"Ding~"
Facing the three Kunai thrown at him, Tatsuma simply flicked out the Shuriken in his hand with ease. When the Shuriken hit the first Kunai, it changed direction, and so did the Shuriken.
The redirected Shuriken and Kunai each hit the other two Kunai. Unlike the tense three-person team, Tatsuma stood in place, still wearing the innocent smile on his face.
However, his Shuriken throwing technique left both the three individuals and the judging examiner dumbfounded. Isn't this too artistic?
The judging Ninja was only a Chunin, while Tatsuma's Kunai Throwing skill was something even most Jonin couldn't achieve. With the addition of learning the Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu, enhancing his analysis of ninja tool trajectories, and the amplification brought by the Divine Mind, he could easily calculate such ways of "teasing" others.
After the astonishment of the three-person team, the Ninja in the middle made a hand gesture, and in an instant, the Ninjas on both sides rushed towards Tatsuma, while the one in the middle began forming hand seals.
The two Ninjas rushing towards Tatsuma once again drew their Kunai and stabbed at him, but their speed made Tatsuma, who had been training with Minato and fighting alongside elite Ninjas, see it as if it were in slow motion.
His right hand seized the wrist of the person rushing in from the left, then he used his momentum against him, flinging him to the right.
"Bang~"
The two rushing Ninjas instantly collided, and at this moment, the Ninja opposite him finished forming hand seals, took a deep breath, intending to cast Ninjutsu at Tatsuma. However, he couldn't find his target.
"Good coordination, but still lacking a bit."
The voice from behind startled the Ninja who was about to cast Ninjutsu, but before he could react, his lower back stung, and then his face stung as well, crashing into his wobbly teammates.
In an instant, the three collapsed together, while Tatsuma stretched out his foot and hooked it towards the ground, catching a Kunai that had just fallen. He quickly tied an Explosive Tag onto it with a steel wire.
"Ssh~"
The Explosive Tag landed in the middle of the three. The judging Ninja raised an eyebrow, about to intervene, but Tatsuma smiled at him and gestured for him to refrain from interfering.
"Bang~"
The explosion sounded, and the shockwave from the Explosive Tag pushed all three off the platform. The judging Ninja saw that the power of the Explosive Tag was much smaller than usual, and there was no flame accompanying the smoke, realizing it was specially made. He breathed a sigh of relief.
"Congratulations, you've passed the second round of assessment. The third round will be held in three days, please make sure to attend."
The judging Ninja took out Tatsuma's examination certificate, stamped it, made two notes in his notebook, and handed the certificate back to Tatsuma.
"Thank you."
Tatsuma picked up his Shuriken, took his examination certificate, and left the platform. He nodded at the three Genin with resentful glances. Due to the insincerity of his conversation with them, Tatsuma didn't get the opportunity for the talent pickup.
But Tatsuma didn't care. After all, judging by the level of the three, him saying "your cooperation was not bad" was already the highest praise. He could have falsely praised them, but it was difficult for him to do so.
Moving to the platform where Minato was, Minato had just stepped onto the stage. Seeing Tatsuma, Minato smiled and nodded at him, which caused dissatisfaction among the Ninja team opposite him.
One of them said, "Humph! So, someone came to the exam to seek attention, and it's not just you, huh? But that kid, he must have lost already, right?"
"Hahaha~"
The two beside him laughed recklessly. Tatsuma rubbed his chin, his smile fading, and looked at Minato. Indeed, was Minato the one with protagonist luck? Why wasn't he mocked just now?
Minato's gaze swept over the three individuals, and Tatsuma, unafraid, spoke up: "Minato, how long will it take for you to win?"
The mockery from the three abruptly ceased. Before they could utter a new taunt, Minato calmly replied, "Twenty seconds."
"Are you really that slow?" Tatsuma continued to tease with a smile.
Seeing Tatsuma's carefree demeanor, Minato stopped pretending and said, "Let's make it ten seconds then."
After speaking, he looked at the judging Ninja and said, "Sir, can we begin?"
The judging Ninja had already consulted both sides and received confirmation. It was just that Tatsuma's arrival had slightly delayed the proceedings. Now, seeing Minato speak up, he nodded.
"Begin!"
These three older Genin might not know Tatsuma and Minato, but all the Chunin present did. After all, they were geniuses who could go to the battlefield at the age of nine, complete dozens of missions successfully, and return to the village from the front lines.
His gaze carried pity as he glanced at the three older Genin, then swiftly stepped aside. The three Genin were about to angrily attack Minato, but found Minato's figure had disappeared, just like Tatsuma's opponents had struggled to find Tatsuma earlier.
Moreover, Minato's speed now was even faster than Tatsuma's.
Only a golden afterimage flickered, and then two Ninjas were sent flying. The Genin who had spoken earlier was kicked in the back of the knee by Minato and knelt on the ground.
Of course, Minato wasn't the type to humiliate his opponents. He did this simply because... he was short. Facing adult opponents, he could only put his opponent in a kneeling position from behind to hold a Kunai to their neck.
"You've lost," Minato's voice rang out, and the judging Ninja immediately declared it. The Ninja tried to protest, saying he just hadn't reacted in time, and accused Minato of unsportsmanlike conduct with a surprise attack.
But his protests didn't change the judgment of the judging Ninja. After finishing the formalities with Minato, he handed the examination certificate to him. Tatsuma looked at Minato leaving the stage and said, "You're still too conservative. You should have said 'in an instant'."
"I thought they would react in time," Minato said.
Minato reverted to his sunny boyish demeanor, scratching his head with some embarrassment. He had planned to take three seconds to deal with each opponent, which should have allowed him to finish within ten seconds.
