As if answering Obito's question, footsteps sounded.
Hatake Kakashi—wearing a black mask and a short sword on his back—appeared not far away. With dead-fish eyes, he gave Mikami Yuu and Rin a flat glance, then looked at Minato.
"Minato-sensei. Do we start now?"
"…"
Well.
By ninja-world tradition, most squads were basically one chūnin leading three genin, so Kakashi did technically qualify as an "assistant instructor." And Minato really was busy with missions—having someone help shoulder the load also made sense.
But…
That meant Kakashi was basically in a "teacher" role now.
They were supposed to call Kakashi "sensei"?!
Mikami Yuu could still hold it together, but Obito's reaction was explosive.
"Damn it, why is it you?! I don't recognize you as any kind of teacher! You're just a chūnin! I'm a genin now too—I'll surpass you soon!"
Kakashi nodded blandly. "Oh."
"What do you mean 'oh'?!"
"It means: come talk to me after you become a chūnin. For now, per Minato-sensei's request, you have five minutes to make a battle plan, then attack me. Your objective is to defeat me—or at least not be defeated by me."
"…"
Seeing Minato didn't say anything, Mikami Yuu let out a quiet breath and pulled Rin and the overexcited Obito aside.
"I won't waste words. The graduation exam tested individual ability. This drill tests teamwork. So among the three of us, we need a core—someone who gives orders."
"Sure! I'll be the core—"
"Obito, shut up and listen to Yuu!"
Rin cut him off before he could finish.
Mikami Yuu continued, "Kakashi's specialties are Lightning Release, Earth Release, and the Hatake sword style. Overall, he's a close-range fighter. We need one front-liner to pressure him head-on and create openings; one to support from the side; and one to wait for the moment and finish in one strike."
"Obito—you suppress Kakashi!"
"Got it!"
At this stage, Obito was basically a low-spec Naruto: he had no clear sense of strength differences and genuinely believed he wasn't that far behind Kakashi. Plus he wanted to show off in front of Rin, so his confidence was overflowing—he didn't even mind being ordered around by Mikami Yuu.
"Then I'll support," Rin said.
Which meant Mikami Yuu would be the "assassin" waiting to strike.
To put it bluntly, this lineup was the classic "DPS–tank–support" trio for starting a team fight. In reality, Mikami Yuu's ability to break through was far stronger than Obito's, but there was no way Obito could be the assassin, so they had to settle for this arrangement.
Next, Mikami Yuu quickly outlined the tactics and gathered their ninja tools together, redistributing them.
While this was happening, Minato stood in the distance with arms crossed, listening, and nodded slightly.
Come to think of it…
That big battle-style practical exam at the Academy had actually been designed by Minato.
One purpose was to fulfill Hiruzen's request—confirm whether Mikami Yuu had potential for space-time ninjutsu. The second was to test the overall quality of this cohort, especially practical combat ability and teamwork.
Unfortunately, aside from Nara Mayumi, most students didn't demonstrate much of the second ability. They fought individually, improvising blindly.
In fact, even Kakashi—the "assistant instructor"—had that problem. Otherwise he wouldn't have been repeatedly complained about by teammates. But tracing it back involved last year's White Fang incident, and the right and wrong of it all were hard to judge—Minato couldn't casually comment on it either.
And now…
This Mikami Yuu, instead, was showing a different kind of potential—something pleasantly surprising.
Minato decided to keep watching.
Five minutes passed quickly.
When the timer ended, Mikami Yuu and the others stood up together. Obito rushed out first, forming hand seals as he ran, cheeks puffing.
"Fire Style… Great Fireball Jutsu!"
With a "whoomph," an orange-red fireball blasted out, rumbling toward Kakashi's position, heat waves slapping the air forward.
But—
Puff!
The "Kakashi" that got hit turned into a substitution log.
"Huh?"
Obito froze for a beat—then the ground beneath him loosened. An arm shot out of the earth like lightning, grabbed his ankle, and yanked hard!
"Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu!"
"WAAAH—!"
Obito only managed a short scream before he was dragged into the ground, leaving nothing but a hedgehog head sticking out, his face smeared with dirt.
On this side, Rin threw both hands up—wooden practice shuriken shot out like a swarm of bees at Kakashi, who had just emerged from the ground beside Obito. Kakashi casually drew a kunai, his wrist flickering like a blur as he knocked every shuriken away, then pushed off the ground and lunged straight at Rin!
"Rin! Watch out!"
Obito shouted desperately from his hole, struggling uselessly.
Rin hurriedly raised her kunai to block.
Clang! Clang!
Two crisp impacts. With the huge gap in strength, Kakashi gave a slight shake and push of his wrist, and Rin was blasted backward by an irresistible force. As she stumbled back, her kunai flew out of her hand.
Now!
"Substitution!"
Mikami Yuu vanished in an instant, swapping places with Rin's thrown kunai. He appeared at Kakashi's side-rear and whipped a Leaf Whirlwind straight into Kakashi's waist and ribs!
A sneak attack!
Kakashi abandoned the chase on Rin, twisting his waist and dropping his shoulder as his kunai swept up in a backhanded slash—
Bang!
Mikami Yuu's leg collided hard with the metal handle of the kunai. The force jolted both of them; they each used the rebound to slide back several meters.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
The moment Mikami Yuu landed, his hand seals were already complete. Chakra surged out.
Fwooo—!
A blazing fireball two to three meters tall roared forward—faster, bigger, and far more oppressive than Obito's earlier one. The scorching air instantly crisped the grass leaves nearby!
Kakashi's pupils tightened. Without hesitation he slapped both hands to the ground.
"Earth Style: Earth-Style Wall!"
Rumble!
A heavy earthen wall shot up—carved with several vividly lifelike dog heads!
BOOOOM—!!!!
Mikami Yuu's Great Fireball slammed into the dog-head wall and exploded. Flames and rock sprayed everywhere. The wall shook violently, nearly half its surface blasted away; even the carved dog heads flew off into the distance—but it still blocked the impact.
Smoke and dust filled the air.
Using the wall as cover, Kakashi quietly slipped underground—Earth Style: Hiding Like a Mole Technique.
And right after launching Great Fireball, Mikami Yuu formed seals again immediately:
"Water Style: Water Clone Jutsu!"
~~~
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