Hagoromo's eyes lit up.
This was exactly the line he had been waiting for.
"Teacher Kushina, what if I actually manage to take the bell?"
Kushina smiled slightly before replying.
"Actually take it? Hagoromo, although you're quite strong, that's only compared to people your own age. Taking this bell from me won't be easy. You should understand that I'm a Jonin. That's very different from sparring with classmates at the Ninja Academy."
Kushina was reminding him not to underestimate the gap between a Jonin and a Genin.
"I know you're a Jonin and I'm a Genin," Hagoromo replied shamelessly. "But a Genin is still a Ninja. When two Ninja fight, no one can say for sure what the result will be before the battle begins."
In truth, he was certain of one thing.
Kushina wouldn't fight seriously against him. If she did, he wouldn't have any chance to fight back at all—and then this test would be meaningless.
"…You have a point," Kushina said after a moment. "If you really manage to take the bell, what reward do you want?"
She was quite tolerant toward her first student.
"If I win," Hagoromo said, "then please teach me new Ninjutsu as soon as possible."
Kushina finally understood what he wanted.
"No problem. I was planning to teach you new Ninjutsu anyway. That's part of a teacher's duty."
Many newly graduated Genin had the same habit—they wanted to learn as many techniques as possible as quickly as possible.
They wanted more techniques, stronger techniques, and every kind of technique.
Kushina assumed Hagoromo was the same.
In reality, if you replaced the word Ninjutsu in Hagoromo's sentence with sealing techniques, you would discover his real goal.
But he understood that everything had to be done step by step.
Trying to rush things would only backfire.
When it was necessary to hide his intentions, he would hide them.
Kushina tied the bell to her waist.
"Any other questions? If not, we'll begin."
"No more questions."
"Good. Let's start. I know you can use Lightning Release, so don't hold back."
————————————
Taking the bell from Kushina wasn't actually as difficult as it sounded.
Hagoromo didn't need to defeat a Jonin.
He only needed to take something from her.
With the element of surprise, it was completely possible.
Hagoromo slowly exhaled.
If this were any other fresh graduate from the academy, facing a Jonin would accomplish absolutely nothing.
But he was different.
His control over Lightning Release was already at an expert level.
Lightning-nature Chakra began flowing through his body.
Gradually, arcs of electricity started flickering across Hagoromo's skin.
"An unsealed technique?" Kushina was immediately surprised.
She had never seen someone cast such a powerful Lightning Release technique without hand seals.
Perhaps she would need to get a little serious.
"Yes," Hagoromo explained. "My body is naturally a little special. I have extremely high compatibility with Lightning Release. Basically, I can activate Lightning Release techniques of almost any level without hand seals."
The moment he finished speaking—
Hagoromo rushed straight toward Kushina.
"So fast!" Kushina was startled by his speed.
This speed already far exceeded the level of an ordinary Genin.
However, her surprise only lasted a moment.
Compared to the fastest Ninja in the world—Minato Namikaze—Hagoromo's speed wasn't particularly remarkable.
"Choosing a frontal attack against a Jonin isn't exactly good tactics!"
Almost instantly, Hagoromo vanished from where he stood.
The next moment, he threw a straight punch at Kushina.
Of course, such a direct attack was unlikely to succeed.
Kushina casually caught his fist with one hand.
But at that very moment—
Something unexpected happened.
A sharp, piercing sound like chirping birds suddenly filled the air.
The faint electric arcs on Hagoromo's body instantly erupted into blazing lightning.
Chidori Stream.
The intensity of Hagoromo's Lightning Release multiplied several times in an instant.
The lightning's stimulation and erosion caused the hand Kushina used to grab him to feel intense pain and numbness.
She frowned slightly.
Realizing she couldn't stay in contact with Hagoromo while he was using Chidori Stream, she instinctively used about seventy percent of her strength and threw him forward.
Kushina raised her hand and examined it.
After only a few seconds of contact, the skin on the back of her hand had begun peeling upward like scales.
She knew those cells were probably already dead.
When she turned her palm over, the situation was even worse.
The center of her palm had already developed a layer of charred burn marks.
Kushina immediately realized she had been careless.
She shouldn't have taken that punch head-on.
"That's some powerful Lightning Release Chakra," she said, looking at Hagoromo several meters away. "Did you create that technique yourself?"
"Yes," Hagoromo answered calmly.
Since Kakashi couldn't use Raikiri yet, by that logic this technique counted as Hagoromo's invention.
Although Kushina had thrown him earlier, Hagoromo landed steadily and hadn't suffered any real injury.
"A dangerous technique," Kushina continued. "And it looks like it consumes a huge amount of Chakra. This Lightning Release is far stronger than I expected. Judging by its power, it's at least A-rank."
The surprising part wasn't that a child could use an A-rank technique.
The surprising part was that he created it himself.
What did that mean?
It meant her judgment had been correct.
She really had chosen the right student.
The sharp chirping sound still echoed in the air.
Meanwhile, the burned skin on Kushina's hand was already beginning to heal.
Hagoromo might not know it, but that was the effect of Nine-Tails Chakra.
"This technique is called Chidori Stream," Hagoromo said.
"If I had to rank it myself, it's probably A-rank as well. Its power speaks for itself—but it also consumes a huge amount of Chakra."
"With my current Chakra reserves, I can probably maintain it for about two to five minutes."
"Oh?" Kushina raised an eyebrow.
"So you're planning to decide the match within those two minutes?"
Being able to sustain such powerful Chakra for two minutes meant Hagoromo's Chakra reserves already surpassed those of many Chunin.
Earlier, Hagoromo had been fast.
But with Chidori Stream active, he could become even faster.
By stimulating his cells with Lightning Release, Hagoromo's movement speed increased dramatically.
However—
Hagoromo suddenly stopped moving.
Instead of attacking again, he dispersed Chidori Stream.
Kushina looked puzzled.
"Why did you cancel the technique? Didn't you say you could maintain it for two minutes?"
Hagoromo had claimed he could maintain Chidori Stream for two to five minutes.
That was true.
But this attack had lasted less than ten seconds before he ended it.
"Chidori Stream does consume a lot of Chakra," Hagoromo said.
"But the reason I stopped it isn't because of Chakra."
"The match is already over."
As he spoke, Hagoromo opened one hand.
Inside his palm lay a small bell.
Kushina instinctively glanced at her waist.
Sure enough—
The bell that had been tied there had disappeared.
She immediately realized what had happened.
"When I focused on your punch and that new technique… you took the bell?"
"That's right," Hagoromo said with a grin.
"It was just a small feint."
He casually tossed the bell back to her.
"You really surprised me," Kushina said.
Even though the bell had been taken from her unexpectedly, she didn't look upset at all.
The reason was simple.
She felt that this time—
she might finally win against Minato.