks curved wickedly, paired with two horns jutting from its skull. And its legs…
Those were not hooves. Those were clawed, articulated paws, which explained how it climbed the damn cliff.
All in all, it was one of the coolest things Yohei had ever seen.
…He kinda wondered how it tasted.
"Baku!" He snapped the Rat sign, activating the little surprise he'd left behind.
BOOOOM!
The ledge erupted in a messy, violent blossom of fire and shattered stone. The blast thundered through the forest, rock shards clattering like thrown kunai.
"YOU HAVE BOMB TAGS!?" Ren screamed, eyes lighting up with pure feral joy.
Yohei grinned, ready with a witty comeback – but the words died in his throat. A guttural roar rolled out of the smoke, and as it thinned…
"Oh, come on," he breathed.
The monster was still standing. Singed, half its fur burned away… but very, very alive.
"Well. Shit."
"GHRAAOOHHHK-KRAAAAGHH!"
The beast burst from the rubble and charged straight at Ren, who threw a hand up, clearly about to make a handsign – then aborted with a frustrated click of his tongue and immediately bolted.
Yohei, meanwhile, realized the explosion hadn't done nearly enough damage and decided not to waste another tag. Which was…
'Fine. Fucking fine. Time to test its durability the hands-on way.'
Dropping into the standard Academy stance, he lunged at the boar's exposed flank.
It felt like punching a tree trunk.
…Granted, that comparison only worked if you used as a base his past life where he didn't have chakra enhancements.
He barely nudged the thing. But he did get its attention – it huffed, a hot blast of breath blowing his hair back. Yohei leapt away just as its tusks carved a gouge in the dirt.
Souma, quiet as ever, took the distraction to slash at the beast's neck. The most effective attack unitl now, seeing as the blade broke skin… barely… but couldn't dig further.
"It's tough," Souma noted flatly, his voice blending with the creature's furious squeals.
Yohei hissed through his teeth, shaking the sting out of his hand. "Do we have anything that can take down this fucker!?"
"I think I could do it with Katon, but I don't want to waste the chakra!" Ren shouted from a distance, flicking a trio of senbon at the mutated beast still trying very hard to murder a darting, weaving Souma.
Two needles hit the creature's hide and bounced off uselessly. The third, however, went straight into its ear. The beast flinched violently and let out a blood-curdling scream that sent shivers ripping down Yohei's spine. It thrashed, trying to shake the senbon loose – only managing to push it deeper.
"Its insides are soft! We either hit something important or kill it by a thousand cuts!" Ren said, throwing two more senbon at its eye and missing.
Yohei winced. "Can we not? I'd rather waste chakra than slowly torture an animal to death."
"Are you serious right now?" Ren shot back, staring at him like he'd grown a second head.
"I can do it," Souma said then, slipping between them. "I can cut it with a single strike. But I need some time."
Ren looked between the two of them, threw his hands in the air, and groaned. "Fine! Fuck! Just my luck to end up grouped with two bleeding hearts. Yohei – I'll draw its attention. You keep me alive while Souma does… whatever it is he wants to do."
Yohei nodded. When he looked back at the monster boar, it had managed to claw the senbon out, though in the process it had torn its own ear open. Blood streamed down the side of its head. It lowered its body and snorted furiously, one eye bloodshot and shaking with rage.
The moment it caught their attention on it, it charged – and the three of them scattered.
Yohei spotted immediately that Ren hadn't jumped as far as he and Souma had. Scooping up a stone, he hurled it at the monster's already-damaged eye. The rock did basically nothing… except piss it off enough to make it lunge after him instead. Perfect.
He kept just close enough that the beast would stay locked onto him, but always with enough space to dodge away, leading it step by step closer to the treeline.
This dangerous dance ended when the animal, in a surprisingly cunning move, pretended to fall for one of Ren's feints – only to suddenly pivot and leap at him.
Yohei moved instantly.
Launching himself from a tree branch, he dropped straight onto the boar, one hand clamping around a horn as he let his momentum drag both him and the monster sideways. They crashed down in a violent tumble, Yohei rolling off to bleed off the impact.
The boar was back on its feet before he was.
