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The two late arrivals picked a spot on the bench opposite Daichi. They both had frowns on their faces as they looked at the boy.

[Reputation slightly decreased with Seto Tomoya and Mari Michiyaki]

Daichi ignored the system message and kept his eyes on his soon to be teacher.

Kakashi clapped his hands bringing their attention to him. "Alright. Now that everyone is here let's begin."

Kakashi leaned back against the railing and looked at the 3 kids in front of him. Several thoughts were going through his mind. He let out a sigh and spoke. "Alright. Why don't you introduce yourselves?"

"What do you want us to say sensei? I'm sure you already got a look at our files from the academy." Seto said to the silver haired Jonin.

"I did. But I'd like to hear it from you. Tell us your likes, dislikes, hobbies and dreams… if you have any… Why don't you go first." Kakashi replied in a bored tone.

"My name is Seto Tomoya. I like coming up with new moves for my Taijutsu. My hobbies include helping pops with his business sometimes. And just playing around. I dislike pipsqueaks who think they're better than others."

Daichi noticed Seto looking his way when he said that.

"And my dream is to be a famous ninja."

Kakashi turned his attention to the girl of the team. "Your turn."

"My name is Mari Michiyaki. I like my brothers. My hobby is to train and improve my shuriken skills. My dream is to become a ninja like my father… Um… What I dislike is arrogant brats."

Kakashi nodded and finally looked at Daichi.

"You. Go."

"My name is Daichi Hekima. I like a lot of things. Mainly training. My hobbies include Cooking and painting… I hate people who try to stab their friends in the back and bullies. My goal is to become the strongest in the world."

"Pff…. You? Strongest? Get real." Seto laughed when he heard Daichi's goal. Daichi kept quiet since he didn't want to start an argument at that moment.

"Now. I believe it's my turn. I'm Kakashi Hatake. Things I like and things I hate… I'm not gonna tell you those things. Dreams for the future… Don't really have one right now. And as for hobbies… I have lots of hobbies. And it doesn't concern you." The silver haired Jonin said with a smile.

'Typical. Why did I expect anything different from this guy.' Daichi didn't say anything and just looked at Kakashi. "When do we start missions?" He asked the man.

"Tomorrow. The four of us are going to do something together."

The three graduates paid attention. Two of them were excited thinking about their first mission while the third was weary.

"Tomorrow we're going to do a survival exercise." Kakashi said to the three.

"Wait. Survival exercise? Like the ones we did in the academy?"

"Wait, aren't we supposed to do missions? We've already completed the survival type training at the academy." Seto and Mari asked the man.

"This isn't going to be like the ones you've had at the academy. This will be entirely different."

"So what kinda training are we supposed to do?"

At Seto's question Kakashi suddenly started chuckling.

Daichi narrowed his eyes. 'Here it comes…'

"What's so funny?" Seto clenched his fists and was getting angry.

"I'm laughing because you're not going to like my answer."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mari narrowed her eyes. She had a bad feeling in her heart.

"Of the 30 graduates in this year only 9 students will be accepted as Genin. At most. At least 21 others will be weeded out and sent back to the academy. That means you have a 70% chance and above at failing this exam. This is a make it or break it pass/fail Genin test." Kakashi said in an ominous tone.

Seto jumped to his feet hearing that. "But then what was up with the exam we just passed?"

"Oh that? That was just a selection process to see who has the potential to become a Genin…"

"What?"

"That's how it is. Tomorrow I will decide whether you pass or fail. Now. Be at this training ground tomorrow at 4am. We'll begin the survival mission then. Make sure not to forget your ninja gear." Kakashi threw a paper slip to Daichi which indicated the location of the test.

Daichi looked at what was written on the paper. 'Training ground three…'

"Oh and… You might wanna skip breakfast… There's a good chance you'll puke." Without words the silver spiky haired ninja vanished.

Seto and Mari came near Daichi and looked at the paper in his hand. "Training ground 3 huh. And at 4am. Oh man. I better sleep early."

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He then looked at Daichi. "You better not be late and mess this up."

Daichi was getting irritated with the kid's attitude. But he didn't say anything because he needed them to work with him tomorrow. He decided he would help them out a bit.

"Did you hear what he last said?" Daichi asked the two.

"Yeah. He told us to skip breakfast."

"No. He suggested we skip breakfast. There's a difference. We're going to need the energy if we're going to have some kind of intense training tomorrow." With those words Daichi walked away.

He thought about the strategy to use against Kakashi tomorrow. 'Its most likely the bell test. I need to make a show of working with the other two. And I need to convince them that it's in their best interest to work with me. But if Kakashi even thinks I know about the test beforehand, then he might disqualify us. I need to play this carefully.'

Before long Daichi reached his home. He found Kensei tending to the garden.

"So… Did you meet your team?"

"Yeah. Let's just say I didn't give off the best first impression to my teammates…"

Kensei nodded and asked the question that's been on his mind. "Who's your Jonin instructor?"

"Kakashi Hatake."

Kensei stopped what he was doing and then looked at Daichi. He let out a breath and then spoke.

"Daichi, teamwork will be important. And make sure to analyze the situation. Good luck." It was all he said before he went inside.

'It seems the old man wants to help me but still keep things fair. I can dig that.'

That night Daichi packed the necessary tools into a few scrolls and stored them in his inventory.

'I know he's going to be late. So should I arrive late or… No. If by any chance I arrive late and he's already there, that'll be a problem. I can just spend the time meditating if he's late.'

