Chapter 14
Chapter 14
KAKASHI HATAKE
Kakashi Hatake hid in the bushes of a lush tree as he tried to suppress his presence as much as he could as he scanned his surroundings. For the last six months, Kakashi Hatake had been under the tutelage of Leaf's most famous shinobi, Minato Namikaze, and the Yellow Flash himself, and it had been an experience.
Due to the training with his father and then the subsequent help from his half-brother Kakashi had surpassed his teachers from the academy a month or so into the classes. He had pushed himself to excel in his classes so he could graduate early and enter the field once more to wipe out the stain of disgrace from the Hatake name.
His efforts had paid off, and about half a year ago, he had left the academy to go under the apprenticeship of Yellow Flash himself. Kakashi aspired to be like him, to be respected just like him. Yet today was the last day of this special arrangement, and it was the last chance for him to prove himself. A chance to force his sensei into not hindering him with teammates.
TING. TING. TING.
There was the sound of a bell ringing, and Kakashi watched through the bushes as his Minato-sensei began to stand up and take off his blindfold.
"Ok, Kakashi, this is your chance if you can beat me today. I will endorse you for a promotion to chunin," said the man in his cheery voice as the blindfold fell to the ground. HE stiffened up as the man reached into his pocket.
"But why don't we hurry up," continued the man as he took out his special kunai, and Kakashi had the ominous feeling that his efforts of concealing his presence had failed.
"After all, we can't let your teammates wait for us for too long," said the man before his eyes narrowed straight at him. Confirming his earlier suspicion that he couldn't hide his presence completely from the man.
"Shit!" Kakashi said as he saw the kunai racing towards him, but he had prepared well for this and so took out a kunai of his own and cut the two ninja wires tied to the tree, springing the trap he had set earlier.
He ducked down as the kunai passed over him, as a barrage of kunai rushed toward his sensei from all sides. Minato-sensei smiled and jumped into the air to avoid the barrage. He smiled at that as he threw a shuriken at the man in the air, before cycling through a set of hand seals.
"NINPO: SHADOW SHURIKEN JUTSU!" he shouted, watching his sensei's eyes widen as the shuriken multiplied into multiple clones.
"Lord Third's technique, it seems you have been holding back Kakashi," said the man with a smile not perturbed by the barrage of shuriken headed his way before he simply made a couple of handseals.
"FUTON: GALE PALM!" and a strong gust of wind propelled the shuriken back at him, and he had to jump back to avoid getting hit. And then just as his feet touched the ground he felt a presence at his back, and he tsked as he turned around to find his sensei standing right there.
Kakashi had not time to chat as he was forced to engage the man in taijutsu, Kimato-sensei avoided his attacks or simply defended without going on the offensive much, simply highlighting the gape in their skill level.
Kakashi took out his tanto and began to use it, he aimed from above, from the side, even from below yet Minato-sensei remained unbothered as their match continued. Metal screeched against metal as his sensei used his kunai to hook his tanto, forcing it out of his hand.
The blade spun in the air, and Kakashi avoided his attack and dodged to the side before he jumped up and kicked his sword at his sensei.
A sense of triumph permeated through him as he saw the man's eyes widen at this maneuver. Minato sensei ducked to avoid the attack, giving him the opportunity he needed as he pushed chakra through his coils, molding it into the lightning chakra.
"RAITON: LIGHTNING BALLS!" and about four balls of concentrated lightning formed at his back and at his command, rushed at his sensei, yet his sensei smiled before he vanished into a blur and appeared right behind him.
"You really should be careful using ninjutsu like that. Even though your reserves are substantial for a genin, they are still less than a jounin," his sensei advised him as Kakashi grunted in pain as the man kicked him in the back.
"AGHH!" Kakashi grunted in pain, though before the man could land another hit, he kicked the ground, and pushed himself into the air, and cycled through a set of handseals.
"RAITON…" but before he could finish those words, he saw his sensei blur once more and appear right at his back. He tried to turn to face him and block his attack, but his sensei's speed was truly unmatched.
