17 Chapter 17: Only two bells?

"Aniki, are we actually not going to eat anything?"

Hideki was actually scared. For him, breakfast was the most important meal of the day. Of course, Jin knew the catch but decided to keep quiet about it.

"Let's just listen to sensei, he said the test would be so hard we would puke out whatever we ate. Do you want to puke tomorrow Hideki?"

Hideki's face was drained of all color at the thought of having to puke later, as he decided not to speak about this issue anymore.

"I don't personally care, if sensei said not to eat I won't eat. What if it's part of the exam?"

Hideki nodded at Fugaku's analysis, still nervous. They went back home and had a good night's sleep.

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Next morning, the three Uchiha made their way towards Konoha's training ground. They sat down and talked strategy.

"There is a high chance the training will be about fighting and survival, think about it. If they test us to become part of the workforce, it must be by judging our ability to survive."

Jin gave out a hint to the other two.

"Yes, I agree. They might test our teamwork too since none of us would be able to survive out there by ourselves."

Jin was surprised, Fugaku had guessed exactly what the whole test was about. His intellect was not something to be underestimated, he was very analytical for his age.

"I agree with Fugaku's opinion. Well, even if it wasn't about teamwork, we're still the best squad in Konoha in terms of teamwork."

The having been around each other since their births was a huge factor since thanks to that their teamwork was almost perfect already. They then waited for another hour before Sakumo appeared under the cover of some smoke.

"Sense, you're late!"

Hideki's stomach was growling at this point. He couldn't be more frustrated.

"Sorry guys, a black cat crossed my path so I had to go the long way."

Jin laughed, He really was the spitting image of Kakashi.

"What a bad excuse. Either way what is this test al about?"

Fugaku was picking up an attitude, so Sakumo made a mental note of it and decided to teach him a little bit of respect.

"Well aren't you three lively so early in the morning?"

He took out a couple of bells from his back pocket and started to play around with them. Jin immediately recognized them and relaxed. It seemed the exam was going to be the same exact one as the one in the series.

"Here are two bells. You three will try to get them from me before noon, if you do not manage to do it, you will not eat lunch and you will fail this exam. I will go easy on you guys though."

"Wait up sensei, if there are two bells... does that mean one of us goes back?"

"Right, Fugaku. This test is to weed one of you out, the one who doesn't manage to get one of the two bells will go back to the academy."

Jin expected Fugaku to be mad, but he was somehow calm.

"It's okay. even if one of us fails, as soon as we go back, we will just apply for the exam again and pass easily."

"Hahahahahahaha, you are the first person to ever think that way ever since I started out as a sensei! I'll tell you one thing. Even if you pass the exam again, that does not mean you will be in the same team as your cousins. Not only that, but I have never passed a single team in the past."

When he finished his sentence, Sakumo smiled eerily as he set up a clock next to a tree. While Fugaku was still shocked at what he had just heard, Sakumo started the countdown.

"When the bell rings, I want you three to hide from me. Use the forest around you or anything else you need. Oh yeah, and one more thing. No weapons allowed."

Before they had time to talk to each other, the bell rang. The three of them flickered out of sight and hid in between the forestry.

"Amazing. A chuunin would not be able to detect any of them if they didn't want them to."

Sakumo was pleasantly surprised as he looked around. He then noticed them trying to group up.

"No, you don't! Lightning Style: False Darkness! "

He wasn't really going to go easy on these three, and immediately released a strong lightning technique to the spot they were approaching. A huge explosion followed, as the three of them managed to dodge.

Jin was sweating profusely. If that had hit him, he would've been a goner. If their teacher was not actually going to let them talk to each other, how were they meant to fight?

After the bang, Sakumo appeared out of the smoke and closed in on them, Shaping his hand in the form of a blade in the process.

Jin was tense. His heart beating. This was going to be the strongest opponent he had ever faced. Activating his Sharingan, no words were needed as they took the offensive and sent three massive fireballs his way. Fugaku immediately activated his eyes too.

"Nice!"

Sakumo's hand shined with white light as it slashed through the three fireballs with ease. He then was greeted by Fugaku, who went for a punch in the gut. Sakumo simply dodged and held Fugaku's arm tightly, pinning him.

Before he could retaliate, Jin appeared on top of him and sent a reverse roundhouse kick towards his neck while in midair.

Sakumo was surprised by the kid's maneuverability while in the air, It was a sight to behold how he moved as though he was elastic.

He saw it coming though and parried. Fugaku then took the opportunity to free himself from Sakumo's grip with a big effort. Utilizing his Sharingan to the fullest, he looked for an opening and found one near the ankle. He then dropped to the floor and went for the ankle in question with a powerful frontal kick.

Sakumo staggered. The strength behind that attack was no joke, as he felt some pain. Jin then took the opportunity while Sakumo stumbled, and once more maneuvered in midair. He flipped forward and landed a powerful backheel kick on Sakumo.