The boar twisted toward him in a sprint, its massive body pivoting so fast that its back now faced Ren – meaning any thrown weapons would just sink uselessly into tough hide instead of hitting a weak point.
Yohei was already bracing himself, chakra flooding into his muscles and tendons as he force-tilted its nature toward Yang. Without the proper handseals the process was messy and unstable; he could feel his muscles bulging unevenly, his skin tightening uncomfortably.
He knew he probably wouldn't be able to dodge whatever hit came before the technique finished.
Thankfully, in those precious seconds, a flash of blue flared to the side.
Souma.
The blade of his sword was coated in an azure, flame-like aura as he approached at a breakneck sprint, sword already mid-arc.
Unfortunately, the boar noticed too. It dug its claws into the dirt, desperately trying to stop.
It only half succeeded.
Souma's strike, meant to cleave cleanly through its neck, instead sheared both horns off and carved a gruesome line that ripped away the top half of its snout.
The boar's scream was indescribable – rage, agony, and sheer animal fury all tangled together. It swung a massive clawed forelimb to smash Souma aside.
Souma shifted his stance in a heartbeat. Instead of dodging, he angled his blade, letting the monster's own momentum carry its limb straight into the edge.
The boar severed its own paw.
Running entirely on instinct, it lunged to gore him with its tusks-
-but Yohei was already there.
Extreme Muscle Assault finally snapped fully into place, his body surging with strength. He snatched up one of the severed horns lying on the ground and drove it upward into the soft underside of the beast's jaw.
It jammed halfway in.
With a wordless scream, he kicked the horn with everything he had.
The horn blasted through the creature's skull, its tip bursting out the top of its head.
Silence fell over the battlefield, broken only by Yohei's ragged breathing and the soft crackle of settling dirt. His swollen muscles slowly shrank back to their normal shape, leaving behind a faint tremor in his limbs.
"You know," Ren said dryly, "if you asked me, I think I'd rather bleed to death than have my head impaled like that."
Yohei flipped him off without looking. Ren cackled.
"I'm sorry," Souma said, genuinely embarrassed as he sheathed his sword. "Mother always says I'm bad at hiding my presence when I use Chakra Flow. She keeps telling me I'd make a better samurai than a shinobi."
Yohei stayed quiet for a moment as a strange new weight settled in his chest – one that had appeared the instant the boar fell still.
For one brief, unhinged second he considered summoning the Chaos Scroll right then.
He shut the thought down just as quickly.
'Later. After the exam.'
"It's alright, big guy," he finally said, giving Souma a grin that immediately collapsed into a wince as a trickle of boar blood slid down his forehead and into his mouth. He spat violently. "If anyone's at fault, it's Wimpy-kun over there. He was supposed to be the bait."
"Bitch, I tried. Look at this!" Ren said, scandalized, pointing toward the boar's backside.
Yohei and Souma moved around to see what he was talking about – only to spot two senbon buried deep into-
"What the hell, dude? You pierced its balls?" Yohei asked, horrified.
"And it kept running after you!" Ren barked, still indignant before his expression shifted into a smug smirk. Arms crossed, chin raised, he added, "I suppose my aim was so accurate it didn't even feel them hit. That's what they call Peaceful Killing, right? Man, I'm awesome."
"You're a monster," Yohei corrected, face twisting with nausea.
"I'm not the one covered in blood," Ren shot back.
Yohei opened his mouth – only for another trickle of blood to slide down into it, forcing him to spit violently before he just sagged with a defeated sigh.
"I think I'll also take that bath you were talking about."
-~=~-
Less than half an hour later, the three of them were set up on the riverbank.
Souma was crouched beside a round slab of wood he'd sliced off a tree, using it as an improvised cutting board. His kunai, sheathed in the shimmering blue aura of Chakra Flow, carved through the boar's tough flesh with careful precision, reducing it into neat, manageable cubes.
Yohei – stripped down to his boxers, droplets of water still clinging to his skin – took each batch of meat and seasoned it with the spices from his "camping kit" scroll. After rolling each cube to make sure the seasoning stuck, he skewered the pieces and set them aside.
"You're a dumbass," Ren announced flatly.
He was dressed down to the same level as Yohei, sitting atop the tree stump Souma had harvested earlier, meticulously sorting through all the equipment he and Yohei had brought for the exam.
