Daring

As the three of them got to know each other, Jiraiya stood behind some nearby trees, observing in silence.

'They seem to get along well… Jun looks like the strong type, while Minato already shows the qualities of a leader. As for Nozomi, I think she'll complement those two pretty well….'

Having seen enough, he flickered in front of them, startling Nozomi.

"Hey, guys... Sorry for being late… I saw a really cute girl, and…"

"Wah! Sensei! Don't scare us like that!"

Nozomi was furious. Looking at Jiraiya with tears in her eyes, she tried to recover from the shock. Looking behind her, she noticed that both of her teammates were unaffected.

'Seriously?! Are they blocks of wood?'

Pouting, she stomped her foot on the ground before sitting back down, arms crossed.

"Ah, I'm sorry, Nozomi-chan. I promise it was a really cute girl… One you don't see in a hundred years! I had to approach her!"

"Hmph!"

Refusing to pardon him, Nozomi looked away, obviously angered. Scratching his head, Jiraiya awkwardly cleared his throat.

"Alright… Let's get started, shall we?"[1]

Reaching into his clothes[2], Jiraiya took out two silver bells, tied up with a red string. Holding them up for everyone to see, he explained himself.

"You may have thought that you were already Genin… Turns out you were wrong. Now, I'm going to test you one more time, and if you fail to meet my expectations… I'll send you right back to the academy!"

"What?!"

With a look of surprise, Nozomi dropped the book she was holding. She had never been told about this!

Next to her, Minato was already analyzing the situation... What did Jiraiya mean by expectations? Was there some sort of criteria they had to meet?

On the other hand, Jun couldn't be less bothered. He put his hands in his pockets and yawned, waiting for Jiraiya to finish talking.

"So this is how it goes… Do you see these bells? You'll have to take them away from me before noon. If you fail to get one, you'll be sent right back."

"So that would mean…"

Seemingly having understood the premise, Minato observed both of his teammates. Seeing this, Jiraiya smirked.

"You're pretty quick, Minato. Yes, there are two bells, while you're a team of three... I'm sure you understand what this entails."

"...!"

Realizing this, Nozomi became prudent. She didn't want to fail, and her greatest competition was Minato, the never-before-seen genius that achieved the highest score in the academy so far, after just one year.

'I'll have to be wary of him… As for Jun, he shouldn't be a problem. Even though he's an Uchiha, everyone knows how weak he is!'

If Minato wanted a bell, she couldn't stop him… But the other one would definitely be hers!

Even though both of his teammates were getting somewhat anxious, Jun still looked unperturbed. Once again, he yawned, hoping they would quickly move on to the fighting part of the exercise.

Seeing his student's reactions, Jiraiya laughed internally. Finally, he understood what it felt like to mess with his student's heads… It felt amazing!

"You're allowed to use real weapons. If you don't come at me with the intent to kill, there's no way you'll pass."

Stretching a little, Jiraiya raised his hand and extended three fingers.

"Ok, on the count of three, we'll start. Three… Two… One… Go!"

As soon as he said go, both Minato and Nozomi flickered away, hiding in different spots. Looking around, Jiraiya seemed satisfied... At least, they knew to hide and think before launching an attack.

Turning his head around, he noticed that Jun hadn't moved from his spot. In fact, he was cracking his wrists, getting ready for action.

"You're not hiding?"

"Why would I hide when there's such a strong opponent in front of me...?"

'Has he gone crazy? That's a Jōnin!'

Nozomi couldn't understand Jun's reasoning... Not too far away, Minato was also curious.

'Does he have the strength to back it up…?'

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[1] For those who didn't know, the bell test was seen being used all the way back when Hiruzen was testing the Sannin. I'm mentioning this just in case people think it would be wrong to assume Jiraiya used it. I mean, where would Minato have gotten the idea if not?

[2] I didn't know how to properly describe it. Do you know when someone reaches into their Kimono? Not the pocket, but where their abs are? Yeah, that's what Jiraiya did to take out the bells.