The former crossed his arms and blocked the kick, being sent back by the strength. With the push that the kick had provided him, Jin backflipped a couple of times. landing on the ground next to Fugaku who was taking a look at his own wrist.

"You guys are act-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Hideki flickered behind him out of nowhere and reached for the bells.

Sakumo quickly regained his composure and flickered. Hideki's fingers barely touched the bells before they disappeared from his sight.

Sakumo reappeared next to him, then threw a chop at Hideki's back while he was still reaching for the bells. Upon contact with his back though, he was met by a big puff of smoke as he had struck down Hideki's shadow-clone.

Before he could process it, another three fireballs came from three different directions, covering all of his blind spots. He jumped up in the air in an effort to dodge and did so successfully.

"Let us see if you cut this one, sensei!"

"Fire style: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"

Jin shouted as he sent a massive dragon-shaped fireball towards Sakumo who was still in the air. Fugaku and Hideki followed up with two fireballs of their own, which then integrated with the former. The dragon became more vivid as it let out a roar. Seemingly having a life of its own.

"What an attack... It should reach at least A-rank by now. I didn't know kids could combine jutsu so well..."

Although Sakumo was surprised that they could spit out so many fireballs, he was not fazed in the slightest. After once more cutting down the fireball with ease, he remained undamaged as he landed lightly, like a feather.

Fugaku and Hideki were frustrated, while Jin's brain gears were in full motion. He then made use of the pause and whispered something in their ears.

Jin went on one knee and accumulated the yin energy around him, as his two cousins stood guard.

"Very good, you guys have indeed surprised me so far. So much so that I might heighten up the pace from now on, watch out."

"Was that going easy? What a monster..."

Fugaku was sweating. It didn't look very good for them. His Sharingan was focusing like never before on his target, scared of losing sight of him.

Sakumo then resumed the attack, as his hand-blade shined. He slashed towards both of the cousins, and Fugaku's Sharingan caught none of his movements. He seemed to have disappeared before he reappeared right in front of them.

"Boo."

Both of them were punched in the stomach at the same time and were sent flying, hitting trees and falling to the ground.

Fugaku and Hideki managed to get up after that thanks to Duy, surprising Sakumo. They then produced two shadow clones each and attacked. Trying their best to stall for time.

While Sakumo was playing around with them, Jin made a shadow clone and used henge on himself, transforming into a giant Fuuma shuriken. He was going to try Naruto's plan as a last resort, although it had a twist. This man was able to cut down an A-rank fireball with his bare hands.

"Argh!"

Fugaku and Hideki were defeated as they lied on the ground, both gasping for breaths. Sakumo was just too strong, Even after all their training, they both only managed to land one attack.

At this moment, Jin shouted to the top of his lungs, bringing the attention of his sensei over to him.

"Wind Demon. Fuuma Shuriken!"

Jin's clone threw the massive rotating shuriken and Sakumo jumped over it, smirking.

"A measly shuriken is going to stop me? come on Jin, I thought you were better than this. No weapons were allowed, so regretfully-"

"Heh..."

Fugaku laughed sinisterly, as the Shuriken that was now behind Sakumo transformed into the true Jin!

Sakumo turned around, disbelief written all over his face. In that little moment where his guard was down, Jin locked onto his eyes with his Sharingan.

"Game over... Ōyamatsumi!"

He poured all of the chakras he had left and put Sakumo under his most powerful genjutsu. Fugaku and Hideki then took the opportunity to steal the bells from Sakumo, as they knew it would not last for long. They quickly returned to Jin and had him hold the end of the string while they each held a bell.

Sakumo then snapped out of the genjutsu in not even five seconds. Those were enough though, deciding the outcome of the match. He turned around and saw three grinning youngsters with half-closed eyes due to fatigue and hunger.

"Unbelievable... Even though I increased the pressure on them... This wasn't supposed to happen. Lord Hokage, you have good eyes indeed."

"Hehehehehehe, does this mean we all pass?"

Hideki was smiling from ear to ear, unable to contain his excitement.

"..."

Sakumo looked down and smiled. Still disbelieving of what happened, He was initially going to defeat them to humble them a little. His plan was utterly decimated though.

"Well, this test was to check our teamwork under harsh circumstances, those being the possibility of one of you returning to the academy."

He paused, and locked eyes with the three.

"You all pass! Impeccable teamwork and ability! You all have the potential to become Konoha's greatest asset in the future! Jin, you transforming into that shuriken to fool me into believing you had broken the rules was a very, very good application of wit that will help you in your future battles!"

The three rejoiced and jumped up in happiness. They had finally become official Ninja.

Sakumo then treated them to some ramen as noon came, This was the official start of team Sakumo. This year's Team number 7.