Seimei looked at Haneda and asked, "Anyway, Haneda. Did you think who you would like to team up with for the upcoming Anti-Monster Combat Evaluation?"
"I did. I will join Touma and Keiko for the evaluation," replied Haneda.
Normally, he and Yuto would have teamed up to face challenges like the Anti-Monster Combat Evaluation.
He and Yuto were like brothers from different mothers, doing all sorts of things and pranks together, including the mandatory Academy missions since the third year of the Academy.
Unfortunately, Yuto didn't pick this division in the fifth year. Instead, his parents tricked him into joining the Anti-Army Combat Division.
So, he could only team up with Uchiha Touma and Uzumaki Keiko, his other two friends, who are also participating in the Anti-Monster Combat Evaluation.
Seimei smiled and said, "Hehe, that's a three-person group. The teachers will surely increase the difficulty level of your practical evaluation."
Reina nodded. "True. Considering the strength displayed by the three of you, you will probably face two or three chakra beasts of B-rank danger rating. You may also face a single A-rank chakra beast."
Seimei chimed in, "Of course, facing a small group of C-rank or lower chakra beasts with a B-rank leader is also a possibility."
"In other words, my brother, you have one hell of a difficult challenge in front of you. Don't let those chakra beasts spank your butt," Yuto remarked with a sly smile.
Hearing this, Haneda nodded before sneering at Yuto, "You don't have to worry about me. Think about your own practical evaluation."
He continued with a smirk, "For your Anti-Army Combat Test, they will test your planning capability, combat sense, trap formation skills, commanding skills, group infiltration skills, tactical knowledge, and many more things that require using your brain."
"Make sure to prepare well. Otherwise, with your pea-sized bird brain, you will probably fail so hard that you will set a record in the Academy for being the most useless Anti-Army Combat Division graduate."
Yuto's face immediately turned red in anger, frustration, and embarrassment.
He tried to retort, "You…!!"
But Haneda didn't give him a chance and interjected, "Ah! My mistake. You have a monkey brain, not a bird brain. You have a strange habit of jumping around. Isn't your summoned beast kinda a bipedal monkey, too?"
Sarutobi Yuto fumed and said, "That's not a common monkey, you idiot. That's a Monkey King. KING!!!"
"Do you know how hard his defense is? One of those days, I will really make him taste his fists. If fists aren't enough, then I will show you the power of the adamantine staff."
"If you don't see stars, I will fucking change my name."
Haneda shrugged, "What's the point? I will just dodge. No matter how hard that monkey staff of yours is, if you can't hit me, it's useless."
While Yuto and Haneda were bickering again, Seimei and Reina watched the show with glee. Seimei almost couldn't resist the temptation to bring out a pack of snacks from his Storage Seal bracelet.
After bickering for a couple of minutes, Yuto and Haneda finally relented.
Yuto, shifting the topic of the conversation, asked, "What about you? Seimei, Reina, are you two teaming up for the test? Or are you going solo?"
When Yuto asked the question, Haneda looked at Seimei and Reina with a strange gaze and thought, Even if these two monsters go solo and the instructors throw a few A-rank chakra beasts at them, it would be the chakra beasts who would be begging for mercy.
But it's just a test, so the instructors probably won't go crazy to actually make them fight a group of A-rank chakra beasts, right?
At the same time, Seimei and Reina ignored Haneda's strange gaze and looked at each other before smiling.
Seimei replied, "Yup, we are teaming up."
Reina, "It's just a test. There is no need to exert more effort than necessary. Once we team up, we will finish our evaluation cleanly, efficiently, and in the shortest possible time."
Seimei nodded. "That's the plan, at least."
Yuto chuckled. "Honestly, the practical evaluation of the Anti-Monster Combat Division looks like participating in a chakra beast extermination mission without pay."
He shook his head and continued, "But how can that be? The instructors select the chakra beasts meticulously to make sure we can handle them. They probably aren't making us complete actual missions for free, are they?"
Oh, you have no idea, thought Seimei. His expression couldn't help but become unnatural for a fraction of a second before returning to normal.
The corner of his mouth still twitched in exasperation as he recalled the conversation with his father a few nights ago.
