After leaving the academy, Team Five’s new instructor led them to one of the many rooftop terraces in town.

“So, what’s our first mission?” Sekka asked testily as soon as she, Reito, and Daishi sat down on a bench opposite him.

“Ah, I’m afraid we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves,” Yamato Sensei answered politely. “First, I would like for us to get to know one another, and then we’ll discuss the next steps of your journey.”

Sekka rolled her eyes, but Reito’s first impression was positive. So far, he seemed like a nice man. He obviously had a starkly different approach to this whole process compared to Amaya Sensei, who had tried to unsettle his old team. But was he being genuine, or was he acting differently because he knew Reito had been through this before?

“As you heard earlier, my name is Yamato, and I’ve been assigned as Jonin instructor for Team Five. I’m pleased to make your acquaintance. I look forward to working with you,” said the man with a pleasant smile.

He was of average height with short brown hair. His black almond-shaped eyes were his most prominent feature, perhaps because of the way his metallic head guard framed them. They had a piercing quality. “Perhaps we can share our likes and dislikes and a goal of ours?” he suggested. “I’ll start. I’m Yamato, I like walnuts, dislike oily foods, and a goal of mine is to study the architecture of the different nations.”

Sekka turned away with an expression of boredom, while Daishi lowered his head into the high collar of his coat, so Reito began hesitantly, “I’m Reito Tsu. I like, err, sweet dangos. I dislike…onions! And my goal…?”

Reito considered this. He knew the answer, of course, but was it the kind of thing you shared with strangers? Was there something else he could say? No. These weren’t strangers. At least, they weren’t supposed to be. He, Daishi, and Sekka were teammates now. Together, they would be embarking on dangerous missions that required trust and cooperation. That was if they were able to pass Yamato’s Sensei’s test, which would also need them to work together.

With this in mind, plus the fact that their instructor was giving them this little icebreaker for a reason, Reito decided that total honesty was the best way to go. “My goal is to find out what happened to me and avenge my former teammates,” said Reito defiantly, his cheeks reddening but his expression determined.

Daishi and Sekka both turned in Reito’s direction, looking surprised by this unexpected pronouncement.

A glimmer of a smile flickered across Yamato’s otherwise controlled face. “Good. Next,” he said, looking expectantly in Daishi’s direction.

When Daishi realized their instructor was looking at him, he lowered his head again before muttering his introduction, “Daishi Akamine. I like yellow. I dislike green.”

Reito couldn’t help adopting a quizzical expression that matched Sekka’s. Not only did Daishi pick colors instead of foods, which was odd but technically not against any rule, but he, the boy with the bright green hair and wearing a dark green coat, disliked green of all colors?

“I want to be useful to my clan,” he concluded tentatively, then looked to Reito before turning away and adding, “In my own way.”

This statement was more interesting. Reito wasn’t sure exactly what it meant, but it made him think of Yuji, who had gone against his family’s wishes by becoming a ninja but always strived to honor their values.

Yamato Sensei nodded approvingly and turned to Sekka.

After a pause, she said, “Pass to all three questions.”

Reito bit the inside of his cheek in annoyance.

“Come now, everyone’s participating,” Yamato Sensei coaxed with a chuckle, but the girl didn’t answer. “Well, since we’re getting to know each other, I should tell you that while I like being nice and friendly, I don't have any problems with ruling by fear.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sekka responded.

“It means everyone’s participating,” the man responded darkly, his tone deep, his face now grim, and his protuberant dark eyes boring into the girl.

Sekka leaned back in her chair, looking as freaked out by this as Reito felt. Perhaps the man was more like Amaya Sensei than he thought. “Fine!” she conceded. “I like ice cream, alright? And I dislike idiots and weaklings!”

Reito furrowed his brows indignantly when she glanced in his direction but didn’t interrupt.

“My goal is to become strong enough to…” Sekka started, then edited herself. “My goal is to become strong.”

“Okay, very good, everyone,” said Yamato Sensei. “Now, onto business. There’s good news and bad news.”

