"Bang, bang, bang~"
In the exercise field, a green figure maneuvered left and right amidst the firelight, explosions continuously erupting, yet not a single one managed to hit him. Along with the blast waves, he also dashed out of the explosion range.
"Konoha Great Whirlwind!"
With a sweeping kick in midair, aimed towards the white-haired boy reading a scroll outside the explosion site, facing the kicking force carried by the wind, Tatsuma merely raised his right hand, without even looking at the figure, and began the One-Handed Seals.
"Earth Release! Earth Flow Thousand Years of Death!"
As Tatsuma completed the seals, two rocky arms with tiger seals rose from the ground suddenly. Above the rocky arms was the approaching green youth.
"Ah!!! Mmm~~~"
The movement of the green youth halted in midair, a complex expression appearing on his face. At this moment, the rocky arms collapsed, and he fell to the ground, his buttocks touching the ground. He quickly rolled over and lay prone on the ground, slightly raising his buttocks, a face of pain.
After a while, he finally overcame that refreshing sensation, trembling as he climbed up from the ground, discontentedly saying to Tatsuma, "Tatsuma, you're really getting dirtier and dirtier. It's either Explosive Tag traps or these lowly tricks."
"You did well too. You actually stepped on every single Explosive Tag trap," Tatsuma said ambiguously, glancing at the distant field, then continued, "Being able to detonate so many Explosive Tag traps that are not connected to each other is also a kind of talent, Nawaki."
Upon hearing this, Nawaki scratched his head embarrassedly and said, "Ah, they're not connected? Oh well. By the way, with my current level, I should have no problem passing the graduation assessment, right?"
Tatsuma nodded, watching Nawaki rush out of the Explosive Tag traps unscathed and said, "Who knows, when you're on the battlefield, you might even save your own life."
Nawaki didn't quite grasp the true meaning behind Tatsuma's words, rubbing his buttocks and saying, "You and Minato are also participating in the Chunin exams tomorrow. How about it, feeling confident?"
The Chunin exams precede the graduation assessment because among the students of the ninja academy, there are many children of ninja clans who take advantage of this time to pass down family secrets to their clan members. Having more time is also advantageous for them to master these techniques.
Tatsuma, thinking about tomorrow's graduation assessment, casually said, "There's nothing difficult about it. I guess the difficulty of this Chunin exam will be the lowest in recent years. Even if it's the strictest Chunin exam, Minato and I will be fine."
"What if you two encounter each other early? Or if you're ambushed by another three-person team? Third is really something, not assigning you and Minato to a three-person team, and even splitting you into two teams," Nawaki said with some concern in his tone.
Tatsuma, however, didn't mind and just said, "Minato and I are both strong after all. Besides, the other three-person teams have undergone tacit training together. Forcing Minato and me into someone else's team would only disrupt the synergy they've developed. Besides, with Minato and me each leading a team, we won't be held back by teammates."
"True. If you two become Chunin, how about including me in your team? After all, Chunin are qualified to lead teams," Nawaki asked suddenly. Tatsuma was taken aback; he had never considered this question. After all, Chunin were pretty weak, right? Leading a team would mean leading three even weaker guys to their deaths, wouldn't it?
Actually, this was Tatsuma's cognitive bias. Since graduating, he had only interacted with ninja who were either young geniuses like Jiraiya at the beginning or powerful ninja like Sakumo Hatake, who could already hold their own. Even on the battlefield, he had faced elite fighters from other villages, and had even fought against Jonin. Therefore, he always felt inadequate, but in reality, Chunin were already the backbone of major ninja villages.
It's true that some Chunin were weak, but it also depended on who they were compared to. When it came to leading a team, they were barely adequate. After all, from Genin to Chunin, there were still many things to learn, enough for a Chunin Squad Captain to provide guidance for some time.
Seeing Tatsuma stunned, Nawaki limped over to him and waved his hand at him. Tatsuma snapped out of it and smiled, saying, "If we're on the front lines, it's all about legion warfare, there won't be subdivided teams. Besides, you're older than both Minato and me. If the two of us were to lead you, wouldn't it look strange?"
"What's so strange about that? Youth is about seeking advice from everyone stronger than yourself! If I have the chance to join your and Minato's team, please make sure to accept me!" Nawaki said, extending his thumb and showing a toothy grin. Tatsuma nodded with a smile. He also knew that even if leading a team, Nawaki was the best candidate. After all, Orochimaru, as a sensei, had trained him well.
As for him and Minato, even if they were to be assigned to lead teams, in the early stages, they would probably only lead some less important functional teams, laying the groundwork for leading more promising Genin teams after they became Jonin.
After all, leading a team as a ninja is, in a sense, being a sensei. It requires imparting many things to Genin, which requires experience. Like Tsunade, she wouldn't be able to teach Tatsuma anything. Even some basic things, she wouldn't realize the need to teach.
Previously, Tatsuma and Minato followed Jiraiya, who was also leading students for the first time. Jiraiya's path of guidance was not without obstacles, but he stood out for his wide network. He couldn't teach everything himself, but he could borrow teaching materials.
As long as they borrowed teaching materials, they could rely on the talents of their two disciples. Jiraiya's true mastery of teaching would have to wait until after he taught the Yahiko trio.
In three years, with three different types of students, all of them were taught by Jiraiya and became capable. After traveling through the ninja world and gaining more experience, Jiraiya was able to teach Naruto successfully.
As for Tatsuma himself, he felt that his teaching abilities were also open to question. He served as the sealing class representative for Uzumaki Mito, which shortened the learning time for Kushina and Minato. He also guided Nawaki and several other classmates, leading to their improvement.
