Higashino Makoto felt that the jōnin leading their team was doing it on purpose—the moment to test the Will of Fire had arrived. He did not know whether this was on the instructions of some old geezer, or simply the jōnin's own idea.
But it did not matter. Only idiots who act without arranging a fallback, and whose strength is insufficient, end up being forced into multiple-choice questions. Higashino Makoto chose: I want them all.jpg.
Suddenly, from beneath the ground at the flanks of Gekkō Hayate and Uzuki Yūgao, a fierce wind blade shot upward from each side.
The wind blades were only a palm's width across, yet they were almost completely transparent and invisible, their vague outlines discernible only through the distortion of the air.
They were extraordinarily sharp and incredibly fast, slicing across Gekkō Kumomi's body in the blink of an eye.
With two muffled bang sounds, Gekkō Kumomi's shadow clones were dispelled. Hayate and Yūgao regained their freedom, and the two immediately drew their weapons and gathered back to back, guarding against another sneak attack.
"Sensei, only those without any backup end up facing choices. Obviously, just like you, I also have a fallback."
Admiration appeared in Gekkō Kumomi's eyes. "So there were two more shadow clones hidden underground, waiting for the right moment? Your combat aptitude is indeed outstanding."
"Of course, your chakra reserves also amaze me. Even if Hayate and Yūgao could think of such a fallback, they would not be able to use it. The two of them simply do not have enough chakra to support this kind of battle plan."
Not just the two of them—any ninja with insufficient chakra would be unable to use it.
Although Higashino Makoto possessed a great amount of chakra, he did not like to waste it. The reason he could do this was his extremely abnormal level of chakra control and his in-depth study of ninjutsu principles.
After two years of refinement, his shadow clones no longer divided the main body's chakra evenly, but instead received an appropriate amount according to need.
For example, the clone that had just launched the wind blade from underground only had the capacity for a single strike, and automatically dispelled itself after completing the task.
This was because no matter how much chakra a shadow clone used, the pain transmitted back to the main body when it was destroyed would not be reduced in the slightest. Therefore, it was necessary to minimize the chance of shadow clones suffering fatal attacks, so as not to affect the main body.
Higashino Makoto gripped a kunai, yet his guarded attention was on his rear flank.
"Are we continuing, Kumomi-sensei?"
Bang! The Gekkō Kumomi he was holding exploded into a cloud of white smoke—this, too, was a shadow clone.
The real body slowly walked out from behind a large tree on the rear flank of the battlefield. "That's enough. Your strength has already reached my requirements."
"Yes, we did it!" Uzuki Yūgao relaxed her guard at once when she heard that and jumped up in delight.
Gekkō Hayate was also very happy. It was just that, within that happiness, there was a bit of disappointment. His strength was nowhere near his father's, yet his friend who was one year younger could fight his father on even terms, and had even prepared a fallback to rescue them while they were being held hostage.
Gekkō Kumomi looked at the two of them. "You're celebrating too early. The battle plan was not bad, but your strength is too poor. From now on, train twice as hard for me."
"What just happened is very common in ninja battles. You don't want to truly become a weak point that an enemy can use to threaten your teammates in the future, do you?"
"Understood, sensei."
"I'll work hard and train twice as much, sensei."
The two of them agreed earnestly. Children in the ninja world were like this—after becoming ninja, they often cast off their innocence after one or two battles. Those who could not cast it off died.
Hayate understood this even more deeply than Yūgao, because his teammate Umamatsu was exactly that kind of naïve person. But fortunately, his luck was not bad—he did not lose his life, only one of his legs.
Perhaps for a child determined to become a ninja, disability was even more painful than death, and it would be pain that lasted a lifetime.
Gekkō Kumomi looked toward Higashino Makoto. "That attack you launched from underground just now was a kind of wind blade, wasn't it? It's a bit like Vacuum Wave, or the Wind Blade used over on the Sand ninja side."
"But what you used was more sophisticated. Did you develop it yourself? Of course, ninjutsu is a ninja's secret—you can choose not to say."
Wind Blade would later be the signature technique of Sunagakure's elite jōnin Baki—instant, without hand seals. Its battle record was that during the Chūnin Exams, it instantly killed one of Konoha's tokubetsu jōnin.
What a coincidence—the name of that tokubetsu jōnin was also Gekkō Hayate!
Gekkō Hayate: "???"