Reito sat up straight.

“The bad news is, you’re not really Genin just yet.”

“What?” Sekka snapped. “But we graduated, Iruka Sensei told us—”

“Iruka Sensei fibbed,” the man interrupted with a smile. “Your real final exam will take place tomorrow.”

Sekka looked furious as she turned to see her teammates’ reactions. Reito averted his eyes and played with his fingers. She noticed this. “You’ve done this before. You knew, didn’t you?” she accused.

Yamato Sensei answered on his behalf, “Reito has been sworn to secrecy by the Hokage regarding the Genin selection process. His experience won’t impact you, and I’m telling you everything you need to know.”

The girl folded her arms tightly across her chest.

“The good news is, you have a chance to prove yourself!” The man continued, “Of the twenty-four graduates who applied to become Genin, a select few will be recommended for Genin status by their Jonin instructor.”

“And the others?” Sekka queried.

“Those not selected will be sent back to the academy or reassigned.”

“What must we do?” Daishi asked solemnly.

“You’ll report to Training Ground Nine tomorrow at zero six hundred hours, where I will reveal and administer your final exam. It will test you on the various skills required of a ninja, so come fully equipped and fully prepared, but do not eat breakfast. I will be providing that.”

As was his way, Reito had been analyzing Yamato Sensei’s words ever since he introduced himself. Other than concealing what sort of test he would be administering, the man had been transparent about the process. Unlike Amaya Sensei, he hadn’t made any attempts to deceive or intimidate them.

As far as Reito could tell, the man had been open about the instructors having total control, hadn’t provided a set number of passing students or other misleading information, and hadn’t been purposely vague or provocative. Was this just his style, or was he trying to unnerve him? If it was the latter, it was surprisingly effective.

Reito was worried. It wasn’t like last time. He didn’t have any clues to work with or hunches to go off. Before, he had rallied himself, Kazuki, and Yuji by seeing through Amaya Sensei’s intentions. Now, all he knew for sure was that teamwork would be a major component in deciding the outcome of the exam, but he couldn’t share that with his teammates, not directly, at least.

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“I was given this assignment late, so I haven’t had a chance to review your records yet, but I look forward to doing so tonight and seeing how you perform tomorrow. Until then, you’re dismissed,” said Yamato Sensei before disappearing without giving Reito a chance to probe him.

Reito got to his feet, ready to hash things out with his new teammates. However, they were already departing. “Sekka, Daishi, wait,” Reito pleaded. “We should strategize for tomorrow. I don’t know you guys very well, so we should talk through our strengths and weaknesses, that sort of thing, and work on some plans.”

“I’m expected at home,” said Daishi.

“Is that a joke? You want us to work together after you’ve already proven that you can’t be trusted?” said Sekka.

“I was under orders not to say anything!” Reito justified.

“Right, which means you still are. If you can’t tell us about the exam, what use are you?”

“I’m… I’m kinda good at this sorta stuff. Tactics and whatnot. I can help!”

“I don’t need help from you or anyone else! Worry about yourself!” said Sekka scathingly before taking off.

Reito sighed as Sekka scaled the nearby rooftops. “Daishi, what about you?” he asked, turning to the boy. He was already gone. “Seriously?”

***

Before heading home, Reito swung by Training Ground Nine to scope out the terrain for the exam. Of course, it was pretty much a pointless exercise. All he could do was confirm the location, which was near-identical to the other internal village training spaces, a clearing next to a stream, surrounded by a deep wooded area.

Without Sekka and Daishi, he couldn’t coordinate attack strategy, account for any tools, skills, or abilities they might have, or plan their movements. Even if he were to score an X on a good assembly spot, they wouldn’t know where to find it. His only real talent was his analytical ability, and he couldn’t use it properly.

Reito mulled over what little he had learned about Daishi and Sekka over the last few weeks. He had been surprised to see the quiet oddball of a boy ranked in the middle on the intelligence tests. Reito knew him to be very knowledgeable, so it might suggest his scores suffered due to the open-ended questions. They may be opposites in that regard.