However, Tatsuma felt that rather than teaching others how to do things, it was more like he made them follow along with him. He felt that rather than being the sensei of these people, he was more like their squad leader.
Shaking his head to clear his mind of these thoughts, Tatsuma took out the scroll he hadn't finished reading earlier and said to Nawaki, "You better show some spirit. Don't let Minato and I become Chunin while you fail to graduate."
Upon hearing this, Nawaki flashed a youthful smile and said, "Youth will not let me down. I will definitely pass the graduation exam. Let's start with 5,000 pull-ups! If I can't do that, I'll do 5,000 frog jumps!"
Watching Nawaki run off to train, Tatsuma continued reading the scroll in his hand, occasionally gesturing as if verifying or attempting the contents of the scroll.
By evening, he stopped reading and called Nawaki to head towards the Senju clan's territory. Tsunade and the others had already rushed to the front lines, leaving Tatsuma to stay at the Senju clan's territory, which was said to be arranged by Orochimaru.
Moreover, while others might just move in with their luggage, Tatsuma didn't even need to carry luggage. The clothes he wore were all Nawaki's old ones. Recently, there had been occasional sightings of Samurais within the village of Konoha, and Tatsuma guessed that this was probably arranged by Orochimaru.
Although Orochimaru had only misled them and hadn't verbally confirmed it, it was indeed misleading. Until the end of the war, or until Mifune's role was fulfilled, they couldn't afford to offend Mifune. Therefore, they could only have Tatsuma continue playing his role for a while.
As for Minato, Tatsuma hadn't seen him for nearly a month. Jiraiya had long departed with Tsunade and others, but Minato still hadn't appeared.
Nawaki and Kushina were quite worried, but Tatsuma roughly guessed Minato's whereabouts. He should be at one of the legendary Three Great Sacred Places—Mount Myoboku.
Of course, Minato hadn't reached the standard of practicing Sage Mode yet. Whether it was physique, amount of chakra, or precise control of chakra, he was still far from practicing Sage Mode.
However, what the toads of Mount Myoboku could teach Minato wasn't just Sage Mode and Sage Art. There were a large number of toads there, whether they were combat-oriented, Ninjutsu-oriented, or even toads with more peculiar abilities—Mount Myoboku had them all.
These toads could significantly boost Minato's combat abilities in a short period of time, and who knows, with Minato consuming high-protein meals daily, his physical development might also see a leap forward.
After all, the growth rate of the toads at Mount Myoboku was incredibly fast, probably related to those high-protein, high-nutrient insect meals.
However, tomorrow is the first round of the Chunin exams, and Minato still hasn't arrived. It slightly affected Tatsuma's sleep; it took him almost a minute longer than usual to fall asleep.
The next day, Tatsuma, unusually, didn't drag Nawaki out for morning practice. Instead, he did some simple training before arriving at the Konoha Academy, where the first round of the Chunin exams written test was being held.
Tatsuma didn't rush into his exam room but waited downstairs. As time passed, with only the last ten minutes left until the exam, Tatsuma finally smiled.
"Swoosh~"
A figure rushed into the school at an extremely fast speed. Even the Academy's gatekeepers, who were vigilant against attacks by foreign ninja, didn't react in time.
"Tatsuma, long time no see. Were you waiting for me? Sorry, I was taken by sensei to train at Mount Myoboku. It wasn't until today that sensei's Summoning Jutsu was activated in the village, allowing me to be summoned back by the toads."
Minato, wearing loose clothing that seemed somewhat outdated compared to the current era, landed in front of Tatsuma. Seeing Minato full of spirit, Tatsuma smiled and said, "Looks like you've made great progress. That speed just now, even I couldn't match."
Minato nodded and said, "Yeah, sensei said speed is my strong suit, so for the past month and a half, I've been training specifically for speed."
Tatsuma still looked somewhat amazed. He had a system, allowing him to see the extent to which his talents were realized every day. Currently, all four of his body-related talents had reached the requirements for Jonin, with routine training yielding 3-4 points daily.
Even though he had been focusing mainly on studying Senju Tobirama's notes during this time, training hadn't been neglected. Yet, under these circumstances, Minato, who originally had a speed similar to his own, had somehow surpassed him.
Tatsuma suddenly felt that perhaps Minato not only had one hidden talent in speed but might possess both of the enhancement directions, "Divine Mind" and "Divine Travel" that he had to choose between initially. Moreover, Minato might even have more than that.
Otherwise, Minato couldn't have surpassed him in such a short time through training. Also, considering the effect of "Growing Through Battle," Tatsuma's progress speed had surpassed Minato's in many aspects before. Yet, in the aspect of speed, Minato always managed to keep up with him closely. Should one say his talent is truly deserving of being called the man who's fast enough to make the Second Hokage Surprised?
Putting away his inner thoughts, Tatsuma suddenly had some mischievous ideas and asked with a smile, "You seem to have grown a bit taller, and your face has filled out. Have you been eating well lately?"
"Gulp~"
At the words, Minato's face turned pale. He reached out to support himself against the nearby wall and looked at Tatsuma with a resentful gaze, saying, "Please, don't say any more."
"Are you two planning to give up on the Chunin exams?!"
At this moment, a voice interrupted the conversation between the two. They turned around to see, both showing a slight surprise, "Atoma-sensei!"
"Hmph! I thought you two geniuses had forgotten about me."
Although Sarutobi Atoma's words weren't pleasant, the smile on his face couldn't hide. He pointed towards the direction upstairs and said, "Minato, I've already verified your information in advance. Go to my office to collect it, then hurry to the exam hall."
"Yes! Let's go, Tatsuma!"
"Just a little Chunin exam, no big deal!"
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