"That's rude," Souma said with a frown.
"Not you, Souma. You're perfect. I'm talking about the dumbass in front of you."
"Not that I disagree that I am a dumbass," Yohei replied with a raised eyebrow and a lazy smile, "but what did I do this time?"
"This," Ren said, holding up the small flask filled with green liquid – the one Yohei had taken from his mother's supplies. "Do you have any idea what this is?"
"Poison?"
"It's a paralytic," Ren deadpanned. "A good one. A strong one. If I'd known you had it, I could've put that boar to sleep. We wouldn't have had to fight it at all."
"Oh." Yohei blinked. "Wait, isn't this kind of thing really pricey? Maybe I shouldn't have-"
"Too late," Ren interrupted.
Yohei turned in time to see Ren already pouring precise drops of the liquid into a small opening at the back end of several hollow senbon.
'Mom is going to kill me, isn't she?' Yohei winced at the thought, then gave an awkward shrug and laugh.
"If we did that, we'd be eating dry rations instead of monster bacon, though," he said with a grin.
"That's not bacon. It's tenderloin," Souma corrected calmly. Both boys turned to stare at him as he added, "It's good for skewers and cooks fast over open fire."
They kept staring for a beat too long, and Souma blinked in confusion – right before they both burst out laughing.
"Thanks, Souma. I didn't know that."
"Didn't you say you liked cooking?" Ren asked, grinning.
"Liking something is not the same thing as being good at it," Yohei replied in a sage-like voice, eyes closed, one finger raised. Ren laughed again, and even Souma let out a small chuckle.
"Whatever you say, dumbass," Ren said without any bite, tossing something toward him. "Here. Also – why the hell were you even wearing those?"
Yohei caught the item. Sunglasses. The ones he'd brought to class yesterday to test his dōjutsu. Seeing them sparked an idea. He slipped them on and shrugged.
"Went to sleep too late a few days ago, so I was afraid the eyebags would scare off any babe if I got lucky and landed a pretty girl on my team. Unfortunately, I only got you guys." Then he struck a dramatic pose. "But I sure do look handsome in these, don't I?"
Ren snorted. "You wish."
Still laughing, Yohei wandered over to where their wet clothes hung drying, pretending to check on them.
"Honestly, I kinda liked wearing them. I only took them off because I thought they might affect my performance in the test."
As he said that, he guided a trickle of chakra to his eyes, feeling them snap awake.
Shinsōgan.
His vision shuddered, then stabilized – now threaded with new information. Two thin red strands extended from his chest to his teammates.
KOUEN REN
FRIEND
Yohei blinked. Ren was the only person whose relationship status had ever shown anything besides "Acquaintance." Sure, he'd only used the dōjutsu on a handful of people, but seeing actual confirmation of a growing bond tugged a smile out of him.
IS INTERESTED IN HIS CAREER.
LIKES ART AND BANTER.
DISLIKES COLD DAYS AND BEING PRESSURED.
'Dislikes being pressured? Not lazy people?' Yohei frowned slightly, remembering their introduction to their jōnin-sensei yesterday.
"I think there are some special lenses that look dark on the outside but transparent on the inside," Ren mused aloud.
"Really?" Yohei asked, a bit distracted by the dōjutsu's insights.
KUROYAMA YOHEI IS A RELIABLE TEAMMATE.
KUROYAMA YOHEI IS A SURPRISINGLY STRONG GUY.
KUROYAMA YOHEI IS A GOOD FRIEND.
"Yeah, pretty sure I've seen a Jōnin using them before, too. Must be expensive, though."
Yohei snorted. "I can imagine. Hey, can you light up the dry wood and put the skewers to cook?"
"Sure."
As Ren put his hands together in a hand sign, Yohei turned his attention to his other teammate, who had stopped cutting the meat and was now seasoning it.
MIKAZUKI SOUMA
BEST FRIEND
Yohei almost coughed aloud.
'Already!?' he thought, startled. 'How starved for human interaction are you, dude?'
He noticed then how Souma's thread was different from Ren's. While they were more or less the same thickness – only slightly bigger – something about it was new. Instead of being a single strand, it was made up of two intertwined together. And indeed, when he checked Ren's, he could now see another strand emerging from the smaller boy's chest, twining with Yohei's own about halfway.