"ARGH!" he screamed in pain as a barrage of hits landed on his back, and he was sent crashing into the ground.
"GHAA!" he coughed out in pain as his face landed on the ground, and the air was knocked out of his lungs. His body was in pain, yet before he could try to get up, he felt the cold tip of a kunai pointed at his neck.
"Now, I believe that this is enough, Kakashi," came the voice of his sensei, devoid of his usual cheeriness. And Kakashi was once more reminded that this person was perhaps Leaf's deadliest shinobi. His chakra convulsed and shivered in fright, and then in an instant, the whole domineering presence was gone as Minato-sensei straightened up and pocketed the kunai.
"You have made quite some progress, Kakashi, quite some progress," his sensei complimented as Kakashi got back to his feet. His body was still aching and in pain. Anger and frustration coursed through his veins as he refused to look up at his sensei.
"Not enough to become a chunin," he scoffed angrily as he dusted off his clothes. His sensei sighed and put a hand on his shoulders, making him look up at the man.
"Kakashi, you are very skilled. And I don't say that lightly. Even now, you could go toe to toe with a chunin, but you must learn to work with others," the man lectured him. Kakashi just scoffed as he thought of his father and the useless teammates he had been forced to save.
"Teammates are nothing but a hindrance, and I don't need teammates. You just said it yourself that I am strong enough to be a chunin," Kakashi argued and saw the man stiffen at his words before he slowly turned away from him.
"No man can fight an army by himself, Kakashi. No man" said the man as he began to walk away.
'You can,' Kakashi wanted to say. He could. He thought of his father, yet the words somehow never came out. In the end, he simply stood there rooted to the ground before he was brought out of his thoughts by Minato-sensei's voice.
"Come on, let's go and meet your new teammates Kakashi," came the voice, and Kakashi nodded as he began to walk with his sensei. His thoughts went to the class that was graduating today, and he thought of who he might get as teammates today.
He would settle for anybody except that loudmouth Obito.
0000
ASUMA SARUTOBI
Asuma Sarutobi sat proudly in the class at the academy with his shiny new hitai-ate. From this day onwards, he was a true shinobi. He was no longer just the son of the Hokage. No, from now on, he was Asuma Sarutobi, leaf's newest genin from the Sarutobi clan.
His relationship with the Hokage had put him in the spotlight in the class, with all the teachers and instructors trying to cozy up to him because of his old man. They all gushed over him, trying to advance their careers.
'Idiots!' he thought as he sat in the classroom with his teammates, waiting for their sensei, who was running late.
Suddenly, he felt someone sit on the empty seat by his side and looked up and saw one of his teammates right there at the edge of his bench. Her black hair hung back and reached her shoulders, contrasting perfectly with her white skin. Her headband hung loosely around her neck as she smiled and sat down on the bench; her distinctive red eyes bore into him, making him gulp nervously as she spoke up.
"Hi, I am Kurenai Yuhi. I was hoping we could introduce ourselves as we wait for our sensei," she said politely. He didn't tell her that he knew who she was because that would be creepy. In the end, he gulped as he shook her extended hand.
"Yeah, why not. I am Asuma Sarutobi," he said quickly, his nervousness making him speak out very awkwardly. She just laughed as she nodded.
"I know," she said as the two of them were joined by their third teammate dressed in his usual green spandex trousers and shirt.
"And I am Ebisu Shirahoshi," added his last teammate from the side, as he adjusted his glasses. Asuma offered his last teammate a seat as he joined them, and they began to make small talk.
Though, it was less small talk and more of him awkwardly trying not to embarrass himself in front of Kurenai. And then the discussion shifted to their sensei.
"So, do you know anything about our sensei, Ohashi Hatake? That was his name, right?" questioned Ebisu from the side, and Asuma nodded.
"Yes, that was his name, and I think his name was mentioned once by Kaida sensei of the Genjutsu class," he thought as he tried to recall what he knew of the man because he was sure that he had heard of that name previously. Surprisingly it was Kurenai who spoke up from the side.
