It has been 2 days since Hakai read the files regarding his new proteges and he is due to meet them tomorrow. During this time he spent an obsessive amount of time preparing a practical test for his new team of Genin.

This test had to push the 3 teenagers to their limit so, he can get a good understanding of their current skill set...without killing them....if possible. Injuries tend to happen in these sort of situations and he can provide basic first aid with Yang style ninjutsu, although it would probably be better for the team to get a fully specialized medical ninja.

Hakai plans to test his new team in a forested area with no animals called zone 4, which is divided into 4 sectors, labeled from A to D. Sector A is a deforested area dedicated to basic hand to hand combat training, Sector B is a forested area with a small lake, while Sector C is a forested area with another obstacle course and Sector D is a forested area with many hills. Sectors A and D have resting areas in the form of canteens.

It is now Monday and Hakai is waiting for his 3 Genin to arrive for their first team meeting, at the resting zone located in sector D of training zone 4. As Hakai tests his Genin, he needs to be aware of the fact that he in turn will be watched and tested.

The first Genin to arrive is Satto Alisa, a 15 year old female Genin, with deep auburn hair, hazel eyes as well as an average height and build for her age. Hakai, called out for Alisa, whom he was able to recognize because he read her file and saw her photo. Alisa greets Hakai formally, while projecting confidence and optimism.

The second Genin to arrive is Ichijou Zato, a slim and tall 16 year old Genin, with long blonde hair and blue eyes. Hakai called out to a nervous Zato, who provided a basic greeting, while bowing his head, one half of an inch. He presented himself using the official long version of his name, Zatoichi, while stating he is OK with just being called Zato.

Hachijou Dargon, is the last Genin to arrive, a 14 year old male Genin with spiky black hair and brown eyes. He greeted everyone informally and introduced himself only by his first name as he took a seat to Hakai’s left, on the sofa, with both arms resting on the backseat, in a poise you would expect a cocky delinquent to sit in. Hakai briefly scolds Dargon for being late, but doesn’t waste too much time on it, thinking they have more important things to do.

Meanwhile, Alisa is sitting comfortably in front of Hakai, with a pleasant smile and relaxed demeanor, while Zato sits nervously on the other sofa, to Hakai’s right.

Hakai makes a mental note, regarding the fact that the student files accurately depicted Dargon as an arrogant youngster, brimming with self confidence, while Alisa had been depicted as a cunning student with a slight attitude problem.

Zato’s files had depicted him as a hard working loner. He was often the recluse of the group and interacted very little with his peers, however his grades were very good. It has always been unclear to the teachers, if Zato had development a superiority complex due to his personal achievements or an inferiority complex over the fact that he was unable to connect and make friends during his time at the academy.

Hakai brushed off the notes made by the academy staff regarding these issues and brushed them off as Zato possibly being an unhinged workaholic like him as Zato’s achievements related to having good grades, but also not being very sociable and has gotten into one brawl with two other students.

After meeting Zato however, Hakai is unsure what to think of him, as his demeanor alone paints him as a teenager who is visibly lacking in self confidence.

Not wanting to waste time on his thoughts, Hakai decides to start his vetting process, by first adopting a more professional persona.

“Good morning everyone. My name is Katsuki Hakai and I’d like to understand you guys better – why did you chose to become a ninja over living a normal life?”

The three Genin were taken a back by this question. It would have been obvious to any outsider that once you are born in a ninja village and are found to have the potential to become a ninja, you simply become a ninja, because the pay is amazing and somehow you are given a sense of fulfillment due to the prestige and honor the inhabitants of the village associate with this profession.

Dargon breaks the silence by answering first in a loud and boisterous tone:

“For the glory and the village! We are born with the ability to become legendary during our life time – we should use our talents to the fullest and enjoy life in all it’s beauty”.

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Dargon takes a brief pause, ensuring he is maintaining the attention of his audience, before continuing with his answer:

“You lot should remember me in particular, I am going to be the strongest ninja, the best of the freakin’ best yo! Enemies will tremble in fear at the near mention of my name, allies will bask in my awesomeness and the feudal lords will start bidding wars to secure, MY patronage!”

Hakai nods in annoyance, with his eyes closed, thinking his answer was as corny and disconnected from reality as it can possibly get. While struggling to hide his animosity towards Dargon’s arrogance, Hakai asks the following question:

“Why should Saiga, continue supporting your development as a ninja if, you are more concerned with personal glory than with the prosperity of the Saiga village?”

