7 Chapter 7: Bell Test
The man with waist-length hair was Jiraiya.
"As I already said, my name is Jiraiya, and I will be your Sensei from now on. I like... I like them big and soft and..." A perverted expression suddenly appeared on his face before he came to a realization. He nervously coughed, clearing his throat before continuing.
"I dislike....." After finishing his - detailed - introduction, Jiraiya told his new students to introduce themselves, mainly their names, likes, dislikes and dreams.
"Hello, my name is Hyuga Hana. I like candy and animals. I dislike bad people. I dream of becoming a strong kunoichi"
"Hi. My name is Minato Namikaze. I like…."
"My name is Shinto Enzo. I like, um, my family? And I also like to fight. I don't hate anything in particular, except for some people. My dream is...is...to be the strongest maybe." When Enzo thought about these things, he found that he really never thought about them at all. For example, what is the purpose of this second life of his? Power? Enjoyment? Protect those around him? He didn't have any answer yet.
"Good. Now, since we've gotten to know each other a little bit. We'll go straight to one of the training grounds. There, I'll tell you what we're going to do today."
_________
A few minutes later, the three students and their Sensei arrived at one of the vacant training grounds. And so Jiraiya began to explain what they were going to do.
"Today, we are going to do a test called the Bell Test. This test is a sort of examination given to newly graduated students. It consists of the three of you trying to snitch these bells from my hand." He said, as he pitched two bells from his pocket. "There is also a set time limit for this test. If you pass the time limit, you fail. If you surrender, you fail. Those who fail are deemed unworthy of being a genin and are re-enrolled in the academy, or worse, dropped from it entirely, never to be a genin their whole life. I wish you good luck."
After hearing what Jiraiya said, he felt shivers all over his body. 'I prefer dying than returning to that damned place.'
"I will give you some time to discuss." Jiraiya said, looking at a watch that appeared from god-knows-where.
_________
The three students regrouped, forming a circle.
"I am sure that you noticed that there are only two bells with him. That mostly means that one of us is deemed to fail." Inzo said truthfully and mercilessly.
"Don't be too quick to judge, Inzo. Maybe it's just a test." Minato said, then after thinking again, he came up with a hypothesis. "Maybe the lack of one bell is Sensei's way of throwing us a message.."
"Yeah, I agree with Minato-san. Because personally, I haven't heard of anyone who managed to graduate from the Academy and then come back again to it. Never." Hina added.
"Oh. Anyway, I think we should cooperate whatever the outcome is. As you know, Sensei is a Jounin. I even heard that his Sensei is the Hokage himself, which indicates that his strength is nothing to scoff at." After a short silence, Minato continued, "Well... Can you two tell me what are you good at?" This question was mostly directed at Hina.
"Sorry. Ummm, I am almost useless in combat. But I'm good at sensing and tracking. I also have the Byakugan, which makes it easier to monitor an enemy's movements and actions." Hina explained. Albeit, embarrassingly.
"As you probably know, I'm very good at hand-to-hand battle. I can also do quite a few Jutsus. That's why I think I should be the first line of attack."
"Kids, time is almost up!" Jiraiya shouted.
"Okay, here's what we're going to do."
After a while of thinking, Minato started telling them about his plan. On paper, his plan was easy. Inzo will be the first to attack, distracting Jiraiya. And Minato will help him with this. As for Hina, her role is the most important, as she will hide near the battleground in wait for the right moment to snatch the two bells from Jiraiya.
_________
"The test begins now!" Jiraiya shouted, indicating the start of the test.
Immediately after the said announcement, Inzo dashed with incredible speed toward Jiraiya, as he tried to punch the face of his possible future Sensei. The latter simply evaded while Inzo started throwing a swarm of punches in the direction of Jiraiya.
As expected, Inzo didn't even touch Jiraiya. 'So that's the difference between a Jounin and me?'
Inzo didn't think about it again as he continued his rain of punches. However, Jiraiya soon got bored and hit him with a palm, sending him flying. While flying, he started to do some hand seals.
[Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique]
Inzo inhaled, then he spewed a large amount of fire, which soon formed into a dragon. The dragon confronted Jiraiya, pushing him backward, and making him retreat a long distance. The technique caused a black fog which soon dissipated, showing a fine Jiraiya, but with slightly burning hair.
"Not even a scratch." Boasted Jiraiya, only to notice that his hair was burning and hysterically trying to extinguish it.
After extinguishing the fire, he looked at Inzo who was oddly... laughing?
"What's the matter with you kid?" Jiraiya nearly thought that they gave him a crazy kid.
"Didn't you notice anything stupid old man?"
"Stupid old man?!" But he suddenly came to a realization. "Weren't you three?" Suddenly, he felt danger. 'Oh shit.' Several explosions sounded from his standing.
Minato joined Inzo, nodding to each other. This was a part of their plan. While Minato is preparing the explosive tags - brought by Hana -, Inzo would slowly lure him to their trap. That was mostly because of Jiraiya underestimating them and his own stupidity.
As the dark fume gradually disappeared, one can see Jiraiya with tattered clothes and some light bruises and marks.
"I must admit, you are quite smart kids."
Inzo rolled his eyes, 'You are the stupid one.'
"However, that is not enough." Jiraiya said as he dashed toward the two 'Genins', punching the two of them in the stomach and making them kneel on the ground. The two of them suffered from the pain.
"Now, where is the third?" It seemed that this Sensei really wanted them to not succeed.
"You are so annoying, old man." Suddenly, Inzo's aura changed, as his two 'Dragon Claws' appeared. He threw an unexpected punch.
Jiraiya tried to catch his punch - which he thought would be easy -, but much to his shock, the punch was really strong. Thankfully, he managed to catch it with two hands.
However, the fallen Minato unexpectedly threw a kunai at Jiraiya at that moment. Jiraiya didn't have a choice but to catch it with one hand, lest he wanted his skull penetrated.
Inzo, however, didn't spar a moment and seized the opportunity, he stretched his hand and punched the old man very hard in his face, making him fly. The bells hanging at his waist the whole time were freed from the shock, making it as well float in the air.
While still flying from the punch, Jiraiya saw that the bells were freed and attempted to get hold of them again. To his shock, a shadow came out from the bushes nearby and flawlessly snatched the bells.
'Ah yes, there it the third.' Jiraiya realized again.
Hana, holding the bells, dashed toward her teammates and checked them. Apparently, she also knew some medical jutsu.
Jiraiya stood and walked to his new disciples. "Very good. You are officially my students from today onwards."
"All of us?" Hana innocently asked.
Jiraiya nodded as he responded, "Yes. The two-bell trick is just a way to see if you would actually cooperate and work as a team or if you would be selfish." After another laugh, and asking the boys if they were alright, he accompanied them to celebrate.
"Don't you think you were a harsh old man?"
"Sorry for that." Jiraiya genuinely was sorry. "And stop calling me an OLD MAN! I'm just in my twenties dammit!"
"Whatever, it's not my fault that your hair is white, and your face is..."
"My face is what brat?" Jiraiya shouted amidst the crowd near the ramen restaurant.
'As they say: Teamwork makes the dream work.'
*******
And just like that, our Inzo has officially become Jiraiya's student. Giving him a really good punch in his face in the process.
