"Ohhh~ how scary."
Surrounded from all sides, Kizaru drawled out his usual line with that lazy, unserious tone of his.
The three around him were already used to the way he talked, so none of them let it shake them.
They exchanged a quick look, then nodded.
They would stick to the plan.
Uchiha Inari moved first, throwing two shuriken toward Kizaru before immediately forming hand signs.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"
He called out the jutsu loud enough for his teammates to hear.
Several small fireballs burst from his mouth like blooming flowers, scattering through the air as they rushed toward Kizaru.
The moment the flames were about to reach him, Hyūga Toda and Yuki moved as well.
To avoid getting caught in Inari's fire, the two of them waited for the right timing before charging in.
Their plan wasn't bad.
The problem was—
Kizaru was too fast.
Facing the fireballs head-on, Kizaru pushed off the ground and shot straight into the air.
The instant he jumped, Yuki followed without hesitation.
She appeared above him, gripping her ninja sword with both hands. Chakra wrapped around the blade as she slashed downward at an angle.
At the same time, Hyūga Toda leapt up from below.
His left hand stayed forward while his right pulled back, gathering strength.
Using the twist of his waist and core, Toda drove his palm straight toward Kizaru's abdomen.
"Not bad at all~"
Kizaru smiled as he praised their attack.
Then he kicked off the air.
Moon Step.
Using the air itself as a foothold, he shifted sideways and slipped cleanly out of their pincer attack.
The sudden movement caught both of them off guard.
Yuki's slash cut through empty air and continued downward—straight toward Toda, who was rising from below with his palm strike.
"Watch out!" Uchiha Inari shouted from behind.
Yuki's expression changed.
She clenched her teeth, forcing her body to twist in midair. The ninja sword traced a sharp half-circle, the blade passing just over Toda's head.
Toda landed awkwardly, then froze when a few strands of hair drifted down in front of his face.
A chill ran through him.
That was close.
Yuki landed soon after. When she saw the small patch on Toda's head that had been shaved clean, guilt flickered across her face.
"Hyūga…"
"We're still in the middle of the test. Don't lose focus!"
Because of the tension, Toda still hadn't noticed that part of his scalp felt strangely cold.
Uchiha Inari, with his Sharingan and excellent vision, noticed it clearly.
He almost laughed.
But he held it in and kept his eyes fixed on Kizaru, who was still hovering above them.
Kizaru finally dropped back down from the air.
Looking at the three of them, he decided it was time to add a little pressure.
"Warm-up's over."
He said it casually, but the moment the words fell, he drew his ninja sword for the first time.
The scabbard hit the ground.
Kizaru held the blade in one hand and faced the three of them with that same lazy smile.
The three immediately understood.
He was about to get serious.
Their expressions tightened as they quickly searched for a way to deal with him.
"Scatter!"
"Go!"
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
They shouted almost at the same time—
But their movements didn't match at all.
Yuki used the Body Flicker Technique and disappeared from where she stood.
Hyūga Toda did the opposite and charged straight toward Kizaru.
As for Uchiha Inari, the fireball he released flew directly into Toda's path.
Toda stopped in a panic and barely dodged the flames.
"You idiot!" Toda snapped.
"Shut up—wait, move!" Inari was about to shout back, but the moment he saw Kizaru move, his voice changed.
Toda's heart jumped.
His Byakugan was already active, so he noticed Kizaru's movement.
His eyes saw it.
His mind understood it.
But his body couldn't keep up.
Kizaru appeared beside him in an instant.
By the time Toda turned his head, Kizaru's right foot was already rising.
A kick slammed into the side of Toda's face.
The force sent him flying.
"Toda!" Inari shouted.
He threw a kunai at Kizaru without thinking.
Kizaru twisted his body and dodged the kunai easily.
Then, seeing Inari rush toward Toda, Kizaru raised his right hand.
The ninja sword cut down.
A flying slash tore across the ground between Inari and Toda, stopping Inari in his tracks.
Inari crossed his arms in front of his face.
A sharp tearing pain scraped across the outside of his arms, and cold sweat immediately broke out across his back.
The ground in front of his feet had been ripped open.
Farther away, a raised stone had been sliced cleanly in half.
Inari swallowed.
If he had taken one more step, that slash would have cut him in two.
For the first time, death had passed close enough for him to feel its breath.
His calves trembled on their own.
He turned stiffly toward Kizaru, unable to speak.
"Ohhh~ that was dangerous."
Kizaru smiled as he looked at him.
Of course, he had calculated the distance perfectly. He knew the slash wouldn't actually hit Inari.
