"Sensei, you always treat guests to ramen. When are you going to invite us for barbecue?"
Asuma grumbled as he tossed his chopsticks down.
"Ramen's fine and all, but I'm getting tired of it."
Jingyi shot him a dry look.
"Barbecue? Sure. My treat… as long as you're paying."
"Huh?"
Asuma blinked, dumbfounded.
"How is that a treat?"
"What do you expect?" Jingyi sighed, rubbing his temple.
"I was just promoted to Jōnin. Between the hospital and nonstop missions, my pay's barely enough to live on. If I treated you to barbecue, I'd be living on air for the rest of the month."
Despite his abilitie and his system poverty was still a harsh reality. He had considered starting a business, maybe something simple to fund his research, but all he had time for was getting a bookstore license.
Difficult.
The three students didn't quite get it especially Shisui. At only five years old, and raised in the Uchiha compound, he had little concept of financial pressure.
In truth, his mind was still stuck on the battle earlier.
Ninjutsu. Taijutsu. Kenjutsu. Genjutsu.
His sensei was practically a one-man army.
What fascinated him most was how Jingyi had restrained him during their match.
No hand signs. No chants. Just Muji Genjutsu.
No-seal illusion techniques.
More than that… Muji Illusion Swordsmanship.
How was that even possible?
"Sensei, how much of your strength did you actually use during that fight?" Asuma asked, curiosity piqued.
"You completely overwhelmed us."
Jingyi thought for a moment.
"Thirty percent, maybe? Hard to say. When techniques are combined and used fluidly, they're far more effective than rigid drills."
"You're a Jōnin now. If you needed full power just to deal with us, we'd be hopeless," Kurenai said matter-of-factly.
Jingyi didn't deny it.
He hadn't used advanced taijutsu, the Body Flicker at full power, or techniques like the Earth Spear or the Eight Gates. He hadn't even activated the Thunder God's Blade properly.
If he had… the three wouldn't have lasted a second.
Shisui looked up suddenly.
"That last move… was it an illusion sword technique?"
Jingyi nodded.
"A concept based on the Nidaime's theoretical sword style. The idea is to cast a genjutsu the instant I draw the blade enough to make you hesitate for a second, then finish it with Iai slash."
Asuma paled slightly, remembering the technique.
He hadn't even seen the blade clearly. By the time he did, Jingyi was already in front of him.
"And you weren't even going full speed…"
The implication was terrifying.
"Ninjutsu is dead without flexibility," Jingyi said.
"It's only when you combine and adapt techniques that you develop your own style. That ambush of yours wasn't bad if it had been an average Chūnin, you might've won."
Despite the critique, he meant it.
The genjutsu from Kurenai, combined with Asuma's Wind Style: Great Breakthrough and Shisui's Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu, was solid teamwork.
[Team Training Complete —Evaluation: Excellent!]
[Reward: Wind Style – Vacuum Blade (B-Rank)]
Jingyi blinked in surprise.
This was his first Wind Style jutsu not that he lacked scrolls, but between sword training and student supervision, there simply hadn't been time to learn wind release properly.
A gift from the system like this saved the effort of developing wind chakra nature from scratch.
He slurped the last of his noodles.
"Alright, I'm good in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and kenjutsu. Medical and illusion, not so much. Red, Shisui you two are suited for genjutsu and support. Asuma, focus on fire or wind. Pick a specialty."
"A specialty?"
They glanced at each other, then nodded.
It made sense ninja couldn't master everything. Better to go deep in one area.
"Don't rush. Think it through. Let's eat for now."
But none of them had much of an appetite anymore.
Jingyi chuckled softly.
They were still kids. The weight of choice was starting to settle on them.
Then, his expression changed.
His shadow clone had dispelled.
He immediately caught the memory
Minato wants me to supervise an assessment?
The Team 7 bell test? That old tradition?
Why would Minato need help with something so basic?
"Sensei, what's wrong?"
Kurenai's keen eye caught his change in mood.
"Team 7 invited me to oversee their test. Want to come?"
He hadn't originally planned on it.
But now that the idea was there why not take the kids to observe?
Let them learn from Kakashi and the others' performance.
"Who's in Team 7?" Shisui asked, eyes bright.
"Jōnin leader is Namikaze Minato. Genin are Obito Uchiha, Nohara Rin, and Hatake Kakashi."
The three Genin instantly perked up.
"We're coming!"
---
Forest of Death.
Team 7 was already in position. Minato hadn't arrived yet, but Obito, Rin, and Kakashi were waiting at their designated area.
Nearby, Minato and Jingyi were discussing the test.
"So you want to test Kakashi separately?"
"Right," Minato said with a grin.
"You mentioned he's already Chūnin material, so no need to test him the same way. Rin's got medical talent we'll let that slide. Obito… well, we'll see."
Jingyi raised an eyebrow.
"You're going easy on them."
"It's part of the plan," Minato replied, smiling.
"We'll split them up, give each their own challenge. Then run a scenario where they have to prioritize teamwork over orders."
The three students watching behind a tree exchanged looks.
Shisui smirked. He'd figured it out earlier.
Asuma and Kurenai, however, were still catching up.
After hearing the whole plan, they realized it was all a setup.
But they also knew one thing: if they had been the ones under test, and failed to cooperate, they'd definitely be sent back to the Academy.
Jingyi might be calm, but he didn't bluff when it came to rules.
"I'll go get ready," Minato said, forming a seal and leaving a shadow clone behind.
Kurenai hesitated.
"Sensei… about Kakashi… are you sure it's right to threaten to send him back to school?"
"Red," Jingyi said seriously.
"Being a ninja means accepting responsibility for your team, your mission, and your actions."
"…Understood."