Chapter 333: Naruto’s Test
Disclaimer: Naruto and all of its characters belong to Shueisha and Masashi Kishimoto. I own nothing but the original characters I create.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 333: Naruto's Test
"Be careful with your stance. You're going out of balance when you punch," Naruto said as he pushed aside the fist of the young boy.
"Ha!" The boy threw another attack.
This time, Naruto moved aside and placed his foot in the boy's way, making him fall down.
"See? That's what I was talking about."
"Huff…" The boy tumbled a few times but then stood up without a word of complaint.
"Let me try again."
Naruto shook his head. "We'd better stop here for now. Tomorrow, you'll be starting the academy classes, and I don't want you to show up covered in cuts and bruises."
"But father…" The boy pouted. His face looked almost identical to Naruto's, but his turquoise eyes and silky smooth hair were something he definitely inherited from his mother.
"That face may work on your mother, but don't try those tricks with me, Shinobu."
"Naruto?" Ino walked into the garden where he had been training with their son.
"Mom!" Shinobu waved at her.
"Look at you… all dirty already." Ino shook her head before turning her eyes to Naruto. "And what are you still doing here? Weren't you supposed to be with your new team? Himawari left the house before dawn, like three hours ago."
"Patience builds character. And I have a clone keeping an eye on them, so there's nothing to worry about," Naruto responded.
Ino frowned. "Don't make your daughter wait any longer. Come on."
"Are you really going to be Himawari's sensei?" Shinobu asked.
"Well… they'll have to prove their worth. If they can do that, then yes. I'll teach those three how to be proper ninjas," Naruto said.
Ino made a troubled expression. She didn't want to say it, but it was going to be difficult for Naruto to teach others how to be a 'proper ninja' when he never learned to be one in the first place.
"Cool! Will you be my sensei too when I graduate?" Shinobu asked, completely unaware of what his mother was thinking.
"Become one of the best students in your class, like your sister did, and we can talk about it," Naruto told him.
"I should go now. Those three are running out of patience."
After saying that, he disappeared in a bolt of lightning.
"I want to learn that jutsu too," Shinobu said, turning to Ino. "Can you teach me that, Mum?"
"The Flying Thunder God? Aren't you asking for too much? I can barely use it myself." Ino had spent several years learning it, and even with the help of her clones to accelerate the process and with Naruto personally teaching her… she was only confident using it to cover short distances. It was truly an SSS-rank jutsu when it came to difficulty.
"But Mom…"
Ino sighed. "If you're serious about it, you'll first need to master seals. I can give you some classes on that." She couldn't really say no to her son when he looked at her like that.
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"Where the Hell is the Sensei?!" Koga had lost his patience around two and a half hours ago.
"Could this be part of the test he mentioned?" Asuka turned to look at Himawari. "Did your mother tell you something about this?"
"No… she only said that it was protocol for Jōnin Senseis to present a test to their new students. The contents of the test are up to the instructor. If she knew what my dad had planned, she didn't tell me anything about it."
"I can't take this anymore. I'm hungry!" Koga shouted.
His puppy barked immediately after.
"And Kuromaru is hungry too."
"Then leave," Asuka shrugged. "Who cares?"
"No, he cannot leave," Himawari suddenly said. "If this is the test, then we have to pass it together."
"What do you mean?" Asuka gave her an inquisitive gaze.
"Konoha always produced genin in teams of three. If any of us gives up and leaves, the other two will definitely fail. I'm sure of that at least," Himawari said.
Koga seemed to be considering it. "Mmm… that makes sense, but is t—"
Just then, Naruto appeared in the clearing. He turned to face the three genin, who were now resting under the trees and gave them a wave with his hand. "Good morning."
"Da— I mean Sensei… why are you so late?!" Himawari exclaimed.
"Was this part of the test? Did we pass?" Koga asked.
"Test? What is he talking about?" Naruto pointed at the boy.
"Yesterday you mentioned that we needed to pass a test to become official genin. And today you made us wait here for three hours," Asuka pointed out.
"Oh, that. No, this was not the test. I was going to do that now," Naruto said.
"Then why were you so late?" Himawari asked.
Naruto shrugged. "I fell asleep and had a big breakfast."
"What?!" Koga shouted.
"Never mind that. Now that we're all wide awake and ready, we can start the real test." Naruto extended his hand toward them. "Grab onto it."
Himawari raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to teleport us somewhere else?" She had a lot of experience with that.
"Where are we going?" Asuka looked confused. They were already inside the training grounds. Was there a better place to conduct a test for them? And if there was, why would he ask them to come here?
"Come on, we don't have all day," Naruto urged them.
With no other choice, the three genin grabbed onto his arm, and a moment later, Naruto took them away from the field.
The next instant, they found themselves inside a large room with very dim lighting. They could see a few torches in the distance.
"Where are we?" Koga looked around.
Everything seemed to be made of wood and leather.
"This is a tent," Asuka noted. The construction was similar to those tents used by the mountain tribes. But there was another group who used them.
"Wait…" she looked at the symbols on the walls.
"This is a bandit camp," Himawari was the one who said it. She didn't need to look at any symbols, as she was able to see beyond the walls.
"To be more exact, this is the bandit leader's tent. The Bloody Axe bandits have been causing a lot of trouble in the south of the country lately," Naruto explained.
"We're surrounded by armed bandits. Several dozens of them," Himawari said.
"Are we supposed to fight the bandits?" Koga asked with concern. This felt like a bit much for a simple test.
"Not necessarily. Your test is very simple. You have to escape this bandit camp and return to Konoha. If you can do that before dusk… you pass. I believe you have around eight or nine hours."
"W-wait, are you going to leave us here?!" Koga exclaimed.
"Sure, but before that—" Naruto snapped his fingers and sent a wave of wind to destroy one of the walls.
This caused a huge commotion and alerted all the bandits inside the camp.
"Good luck." After saying that, he disappeared.
