Hello there, DelTheAUO here!

I hope everyone's doing alright in the current state of the world. It's pretty hectic out there so don't think too much about it. Just stay safe and be alert.

Anyway, let's continue with this story!

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'I swear, if he pulls a stunt like yesterday, I'd rather go back to the academy and wait another year. I'm not going to let myself be ordered around by a Jounin who's that tardy.' mentally spoke our young Herrscher, walking to Training ground 7 while eating an onigiri that was…comically large. Yet, it did not look any different from the standard ones apart from the size.

"But…you'll have to repeat another year at school. That's soooooo boring. Just suck it up and stick with the team." said Kiana, while remembering her 'fun' times at St. Freya. Having extra lessons with the class monitor had not helped. Not. One. Bit.

'If it means having a more competent Jounin who will actually bother to show up on time, then yes. I'm willing to suffer another year there. Even better, I won't have those two as my teammates, so that makes it all the sweeter.' said Naruto, defending his point.

"That may be true, but there are a few things that might have happened. First, the Hokage, or Kakashi himself might have specifically requested for you, since they did not follow the team balancing rule as it goes for every year. So, if it's the former, then the Hokage thinks that he might be a suitable teacher for you. If it's the latter, then he has some sort of connection to you. Possibly your parents. Speaking of which, are you even interested in knowing who they are?" said Mei, looking at it from a logical point of view.

'Honestly? I would be lying if I say that I'm not curious. But is it high on my list of priorities? Not by a long shot. If I get to know somehow, then it's great. If not, then tough luck. I won't go out of my way to find identities of people who are either dead, or worse, abandoned me, which would hurt even more.' he responded.

"Fair enough. Anyway, the second reason for this might be for surveillance. Both you and Sasuke are potential flight risks in their eyes, so they want to ensure that they have an eye on you at all times. And possibly even develop a rivalry between the two of you in order to hone your skills in a way that's under their control."

'I sure hope that's not the case. Anyway, we're here, so I'll call on you when needed.' he said as he entered the Training Ground, noticing that he was the first one there. Taking the opportunity, he went around the area and scanned it, while looking for possible hiding or trapping spots in case a fight was to happen. The place was actually a massive place to train in, with a small forest, a lake and in the middle of it all, a clearing with some stumps on it, next to a large monolithic structure, with what appeared to be names etched into it. Being a ninja meant being prepared for everything in order to win, and getting the layout of the area was one of the most crucial things that can be used to their advantage.

After returning to the clearing, she saw that his other two teammates had arrived with an irritated expression on their faces. The effect of their sensei's tardiness was clearly visible. Deciding to remain silent, he leaned against one of the stumps and closed his eyes. Feeling out the Honkai energy within him, the way it circulated around his body, empowering him. It was somewhat…calmer than it should be. After all, the word 'Honkai' itself was connected to the words 'collapse' and 'destruction'. Yet, it only had a small attribute of chaos to it. Most likely his body was adjusting to the Herrscher core in him, which had gifted him with this highly potent energy. There was another thing that was controlling the energy. The red mark on his back, known as a Stigmata.

It was usually unheard of for a Herrscher candidate or a fully awakened Herrscher to manifest a Stigmata immediately after coming into contact with Honkai energy for the first time. So, the only possibilities were that the Stigmata was created by the core itself to avoid an energy overload, or that his bloodline had a high adaptability to Honkai energy, or a combination of both. The stigmata had stored the excess Honkai energy from the core and slowly leaked it back into his system as it got acclimated to the energy. But typical Stigmatas do not result in having the ability to store excess energy to such an extent, so it could also be his blood.

He had gone over this dilemma with his tenants, but none of them were able to give a definite solution. Since most of the families in their time, who possessed a Natural Stigmata were identified already, provided that they were already born in an environment with Honkai energy, this sort of situation was alien to them as well.

He was broken from his thoughts by a swirl of leaves, followed by the signature eye-smile of their Jounin-sensei.

"Why good morning my future yet-to-be students!" he said, as if he was talking about the weather.

"YOU'RE LATE! IT'S NO LONGER MORNING ANYMORE!" came the shrill voice of the only girl on the team. Her teammates could only cover their ears, but the expression on their faces showed that they shared the sentiment.

"Haha, I'm sorry there. I just got lost on the road of life. Anyway- "he replied, before he was interrupted.

"WHAT SORT OF EXCUSE IS THAT? YOU TELL US TO COME HERE AT SEVEN IN THE MORNING, BUT YOU CAME THREE HOURS LATE!" she yelled once more, but the Jounin simply shrugged it off.