With a plan in mind Daichi quickly went to sleep a couple hours early. He woke up at 3 am and got himself ready. He packed his things and left the house and at sharp 4am he was at Training ground 3.

Daichi looked around and saw that he was the first to arrive. At that moment he sensed the arrival of his other two teammates. Both of them looked half asleep. Neither of them greeted Daichi and he could see that they didn't take his advice on eating breakfast.

They waited for several minutes and there was no sign of Kakashi.

"Aarrgh… Where the hell is this guy?" Seto asked as he sat down on the ground.

"He's probably late just like yesterday." Daichi replied. He used his senses and was absolutely sure that Kakashi was nowhere near the place.

Daichi looked around the training ground. 'I should get a good look at this terrain. This is going to be our battlefield after all.'

"I'm gonna take a walk. It doesn't look like he'll be here anytime soon. You two should get some sleep." Daichi walked away from the other two.

He walked around the large training ground and took note of various locations. 'Plenty of places to hide, set traps and ambush someone.'

He thought about what to do with his teammates. 'I could use my Mana skills and try to make them work with me… But that won't help me in the long run. I need to know what kind of people they are. And this is a good opportunity. If I force them to work together with me then I won't be able to trust them in the future and it could become a problem.'

Before long Daichi got back to his teammates. He saw the two of them huddled together discussing something. When they saw Daichi coming their way they quieted down.

"Since we're going to be teammates we should get to know each other better." Daichi said to the other two.

"Alright, sure. We should talk about who's going to be the leader of the team. Since Mari and I are older we have seniority. I'm really good at Taijutsu and hand to hand combat... So I'll be the leader of the team. The best way we're gonna pass this survival test is if you follow my lead."

Daichi narrowed his eyes. 'This guy is definitely going to be a headache.'

"I don't remember agreeing to you being the leader, Seto." Mari spoke in a slightly cold tone.

"Oh come on Mari. You know that after Neji, I'm the best in the class. I'm the obvious choice."

"Did you guys eat any breakfast?" Daichi asked them.

"Look. We can't take the chance that he'll fail us just because we ate breakfast when he told us not to."

Daichi sighed to his teammate's reply. 'These two… Even Naruto or Kiba were better than this… I need a clear head if I'm going to pass this thing.'

"I'm going to meditate." Daichi went to a nearby tree and sat under it. He took several deep breaths and soon slipped into meditation but still kept a vigilant attention on his surroundings.

Daichi spent almost three hours in meditation. It was almost 7 am. Daichi stood from his spot and stretched himself. He walked to the nearby stream running through the training ground.

Daichi looked at the reflection in the water and pondered on his life till now. 'Everything feels so surreal. I'm in the Naruto world and right now I'm standing at a pivotal point in my life… But… How did I get here? How was I even born here? What is the truth of this universe? How did my soul enter this plane of existence? In fact how did this universe come into existence? And since this one is real isn't it possible the others are…? Is it possible? Can I get into other worlds? How can I even accomplish such a thing? I will need to breach the barrier of space. At least.'

"You seem to be immersed in some pretty deep thoughts."

Kakashi's voice brought Daichi out of his musings. Daichi turned around and met the man's gaze.

"Care to share?" Kakashi jovially asked Daichi.

Daichi looked at the man for several seconds and then replied. "I was contemplating my birth, the existence of this universe and how to breach the space time continuum."

"The space time what?" Seto looked confused at that while Kakashi raised an eyebrow hearing that answer. He looked at Daichi without a word for a few seconds and then decided to move on with the task.

"That's nice… Now let's get started."

"Why were you late sensei?" Daichi asked.

"You see. A black cat crossed my path and I had to take the long road here." The Jonin smiled as he replied.

"That's an obvious lie." Mari said under her breath.

Kakashi took out a clock with a large button at the top and placed it on one of the three stumps in the training ground.

"This is set to go off exactly at noon. Your task is simple." At that moment Kakashi took out two small Bells. "Your goal is to get these bells from me. That's all. If you can't get the bells by noon you'll be tied to the posts and I'll eat your lunch in front of you."

Seto and Mari both frowned as they heard that news. 'Damn it. He tricked us. We should have listened to that brat.'

Kakashi saw the reaction he expected from the two but when he looked at Daichi he was surprised. "Daichi. You don't seem to have a problem with it?"

"I have no problem not having my lunch. I'm pretty sure I won't be hungry."

"You had breakfast?"

"Yup. You only suggested we skip breakfast. Not an order. I ate before I came here. And it's all digested by now. So I'm sure I won't be puking." Daichi replied with a small smirk.

"At least one of you has a good head on their shoulder." Kakashi nodded and continued. "Now, whoever has a bell before the clock rings will become a Genin."

Seto looked at the bells and raised his hand. "Uhh… Sensei? There are only two bells. There's three of us."

"Oh that. The reason there's only two bells is because that way one of you will definitely fail in completing the mission and will be sent back to the academy."

Mari was alarmed when she heard that. "Wait so only two people are allowed to pass. What kind of rule is that?"

Kakashi narrowed his eyes and the jovial atmosphere around him changed into one of menacing. "It's my team and it's my rules. I can do whatever I want. Those are the terms. Only two of you have a chance at passing this test… Well… That is if you get the bells. There is also the possibility that all three of you will fail and go back to the academy."

The three academy graduates got serious. Kakashi looked at the three and spoke in a serious tone.

"You can use any weapon including shuriken and kunai and use any tactic you deem fit. If you don't come at me with the intent to kill, you won't get these bells… Begin!"

And like that, Daichi's Genin test began.