In a fit of rage, Alisa throws shuriken at Hakai, but they pass through him, which causes everyone to realise that Hakai is speaking through a mirror image and that he is in hiding, preparing his next move.
Zato panics and urges everyone to assume defensive positions and to be wary of illusions, thinking Hakai is also capable of using the Phantom Garden jutsu – the same technique which allows him to display illusions of his choice to everyone inside the range of the technique.
"If you runts want to get the alarm clock, I suggest you stop wasting time and get moving – it only works to my benefit if you guys try and continue to fight me" said Hakai, as he tries to manipulate the Genin into action.
While hidden, Hakai then begins to throw kunai with explosive tags at the Genin, in a bid to get them to split up, so he can hunt them down one by one. The Genin shortly realize that the explosive tags used by Hakai are also capable of creating a thick smoke screen, which causes them to run in different directions – much to Hakai’s delight.
Hakai planed to go for Alisa first. In his mind, Zato is over specialized in the role of support, because his first action, after regaining consciousness, was to hide and set up a technique which requires a lot of concentration and tactical awareness of the battlefield to provide support to his allies. Furthermore he showed he has no confidence in mixing up illusions and taijutsu in a melee encounters nor did he attempt to engage in long range combat by mixing illusions and projectile based attacks.
Dargon, as a double element ninja with an arsenal of Water and Lighting style techniques was best suited as the party's main ranged damage dealer, but his bias towards fighting his opponent in a straightforward manner to prove his superiority to his opponents, is a fatal flaw – considering his hand to hand combat is not very good...by Hakai's standards.
Alisa seemed to Hakai as the greatest unknown of the 3. Her attack patterns were surprisingly bland and she favored the use of Mirror Images and physical attacks over a deadlier attack pattern of wind style ninjutsu and physical attacks.
During their meeting, Alisa gave the impression of a well informed Genin with clear goals, but during combat, she was the least competent of the 3,because she was unable to figure out that the best course of action for her was to use a defensive techniques such as Yang Style: Lesser Dispel to remove the threat of the fiery whips – which would have snowballed into the destruction of Hakai’s mirror image.
Although tactical errors such as these can be corrected through training, Hakai has yet to determine if he wants to put in the effort of training Alisa, as he has no interest in helping the weak.
Although it would have made more sense to take out Dargon, Hakai's own biases towards sadism and violence had clouded his judgment, pushing him to seek out the potential of the party's dark horse, to see if she can meet his criteria for what constitutes a capable ninja. Hakai justifies his bias, based on the fact that her tracks are easier to discern as she is the only female combatant.
As he proceeds to try and track down he begins to reanalyses the structure of his exam – the true purpose behind this whole ordeal was to test the Genin's critical thinking, on how to manage impossible odds, while using an unfairly designed exam, as a premise through which to push the 3 Genin to their limits.
Finding the alarm clock would be an indisputable pass, but it would also be considered the bare minimum. Defeating Hakai and getting the alarm clock would be the most difficult scenario to achieve for the Genin, but it would mean the 3 Genin have passed with flying colours.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Hakai had to argue a lot in order to get Labor to agree with giving his Genin a harder a test, but he was able to justify it due to their low survival and success rate as a rank 2 unit, outside of the traditional leveling system and by waving his privileges as sole examiner to the current committee of 3.
It is also possible for the Genin to pass Hakai’s exam, provided they can survive Hakai’s attacks without becoming captured and disabled, while impressing the exam committee with their skills as ninja – such as their critical thinking skills and combat expertise. This means it is also possible for the Genin to fail if the exam timer runs out and they failed to impress the committee with their skills as ninja.
Hakai's train of thought is ended abruptly as Alisa throws shuriken towards him. He was only able to dodge those projectiles due to the fact he was tracking her while under the influence of the Yang Style – Enhanced Agility jutsu instead of using the common ninja tactic of scouting while using mirror images to act as decoys for him.
‘Is he even human ? There is no way people can dodge ranged attacks with that sort of precision - still, I don't think I can escape this monster now, that I've made my move....I have to commit to distracting him while the others find the alarm clock’ thought Alisa to herself, while doubting her ability to fight Hakai in a 1 vs 1.
Hakai grins, as he stops and activates the Mirror Image technique to create 2 decoys, while thinking to himself, ‘Damn, that attack was almost perfect. If she weaved Wind Style and projectile attacks, I don't think I could have dodged those with the Enhanced Agility jutsu alone.’
In order to weed out Alisa from her hiding spot, without creating a forest fire, Hakai came up with the following solution; he would use one of the few illusory technique in his arsenal to scare Alisa into either submission or melee combat, by using the Yang Style: Intimidating Presence. This would give Hakai's threats more credibility by creating an intense fear in the mind of the target.
Normally, this would be a horrible idea for Hakai, considering the fact that entropic and illusory techniques drain large amounts of his spiritual energy to activate and the end result is a slightly weaker version of the technique he is casting.
However, Hakai, in his arrogance, believed he can beat 3 fresh graduates from the Ninja Academy, without using his familiars, one of whom, is leagues above him, in the usage of illusory techniques...making this the first time, since becoming a Genin, where he isn’t taking his opponent serious, in a training exercise.
"Alisa, you know I am going to find you eventually. Right now, you are just pissing me off by prolonging this. However, there is a chance for you to get away from this predicament and become a ninja - all you have to do is surrender. Do that and I will place a recommendation for Labor to let you try the exam next year, when you will have trained to your heart's content and be better prepared for the ninja life" said Hakai in a calming tone.
"However, if you insist on being a nuisance and prolong this pointless exam to it's natural ending -where you fucking fail because you 3 have no hope of ever defeating me!... I might not be so generous, and let Labor do whatever they please with your future" added Hakai in a more menacing tone, to emphasize it as a threat and catalyst for his illusory effect to begin poisoning Alisa's mind.
The effect was instant, as Alisa felt a strong temptation to submit to Hakai proposal and secure a better chance at becoming a ninja - at the cost of abandoning the boys. However, further incertitude plagued her mind, as she was unsure if she could actually trust Hakai. In the end - the incertitude of success and fear of failure, overwhelmed her into inaction.
This would have been Hakai’s win, if he simply stopped here, but his sadism pushed him to try and torment her further. “What would your parents think if they knew you failed at such a critical moment in your life? “
This statement from Hakai however, had the opposite effect on Alisa. Unbeknownst to Hakai, Alisa is an orphan, who had to take care of her younger brother by herself - a fact Hakai would have known, if he’d bother to look past the sections in Alisa’s file describing her academic performance and achievements.
None of Alisa’s friends at the Academy know about her situation, as both her parents were mages and their death was covered by Saiga, due to the fact that they were providing support for a team of ninja during a secret military operation. She has an uncle, who acts as a legal guardian, but cares little for her and her brother as he is too busy with his work as a ninja and passion for politics.
Truth of the matter is, Hakai cares nothing about the personal situations of any, of the Genin he is examining - they are there simply here for Hakai to decide if the people they are now, are worth his time and the honor of becoming ninja capable of living up to his standards, under HIS guidance.
“You are massive dickhead, you know that, right? You are an enemy to all women and I...AM GOING TO BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF YOU FOR THIS CRAP” declared Alisa angrily as she descended from her hiding spot - committed to fight Hakai with all her might.