Fascinated by this new aspect of his Dōjutsu but unwilling to waste too much time pondering it, he focused back on Souma.
IS INTERESTED IN SWORDS AND ROMANCE BOOKS.
LIKES SWORDS, SWORDSMEN, RAINY DAYS, HIS MOM, AND HIS TEAM.
DISLIKES SPICY FOOD, DECEIVERS, AND COWARDS.
'That's… Your mom was completely right, Souma! What the hell is this!? You should've been a samurai instead!'
KUROYAMA YOHEI IS A GENTLE PERSON.
KUROYAMA YOHEI IS SMARTER THAN ME.
KUROYAMA YOHEI IS REALLY AWESOME.
'I'm flattered! But what kind of impression of me do you have!? What did I do!?'
Struggling to keep his face from betraying his reactions, Yohei finished his "inspection" of the clothes and headed back toward their mini-camp, where Ren had his cheeks slightly puffed as he blew a steady thin stream of fire into a pile of dry wood.
He was just about to deactivate the Shinsōgan when he noticed something else.
There was a third, faint thread in the corner of his vision – and here, in the Training Ground, knowing the range limitations of his Dōjutsu, it could only mean one person.
Taking care not to show any sign he had noticed, Yohei sat down on a stone and pretended to watch Ren working on the fire.
"You know, I'm really envious that you already know elemental ninjutsu," Yohei said, adjusting his position to get a better angle on the surroundings, subtly tracking where the third red thread led. "And you too, Souma. Chakra Flow is one of the coolest things ever. I kind of want to pick up a weapon just so I'd have a reason to learn it, but I don't think I have the dexterity for that."
'There,' he thought triumphantly. 'On the other side of the river.'
Looking through his Dōjutsu, the third red thread led to a small, ordinary-looking brown bird. It had nothing remarkable about it, just drinking water among others of its kind who were pecking for insects or chirping in the trees.
Really, he'd never have given it a second glance – but when he focused…
SHIRAKUMO HAYAMA
ACQUAINTANCE
Yohei really had to control himself not to grin.
'The fucker is hiding with the Transformation Jutsu. For how long has he been watching us like this?'
"You're talking like you don't have your own tricks," Ren said dismissively, though there was a proud tilt in his voice. "Extreme Muscle Assault, was it? That thing's insane. How strong do you get when you're all buffed up like that?"
Yohei chuckled. "Not as much as you think. The swelling's more of a side effect than proof of anything. I get around… twice as strong? More or less. And it does have a side effect. Thankfully I just used it for a bit, so I'm only a little sore. But I don't think I'll be able to use it again for a few hours yet," he said – without a single trace in his expression that would reveal his every word just now was a lie.
"Sheesh."
"Yeah, it's a work in progress," Yohei said with a shrug before deactivating his eyes and taking off his glasses. He "checked" one of the skewers before his gaze was "drawn" to the poisoned senbon Ren had set aside. "Hey, I don't think I've ever seen senbon like these before. Are they custom made?"
"Not really? They're just specialized to deliver some kind of poisonous load, so they're a bit pricier for that."
Yohei hummed as he carefully picked one up. "Is that something you want to specialize in? Poisons?"
"To a certain degree," Ren agreed. "I mean, what I really want is to take the family jutsu to new heights, but using poisons to support them is actually really useful. So I keep some hollow senbon with me and a few vials of poison, but nothing lik-"
Before he could finish, Yohei suddenly spun around with all his strength and launched the senbon in his hand at one of the birds.
Before anyone could react, the bird exploded in a puff of white smoke – and in its place knelt their Jōnin-sensei, a thin cut on his cheek.
Souma had jumped the instant Yohei threw the senbon and was now at Yohei's side, hand on his sword hilt, eyes wide with shock. Ren looked even more stunned – mouth open, nearly falling off his seat. Even Hayama himself seemed caught off guard, fingertips brushing the cut on his cheek, staring at the blood in disbelief. His eyes widened, his mouth parted slightly as he looked at Yohei… who was grinning so widely hie could feel his cheek hurt.
"How?" Hayama asked faintly.