Dargon quickly stands up. His body tenses up as he realizes Hakai ruthlessly launched a very difficult interview question, in order to punish him for his arrogance. In order to get past his nervousness, Dargon closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

After a brief moment, Dargon blurts out the following answer:

“I-if Saiga didn’t believe I have the...uhm…potential for greatness, yeah….. I wouldn’t be HERE! I think I...I have many opportunities to prove that…. MY reputational gains are Saiga’s gains!”

Hakai gives a cold stare in Dargon’s direction and carefully considers Dargon’s answer. Wanting to put more pressure on the boy, Hakai then says with a dispassionate tone:

“I’d like to correct you on one thing, Dargon. In the world of shinobi, you only have, ONE, chance to prove that you can be successful in this line of work”.

Hakai takes a moment to appreciate the fact that, he was able to inspire enough fear in Dargon to erase all traces of arrogance from his demeanor, before continuing with his cold speech:

“Afterwards you are DONE! … Samurai tend to be more forgiving though. Do you think you’ve made a mistake choosing the life of a ninja over the life of a samurai?”

Dargon’s eyes narrow in confusion as he asks Hakai in turn:

“If I weren’t fit for this lifestyle, I wouldn’t have been able to graduate or even join, the Ninja Academy in the first place, right?”

Dargon’s answer causes Hakai to nod with a wide grin and gives the thumbs up. Dargon then sits down, unsure if he actually gave Hakai satisfactory answers.

Alisa stands up and states with her eyes closed:

”I’m sorry if this is going to sound corny, but I actually became a ninja in order to save lives”.

Everyone just stares at Alisa for a second and then Hakai asks:

“Why not become a healing mage instead? As a ninja, you are very likely to take lives and very unlikely to save lives, but as a Mage, the opposite is more likely to happen.”

While putting her hands behind her back and opening her eyes, Alisa answers:

“Well, being a ninja is more practical, because you get to kill bad people before they hurt or kill good people…. Basically, what I am trying to say is that it’s more practical to prevent having innocents suffer at the hands of bad people, than it is to help innocents heal from the suffering caused by bad people.”

Hakai fixates his attention on Alisa, while thinking that her answers are above average interview lies she has prepared for occasions where she needs to make a good first impression in the ninja world, in spite of her attempts at making him think that she is improvising her answers. Hakai then proceeds to ask:

“How is it that you are ok with killing people?”

“Sometimes, it can’t be helped. Not everyone can be saved from making bad decisions and if those bad decisions end up hurting our society, in a noticeable way, then they have to be stopped…even if it means I have to kill them. And if I can provide a good income for my family, while doing society a favour, then all the better”.

‘This one is interesting. On the one hand, she plays the role of an altruistic angel, willing to get her hands bloodied for the greater good, but on the other hand she shows great understanding regarding the necessity of ninja in this world – the executioners of those who are troublesome to our societal leaders, the feudal lords’ said Hakai to himself as he analyzed Alisa’s answers.

As Hakai is thinking to himself, Alisa adds the following to her initial answer while having her eyes wide open and a more relaxed demeanor:

“Also if I can train to become a medical ninja and keep the strong alive to do good work, even better.”

Hakai tries to hide the fact that Alisa’s answer completely changed his perceptions of her, by glossing over Dargon and Zato, to observe their reactions to Alisa’s answer.

Afterwards, Hakai begins dissecting Alisa’s answers in his head.

‘Ok, this makes a bit more sense now, she’s definitely an opportunist who knows exactly how much more medical ninjas earn.’

Hakai notices Dargon shaking his head as he continues thinking to himself.

‘I wonder if she has the arrogance to expect that, during these times of peace, she will go less on the field, then regular ninja, under the pretense of having to do hospital hours. What irks me, is the fact that her mannerism are those of a practiced liar and her speech seems rehearsed...I can’t help but wonder, who prepared her?’

Alisa glosses quickly over towards Dargon or Zato, to see if she didn’t come off as weird, while Hakai continues his inner monologue.

“Sadly to say, if you are strong enough to survive missions and can heal people, you are going to be sent on many missions - until you either break from stress or die...only healing mages have the privilege of locking themselves up in a hospital, if they are afraid of a little killing and some field work.”

After noticing Alisa’s able to glance in the direction of the other Genin, in order to check for reactions, Hakai thanks Alisa for giving such an interesting answer and motions her to sit down.

It finally becomes Zato’s turn to speak. He lifts his head sheepishly and looks at his future colleagues, before looking Hakai in the eyes and speaks with a sad tone in his voice.

“I became a ninja because I am needed by my village. I’m a nobody and have a lot to prove, however I was born with power and I feel like I have a responsibility to use my power and not waste it. However, if I could give my powers to someone worthy and live a long life as a farmer, I would do so in a heart beat, but I don’t have that option in this life time”.