Chapter 199: Kazuki’s Strength Shocks the Trio

Kazuki hadn't left; he continued to observe the trio's actions from the shadows. Watching Kawano offer a lunchbox to Soryu, and then seeing Rika follow suit, giving her lunch to Kawano, Kazuki nodded in approval.

Though Kazuki lacked experience as a mentor, he knew how to form a cohesive team. A successful team doesn't need deep emotional bonds, but it must lack any division. So, when Kawano betrayed Soryu and Soryu began to resent him, Kazuki wondered how to test the three.

He recalled Kakashi's approach to team assessments, which inspired him, though his testing philosophy differed. While Kakashi believed a team valuing bonds and camaraderie could graduate, Kazuki felt that wasn't enough. Although the trio shared a genuine connection—Soryu, the most impulsive and passionate, Kawano, rational and fair, a natural leader, and Rika, kind and considerate—Kazuki deemed it necessary to evaluate their basic skills, training instincts, and potential.

As Soryu finished his lunch and recovered some strength, he resumed running. After an hour and a half, he completed the remaining laps, collapsing in the shade of a rock to catch his breath, while Kawano and Rika sat nearby, waiting for Kazuki.

"Well, looks like you're done. No slacking off, right?" Kazuki asked.

"I'm not that kind of person!" Soryu retorted, though he'd considered it briefly. Kawano's steady gaze, however, kept him from voicing it.

"We'll vouch for him. Soryu really didn't slack off," Kawano and Rika assured Kazuki.

Kazuki had been watching from the sidelines, aware that Soryu hadn't shirked his task. He asked merely to tease him.

"With Kawano and Rika backing you, I suppose I'll believe you. Now, take a half-hour break. After that, we begin the combat assessment!"

The three of them straightened, mentally preparing.

As the time passed, Soryu, though not fully recovered, could still function and perform ninjutsu. Kazuki pulled out two bells and shook them before the trio.

"The assessment is simple. You need to take these bells from me before nightfall. Those who grab a bell will pass, anyone who fails—will be eliminated!"

"Why only two bells?" Soryu asked, confused.

"Because only two can pass." Kazuki smiled, securing the bells to his waist, while the trio exchanged nervous glances. Soryu, the weakest among them, worried he'd have no chance. Kawano focused on strategizing to seize the bell from Kazuki, while Rika wondered how to share a bell if she succeeded, not wanting to compete against her teammates.

Kazuki could see their thoughts but kept his own counsel. "With your skill levels, you'd never succeed against me normally, so I'll go easy on you. No ninjutsu, taijutsu, kenjutsu, or genjutsu. I won't even use my hands!"

"Isn't that basically a loss for you?" Soryu said, grinning.

Kazuki smirked. "We'll see once you get the bell. Treat this like a game of cat and mouse. Catch me and take the bell, and you pass. Otherwise, you lose!"

"Where's the training area? The entire Practice Field #7?" Kawano inquired.

"Yes," Kazuki confirmed.

"Does it start now?" Kawano pressed.

"Begin!"

With Kazuki's word, Kawano vanished, reappearing right before Kazuki, reaching for the bell on his waist. Kazuki sidestepped, and Kawano's hand hit empty air. He lunged again, aiming for the bell, but Kazuki countered with a knee to his abdomen. Kawano collapsed, the pain wrenching a lunch's worth of food from his stomach.

"Kawano!" Rika and Soryu gasped in horror, stunned to see their strongest teammate felled by a single knee.

"Remember, a cat doesn't chase a mouse for fun—it's to devour it. Attacks as feeble as that won't win you any bells," Kazuki said. "Show me the intent to kill, or you'll have no chance."

"K-Kill?" Rika and Soryu shivered. As civilians raised in Konoha, they had seen the casualties of war but never taken a life. Imagining themselves attacking Kazuki with lethal intent seemed impossible.

But Kawano, from the Gekko Clan, had trained intensively even during his Ninja Academy days, familiar with the sight, if not the act, of killing. After steadying himself, he unsheathed his sword and swung it toward Kazuki, who effortlessly dodged, critiquing as he went.

"Speed is decent, but your strength is lacking," Kazuki observed. "And your form is too sloppy—who taught you swordsmanship?"

Kazuki halted suddenly, the tip of Kawano's sword stopping a mere centimeter from his forehead. Kawano went pale, realizing he'd nearly struck his teacher.

"Afraid to kill me?"

Kawano swallowed, replying in a hoarse whisper, "Yes, Kazuki-sensei."

With a sudden stomp, Kazuki created a massive crater, fifty meters across, with Kawano at its center, holding him up by his collar.

"Don't hold back. If you could truly kill me, you'd be one of the strongest in the ninja world," Kazuki remarked.

"Y-Yes, Kazuki-sensei."

Outside the crater, Soryu and Rika stood, speechless at Kazuki's immense strength.

"Are you kidding me? Kazuki-sensei just created that huge crater with a single stomp?"

"With that kind of strength, how can we ever win?"

"Maybe… we should surrender?"

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The fanfic is finished on p@treon/tambeerg