He just didn't expect that his probing would be too much for the three to handle, so he ended up resolving it even more decisively.
"With your current speed, even in such a short distance, I might not be able to keep up with defense, let alone them," Tatsuma said, smiling at Minato, who seemed somewhat lacking in confidence.
Minato nodded, not showing any pride on his face. After all, he knew that Tatsuma's statement about not necessarily being able to keep up with defense was true. Defense was passive and would always be slower.
However, Tatsuma could choose to attack, utilizing his superior strength and Taijutsu skills. Minato quickly ran through scenarios in his mind—either he could give up attacking, or he would risk injuring Tatsuma severely, which would result in him lying down while owing Tatsuma a great deal.
After leaving the Land of Iron, Minato and Tatsuma proposed to spar again, with Tatsuma being asked to unleash his true strength. But then, Minato ended up being thrown against the wall, only for Tatsuma to pry him off the wall.
"Let's go to my sensei's house. Nawaki is about to graduate, and Kushina has also signed up for early graduation. Do you want to see how they're doing now?" Tatsuma said to Minato.
Minato was taken aback, then expressed his concern, "Kushina signed up too?"
"Yeah, she submitted the application secretly just before the deadline," Tatsuma replied.
Upon hearing this, Minato, who had originally wanted to go home and change clothes, couldn't wait any longer. He nodded and was about to head towards the Senju clan's territory. However, he suddenly stopped and looked at Tatsuma, revealing a smile.
"Tatsuma, how about we have a speed contest? Let's see who can reach there faster?"
Tatsuma's face darkened. When did Minato develop this bad habit? He had clearly stated that his speed wasn't as fast as Minato's. Yet Minato still wanted to challenge him to a race. This Minato with his thick eyebrows and big eyes, why was his heart so dirty?
"Okay!"
Despite his grim expression, Tatsuma agreed. He also wanted to see what Minato's true level was now. Tatsuma picked up a piece of broken stone from the ground, glanced at Minato, and then threw it upwards.
The way they started and ended their contest didn't need words anymore; their tacit eye contact was enough.
The moment the stone hit the ground, both of them shot out like arrows released from a bow. Minato chose to take the upper route, employing various high-difficulty maneuvers, using both hands and feet continuously. Tatsuma, on the other hand, chose to move along the ground.
After all,
"Bang! Bang!"
As head-sized craters appeared on the ground, the force transmitted back through his soles allowed Tatsuma to unleash even greater speed. This was his only possible way to surpass Minato—by causing slightly more destruction.
However, when Tatsuma arrived at the Senju clan's territory, he still saw that Minato had already arrived. Although he hadn't caught his breath yet, there was no doubt that Minato had won. He had proven himself to be the faster boy.
Seeing the rare expression of smugness on Minato's face, which seemed to invite a punch, Tatsuma suddenly said, "You truly deserve it, Minato. Your progress is remarkable. Your combat skills should have improved significantly too, right? Let me see."
"Okay!"
Minato's response was almost instinctive, but as soon as he said it, he regretted it, wishing he could slap himself twice. Why couldn't he control this instinctive reaction?!
Three days passed quickly. Tatsuma and Minato arrived at the venue for the third round of assessment. By now, the number of participants had significantly decreased. Unlike the previous rounds, the third round wasn't a team battle. It was a free-for-all, where participants could form teams along the way, team up with previous teammates, form new teams with other ninjas, or go solo.
Many Jonin were present for this round, and even Sarutobi Hiruzen himself attended. After all, the third round wasn't based solely on victories for promotion but was a comprehensive assessment. These Jonin would give their opinions after the assessment to determine which ninjas would advance.
Of course, the ultimate winner, the last person on the arena with combat capability remaining, is guaranteed promotion.
Due to the abundance of Ninjutsu, the assessment was split into two venues, but conducted simultaneously. Tatsuma and Minato were assigned to different venues. At this moment, many people in the assessment area were engaged in discussions, seemingly inviting others to form teams.
Tatsuma and Minato didn't join in. Instead, they stood in the middle, exchanging information about their respective venues and discussing which individuals needed special attention.
As they spoke, Tatsuma asked, "Minato, do you think you can hold out until the end?"
Upon hearing this, Minato turned to glance at the people on the arena with him. Despite there being many children of ninja clans among them, he nodded and said, "I should be able to hold out until the end."
Tatsuma grinned, putting his hand on Minato's shoulder and raising his voice slightly as he said, "You truly are something, Minato! You actually have the confidence to outlast everyone, just like me!"
"How about we have a competition to see who can eliminate opponents faster?"
Minato's rational side told him that Tatsuma, this bastard, was pulling his leg again. He had said "hold out until the end" but now framed it as "eliminate everyone," though technically the outcome was the same, the attitudes were completely different.
But upon hearing "You truly are something" and "competition," Minato realized that his rationality was too slow, because his body had already reacted first.
"Okay!"
The moment the words left his mouth, Minato felt countless malicious gazes falling on him. Suddenly, a chill ran down his spine, his scalp tingled, and even his hair, already standing, seemed to stand even more erect.
"Gulp~"
Swallowing hard, Minato wanted to explain something, but at that moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen on the platform suddenly smiled and said, "It seems everyone is very energetic. The village needs young, vibrant ninjas like you all."
"You all must be eager as well. Let's take the stage and begin!"
Just before Minato stepped onto the platform, he glared fiercely at Tatsuma. However, his current gaze lacked the momentum and killing intent of that glance from the night of the Nine-Tails incident, and it had no effect on Tatsuma.
----
Check out my Patreon for more advanced chapters up to 50 at patreon.com/HellGolt