The barbecue lunch was thoroughly enjoyable, though it did eat up the mission reward Minato Namikaze had just received.
There was no helping it—Minato didn't say anything, but Shūichi Hoshita and the other two were all big eaters.
After lunch, the four of them arrived at a forest on the outskirts of Konoha Village.
"Rest for an hour," Minato said before disappearing into the forest.
Watching Minato vanish into the trees, Sanyō Kurama grinned, "Shūichi, how about a taijutsu match?"
Shūichi Hoshita readily agreed, "No problem!"
Uchiha Shisui took on the role of referee. At his signal, Shūichi and Sanyō clashed.
As Shisui observed silently, he quickly noticed, "Sanyō's moves are being completely read by Shūichi. This kind of ability…"
The first thought that came to his mind was the dynamic vision of the Sharingan.
Although Sanyō Kurama was two years older than Shūichi, their hand-to-hand combat skills were surprisingly similar.
Soon, Sanyō began using kunai, and Shūichi responded in kind. The sound of metal clashing filled the air.
But the flow of the battle didn't change much.
After about five minutes, Shūichi and Sanyō stopped.
"Impressive!" Sanyō gave Shūichi a thumbs-up, genuinely impressed, despite taijutsu not being his strong suit.
At this point, Shisui stepped forward, pointing out the flaws in both Shūichi's and Sanyō's techniques, giving them a detailed analysis of their fight.
As Shūichi listened, he quickly realized that Shisui's combat intelligence was on a much higher level.
After the review, Shūichi immediately took the opportunity to ask Shisui for tips on using short swords.
Before they knew it, an hour had passed. Minato reappeared and looked at the three, saying, "The next training exercise is to follow a designated route through this forest."
"The direction is straight behind me—go straight through."
After saying this, Minato vanished once more.
Sanyō immediately turned to Shisui, "Shisui, what should we do?"
Shūichi also looked to Shisui. Among the three of them, he was the strongest and most experienced.
Shisui responded, "I'll take the lead. Sanyō, you stay in the middle, and Shūichi, you take the rear. We'll advance in a single line formation."
Both Shūichi and Sanyō nodded in agreement.
With Shisui leading the way, the three of them dashed into the forest.
The moment they entered, Shisui activated his Sharingan.
At the back of the formation, Shūichi immediately entered a state of 100% focus.
As for the 10x concentration boost from his [Scholar] tag, he didn't dare to use it lightly due to the significant drain on his stamina.
From his hidden vantage point in the forest, Minato watched the three as they moved.
Suddenly, he used a kunai to cut a thin wire.
In the next moment, a pre-set trap was triggered, sending a barrage of kunai and shuriken flying toward the three of them from the side.
More specifically, Sanyō in the middle was the primary target, with the most kunai and shuriken aimed at him.
"Watch out!" Shisui reacted first, stopping in his tracks and shouting a warning as he hurled a kunai forward.
Sparks flew in the forest, accompanied by the sharp clanging of metal. Shisui's single kunai deflected four or five of the incoming weapons aimed at Sanyō.
Shūichi wasn't far behind, reacting a split second later. But he was better prepared, launching two kunai with both hands, intercepting two shuriken headed their way.
Shūichi Hoshita and Uchiha Shisui quickly moved closer to Sanyō Kurama, both drawing their blades. At the same time, Sanyō held a kunai in each hand.
In the next moment, a barrage of projectiles rained down on them. The three of them swung their weapons, deflecting the incoming attacks amidst a chorus of clashing metal.
Sanyō inwardly chuckled bitterly—had he become the weak point of the team?
After clearing the first hurdle, the trio continued forward.
Not long after, Shisui's ears twitched as he shouted, "Shūichi!"
Shūichi immediately heard the whistling of projectiles behind him, stopping in his tracks and turning around to see a dense volley of weapons headed their way.
This time, instead of drawing his sword, he quickly retrieved two kunai while biting down on a senbon needle.
Activating 200% focus, he spun his arms like windmills, using the kunai to deflect the barrage of weapons.
Behind him, Shisui and Sanyō also had their hands full as projectiles came at them from both the front and the sides.
The three of them formed a back-to-back formation, working together to fend off the assault.
When the attack finally ended, a variety of projectiles lay scattered in front of each of them.
Shūichi's kunai were chipped, and the senbon he had been holding in his mouth had been spat out at the last second to block a shuriken.
The intensity of this training was worlds apart from their time at the ninja academy—a single mistake could lead to serious injury.
Shisui and Sanyō weren't much better off; Sanyō even had two cuts on his arm.
Shūichi quickly checked the wounds and smiled, "Just scratches."
Covering the wounds with his hands, he used the simplest healing technique, and within a minute, the wounds were healed.
The three of them resumed their journey, this time adopting a triangular formation.
They encountered explosive tag traps and ambushes from Minato's shadow clones before finally making it through the forest to the other side.
Once they stopped, all three were breathing heavily.
Shūichi was still shaken.
They hadn't noticed the explosive tag trap until it was nearly too late, reminding him of how Nawaki had died in an explosion trap.
The ninja world was far more dangerous than he had imagined.
He also realized more clearly that the hierarchy among ninjas wasn't just about strength; there were deeper reasons at play.
"You all did very well," Minato said, appearing with a smile. "Rest for an hour."
The three of them immediately sat down, pulling out water and food from their packs to replenish their strength.
An hour later, Minato created three shadow clones and said to them, "Each of you will face one of my clones in a fight. Treat it as if it were an enemy you need to kill."
"Yes, Minato-sensei," they responded in unison before each took on a clone, attacking with full force.
Minato stood a short distance away, observing.
He had been watching his three students closely since their mission that morning.
This afternoon's training was also a way for him to gauge their abilities.
"Shisui is the strongest—he has a keen mind, the powerful insight and genjutsu of the Sharingan, and excellent skills in the Body Flicker Technique and swordsmanship. He also has the most experience and is fully capable of becoming a Chūnin."
"Sanyō excels in genjutsu. His taijutsu and experience are lacking, but he has the potential to become a Chūnin."
"As for Shūichi… his Fire Release hand seals were so fast that even I couldn't see them. Is it a concealed seal, or perhaps no seals at all?"
"What an astonishing talent for Fire Release!"
"And his reaction speed is extraordinary—Lord Third wasn't exaggerating at all."
Minato analyzed quietly, planning how best to teach each of them according to their strengths.
In terms of technique, there wasn't much he could teach Shisui. The Sharingan had its own unique system, so his role would be to help Shisui gain more combat and mission experience.
For Sanyō, aside from improving his taijutsu, the focus would also be on gaining combat and mission experience.
The Kurama clan had an impressive heritage in genjutsu.
As for Shūichi...
(End of Chapter)
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