Team test, part 1

With the test already explained to the three young ones there, Kakashi walked, staying a few meters away from them. Then, he looked at them while putting the bells hanging by his waist. "Ok, you can start, you have exactly one hour."

Ryo knew there was more to this test. Clearly, with three bells present, Kakashi was testing not only teamwork but also who would grab the bells and in what order. Since the first one to grab them would have the least work, and the last one would have the most. Logically, Ryo could go for the first bell.

However, he was the strongest of the three, and grabbing the first bell would mean that Denji and Haruka might eventually not get any bell. As soon as Kakashi announced the start of the test, both Ryo and Haruka jumped back.

But Denji didn't think that way. He immediately lunged forward to attack Kakashi with his staff, using the Sarutobi-style armed combat. Images of Naruto doing the same thing flashed in Ryo's mind, finding the situation amusing, but he was already focused on the test.

Looking at Haruka, he said, "I'll create a distraction to help Denji; you grab the first bell and leave the second one to him. I'll find a way to get the third bell." She nodded, and then Ryo formed a hand seal, summoning a shadow clone beside him. Ryo had used 50% of his chakra to create the clone, leaving both him and the clone with the same amount.

Of course, even though it was Kakashi, he could possibly tell who was who and that Ryo was using a shadow clone. However, the point of all this was to ensure that the other two teammates got the bells first. Soon, the clone and he dashed off in different directions to flank Kakashi.

Seeing this, Haruka also began to move. She made some hand seals as petals fell around her; she was using a genjutsu that made it more challenging and elusive to locate her among the petals.

On the other side, in the midst of it all, Denji wielded his staff vigorously against Kakashi, who easily dodged each of his strikes, then delivered a kick forward. The kick wasn't strong or very fast, but it was enough to halt Denji's offense and push him back a few steps, defending with his staff.

As this happened, three shurikens appeared on both sides of Kakashi. Each of these had been thrown by Ryo and his clone. However, the Jonin was more cunning, dodging them and then throwing one towards the real Ryo.

Upon seeing this, Ryo continued to run towards the shuriken. At the last moment, he slammed his hand on the ground, summoning a small, thin stone wall that successfully stopped the shuriken, which became embedded in the wall, with the tip appearing on the other side.

"Hmm, Ryo has some good jutsus," Kakashi thought, dodging three more wind shurikens launched by the clone. With the assault reaching a stalemate, Denji had just recovered. All this exchange of jutsus and dodges had taken place in less than a few seconds, more than enough time for Denji to prepare a counterattack.

And that's what he did, delivering a diagonal strike from above against Kakashi, which ultimately hit! His shoulder was struck by the staff, a victorious smile appearing on Denji's face. "Gotcha!" he exclaimed. But as soon as he celebrated, Kakashi's body exploded into smoke, revealing a wooden log in its place.

"What?!" The substitution jutsu had been quick, and now they were alone again, or so Denji thought. "Behind!" Ryo shouted, having seen the scene from a side angle. Kakashi had appeared a few meters behind Denji and immediately lunged towards the boy, delivering a punch. A punch he couldn't react to, even with Ryo warning him moments before.

Denji took the impact to his face and spun in the air, the blow being strong, but of course, Kakashi was still holding back, so the force was more to push away than causing real damage to the boy. Seeing this, Ryo shouted loudly, "Support!" And with that, he ran towards Kakashi, while his clone ran towards Denji to assist him back into combat.

Ryo approached Kakashi and launched a kick towards the Jonin, who quickly reacted with a kick of his own. Their legs clashed, canceling each other's kicks out. Ryo could feel the difference in strength between them, but since Kakashi was holding back, he could match the man's strength.

"He's strong even when he's not giving his all! My luck is that he won't use anything super strong. If he, for some reason, raised the headband, none of us here would stand a chance," Ryo thought quickly as he began to unleash more strikes using the taijutsu he had learned from the Uchihas.

Kakashi could perceive Ryo's style, but he wasn't surprised. Hiruzen had given him Ryo's profile to read some time ago. "The Third Hokage told me about Ryo's peculiarity and the powers he doesn't openly show. However, even so, he already demonstrates good potential in both taijutsu and ninjutsu, and he's also skilled in medical ninjutsu."

He parried some of the strikes and dodged a few more amidst his thoughts. However, he remained attentive to the entire battlefield. Soon, a shadow enveloped by some petals appeared behind him, a hand quickly reaching towards Kakashi's waist, grabbing a bell before leaping backward.

Haruka had managed to grab one of the bells. Sure, Kakashi could have avoided it, but that was the point of the test. At that moment, Ryo felt Kakashi's speed increasing, and a kick came much faster. If it weren't for the reflexes already ingrained in his muscle memory, Ryo wouldn't have defended in time.

Crossing his arms in front of him, he then took a small leap backward as the kick hit his defense, throwing him into the air a few meters back. Ryo managed to land on his feet, but his arms had taken quite an impact.

Placing each crossed hand on his arms, he quickly began to heal them. It wasn't a kick that had broken anything, but the swelling that would start due to the impact could hinder him, so Ryo prevented that from happening.

Amidst all this, Kakashi then spoke, "Well done, Haruka. You can watch from the sidelines. Denji and Ryo will have more difficulties now." On the other side, the clone had managed to stabilize Denji, and once again, he was ready for the fight, witnessing what had just happened. He took a deep breath and now knew he couldn't continue like this.

"The first bell went to Haruka, the second one is for you, Denji. Let's try to create an opportunity for you to grab the bell. It's not time to be proud. We have to pass this," the clone said to Denji as he helped him up from the ground. Now, the battle had become more challenging, and Ryo and Denji would have to do something to get the bells.

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