When raw speed meets perfect coordination, even a jinchūriki learns a painful lesson.
Grabbing bells.
A classic test that everyone loved to complain about — yet Adrian Voss couldn't deny a flicker of anticipation.
"Kushina-sensei… what's this about?" Yuanhai asked, tilting his head. Shizune looked just as puzzled.
Adrian already knew the answer, but the two of them didn't.
Kushina casually shook the pair of bells in her hand, letting them jingle brightly. "Your next task is a survival exercise. This is your final test before officially becoming genin!"
"Huh? But haven't we done tons of drills like this at the academy already?" Shizune asked. Yuanhai nodded in agreement.
Adrian, meanwhile, watched Kushina with amused interest, already sensing where this performance was headed.
A mischievous grin crept onto Kushina's face. "Oh, this isn't some ordinary drill. If you can't pass my test, you'll be sent back to the academy for remedial training. This test has a very high elimination rate."
"What?!" Shizune and Yuanhai blurted out in shock.
"Scared yet?" Kushina teased, clearly enjoying herself.
Her devilish smile successfully rattled the two of them. Being sent back for retraining would be humiliating.
In peaceful times, that might actually happen.
But with the Third Shinobi World War looming on the horizon, Adrian merely chuckled inwardly. For Konoha, "unqualified" often meant becoming cannon fodder on the battlefield.
If he were honest, Adrian wouldn't even mind getting sent back. Even at his current level, the front lines were still dangerous.
Lost in thought, he drifted for a moment.
Kushina, watching their reactions, grew even more dissatisfied — especially with Adrian's calm expression. Couldn't this brat at least pretend to be scared for her sake?
Fine.
She'd make sure to "educate" him properly in a moment.
Shaking the bells again, Kushina raised her voice. "You'll have one hour. If you can't take the bells from me, you're eliminated."
Shizune noticed something and asked carefully, "Kushina-neesan… why are there only two bells?"
Kushina's grin widened with obvious delight. Bullying kids was surprisingly fun.
"Good eye. That means even if you manage to grab the bells, only two of you can pass. One person will be eliminated."
She expected panic again.
Instead, Shizune and Yuanhai both turned to Adrian with matching expressions that clearly said: Boss, what do we do?
Adrian scratched his head lightly and smiled. "Relax. Worst case, we go back for retraining. I'll go with you."
He figured he should at least cooperate with Kushina's act a little.
His answer satisfied her far more than she expected.
After all, the true purpose of this test wasn't the bells — it was to emphasize the Will of Fire's core concept: bonds.
"Y-Yes, Boss… I mean, Adrian!" Yuanhai corrected himself quickly.
Even knowing they might fail, both of them still looked fired up.
Kushina nodded with approval, her eyes burning with competitive spirit. "Good attitude! Let's begin!"
Whoosh!
All three instantly scattered away from her.
Adrian could've taken the bells alone if he wanted to — but this was a team exercise. He spoke quickly, issuing commands.
"The first rule of being a ninja is ambush. But since we've already been spotted, prepare for frontal combat. I'll attack head-on. Yuanhai, support me. Shizune, provide cover."
"Got it!" the two answered in unison.
In Kushina's eyes, their individual strength was nowhere near enough to threaten her — but teamwork and coordination mattered in real missions. Seeing Adrian naturally take command made her smile with satisfaction.
"Hey, I can hear everything you're saying!" she called out.
"Kushina-sensei, we're starting!" Adrian replied calmly.
Petals drifted through the air, carrying a faint floral scent. In an instant, three flower clones bloomed into existence.
The next heartbeat—
Adrian's legs exploded with power as his main body launched forward at terrifying speed.
"So fast!"
Kushina had approached this with a playful mindset. They were fresh graduates — how strong could they really be?
Adrian answered that question immediately.
He appeared before her almost like teleportation itself, throwing a clean, straightforward punch straight toward her chest.
No flashy movements. No wasted motion.
Just a punch he had thrown tens of thousands of times over three years.
Even Kushina couldn't dodge it carelessly.
She barely managed to cross her arms in front of her chest before Adrian's fist slammed into them with a heavy, dull impact.
Boom.
Kushina prided herself on monstrous strength — yet Adrian's smaller frame and seemingly slim arm unleashed terrifying power. Her body was sent flying backward uncontrollably.
Adrian didn't hesitate. He chased after her instantly.
Pain flared through Kushina's arms. The bones felt dangerously close to cracking — if not for the numbing interference of faint lightning chakra, the pain would've been far worse.
Normally, Adrian only used about half his strength during training. Otherwise, even solid stone wouldn't last long under his fists.