"Anyway, getting back to point. Your objective is to take- "he began, as he pulled out two bells from his pocket. "-one of these bells from me. The one who fails to get a bell will be sent back to the academy. You have until noon. Any questions?" he said as he pulled out a clock from his pouch. Naruto raised his hand. "Yes Naruto?"

"You had a clock with you, yet you still came three hours late? Mind explaining how that was able to happen?" he said, causing pin-drop silence for a solid two minutes as the other graduates and the Jounin pondered over this.

"Uhh…let's not get too concerned over the details, shall we?" replied Kakashi with a chuckle, seeing as he had no answer to that. "Anyway, one more thing. Whoever fails to get a bell by noon- "he pulled out two bento boxes from a scroll "-will be tied to one of those stumps and will have to watch the other two eat."

As if the gods had planned this moment, two stomachs growled loudly. The owners of these stomachs looked at their teammate, who gave them a blank look. "What? Do I have something on my face?" the look then changed to a small smirk "or something in my stomach? Then yes I do."

"You baka! Kakashi-sensei told us not to eat breakfast. You could have caused us to fail at the beginning!" yelled Sakura, while trying to punch Naruto, only for him to grip her hand.

"Are you stupid? Only an idiot would go for any form of battle or 'survival training' on an empty stomach. If you don't have the energy to fight, then you won't be able to survive. Use that large brain of yours sometimes. Or did you leave it at the academy?" he explained as he let go of the girl's hand, whose owner was glaring at him for the direct insult to her only strength back at the academy. Meanwhile Sasuke was annoyed at himself for not thinking logically as well.

"Well said Naruto. Let this be a lesson to all of you. Make sure to separate information from misinformation, in order to ensure your survival and the mission's completion. Everyone is capable of both, even the Hokage himself. And besides, I merely suggested that you don't eat. I did not force any of you. Now, enough wasting time- "he received very powerful glares from the three of them. "Come at me with the intent to kill. Otherwise, you won't be able to clear the test. We shall begin on the count of three. One- "he was interrupted as he held up a kunai to block a sword that was aimed for a straight frontal slash towards his chest.

"Naruto, I never finished the countdown. Be patient." said Kakashi, while staring at the weapon. The blade looked like a standard katana, but the grip was somewhat different. There was no cloth, and the guard was shaped like wings of a sort. The cutting edge was jet black, while the non-cutting edge was white. There was a layer of yellow separating the two, which appeared to glow slightly.

"True, you didn't. But in a life or death battle, your opponent wouldn't tell you when to begin." came the reply as the boy jumped back, holding the sword in a guarded stance.

"Fair enough. You three may begin." declared Kakashi as two blurs disappeared into the deep vegetation. "Uhh…aren't you supposed to go hide now? Ninjas being stealthy and such? I just want to read my book damnit." said Kakashi to the Uzumaki standing in front of him, as he pulled out a small orange book from his pouch.

"It doesn't matter how stealthy you are if your enemy knows all the hiding places in the area. I'd rather fight you right now instead of wasting my energy waiting for you to inevitably find me." came the response. "Now let's begin." he said, as he threw a kunai at Kakashi, fully expecting him to dodge or block it, to allow for a momentary distraction. At the same time, he generated a ring of blue lightning in his left hand and threw it as well, leaving a small trail behind it.

Sensing both the attacks, and being mildly surprised at an academy graduate being able to use lightning manipulation, he plucked the Kunai out of the air and used it to slice the lightning ring, but was completely unprepared for what happened next. The ring dispersed, and Naruto appeared in front of him in an instant, making a slash with his sword. While he managed to dodge the attack, his book wasn't that lucky.

Now that his book was cut apart, Kakashi was not happy at all. But he decided to humour his student and take this fight a little more seriously. "Okay. Looks like I won't be able to read this time around. Let's see what you got shall we?" he said, as he gripped the stolen kunai in his hand.

Not wasting a second breath, the boy lunged at him with his sword. Now, instead of the forward slashes he faced, this was a diagonal slash starting from his left shoulder. Having noticed that his blind spots were being targeted, the Jounin blocked the blade with the kunai, but was once again surprised to see that the genin had recovered from the clash, and immediately followed up with another slash, this time, on the opposite side.

As multiple consecutive attacks were made upon his person, with all of them being blocked, the weapon's glow became stronger, and Kakashi could feel the force behind each attack even more than the last. Was the boy getting stronger, or was he getting a little tired?

'I need to get away for a bit.' though Kakashi as he was sliced in half, only to disperse and reveal a log cut cleanly down the middle. The glow on the blade immediately faded away, leaving a slightly panting Naruto.

