Ⅰ
I went alone to my uncle's location. He was under the tree atop the hill, taking a moment to smoke.
He glanced over his shoulder, as I approached. A faint smile appeared on his lips. "Well," he sounded amused. "Seems you have beaten the others." he remarked, blowing a plume of smoke from his mouth.
"It was a tough fight," I replied casually. "But comparing the sparring match with you, it wasn't that difficult."
"I see." He took another drag on his cigarette. He then dropped it on the ground, crushing it beneath his sandal. "It's a shame the Ino-Shika-Chou didn't make it, but I guess that's how things are."
I remained silent with my hand resting on my Katana.
"You know, I could just give it to you and end the exercise." My Uncle said, referring to the item hung around his neck.
I slowly raised my brow at the unexpected offer. "That's… very generous of you, uncle. But, why would you want to give it to me so easily?"
My uncle replied, "Because you are my nephew. You've already proven enough that you are a capable shinobi. There is no need to fight for it."
He made it sound tempting. His warm eyes gazed at me with his one hand causally tucked into his pocket.
He always does this back at the compound. Testing me if I could endure it. It's one part of the lesson to help me build up the mentality of showing resistance. And my resistance was showing the result.
"I'd rather not do that uncle," I answered confidently. "It's unwise to fall for someone's sweet words only to realize later that it was a trap. It's Shinobi 101: Never trust what people say. This includes your family members."
My uncle's amused expression became stronger as he chuckled softly. "Nice observation, Darren. You have become more aware of it." He nodded to himself. "Good, very good."
His expression then softly shifted to seriousness as he walked away from the tree. "But don't expect any mercy from me. I don't want to hear you say 'I surrender.' A Sarutobi does not run away from a fight. You know that."
I softly smiled back at him. "I wouldn't dare." And soon I began to grip my katana.
The tension was rising between us. There was a silent yet noticeable understanding that we were going full in.
My uncle's eyes narrowed as he flexed his body. His demeanor slowly got into a combat position when he reached behind his back and brought out his signature weapon: a pair of trench knives. The blades gleaned menacingly under the sunlight, exposing the sharpened edge of the weapon. There was a metallic whirring sound, adding another layer of tension.
"Ready when you are," he said in a low, challenging tone.
I tightened my grip on my katana and slowly drew it from the sheath. I felt the weight coming from the blade, I brought myself down in a HiraSeigan (平正眼）stance.
The stance allows you to switch in both offensive and defensive moves in a swift second. You tilt the blade to a forty-five-degree upper-right diagonalーmaking difficult for the opponent to read your moves.
"Oh? You are going with the Enshin-Ryu(猿心流)?" He asked.
"I figured I should try it. After all, why would you not use it when my grandpa taught me about it."
The Yūshin-Ryu is an advanced form of the Shadow Leap Monkey. It heavily focused on usage of the weapons, such as the Katana and the Bou-Staff. It's not a hard form to learn but only a few ever used it since most Sarutobi rely on their Ninjutsu and Taijutsu skills.
"Show me what you've got," my uncle urged, his eyes locked onto mine.
As the tension escalated, reaching a point where it could no longer be contained, we initiated the battle by lunging at each other.
The sound of metal against metal rang through the air as our weapons clashed. I could feel the force of his attack reverberate through my arms, but I held my ground, pushing back with determination.
However, his strength was far superior to mine. He shoved me back, launching one attack after another. No matter how quickly I tried to block away and find an opening to attack him, he would block all the attacks, as he knew where I would strike.
But that was fine; I had no intention of attacking him here.
As soon as I jumped back to make a distance, I quickly threw down my smoke bomb to temporarily halt the battle. The smoke thickened around us, shrouding the area. Without wasting a moment, I quickly turned my body around and headed into the forest.
As the smoke cleared, I could hear his voice behind me, sounding surprised. "Running away into the woods? You have already defiled the Sarutobi's code. But…" He began to chase as he trailed me behind.
It was indeed a cowardly act for me to run into the forests during the battle. However, I was simply doing my part according to Shikamaru's plan.
Ⅱ
As I ran deep into the woods, my uncle's footsteps were getting closer as the forest became denser around us. To keep him from gaining on me, I kept my pace light and steady until I reached the destination where my friends were waiting.
I gently flicked my headband to give them the signal. As soon as I saw the response from them, I swiftly threw down a stun bomb to temporarily stun my uncle.