Out of respect for Kushina, he'd used roughly seventy percent.
The fact her bones weren't broken already spoke volumes about her durability.
The pain snapped Kushina into full combat mode.
As Adrian closed in again, she twisted her body and unleashed a powerful kick. In her irritation, a trace of red Nine-Tails chakra leaked out unconsciously.
Boom!
Fist and leg collided.
Violent chakra shockwaves erupted outward, whipping the air into raging winds.
This time, it was Adrian who was blasted backward. His boots tore two long trenches into the ground before he managed to stop himself.
"…!"
Kushina immediately formed a hand seal, reinforcing the seal on her body and calming the restless chakra within.
Given how easily she lost her temper — and her still-imperfect mastery of sealing techniques — minor chakra leaks had become almost routine for her.
Once stabilized, she looked at Adrian with concern. "Adrian, are you okay?"
He rolled his wrist lightly, feeling a faint burning sensation from the Nine-Tails chakra, then smiled. "I'm fine, Kushina-sensei. Should we continue the test?"
Kushina shook her head. "No. You pass."
She wasn't reckless. A sudden Nine-Tails flare carried real risk. Ending the test immediately was the safest choice.
Shizune and Yuanhai were completely stunned.
The fight had ended before they could even follow what happened. All they saw was Adrian charge in, exchange a couple of blows, and then suddenly it was over.
Still, relief washed over them. No remedial training. No embarrassment.
Kushina rubbed her aching arm and stared at Adrian like she'd just discovered some terrifying little monster. His fighting style reminded her of the Cloud ninja who once tried to abduct her — overwhelming speed and brutal power.
"Your hand… is it really okay?" she asked, walking over.
"Yeah." Adrian held out his hand.
His knuckles were still pale and unmarked.
If an ordinary person touched Nine-Tails chakra, their skin would've been burned raw. Yet Adrian's hand looked even smoother than hers. Kushina couldn't help muttering under her breath.
At nineteen, she never hid her thoughts. She blurted out, "What did you eat growing up? How are you this strong?"
"Kushina-sensei, I ate normal food," Adrian deadpanned. "That's kind of a rude question."
She ignored him and pressed on. "Do you know Lightning Body Technique?"
Considering Adrian's speed and durability, it was the only explanation she could think of.
"Nope," Adrian replied casually. "That was just a Lightning Body Flicker."
"…Did you even form hand seals?"
"Of course I did."
Kushina nearly punched him again.
She had clearly seen him explode forward with lightning flaring around his body — no visible seals anywhere. Did he seal with his feet or something?
What she didn't know was the truth.
Those three flower clones hadn't been decorative.
One had formed the Body Flicker seals.
One had prepared Water Style.
One had begun forming Lightning Style seals.
Flower clones weren't ordinary clones. Their actions could directly feed back into Adrian's main body. In other words, the seals his clones formed applied instantly to him.
No casting time. No delay.
That was the true strength of the Flower-Flower Fruit.
Adrian only needed to charge forward, strike, and unleash effects — while his clones handled all the preparation invisibly.
And that wasn't even the limit of its potential.
Before Kushina could interrogate him further, the Nine-Tails stirred again inside her.
She sighed helplessly. "That's enough for today. Dismissed. Tomorrow at nine, meet at the mission hall. Your ninja careers officially begin."
"I've got something urgent to handle. I'm leaving."
"See you tomorrow, sensei!" Shizune and Yuanhai said politely.
"Bye, Kushina-sensei," Adrian added with a wave.
She nodded and vanished in a Body Flicker.
Not far away, she was intercepted by several barrier-team shinobi. A sealing field was quickly deployed to suppress the Nine-Tails.
Even as an Uzumaki, containing the full Nine-Tails was no easy task — especially with the seal still immature compared to the future. Barrier teams had to stay near her almost constantly.
Allowing her to take students at all was already an exception. But once Kushina decided something, even Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't truly stop her.
Ironically, instead of venting her frustration, she'd ended up getting punched into real irritation by Adrian.
"Adrian, what were you looking at?" Shizune asked curiously when she noticed him staring in Kushina's direction.
"Nothing," he replied calmly.
They didn't notice the distant watchers tracking Kushina's movements.
Yuanhai, however, was already excited. "Boss! My mom said we're celebrating our graduation tonight. Everyone's invited to my place! Too bad sensei had to leave so fast!"
Adrian smiled faintly — yet deep down, he felt a quiet ripple of unease.
Today was loud.
Too loud.
And in the shinobi world, attention was often the first step toward danger.
Advance Chapters available on Patreon
patreon.com/CrimsonHub