"There's nothing I can't say, Sensei. This was indeed developed after I trained the sharp cutting nature of my wind affinity. At the same time, to improve lethality and efficiency, I spent time developing it into a ninjutsu that requires no hand seals."
"I strengthened its concealment and increased its speed, and it can be launched with one hand. Of course, it causes a tiny bit of damage to the finger cells, so pairing it with a fine ninja blade is the most suitable."
"Did you give it a good name? If not, I can—"
"Wind Release: Shadowless Sword!" Higashino Makoto replied quickly, immediately stopping Gekkō Kumomi's attempt to seize the naming rights.
Among Konoha's adult ninja, many were outwardly serious but still retained quite a bit of chūnibyō thinking beneath the surface. Namikaze Minato was a classic example of this.
"Shadowless Sword, huh? A very fitting and straightforward name. In the development of Wind Release, you've already gone ahead of us adults. The difficulty of practicing this ninjutsu should be above A-rank, right?"
Gekkō Kumomi sighed with emotion for a moment, then his expression turned serious. "Makoto, you know this. Regarding information about squad members, I need to report it truthfully to the Hokage-sama. If there's something you don't want to disclose, I can make an exception and bend the rules for you once."
"There's no need to put yourself in a difficult position, Kumomi-ojisan. Just report it normally."
"All right." Gekkō Kumomi smiled, then looked at the three of them. "That's it for today. At seven tonight, I'll treat you to yakiniku—you know the place."
"For now, go back and prepare your personal ninja tools. Starting tomorrow, you'll begin carrying out missions as official ninja. Dismissed."
After saying that, Gekkō Kumomi used Body Flicker and left.
"Hey, Makoto-nii, was that move just now the ninjutsu you've been developing all this time? It was amazing—you instantly blew up Kumomi-ojisan's shadow clone. It's just that the name doesn't sound very impressive."
As soon as the squad leader left, Uzuki Yūgao immediately became lively.
"It's just a name. As long as it's fitting, that's enough. Why make it so troublesome?" Higashino Makoto said, then suddenly changed his tone. "You want it to sound impressive? Then how about 'Innate Body-Piercing Formless Sword'? Or how about 'Supreme Gale Moonlit Infinite Consecutive Chilling-Light Slash, First Form'?"
"Uh, it does sound kind of impressive, but isn't it too long? Forget it—Shadowless Sword is better. The important thing is, I want to learn it. Hurry up and teach me!"
Ninjutsu is every ninja's secret. Even disciples are not taught lightly. However, the three of them had grown up together since childhood, and between them there was long no such reservation.
"Didn't I teach you this a long time ago? As long as you can do it like this, you've met the basic requirement." As Higashino Makoto spoke, he picked up a small pebble from the ground and pinched it between his fingers. Wind-nature chakra was activated, and the pebble was instantly sliced into powder.
Uzuki Yūgao: "…"
Gekkō Hayate: "This requirement, huh? Don't worry, Makoto. I'll work hard to reach it."
"Very good. Keep it up. Do you need to restock ninja tools?"
Hayate: "I still have some at home. I don't need to for now."
Yūgao: "Me too."
"My training ones are used up, so I need to buy a bit. Then, see you tonight."
It was already evening. After the three parted ways, Higashino Makoto quickly arrived at a ninja tools shop near his home. The shop was only one street away from his house, and the quality was quite good. Makoto consumed a large amount of ninja tools during training, so he was naturally a regular customer here.
"Suzune-nee, long time no see. You're at the shop today? Where's Tetsuen-nii?"
During the war, most ninja were at the front lines, and ninja tools were purchased in bulk by the village and distributed, so there were no customers in the shop. There was only a young woman inside, holding a baby in her arms.
"Makoto, long time no see. Tetsuen went to the forge. What do you need today?"
"Just these." Higashino Makoto handed her a list, and also noticed the baby in her arms. The child was very small, only a few days old.
"Is this your and Tetsuen-nii's child? So cute. Is it a boy or a girl? Have you chosen a name?"
As Suzune picked out the items, she smiled and replied, "It's a girl. Her name is Tenten."
"Tenten, huh? Tenten?"
"Yes. Is there a problem?"
"No, none. It sounds very nice."
Higashino Makoto looked at the two buns tied in Suzune's hair. Wasn't that just an enlarged version of Tenten? He hadn't expected to encounter one of the Rookie 12 so quickly.
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