❇️Flashback❇️
A Few Nights Ago…
Tobirama's Study Room, Senju Compound…
Both Tobirama and Seimei were sitting across from each other, reading several pages of notes and scribing their insights in the scrolls.
After they were done researching and recording insights for the night, Seimei looked up to his father and asked, "Father, there is something I have been meaning to ask."
Tobirama, with a face as stoic as ever, looked at Seimei while raising his right eyebrow. "Oh?"
"Go ahead."
Seimei probed, "Can you tell me how the topic of the practical evaluation of the Anti-Monster Combat Division was chosen?"
Tobirama immediately said, "Even if you are my son, do you think I will help you cheat by handing you the intel so easily? That's not how a competent ninja acts."
Seimei nodded and replied, "I have checked the records. This practical combat test for the S-class students has always been the same—fighting the chakra beasts."
"And it's only natural."
"But the way the teachers always seemed to find the right chakra beasts for the students…"
"Father."
"To accomplish something like that, the academy must have a comprehensive database of all the chakra beasts and their habitats in the entire Land of Fire."
"Without the help of the Hokage Office and the Missions Department, getting access to such a large amount of chakra beast data, compiling them, and then selecting the challenges that match the capabilities of the graduating S-class students, year after year, is nearly impossible."
"You wouldn't happen to make us Academy students complete actual commissioned missions for free and hoard all that money in your pockets, would you?"
Hearing this, Tobirama's stoic face broke for a moment as he smiled slightly, and his eyes gleamed with amusement.
He didn't answer Seimei's question immediately and stated, "You have done your research, I see."
Seimei smiled and said, "As you taught me, father…"
"...A competent ninja must always be prepared for all sorts of circumstances."
Tobirama's smile deepened. "Indeed. A competent ninja never rushes into battle unprepared. Even if they are forced to, they should still collect as much information about their opponents as possible to find the best and most efficient way to win."
"That's what keeps you alive."
Tobirama leaned back and replied, "But yeah, we do use the S-class students' Anti-Monster Combat Division's practical evaluations to freeload off you students."
"Freeloading aside, it's only natural to utilize the available human resources fully."
"Why do you think we make the S-class students do at least two C-rank missions every month once they enter the third year?"
"Because by the end of the second year, their strength grows significantly, enough to handle many C-rank missions, including bandit extermination, scouting missions, non-ninja assassination missions, and C-rank or below-ranked chakra beast extermination missions."
"Since we have resources, it's only natural to use them."
"This also eases the burden on our official ninjas, even if only a little."
Tobirama's expression became grave. "The world is getting more chaotic with each passing year. The chakra beast population is increasing. And the ninjas of other hidden villages are targeting us like vultures."
"All those issues and the related missions are really stretching our forces thin."
"A war between the major ninja villages may also start at any moment."
"It can happen after five years. Or the very next year."
Next, Tobirama spent several minutes explaining the dire state of the Konoha forces and the outside threats.
"So, I will do everything I can to grow our ninja population and accumulate more resources to increase our power, even if it means occasional freeloading."
Tobirama finished with that. His face radiated absolute seriousness.
No, father…did you give me such a long speech to justify freeloading? Where is your dignity? What does the act of freeloading off us have to do with accumulating power? Seimei screamed in his mind.
However, outwardly, Seimei nodded solemnly.
Seeing this, Tobirama narrowed his eyes and thought, Hmm? Did I dupe him successfully? Well, unlikely. But when I give such an excuse, there is no way to refute it, is there?
Seimei signed and thought with a blank face, No wonder, no wonder his disciples became scheming old foxes without a shred of shame in the original Narutoverse.
❇️Flashback Ends❇️
Seimei shook his head and said, "Anyway, I am heading home."
With that, Seimei chatted for a few more minutes with his friends before returning to his home. He entered his room, lay on his bed, and fell into deep thought while staring at the ceiling.
He murmured, "I wonder what kind of chakra beast Reina and I will be facing."
"Well, we will find out in three days."
----------------------------------------------------------
A/N: If you like my story and want to read ahead, you can check out my P@treon page and get access to the Advanced chapters!
patreon.com/Seigan
You can also help me by sharing the story around. Thank you for reading!