"He was an early graduate like Kakashi from our class. He held the record for that as he graduated out of the academy at seven," she spoke up, and Asuma nodded as he remembered where he had heard that name.
"Yes, and he was also…" but before he could say anything, the door to the classroom opened up, and Asuma's head snapped as he saw someone enter their class.
"I am sorry for being late, but I had just returned to the village in the morning and was busy with a debrief," said the intruder with a smile as he pulled back his wet hair and shook his head, trying to dry them off. His hair was silvery grey and glistened as he approached them. Asuma noticed how the man was even younger than his brother, who had turned eighteen, and he was reminded of the reason his mother had mentioned that name.
The jacket which the man wore was the usual jounin jacket, but it was colored black, and a giant scroll hung at his back as he waved at them with a smile.
"So, I am Ohashi Hatake, and I am going to be your jounin sensei," said the man with a smile. Yet Asuma wasn't fooled by the smiling demeanor. The average age to become a jounin was at least twenty, yet the person standing in front of them had reached that rank a whopping six years earlier than that. A feat that came second only to his own father, the Professor. And that meant something.
"Ok, why don't we take the introductions to the training round? We have wasted enough time as it is," said their sensei. And the three of them nodded as they began to follow the jounin outside of the class.
0000
OHASHI HATAKE
The last six months had been extremely hectic for Ohashi. He had been stationed on the Southern border, and after Minato-san had left, Kirigakure had begun to harass their forces constantly and had stopped only when Konoha's Toad sage had shown up.
Jiraiya-sama had been a character to work with, and for the two months, the man had helped Ohashi break past his limits and improve drastically as a shinobi. He had gotten a missive a week ago to return to the village, mentioning how he had been assigned as a jounin sensei to a team. And the news had been a surprise.
So, he sprinted back to the village and barely made it in time due to continuous harassment by some pesky masked shinobi. And the only reason he had been late was that he had wanted to leave a gift for their master to thank him for helping his growth by giving him an opportunity to face all that fodder.
Well, that all would come later. He finally focused on the three genin who were looking at him, a bit of skepticism in their eyes as he looked them over. But that was given, since he was perhaps quite younger than the sensei they had in mind.
"Ok, since it is getting quite late, why don't we skip the introductions and get to the main point first," he began with a smile making all three of them frown.
"And that is whether the three of you are even ready to become genin or not," he finished, his usual cheer gone in an instant as he let go of his chakra. The three of them stiffened as his chakra rippled through the air, cracking the ground under his feet.
"And in that sensei, I have a final test for you guys," he said as he saw them looking at him with slight fear and apprehension as he raised a finger.
"The three of you have three hours to land a single hit on me, and I will take you on as my students," he said as he reined in his chakra, allowing them to breathe easily again.
"Otherwise, I believe it's back to the academy for you three!" he added, smiling again, as he reached into his pocket and took out a clock, setting a timer for three hours.
"And your time starts," he said as he pushed the start button on the clock.
"NOW!"
And the three of them were smart enough to jump back, as they began to make their plan, and his mind began to wonder about Danzo and how he would react to the gift he had left him.
0000
DANZO SHIMURA
Danzo watched the pile of ANBU masks placed right there at one of the entrances of his Foundation headquarters. He recognized those masks and knew exactly who was responsible for this.
"Peacock," he called for their leader, and the operative appeared in front of him, kneeling on one knee as he had been trained to.
"Tell me how did a whole squadron fail to kill a single shinobi!" he snarled in rage at the failure of his men. The ROOT operative hesitated for a moment before he began.
"The intelligence was faulty, Danzo-sama," began his head of recon, making him frown.
"The target didn't use any of the attacks in the file. Instead, it was a new technique. It was as if a set of invisible blades surrounded him. As soon as any of our ninjas approached him they were simply cut down, we couldn't even touch him," reported Peacock making him snarl in anger.
"Have all this cleared up!" he said as he began to walk into the headquarters angry and frustrated at the failure of his men, especially since he could feel his time running out.
0000
Ohashi's new ability is called Organon.
And it is very badass!
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