"I have no fucking idea," Yohei lied as easily as breathing, laughing. "You were just giving me really creepy vibes as a bird."
Hayama let out a startled huff of amusement, still clearly shocked, and stood up. His gaze sharpened as he placed a hand on his sword. Souma instantly dropped into a stance, looking ready to strike, when Ren shouted-
"No!"
When Souma shot him a confused look, Ren rushed to explain – disbelief and triumph mixing on his face as he ran a hand through his hair, glancing from their Jōnin to Yohei, who was still grinning like a madman.
"He can't attack us. He can't run, and he can't attack. He can only defend himself and counter. Until we go on the offensive, he's a sitting duck – and right now there's a good amount of paralytic running through his veins and locking down his muscles. And the longer we wait, the harder it's gonna hit."
Souma's eyes widened even more, his mouth forming a perfect little 'o'. He looked at the Jōnin, who showed no reaction – just stood there silently and unreadable.
Ren barked out a laugh, incredulous, and swung his gaze back to Yohei. "You fucked up my plan, you bitch."
Yohei started laughing too.
-~=~-
The next minutes were a whirlwind of activity – sharp, focused, and buzzing with that electric high of 'holy shit, we actually did it'. They'd just succeeded in the first part of the exam. Something that seemed insurmountable, something that should've taken perfect coordination, meticulous planning, and a fat chunk of luck… and they'd pulled it off.
And now they had hours to prepare at leisure.
…Except they absolutely did not.
Eventually the poison would flush out of Hayama's system – and none of them wanted to gamble on how long that would take – so they moved fast.
While the meat cooked, the three boys threw themselves into prepping the surrounding area. Cutting off movement routes for their sensei. Placing tag bombs and other explosives. Preparing more poisoned senbon. Arming themselves to the teeth with the frantic organization of soldiers on a mission.
Less than thirty minutes later, they'd changed back into their dry clothes, hydrated, and devoured enough meat to refill their energy – all while their sensei was left to bake beautifully in the sun. And now, all three of them stood before him.
Souma stepped forward first. He drew his sword, lowering into a stance as a mantle of chakra wrapped around the blade. Then, with his face scrunched in concentration, he formed several hand seals while still gripping the hilt. The chakra shifted – growing wilder, sharper – crackling with thin sparks of electricity running along the metal.
Ren followed. He moved through a long, downright chaotic sequence of hand seals that Yohei could barely follow. At the end of it, he exhaled a crimson flame – the same color as his eyes – coating his hands. The fire burned low and unnervingly still, calm in a way fire shouldn't be. Just looking at it made Yohei's stomach twist.
And then Yohei himself stepped forward.
He inhaled deeply, formed the ox seal, and exhaled – his body expanding, muscles bulging, doubling his size until his clothes strained against him. He looked like a one-man natural disaster.
For the first time since being exposed, Hayama spoke, raising one eyebrow.
"I thought you couldn't use it for a few hours yet."
"I was lying," Yohei said cheekily – his voice now noticeably deeper.
He glanced at Souma from the corner of his eye, worried about how the boy would take it considering what he'd seen through his Dōjutsu… only to find Souma nodding along without hesitation. That left Yohei momentarily confused.
"I see," Hayama said. He looked at the other two, then at the trap-filled surroundings. "Are you ready, then?"
The three genin shared a look – a silent agreement passing between them – before turning back to glare at their jōnin with fierce determination.
"Yes!"
"Good. In that case…"
They tensed as he moved, clapping his hands.
"You all passed."
…
"What."
Hayama laughed, giving them a wide, almost proud smile.
"Congratulations, my genin. You have all passed."
For a moment, Yohei could only hear the thudding of his own heartbeat.
Then the pressure in his chest – the one that had appeared when he killed the chakra beast – swelled by a magnitude.
And then there were shouts.
Who was shouting?
'Oh,' he realized, 'it's me.'
"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!"
Ren dropped to his knees, hands trembling, tears spilling down his cheeks.
And Souma? Souma had sheathed his sword and apparently decided to reveal that not only was he a cuddler – he was also a hugger – because he grabbed Ren, hauled him upright, and dragged both him and Yohei into a crushing, joyful embrace.
Hayama watched them, chuckled softly, and shook his head.
"You three… you really are something else."