Daishi was top of the Medical Ninjutsu class, but that wasn’t going to be much use unless Yamato Sensei injured them, which was highly unlikely. He could pull off the required academy Ninjutsu and Genjutsu with no problem. He wasn’t good at using weaponry, but he wasn’t bad at Taijutsu. Like Haru pointed out once, though, he often hesitated.

Sekka, on the other hand, was very good at Taijutsu, and everything else for that matter! Her intelligence scores were average, but in her case, that was probably an accurate reflection of her ability. The only real weakness per se that Reito had observed about Sekka was her personality. Sadly, that could be the very thing to cost him his Genin status.

As far as he had come recently, was he going to fall at the final hurdle? Frustration getting the better of him, Reito intentionally but absently sent a stone at his feet flying with his odd technique. It ricocheted off a tree with a resounding thwack and hit him in the arm. Yep. Tomorrow was going to be a disaster.

***

After walking around aimlessly for a while, Reito returned home to find Haru in the cafeteria. He didn’t look happy. “Sorry for not saying anything about the final exam, I was under orders,” said Reito, taking the seat opposite.

“I figured. Don’t worry about it.”

“How did it go?” he asked,

“About as good as yours, I expect,” Haru commiserated. “Tenten Sensei seems alright, but Tora and Hanabi are like fire and ice. I don’t know how I’m going to work with them, even if there was something I could do to help.”

“Just do what you can,” Reito said evasively. He couldn’t explicitly tell Haru the test was about teamwork, but it was just good sense to advise it, one ninja to another. “Back them up, keep Tenten Sensei occupied while they are attacking, be aware of their position when you are, that sort of thing, assuming your test works like that.”

“Yeah. Wait, are there different types of tests?”

Reito bit his bottom lip.

“You’re not allowed to say, are you? It probably wouldn’t make a difference, anyway. How did your meeting go?”

Reito shook his head. “No idea,” he sighed. “Yamato Sensei didn’t reveal anything I could use, and Sekka and Daishi refused to talk strategy. I’m not liking our chances.”

“Still, with Sekka on your team, maybe you won’t need to do anything?”

Wishing that were the case, Reito laughed mirthlessly. A brilliant solo effort from Sekka wasn’t going to help him on a test of their teamwork. Besides, no academy student would be a match for a Jonin-level ninja. He knew that all too well.

***

Reito didn’t sleep well. When his alarm clock rang at five o’clock, he was tempted to turn it off and go back to sleep. This was the day he had been waiting for, though, so he got up, showered, dressed, and checked over his equipment, then swore loudly. With so much on his mind yesterday, he had completely forgotten to buy new equipment, meaning he only had his seven old shurikens and Yuji’s two Kunai to work with. Not a great start.

He put them in his pockets and headed down the hall to Haru’s room, hoping his friend hadn’t left yet. He knocked quietly and thanked the heavens when Haru answered the door. “Morning. Don’t suppose you’ve got some spare shurikens?” he asked.

“Got you covered,” he said, fully kitted out in a light blue short-sleeved tee, charcoal grey pants, and a black vest that resembled a flak jacket, with his mother’s katana strapped on. He pulled an unopened batch of five shurikens from a drawer and handed them to Reito. “Sorry, I thought I had more, and they’re just the cheap kind, so don’t expect any miracles if you’re thinking of pulling off a trick shot.”

“No, this is great! You’re a lifesaver, Haru, I owe you! I was supposed to stock up yesterday,” Reito said, opening the pack of shurikens and adding them into his left pants pocket.

“You can hold on to them. I’ve got a batch for myself, just in case,” he said, patting the beige tool bag on his rear, “but you know I suck at Shuriken Jutsu. I’m better with a kunai if it comes to that, but I’ve got Shihime now.”

Reito blinked in confusion, “Who?”

Haru thumbed to his sword. “Didn’t I tell you she had a name?”