'So that's what this weapon does. The force of each strike increases as the number of continuous strikes increases. Once the attacks end, the ability ends after a set duration, currently unknown. But I can see why I wasn't allowed to use Soulium weapons. They drain you way too much too quickly if you aren't physically ready.' he thought, analysing the outcome of the battle. 'I'd better get away before he returns. Jounins really are crazy strong. He handled that kunai extremely precisely, and didn't use his other hand at all.' With this, the third student vanished into the forest.

(With Sakura)

'Hah! Our sensei could barely keep up with that baka! Sasuke-kun should be able to take him on no problem. He'll take the bells and definitely give one to me after all!' she thought while giggling as she saw the fight from her hiding spot.

Meanwhile behind her, Kakashi sighed. 'Delusional girl. Pretty obvious as to what she's thinking. Oh well. Time to end this.'

"Sa…Sakura…" came a raspy voice as the girl turned around to see a horrific (to her) sight. In front of her was Sasuke, with sharp objects piercing every part of him, along with a few burn marks, crawling towards her. "Run…away. He's t-too strong…" he managed to say before he slumped to the ground, in apparent death. Sakura, being unable to handle the 'death' of her teammate, did the one thing she could do. Scream and faint due to shock.

'Shinobi Lesson- Genjutsu…and she was supposed to have really good chakra control too. I guess her book smarts was the only thing she got going for her other than her obsession with the Uchiha. Now, let's see what said Uchiha has got in store for me.' thought Kakashi as he stared at his unconscious student in disappointment, then burst into a puff of smoke, the tell-tale sign of the shadow clone.

(In another location)

The scream echoed through the dense forest of the training ground, which was simply ignored by the other two students, since their own priority was to stay hidden from their Sensei.

"Looking for someone? You should really care more about the well-being of your teammates you know?" Came a drawn-out voice next to Sasuke, who immediately jumped to another branch of the tree that he was perched on. The owner of said voice being their examiner, who was reading a small book.

"Hmph. I don't need others to help me. They will only slow me down. That pathetic girl will just slow me down. And the dobe…let's just leave it at that." he said with an arrogant tone. Kakashi sighed.

"Just give them a chance, will you? Who knows, they might surprise you. After all, Naruto got close to taking a bell after all so who knows? Maybe Sakura is hiding something as well." said Kakashi, while secretly giving a hint about the test, like he had done so before with the other teams.

"If the dobe got close to getting a bell, I should be more than capable of getting one myself!" said Sasuke as he started flipping through some hand seals, which Kakashi instantly recognized and put away his book.

'Impossible! A genin shouldn't have the chakra or the control for this technique!' he thought as he prepared his own counterattack.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" roared the Uchiha, releasing a large fireball that rushed at the target, causing a massive explosion upon impact, satisfied at the technique, the boy, got closer to collect his prize, but was only greeted with the sight of a charred log. Before he could move a step further, he was pulled into the ground up to his neck.

"Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu. You're pretty skilled with ninjutsu, but as far as reacting efficiently to situations is concerned, you could do a lot better. Hope for your teammates to come here soon…unless you can get out by yourself that is." he said, as he pulled out his book and walked away to the clearing, leaving a fuming Sasuke behind.

Taking the opportunity to reveal himself, a figure stepped out from the trees. "He's pretty strong huh. Guess the title of Jounin isn't just for show."

"So dobe, have you come here to laugh at me? I'd rather have you get me out of this situation." came the reply from the trapped boy.

"I could get you out of this situation, yes. But give me an answer to this first. If I get you out, will you help me in getting the bells from Kakashi-sensei? If we work together efficiently, then we have a chance at getting the bells from him. Surely, you don't expect to beat a Jounin by yourself?" said 'dobe' replied, as he inspected his sword.

"Hn. I'll wait for you and that fangirl to tire him out. By then I'll get out and take the bells from him easily. You're worth that much." was the reply, as the boy struggled to get out with a strained expression on his face.

"Suit yourself. This might bite you later on." replied Naruto as he walked back into the trees, a plan in mind.

(Back in the clearing)

Kakashi took his eyes off his book and on the clock. It was almost time. Just 5 minutes left. Looks like it would be another failed team.

'Obito…looks like your relative isn't like you after all- 'his thoughts were interrupted as an explosion came from the edge of the clearing, with two figures being blown into it.

"No! Sakura!" Came a voice from one of the two, who was revealed to be Naruto as soon as the dust cleared. With the other one being Sasuke, who was heavily panting. At the edge of the clearing, there was a ninja with a Kumo headband on, and he had a kunai to a terrified Sakura's neck.