While the stunning was still going on, I turned my gaze to Chouji and gave him the thumbs up to strike.
As Chouji leapt down from the tree, he instantly used his hidden clan jutsu to grow his body, aiming to land hard on my uncle. But as my uncle was able to regain his movement, he noticed the impending attack and quickly jumped away to avoid it.
However, little did he know it was already too late when Shikamaru's shadow was in the position. Shikamaru was hiding in the bush, clasping his hands tight to maintain his ability.
When Ino saw my uncle being caught in Shikamaru's jutsu, she quickly came out of the bush and brought her hands to form a triangle. She called out the name of her clan's hidden ability, putting the immobilization on my uncle for good. "Mind Transfer Jutsu (心転身の術)！"
As Ino's mind took control of my uncle's body, her own body began to collapse to the ground. But, Chouji swiftly caught her just in time, right after he returned to his normal size.
It was our chance to take the necklace from my uncle while he was unconscious. Victory was within our reach, and we were on the verge of passing this survival exercise to become a Genin.
I dashed forward to grab the necklace; to put an end to this test. But just as my hand was only centimeters away, an eerie smile appeared on his face. His hands swiftly formed a series of hand signs to perform a jutsu that took us by surprise. "Wind Style: Tempest Howl (風遁・大突破)!"
Ⅲ
A powerful gust swept through the forest, scattering the four of us to be scattered into an open field. As we struggled to get back to our feet, my uncle casually strolled onto the scene, with his posture exuding confidence.
"Nice try to lure me into a trap," he said, "but it will take more than that to take this from me." He grinned as he pointed to the necklace around his neck.
"W-what just happened?!" Chouji was bewildered.
Ino's body slowly rose. Her conscience had returned to her physical body. "He broke the control!" she cursed quietly. "He's too powerful to be restrained!"
Shikamaru frowned, "We need to rethink our attack plan!" he muttered, scanning the area for any potential advantages.
However, I quickly shook my head as I quickly rose from the ground. "There is no time!" I said, "You three stay behind me, I'll take care of him by myself."
"You? Alone against him?!" Ino's eyes widened. "It's impossible, Darren!"
In response, I countered firmly, "I'm the only one standing right now, Ino! Judging by the looks on your faces, it will take some time for all of you to recover your chakra!"
They exchanged uneasy glances, their expressions filled with concern.
"I will be fine. You can leave this to me," I slowly walked in front of the three, bringing my katana into position.
"Fine then…," Shikamaru agreed reluctantly, "But don't be reckless," he added.
"I know."
"Good luck, Darren," Chouji said.
I chuckled softly at Chouji's words. I glanced back at my teammates, assuring them with confidence, "I make my own luck, Chouji."
With a deep breath, I tightened my grip on the katana. Seeing me with my weapon ready, my uncle quickly drew his weapons as he also got into his position.
"So, resuming what we have started, my nephew?" He asked.
"Yes, uncle." I replied. "And this time… I will win."
He chuckled. "Okay, then. Let's see about it."
Our expressions turned serious as we locked eyes. We slowly circled each other, as the tension was rising.
Then, without a moment to waste, our blades met again, and the fight began.
My uncle's strength was formidable with every strike he brought. It would be difficult for me to match his power to go offensive, so I decided to go a bit quicker and be more defensive by relying more on my footwork.
It got easier as I kept moving and swaying around him. I tried not to give him a chance to strike, moving as fast as I could until I found an opening to disarm his weapon. With a bit of patience, I quickly got the opportunity and soon flicked it with my katana. I successfully disarmed one of the knives in his left hand, sending it flying across the ground.
A brief moment of surprise spread across my uncle's face. And now it is my turn to be offensive, launching a series of rapid strikes to win the battle. He was able to block all of the attacks even if he only had one knife to use. However, I could feel he was struggling a bit as I kept on attacking.
I began to get the momentum when I continued to attack. But suddenly, I soon find my weapon to be flown away from my hands, landing far behind me.
My eyes went wide when I saw it happen. I was unable to see when my uncle disarmed my weapon, leaving me weaponless.
A smirk spread across my uncle's face after he disarmed my Katana. He knew that the battle was over and it was him that won the fight.
But I wasn't finished yet. Determined I was, I took a step back and flicked my left wrist to extend my hidden blade.
