Chapter 22: The Test
Training Ground 98.
The early morning sun spilled across the ground. Iruka and his two teammates were currently loitering, waiting for Tonbo Tobitake to arrive.
"Is the Captain going to be late?" Mibu Shinobu muttered.
Gurgle!
His stomach let out a loud growl. In anticipation of the feast the Captain had promised, he hadn't eaten any breakfast.
"He should be here soon... wait, what's that?"
Togetake Tetusen was about to say something when a massive commotion echoed from the woods.
Buzz! Buzz!
The three followed the sound and saw the trees in the forest being pushed aside. It felt as if some monster was barging through.
"Holy crap, look at the size of that thing..."
A dragonfly two stories high appeared, its four wings flapping violently, allowing its massive body to approach them with startling agility. It seemed to spot them, as the compound eyes on its head swiveled toward them.
Swoosh!
Arriving above them, the dragonfly's forelimbs slammed down toward them.
Buzz! Buzz!
Swish! Swish!
Fortunately, their reactions were quick; they used the Body Flicker to vacate the spot instantly.
Bang!
The dragonfly smashed a massive crater into the ground.
"How can there be a monster like this in Konoha?" Mibu Shinobu yelled, cold sweat pouring down his face.
"Stay sharp! This is likely a summoning beast the Captain is using to test our strength. Let's coordinate and defeat it. Don't let the Captain look down on us," Iruka analyzed immediately, looking at the dragonfly's appearance and remembering the Captain's name.
Togetake Tetusen realized this the moment she saw the dragonfly. As Iruka spoke, she unfurled a long scroll.
Poof! Poof!
With a flick of the scroll, a barrage of shuriken and kunai shot out like shooting stars toward the giant beast.
Clang! Clang!
Facing these ninja tools, the giant dragonfly's six limbs blurred, parrying the attacks.
"I'm not done yet!" Tetusen summoned a spiked flail.
Mibu Shinobu snapped into action as well, throwing out shuriken. While the beast was busy blocking his teammate's attacks, the iron wires attached to his shuriken tangled around the giant's limbs.
The heavy flail struck the giant beast dead-on, sending it flying backward and tumbling across the ground several times.
Boom!
On Iruka's end, he didn't hesitate either, unleashing a well-timed Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique.
"We did it!"
Looking at the beast engulfed by the ninjutsu, the three smiled.
"Wait, something's wrong..."
Suddenly, Iruka noticed something off. He walked closer to look. Where was the giant beast? There was only a broken figurine—a palm-sized, half-charred dragonfly emitting black smoke.
"Watch out!"
Bang!
Just as he was analyzing the situation, a pangolin burst out from underground, headbutting Iruka and sending him flying. He tumbled several times across the grass.
Awoo—!
Though they didn't know why a pangolin was making a wolf howl, Tetusen and the others grew extremely solemn.
"What kind of ninjutsu is this?"
Iruka stood up, desperately trying to analyze the situation. First, this definitely wasn't a summoning beast. Judging by the remains of the first creature, it wasn't a Transformation Jutsu either. If it were a Genjutsu, it shouldn't be able to cause physical damage to the ground.
He looked at the crater smashed by the dragonfly's limb and the hole the pangolin had tunneled through.
"Just what are these things?"
In the sky.
"Oh my, nice teamwork. You actually managed to beat one of my dragonflies!"
Tonbo Tobitake sat atop a giant eagle, watching the battle below with a smile. In terms of performance and coordination, these three were doing better than "protagonists" like Naruto and Sasuke did at the start. It seemed they were models of diligent study at the Academy.
These giant beasts were one-time-use "Ninja Beasts" created with his Secret Technique: Eye of the Creator. They would vanish once the chakra supply was cut. Currently, he had only developed four types in this series: the dragonfly, the pangolin, the giant eagle, and a giant whale for underwater use.
Rumble!
He saw every detail of the battle below and was very satisfied. Only when the three little ones were looking battered and exhausted by the pangolin did he release the jutsu on the creature and leap down from the sky.
Huff! Huff!
The three Genin were panting.
"Eh? How did it disappear?" Tetusen looked around frantically.
"I think something fell from the sky," Mibu Shinobu pointed to a black dot against the sun, which grew larger in their eyes.
"Not good!"
The three scattered instantly. When they turned back, however, there was no impact. There was only Tonbo Tobitake, looking at them with a beaming smile.
"Good job! You've got some real skill!" He praised his three subordinates, giving them a thumbs-up.
"Captain, you almost scared us to death! I thought another big monster was falling from the sky!" Mibu Shinobu patted his chest. Those two beasts had genuinely terrified him; he was afraid of a third round.
"Captain, was that a Summoning Jutsu?" Iruka asked.
"That was Genjutsu."
"Eh? Genjutsu?"
The three were stunned and filled with disbelief. Genjutsu wasn't supposed to be like that, and besides—when did they even fall under it?
Tonbo pulled out a dragonfly figurine, exactly like the giant beast from before. He smiled and said, "Lesson one: Never be deceived by the surface appearance of things. This belongs to a type of 'Real Genjutsu.' When a sentient being falls for it, the illusion becomes reality, which is why it could damage the terrain. In other words, the moment you saw that dragonfly, it became a real giant beast to you."
"But we didn't see it before the giant beast appeared!" Iruka argued.
"But I saw it," Tonbo pointed to himself.
The three understood now. Great, you fell for an illusion and made us pay for it? At the same time, their eyes sparkled. That move was incredibly cool; they wondered if they could learn it. They looked at Tonbo with intense heat.
"Why are you looking at me like that? Want to learn?"
"Mm-hmm!" The three nodded like chickens pecking at rice.
"This jutsu is quite difficult. If you want to learn it, you'll have to work hard. I will teach you seriously," Tonbo promised.
However, he couldn't guarantee they would learn it. After all, it had taken him over a year just to complete the four mature types. The difficulty of creation and learning wasn't that far apart. Given the talent of these three, he didn't actually expect them to master it.
"Hooray!"
The three jumped for joy, seemingly unconcerned about the difficulty.
"Alright, now let's follow Konoha tradition. We'll introduce ourselves, take a photo, and then I'll take you for that feast."
Tonbo watched their happy faces with a smile.
"I'll go first! I'm Togetake Tetusen. My dream is to become Konoha's greatest weapon master, and I love eating ramen!"
"I'm Iruka Umino. My dream is to be a teacher and train talent for Konoha. I also love eating ramen!"
"I'm Mibu Shinobu. My dream is to join the Torture and Interrogation Force. My idol is Senior Ibiki Morino, and I love eating barbecue!"
"I'm Tonbo Tobitake. My dream is to live a peaceful life, have two children with my wife—a boy and a girl—watch them grow up and have kids of their own, and then look after my grandkids."
Click!
Finally, the four took a photo. Tonbo stood in the back, hands resting on the heads of Tetusen and Iruka, while Mibu Shinobu stood in the middle with his arms crossed.
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