"I'm not going to say it again kid, hand over the Uchiha now, and we'll let her live." he said, as he applied some more pressure, making the girl pale even further.

"No way! Come Sasuke we can take him toge- No! Don't rush in!" yelled Naruto as Sasuke ran towards the Kumo ninja, with kunai in hand.

Before he could attack, another Kumo ninja stepped out of the forest, weaving some hand seals. "Raiton: Gian!" he yelled, as a bolt of lightning sped towards Sasuke, who was too slow to dodge it and it almost struck him, but was intercepted by Kakashi, who's hand was covered in lightning.

"What are you Kumo ninja doing here?" he demanded, with a serious expression, unlike one he had moments before.

"Heh, do you seriously expect us to tell that to you?" Said the Kumo ninja, as 3 more of them popped out from the forest. "Get him!"

All the enemy ninja rushed at the Jounin at once, but two of them were intercepted by Naruto and Sasuke with their sword and kunai respectively. "We got these two for now. Take care of the leader!" yelled Naruto as he sliced his opponent with a diagonal slash, making him burst into smoke, indicating a clone.

"Sasuke, Sakura, they're clones! Land a solid hit on them and they'll disperse" he said as he cut into another enemy.

With Kakashi, he was seeing red. Kumo ninja has infiltrated the village somehow and were targeting the Uchiha, a valuable asset to the village's military might. While not his students yet, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself for losing three potential ninjas, with one of them being the Jinchuuriki and the other being his best friend's relative.

"So, I get to fight the great Copy-nin himself. This will be worth it. Raiton: Gian!" he yelled, as another burst of lightning was expelled, albeit a little faster than the previous one. However, it wasn't fast enough to hit Kakashi.

"Hmm…not bad... but how about this!" He said, as he pulled out a katana, and coated it in lightning chakra and released it in an extremely fast wave, which grazed Kakashi's left arm, causing it to go numb.

"Not bad huh? Let me aim properly this time." he said as he charged his sword again, intent on a second strike that would end the battle.

He was interrupted by a flurry of kunai and shuriken being thrown by the three genin, causing him to lose his focus. Taking the opportunity, Kakashi uncovered his headband, revealing the red, tomoed eye of this Sharingan, and charged up his only original Jutsu.

"Oh no you don't!" Roared the Kumo ninja as he rushed at Kakashi head on with his sword, with full intention to interrupt the technique and preserve his life. However, the perceptive power of the eye helped Kakashi avoid a possibly fatal attack and rammed his hand through the ninja's chest, while the ninja managed to graze his cheek. Observing no more enemies and feeling the drain of the Sharingan, Kakashi covered his eye once more.

"Heh…this is it..." said the Kumo ninja as his body burst into smoke, signalling a clone. As the clone dissipated, three kunai struck Kakashi's back, only for him to use a substitution in time. In a few seconds, the three genin were in the ground, up to their necks.

"Nice try, but I'm more experienced than you think. Still, I'm impressed that you three managed to work together to fight those enemies. Congratulations! You're officially a team now!" said Kakashi with an eye smile, before his one visible eye widened and he collapsed to his knees, his skin becoming very pale.

As his vision started to get blurry, he saw the three genin burst into plumes of smoke, and a person walk in front of him. The one feature that gave away the person's identity were those deep violet eyes and the katana in their hand. "So…teamwork was the answer huh…I'll be sure to let them know. Thank you for passing us as a team…Kakashi sensei…"

The last thing he heard was the alarm ringing, signalling that time was up.

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Has it been a while since I uploaded? Yes. It's been super chaotic and I ended up getting writer's block. I lost my initial ideas for the bell test too, which kinda sucks. (Note to self: Make notes of ideas the instant they come to you so that you don't forget them when needed)

One thing I received complaints about is the Battlesuits. Here's the deal. They're pretty much the main thing in HI3, and changing them to suit a male body doesn't really sit well with me (call me out for having weird thoughts if you want) . I mean, some of them like most of Fu Hua's are equally gender-oriented, so those don't need to be changed (not confirming their appearance in this story though). As for the others, I might change some a little, I might not. This is still a flexible idea for me, so I would like some more views on this.

As usual, Review Please! Positive feedback is very much welcome, constructive criticism will be accepted, but flames will be ignored.

I reply to questions in PMs, so if you want to ask anything, feel free to ask in the reviews.

As usual, please let me know if the quality of writing has declined since the last chapter. That way, I'll see if there's a way I can improve the next one.

Thanks for reading this chapter!

DelTheAUO, Out.