"Intruder!" Yamashita Tetsuya shouted, startled. He saw Yuki Seisui charging their way and assumed the target was him.
But at the last moment, Yuki veered sharply, heading straight for Yamamoto Kenjin instead.
By the time Tetsuya realized what was happening, it was already too late to help.
Mizukage was already upon him. Tetsuya cursed inwardly, he had clearly underestimated these prodigies.
Yamamoto Kenjin, alerted by Tetsuya's warning, quickly spotted Yuki Seisui approaching, his blade gleaming ominously. Kenjin's pupils were constricted.
Once again, he felt the chilling presence of death.
The last time he'd felt like this was during a mission on the battlefield, an ambush by enemy nation shinobi. His sensei had died in that very same ambush.
"Watch out!"
At that moment, Uchiha Haru's voice echoed in Seisui's ears.
Turning his head, Seisui spotted Hoshigaki Biyaku lying in a pool of blood. But two shuriken were flying toward him, thrown by her.
She had regained consciousness at the last moment, despite the backlash from her genjutsu, and managed to hurl two shuriken at Seisui in a desperate counterattack.
That split second of distraction caused Seisui's movement to pause, just long enough for the looming threat of death to vanish from Yamamoto Kenjin's senses.
Kenjin immediately rolled to the side, barely dodging the lethal strike.
Even so, the wind-infused blade still grazed him, leaving a deep gash.
Gripping his wounded arm, Kenjin shot a look at Seisui, then turned and bolted toward Tetsuya.
In the bloodied field behind him, Biyaku managed a faint smile.
Clearly, she was quite satisfied that Kenjin had abandoned her.
"Ko-haru, mark Yamashita Tetsuya's team as having failed the Chunin assessment," Sarutobi Hiruzen said, shaking his head.
He had high hopes for this team. Otherwise, he wouldn't have chosen them to test Seisui and his squad. But they had committed a grave mistake.
They had abandoned a teammate, openly, in front of everyone.
Bonds and comradeship... Those are the core ideals of Konoha.
And with so many Jonin present to witness it? Disappointing.
Koharu silently nodded and mentally recorded the incident.
"How foolish," Orochimaru chuckled coldly. "To abandon a comrade in a test like this."
Jiraiya also shook his head. Unlike Orochimaru, his disapproval was genuine.
Tsunade, however, remained quiet. Her eyes were fixed on Yuki Seisui with keen interest.
"There's something about that kid that reminds me of my great-uncle," she murmured.
"Especially that fusion of Water Release and kenjutsu."
"It's uncanny."
Nearby, Uchiha Setsuna overheard her. His gaze toward Yuki Seisui darkened.
That cursed Senju ghost again. Still haunting us from the grave, trying to possess my granddaughter's generation?
Tch. Shameless!
Meanwhile, Yamamoto Kenjin was trying to escape, but he had forgotten about Uchiha Haru, who had already dealt with Hoshigaki Biyaku.
"It's over!" Haru's voice came from behind him.
Kenjin's heart sank. He glanced toward Tetsuya, who was still tangled up with Mizukage, then gritted his teeth and dodged to the side, forming hand seals rapidly.
But Haru simply shook her head. "Pointless struggle."
Seisui didn't even bother to speak. He sheathed his sword, then charged forward with explosive speed.
"Iaijutsu: Water Severing Strike!"
As his blade flashed out, a dense mist gathered around him. The closer he got to Kenjin, the thicker the mist became.
It all happened in seconds.
Kenjin had just finished his hand seals when Seisui appeared before him. Before he could summon an Earth Wall to defend himself, the surrounding mist transformed into streams of water that wrapped tightly around his body, completely restraining him.
Tsunade watched the scene and murmured, "Even more like him."
Jiraiya leaned in. "More like who?"
"My great-uncle," she replied.
"His techniques combined Water Release with swordsmanship."
"Hahaha!" Jiraiya burst into laughter. "Of course it does, he's my prized student, after all!"
"Heh." Orochimaru shot him a disdainful look.
"Yeah, right. Like you taught him that," Tsunade scoffed.
"You two!" Jiraiya fumed, though deep down he knew they were right.
Still, he puffed up and retorted, "He's my student! If I didn't teach him, who did?"
"You're just jealous of my natural genius!"
He let out a haughty snort.
Nearby, Akimichi Choza crunched down on a potato chip. "Man, Seisui and the others have gotten crazy strong."
"It's like we're falling farther and farther behind," he added with a sigh.
"Don't compare us to monsters like them," said Nara Shikaku, hands tucked in his pockets, looking like a miniature adult. "They're freaks, we can't compete."
"Right on!" said a burly middle-aged man behind Choza, laughing.
"As long as you're better than your past self, you've already done great!"
"Yeah!" Choza nodded enthusiastically.
"By the way, it's kinda surprising, Kushina didn't come," Yamanaka Inoichi chimed in.
"She probably had something important to do," Shikaku replied nonchalantly.
Honestly, whether she came or not didn't matter much.
The three of them had only come out of curiosity, after hearing Seisui's team might graduate early.
Anyone would be curious if their training buddies suddenly leapt ahead.
"Maybe Kushina already knew about it beforehand," Choza said through a mouthful of chips.
"Sounds about right."
Their fathers exchanged glances, smiles appearing at the corners of their mouths.
It looked like the next generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio had befriended someone remarkable.
Back on the field, Minato was still calmly evading Yamashita Tetsuya's attacks.
"Damn it all!" Tetsuya roared, frustration growing.
His teammates had all been taken out, he was the only one left.
What he couldn't understand was how these so-called prodigies were breaking all the rules of ninja combat.
Aren't ninjas supposed to fight with information and ninjutsu?
Why were two of them using swords and the other dual-wielding kunai like short blades?
They looked more like samurai from the Land of Iron than shinobi!
"Senior," Minato called out gently. "Just give up."
"Give up?" Tetsuya turned to look at his fallen teammates, eyes blazing with rage. "No way in hell!"
"A ninja's duty is to complete the mission!"
"I will never give up!"
Minato sighed, his expression turning serious.
"In that case, sorry in advance."
With a surge of Wind Chakra into his tri-pronged kunai, he raised his hands and unleashed two slashing gusts of chakra, each solid enough to tear through the air.
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