“Oh, well, nice to meet you… Doesn’t Shihime mean death princess?”

Haru laughed. “Yeah, my mom had a weird sense of humor, but I think it’s kinda cool.”

“It is,” Reito agreed, thinking fondly of Amaya Sensei, “and so is your gear, by the way! Good luck today!”

“Thanks! You too!”

***

Dawn had barely broken when Reito arrived at Training Ground Nine, where Sekka was waiting. Like Haru, she was fully equipped and wearing new gear. She wore a mesh romper under her indigo wrap skirt and crop top, matching elbow guards, a single tool bag, a thigh holster, and a pair of black fingerless gloves. She looked him over as he approached.

“Morning,” said Reito.

“Where’s your equipment?” Sekka asked, ignoring his greeting.

“In my pockets,” Reito answered, patting his pants, which jingled noisily.

The girl shook her head and turned away. This was aggravating, but Reito knew she was right to judge him. He had given himself another self-imposed rule: to not spend the bulk of his compensation money until he earned back his Genin status. He was regretting that decision now. Apart from being ill-equipped, the noise of the few shurikens he brought might give away his position.

“Should we talk strategy before Daishi and Yamato Sensei arrive?” Reito suggested.

“Good morning,” a voice mumbled from his rear.

“Yargh!” Reito lurched. He spun around to find Daishi standing behind him, staring off to the horizon. “Where did you come from?”

Daishi looked at Reito for a moment, then, without another word, turned his attention back to the distant clouds, which were just beginning to glow a deep orange.

“I was just saying to Sekka that we should talk strategy before Yamato Sensei—”

“And I was just about to tell you, no thanks!” Sekka interjected. “You guys are on your own.”

“I don’t mind working alone,” said Daishi.

Reito wanted to scream at them. “But with a test like this, it might be better if we—”

Sekka growled, “We don’t even know what the test is! Besides, I thought you weren’t allowed to talk about it?”

“Right, but don’t you think—”

“Good morning, Team Five!” Yamato Sensei announced brightly, appearing before the three students in a puff of smoke. “I see that we’ve been lucky with the weather, which is handy because we will be conducting a little survival exercise this morning.”

Reito’s muscles tightened. He could tell just from that much that this test wasn’t going to be like Amaya Sensei’s. Any advantage he may still have had was gone now.

“I will be testing your abilities in various ways. Your task will be to endure my assault, if you can, and wrest one of these from me before nine o’clock,” the man explained, pulling something from the pocket of his flak jacket. With a jingling sound, he revealed two small bells, each dangling from a red string.

All three students reacted physically to this sight. There it was. Two bells. Yamato Sensei had been open and honest up to this point, but here was the twist Reito was waiting for. There was a very good chance that he was playing them. Sadly, Reito’s teammates seemed highly likely to take the bait.

Predictably, Sekka asked, “Why is there only two?”

“Oh, that’s right, I didn’t explain,” the instructor said apologetically. “I’m afraid I can only pass a maximum of two of you. Of course, if you don’t come at me seriously, there’s also a chance that none of you will pass, so please do give the task your best efforts!”

Sekka narrowed her eyes, while Daishi adjusted his stance. “And what about breakfast?” the girl asked with an edge to her voice, eyeing the man’s empty hands. “You said you were providing it.”

“I’ll be treating the passing students to a special breakfast after the test,” he explained.

Sekka tutted loudly.

“Are there any other rules?” Reito asked, trying to buy some time to think about how to get through to the pair of them.

Yamato Sensei put a hand to his chin to consider this. “Hmm, nope! I may decide to hide, I may decide to attack, but no matter what I do, you may employ whatever tactics you see fit to defend yourself and secure a bell within the time limit. Oh, which will end when this sounds.”

The man pulled a red alarm clock from his tool pouch and placed it down on the ground. “Good luck to each of you,” he said sincerely, a pleasant smile across his face.

Sekka and Daishi tensed up. They weren’t even considering that he might be lying about the number of students who could pass.

“You have just under three hours. You may begin…now!”