"Don't come over here!"
Toda, who had been kicked away, was still conscious. Kizaru had held back, so aside from dizziness and a swollen cheek, he could still move.
He pushed himself up from the ground and looked at Inari, who was frozen in place.
"Inari, don't lose focus in the middle of a fight!"
Kizaru gave him that warning while rushing forward with his sword in hand.
"Look out!" Toda shouted, still too dizzy to stand properly.
"Ah—!"
Toda's warning barely snapped Inari back to his senses.
But Kizaru was already in front of him.
Inari hurriedly pulled out a kunai, trying to block the incoming sword.
Because of his panic, his grip was weak.
The moment the kunai met Kizaru's ninja sword, it was knocked clean out of his hand.
It's over.
That was the only thought left in Inari's mind.
He could only watch as Kizaru's blade came down toward him.
At the last instant, the ninja sword stopped right in front of his face.
Inari's heart dropped.
After experiencing death at close range for the second time, his legs gave out, and he fell to the ground.
It's my fault.
I got everyone eliminated.
"That was impressive, Yuki."
Just as Inari was drowning in guilt, Kizaru suddenly spoke.
Inari blinked and quickly looked forward.
Through the gap between Kizaru's long legs, he saw a pair of slender legs behind him.
His teammate—
Shimura Yuki.
Behind Kizaru, Yuki stood with a cold expression, her ninja sword pressed against Kizaru's waist.
Kizaru had deliberately exposed an opening to test the team's awareness and judgment. Now, he raised both hands in a lazy surrendering gesture.
"You got faster, Yuki~"
"You lost, Kizaru-nii."
Hearing his praise, a small smile appeared on Yuki's face.
Only then did Inari understand what had happened.
He quickly got up and moved beside Yuki.
"Yuki… thanks for saving me."
He said it sincerely.
"The test isn't over yet," Yuki replied simply.
Inari nodded, then took out the last kunai from the pouch at his waist.
He stepped in front of Kizaru and, because of the height difference, pressed the kunai against Kizaru's abdomen.
"Sensei… did we pass?"
"Ohhh~ it won't be that easy."
Kizaru laughed, answering in Hatake Sakumo's place.
Both Yuki and Inari immediately tensed.
They kept their weapons trained on Kizaru, watching him carefully in case he made any strange movement.
Then—
Kizaru vanished.
It was so fast it looked like teleportation.
The moment he disappeared, Inari and Yuki reacted.
Their eyes widened in shock.
"Too slow."
Kizaru's voice came from somewhere else.
The two quickly turned toward it.
Only to find Kizaru already standing beside Hyūga Toda.
His sword hung low, the blade resting against the back of Toda's neck.
"The test is over."
Kizaru smiled as he looked at Inari and Yuki.
Their hands fell weakly.
Looking at Toda, who had been taken hostage by Kizaru, both Inari and Yuki lowered their eyes in disappointment.
Hatake Sakumo, who had been watching from the edge of the training ground the whole time, finally stepped forward with a deliberately stern expression.
"Uchiha Inari."
His voice was sharp enough to make Inari flinch.
"When Yuki had Kizaru restrained, why didn't you rescue Hyūga Toda immediately?"
Standing in front of Inari and Yuki, Sakumo looked genuinely angry.
"I…"
Inari wanted to explain that he thought they had already won.
But under Sakumo's oppressive gaze, his words died in his throat.
He lowered his head.
"You failed this assessment. In that case, I can only—"
Before Sakumo could finish, all three students turned pale.
Inari, who blamed himself the most, even began to tear up.
"Sakumo-nii, why not give them one more chance?"
Just as they had planned beforehand, Kizaru spoke up for the three of them.
The moment they heard him, the three looked at Sakumo as if they had found their last lifeline.
Their eyes were full of pleading.
Sakumo silently looked at his students for a moment.
Then, after a deliberate pause, his expression eased slightly.
"Ten minutes of rest."
His voice was still strict.
"Then we begin the final assessment."
When they realized Sakumo had really given them another chance, the three students immediately brightened.
Inari wiped his tears and, learning from his mistake, quickly ran to Toda's side and reached out to help him up.
"Toda, I'm sorry. If I hadn't—"
"No."
Toda interrupted him and shook his head.
"I lost focus during the fight too. That was my mistake."
Yuki walked over as well.
She looked at the two of them and spoke calmly.
"Rest properly. We can't fail again."
Standing beside Kizaru, Hatake Sakumo watched his three students apologize, encourage each other, and pull themselves back together.
A faint trace of relief passed through his eyes.
It seemed this assessment had worked after all.
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