I ran toward him and attacked. Surprised he was when he saw that I had a hidden weapon underneath my wrist. I kept swinging my blade, hoping to disarm his weapon completely.
And then I did. With my uncle now weaponless, I kicked him in the stomach to make some distance. Once he staggered back, I took a leap into mid-air and executed my final move. I was confident that this strike would end the fight, allowing me to take the necklace from him.
However, my uncle quickly recovered and swiftly used the same Wind Style Jutsu against me. Blown away by a strong gust of wind, I was sent across the ground, eventually hitting the tree.
The pain went through all over my body when my back hit hard against the wood. I tried to get up, but I soon felt a glint of metal pointing at my throat. My eyes faced up and saw my uncle crouching across me as he closed the gap.
A tense silence settled between us. His eyes flicked between me and my hidden blade a few times as he held his knife tightly in his hand. There was something on his face as if there was an issue with the weapon I had just used against him.
What was he thinking? Did he know about the weapon and the people who used it? There was a mixture of concern and doubt on his face, as we remained quiet.
He opened his mouth, as he was about to say something. But then the alarm rang, signaling the end of the exercise.
Ⅳ
We gathered around the training field, where three wooden logs were being placed. As the four of us sat on the grassy field, Uncle Asuma stood in the center. He took a glance at each of us, his eyes were steady and sharp. Before he started his evaluation of the survival exercise, he took a quick drag on his cigarette. Exhaling slowly, he began his review of our performance.
"Two hours." he quietly said. "You four have wasted two hours not making a move. Only in the last thirty minutes did you finally do it. But with time running out, I'm guessing some of you only just realized what was the purpose of this survival exercise." His tone grew stricter as he continued. "You could argue that I lied and wasn't being honest when I explained the rules. But need I remind you that there is no fairness in the life of a shinobi? Every person you meet will try to deceive and use you for their bidding. Even if they may correct themselves and say they would never lie to you, you must be able to see it through their deception." He took another drag on his cigarette and slowly shook his head. "If you all were aware of it from the start, you would have had plenty of time to take the necklace from me. But sadly… you didn't."
At the end of his sentence, there was a bit of chilling cold that went through my spine. I had a feeling he was ready to announce the result. And I was right.
"So, here is my decision for you all," he said, dropping his cigarette down as he crushed it under his sandals.
We braced ourselves and began to listen closely to what he had to say. We didn't want to hear it, but there was no point in delaying the inevitable. If we are told we have to return to the academy and start over, we must accept it.
However, the words that came out of his mouth caught us off guard when we saw a smile spread across his face.
"You have passed."
"Eh…?"
"You… have passed," he repeated.
We exchanged glances with each other, unsure of how to react. But as the announcement sank in and we realized what he had just said, Ino was the first to react. "W-we passed?!"
"Yes." my uncle nodded.
"How did we pass?! You said that we failed to take the necklace from you.." Ino added.
"That's true. But I was more interested in how you four will attack me." my uncle replied. He began to explain with his hands placed on his hips. "The way you four coordinated the attacks as a team, I was surprised to see the Ino-Shika-Cho formation in action, with a bit of help from my nephew, of course. It'll take time to make the formation more effective, but for a first attempt it was impressive."
Ino's eyes gleamed with happiness, as she shared a joyous smile with the rest of us. Chouji looked a bit giddy, nodding his head a few times in excitement. Shikamaru sighed a bit, but there was a smirk on his face, tugging at the corner of his lips. As for me, I chuckled softly. We were all relieved when we learned we had passed the exercise.
"And speaking of my nephew," his gaze shifted to me. "When you took the stand to defend your teammates, you have proven to me that you were ready to take the risk.
Even when I disarmed your weapon, you kept your guard up with the hidden blade you had. I am indeed very proud of you."
"Thank you, uncle," I replied.
My uncle smiled warmly at me, trying to act casually on the surface. However, from the way he mentioned my hidden blade, it sounded like he was concerned about the weapon. I do not why it bothered him but I pushed my doubt aside, hoping it wasn't a big issue.
"Alright, you all. Starting tomorrow, Team 10 will begin taking missions. Be ready for your first day as a shinobi!" He confidently said.
With the weight of his words settled among us, we were looking forward to the missions ahead. Team 10 is ready for whatever comes next, and we will be one the finest team there is in Konoha.