In a clearing deep within the Konoha forests, three rookie ninjas—Kazuma, Takeo, and Rira، stood nervously before their Jonin sensei, Uchiha Mitsuro. With an expressionless, indifferent look, Mitsuro had two small bells tied to his waist.
"I am your Jonin instructor, Uchiha Mitsuro."
He paused for a moment, his gaze sweeping over his three pupils, then continued in a cold voice: "You've probably been told that after graduation, Genin are split into three-person teams, and each team is assigned to a Jonin. Well, what I'm about to tell you is the next step. Every Jonin instructor has the right to evaluate the team they're given based on their own standards. Some simply train them, while others administer a test to measure their competency. This is why many Genin end up returning to the Academy after graduation."
His gaze settled on all three of them. "To be blunt, you're probably out of luck! I'm in the second category. I have no interest in teaching three rookies who can't tell their left from their right!"
He then raised a hand and gestured to the two bells hanging from his waist. "The test is this: There are two bells here. If you want to pass, you have to take them from me. Simple, right?"
A boy with short, dark brown hair looked at his two teammates. His name was Kazuma. He then turned to Mitsuro. "Sensei, you said there are two bells, but there are three of us!"
"So?"
Rira, the other rookie with long hair, asked, "So you're planning on failing one of us? Only the two who get the bells will pass?"
Mitsuro adjusted his glasses. "No!" For a moment, all three felt relieved, especially when he continued, "Gaining one of these bells will guarantee your passing, but failing to get one means I have to decide whether you're qualified... so you'd better give it your all. Got it?"
The moment Mitsuro finished speaking, Kazuma charged toward him without a plan. He was brimming with confidence, a glint of ambition in his eyes. He wanted to steal a bell before anyone else even thought to.
"I'm getting the first bell!"
Seeing Kazuma's preemptive move, the other two quickly rushed forward, trying to attack Mitsuro from the left and right.
"Hey, wait up! Don't think you can get it before we do!"
Mitsuro stood calmly, as if nothing were happening. "A direct attack? What a foolish approach for a shinobi!"
He easily dodged Kazuma and with the back of his hand, pushed him toward Rira. Kazuma lost his balance and crashed directly into Rira, sending both of them sprawling. Mitsuro then raised his other hand, caught Takeo's punch, and threw him toward Kazuma and Rira, where he landed on top of them.
Mitsuro looked down at them with a contemptuous tone: "It seems you didn't learn your lessons on stealth and surprise attacks properly. A ninja must always analyze their enemy first."
As if he hadn't heard Mitsuro's advice, Kazuma immediately shoved his two teammates aside. "Damn it!" He then ran toward Mitsuro again, trying to strike him with a flashy kick.
Rira also got up and resumed her attack, but this time Takeo backed off slightly, pulled a few shurikens from his ninja pouch, and yelled, "Eat this!"
"Your attack was too obvious," Mitsuro said, not even turning toward him. He placed a hand on Rira's head and leaped into the air, kicking Kazuma in the stomach while simultaneously dodging the three incoming shurikens. "A ninja shouldn't make so much noise. Your Taijutsu is a mess! Don't you have the sense to attack covertly?!"
Kazuma gritted his teeth in frustration and pulled a kunai from his pocket. He dashed toward Mitsuro, but with a swift and precise motion, Mitsuro deflected the kunai with his fingers and delivered a gentle strike to his wrist, sending him to the ground.
"This is getting nowhere! You guys aren't listening to me! You're ninjas! What did you learn at the Academy?"
Kazuma got up painfully and yelled, "Don't humiliate us!"
Mitsuro gave him a look of disappointment. "Humiliate you?! You fool, you're a shinobi! A shinobi must use the skills they've learned! The Jutsu you were taught at the Academy weren't for show!"
Mitsuro took a few steps back. With a bored gesture, he held his hand out toward them and said, "You're shinobi. How do you think you're supposed to use the Jutsu and combat tactics you've learned?"
Rira seemed to understand. She raised her finger. "Bunshin Ninjutsu!"
With a puff of smoke, another Rira appeared beside her. Both Riras began running around Mitsuro, then pulled several shurikens from their pouches.
Mitsuro took his eyes off Kazuma and glanced at Rira. "Better, but..."
He picked up a stone from the ground and threw it at one of the two Riras, then lunged forward, saying, "It's useless when you use a technique so obviously."
The Rira that the stone was thrown at vanished with a puff of smoke. Mitsuro easily punched the real Rira in the stomach, knocking her to the ground.
"Using any Jutsu requires planning and strategy. Jutsu are your tools, and how you use them comes down to your intelligence."
He then turned to Takeo. "Well? Are you just going to watch forever?"
Takeo had backed off a little during the previous two attacks. He took another step back.
"No, it looks like I'm going to have to help you out a little!" He put his finger to his face and "Poof!" Mitsuro vanished! All three Genin were stunned. He reappeared on a tree branch overlooking where he had been standing. "Well, let's see if they calm down a bit now. I hope they're smart enough to talk to each other and come up with a plan before they start looking for me!"
"Where did he go?" Kazuma looked around angrily.
Rira got up and went close to Kazuma. "I don't know!"
Kazuma wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Damn it! This is so hard! It's all your fault and that coward's that we got beat up!"
"Huh?! My fault? It's your fault for attacking Sensei like an idiot from the front!"
"Was I the only one who attacked? You attacked, too!"
Takeo said, "This isn't working. We need to make a plan!"
Kazuma replied miserably, "A plan? I don't need a plan from a coward like you!"
"The test is over."
They looked up in fear. Mitsuro, with the same expressionless face, was sitting on a tree branch overlooking them.
"The three of you fail."
With a cry of anger and frustration, Kazuma lunged toward Mitsuro. "That's not fair!"
Mitsuro simply jumped down from the branch and stood before Kazuma. Without even touching him, he stopped Kazuma in his tracks with just a cold glare. "This world isn't fair, kid. You are a shinobi. In the ninja world, a mistake means death. You made a mistake from the very beginning."
He then turned his gaze to Takeo and Rira, who were staring at him in horror. "You're ninjas. At school, they taught you attack, stealth, and trap-setting techniques. The first rule of a ninja is to ambush your enemy, but the three of you attacked me head-on like fools! When you got beat up, didn't it occur to you why you were put into a team after graduation? You're weak, so you need to work together. Make a plan and use your skills strategically. But what did you do? Each of you was only thinking of yourselves and started a race to see who could get beat up by Sensei first!"
Mitsuro turned his back to them and said, "Go back to the Academy. When you're ready to use your skills practically and act as a team, maybe you can take this test again. Until then, you are not qualified." Without waiting for their reaction, he walked into the forest and vanished.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, was sitting in his office, reviewing the reports of the Genin teams that had passed. His hands were resting on the table, and he gently turned his pipe in his mouth. Among the pile of failed files, only three with a bright "Accepted" stamp stood out.
"It seems the kids I assigned to Mitsuro this time didn't satisfy him at all." All three kids had failed. Mitsuro had meticulously written down the reasons for their failure and given each Genin a separate score for their file. He believed the rookies had no understanding of how to use the training they had received and had finally concluded by stating their lack of teamwork. "Very similar to Kakashi, but more realistic."
After reading Mitsuro's report, he picked up the Team 7 file, and a smile appeared on his face. "Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and Haruno Sakura."
"So Kakashi finally accepted a team... those kids succeeded."
The Hokage sighed, got up, and looked out the window. "The young leaves have begun to grow."