Hearing this harsh condition, Mirei gasped in shock.
Hiashi narrowed his pale eyes, his expression turning cold and completely focused.
Kaito, however, simply stood there and smirked.
He knew exactly how this classic Konoha test worked from his past life's memories.
The threat of being sent back to the Academy was simply a massive bluff.
Dan Katō definitely meant to use this situation to test the team's ability to coordinate and show true teamwork.
Just as Kaito was formulating a plan, the familiar mechanical voice suddenly rang out in his mind.
[Ding! Summoning Mission...]
[Mission Option A: Snatch the bells and keep them entirely for yourself.
Reward: All Chakra Nature Affinity]
[Mission Option B: Intentionally fail the test and get tied to the stump.
Reward: 24 Frame Projection Sorcery]
[Mission Option C: Snatch the bells and give your bells to the others.
Reward: 100% Hit Black Flash]
Kaito read the blue translucent screen in front of him and his breath hitched.
This system was truly throwing out insane rewards today.
Option B offered Naobito Zenin's signature inherited technique, the 24 Frame Projection Sorcery.
It was incredibly fast, but failing the test deliberately was a huge risk he didn't want to take.
Option A was extremely tempting.
Having all five Chakra Natures would instantly make him a Ninjutsu god like Hiruzen Sarutobi.
However...
Option C was simply too broken to ignore!
A 100% Hit Black Flash!
In Jujutsu Kaisen, a Black Flash amplifies the user's physical strike to the power of 2.5.
It was an explosive distortion in space that occurred when cursed energy was applied within 0.000001 seconds of a physical hit.
If he could combine the absolute precision of his Six Eyes, the raw physical stats of the Eight Inner Gates, and a guaranteed Black Flash on every strike?
He would be an unstoppable close-combat monster!
Kaito immediately decided that Black Flash would work best for him.
"The test starts... Now!" Dan Katō shouted, immediately leaping backward to create distance.
Swish!
The three Genin immediately scattered into the surrounding trees, hiding their presence.
At least, that was what Kaito and Mirei did.
Hiashi Hyuga, full of immense pride in his clan's visual prowess, refused to hide.
He recklessly stepped out into the open clearing, trying to snatch the bell completely on his own.
"Byakugan!"
Thick veins bulged violently around Hiashi's pale eyes.
He immediately rushed toward Dan Katō at high speed, his hands glowing with pale blue chakra.
"Gentle Fist Art!"
Hiashi launched a flurry of rapid, precise palm strikes aiming directly at the Jōnin's chakra points.
However, the massive gap in experience was instantly apparent.
Dan Katō didn't even use his hands to fight back.
He simply swayed his body gracefully, easily dodging every single one of Hiashi's attacks.
"You're too reckless, Hyuga. Your strikes are fast, but your movements are completely linear," Dan Katō mocked lightly.
He lightly tapped the back of Hiashi's neck, sending the boy stumbling forward into the dirt.
Hiashi gritted his teeth, feeling extremely frustrated and humiliated.
At this moment, Kaito suddenly stepped out from the bushes.
He couldn't let Hiashi get completely defeated right away. Kaito needed to take absolute control over the situation.
"Hiashi! Fall back and listen to me!" Kaito shouted.
Hiashi wiped the dirt from his face and glared at Kaito.
He stubbornly replied, "I do not need your help, Uchiha. I can handle this myself."
Kaito sighed heavily and pointed at the completely unfazed Jōnin.
"Look at him. He is an elite Jōnin. You cannot possibly beat him alone in a frontal assault. We need a coordinated plan."
Seeing the logic in Kaito's words, Hiashi finally relented and stepped back into the tree line.
Mirei also dropped down from the branches, standing next to Kaito.
"What should we do, Kaito?" Mirei asked.
Kaito quickly formulated a plan and whispered it to his two teammates.
After making sure they both understood their roles, Kaito gave the signal.
Mirei immediately rushed out of the bushes, aggressively charging to stop Dan Katō's movement.
She threw three kunai in rapid succession.
Dan Katō easily deflected the weapons with a single kunai of his own.
He then swiftly formed a single hand seal.
"Earth Release: Mud Binding!"
The solid ground beneath Mirei's feet suddenly turned into sticky mud, rapidly trapping her legs up to her knees.
Dan Katō smiled victoriously.
"That's one down."
Poof!
Suddenly, the trapped Mirei exploded into a thick cloud of white smoke.
Dan Katō's eyes widened slightly in surprise.
'She used a Shadow Clone?'
Taking advantage of the Jōnin's momentary shock, Hiashi attacked from his blind spot!
"Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Two Palms!"
Hiashi confronted him in a fierce close-range battle.
Dan Katō was immediately forced to block the dangerous chakra-infused strikes, putting his full focus entirely on Hiashi.
This was the exact opening Kaito had been waiting for.
With his bright blue Six Eyes blazing, Kaito perfectly read the flow of Dan Katō's chakra and his center of gravity.
Kaito rapidly formed a sequence of hand seals.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
Rumble!
A massive, thick wall of solid earth violently erupted from the ground directly between Dan Katō and Hiashi.
The sudden, massive change in terrain completely disoriented Dan Katō, cutting off his line of sight and forcing him to jump backward.
But Kaito was already there.
Using the explosive leg strength from his Taijutsu Mastery, Kaito's body blurred into motion.
He seamlessly slipped past the crumbling edges of the earth wall.
His hand darted out with absolute, microscopic precision.
Cling!
Before Dan Katō could even register the sudden movement, Kaito had smoothly dashed past him and landed safely several meters away.
The Jōnin quickly looked down at his waist.
The two silver bells were gone.
Kaito stood tall, twirling the two silver bells around his index finger with a prideful smirk.
"We got them," Kaito announced.
Dan Katō stood there in stunned silence for a few seconds before a wide, genuine smile broke out across his face.
"Very impressive coordination. Your timing was flawless," Dan Katō praised them loudly.
He walked closer to the trio.
"However, Kaito. There are still only two bells. Who is going back to the Academy?"
Hiashi and Mirei tensed up, looking nervously at the bells in Kaito's hand.
Without a single moment of hesitation, Kaito walked forward.
He gently tossed one silver bell to Mirei, and threw the second one to Hiashi.
"What are you doing?!" Hiashi asked, his formal tone breaking in pure shock.
"If you give your bells to us, you will be the one who fails the test!"
Kaito shoved his hands comfortably into his pockets.
He nonchalantly said, "A team is only as strong as its weakest link. We completely succeeded in this task together. If one of us fails, we all fail."
When Dan Katō heard this, he threw his head back and burst into loud laughter.
"Hahahaha! Excellent! Absolutely excellent!"
Dan Katō looked at the three of them with immense pride.
"Remember this! You must not, under any condition, abandon your teammates. Those who did are lower than trash. Being a medical ninja, I wouldn't let any of my friends leave behind!"
He gave them a thumbs-up.
"You all pass! You are officially part of Team 6!"
At that exact moment, the mechanical voice rang out in Kaito's head.
[Ding! Mission Successfully Completed!]
[Distributing '100% Hit Black Flash' Reward...]
Kaito felt a terrifying, dense new energy integrated into his physical core.
Dan Katō smiled and crossed his arms.
"Go home and rest up, you three."
He added, "Starting tomorrow, we will go on our very first official mission."