At exactly nine o'clock, Minato Namikaze arrived unhurriedly.
He glanced around, clapped his hands to gather the three students, and said calmly, "No one was late. That pleases me.
No unnecessary talk. Over the next few days, I'll be training your teamwork and designing targeted training plans based on each of your strengths.
Before that, I need to understand what those strengths are - and you also need a basic grasp of your teammates' abilities.
So, let's begin today's training."
"Yes!" Might Guy clenched his fists, brimming with excitement.
After returning home last night, when his father Might Duy learned that Guy had become the disciple of elite jōnin Minato Namikaze, he was so happy he opened two bottles of sake and performed a drunken boxing routine on the spot.
Before Guy left this morning, Duy had earnestly warned him: not everyone gets the chance to join an elite squad. Lord Minato was an exceptionally powerful ninja.
Train hard. Perform well. Don't disgrace Lord Minato.
Guy was already boiling with passion. Training designed by an elite jōnin - wasn't that basically guaranteed to skyrocket his growth?
Uchiha Maí remained expressionless. The first training after assembling as a team would probably be the three of them versus Minato Namikaze.
Most likely, they'd be fighting his shadow clone.
To be honest, the odds weren't great.
A highly mobile, traditional ninja like Minato wasn't ideal for fighting tailed beasts, but in ninja-versus-ninja combat, he was terrifying.
Three versus one - and against a shadow clone at that - and Maí didn't feel confident at all.
Minato pulled an alarm clock from his pocket, fiddled with it briefly, placed it on a nearby rock, then turned to explain the rules.
"Today's exercise is an internal pursuit battle. Aside from not leaving a five-hundred-meter radius around this lake, there are no restrictions.
Kakashi will act alone as one team - the cat.
Maí and Guy will form the other team - the mice.
Both teams have the same objective: before eleven o'clock, obtain this alarm clock without damaging it.
At eleven sharp, whichever team is holding the alarm clock when it rings will be declared the winner. If the alarm clock is damaged, both teams lose.
Understood?"
They weren't fighting Minato's shadow clone?
It seemed Minato had great confidence in Kakashi's strength. Even after witnessing Maí defeat three genin within a minute yesterday, he still believed Maí would need to team up with Guy just to contend with Kakashi.
"So as long as we beat Kakashi, we win, right?" Guy scratched his head, clearly not grasping the deeper meaning behind Minato's setup.
It was just a fight - why make it so complicated?
Kakashi narrowed his eyes slightly and tightened his grip on the short blade in his hand. This internal confrontation wasn't just about fighting.
The alarm clock represented intelligence - or a protected target. If it ended up in the enemy's hands, the situation became a rescue mission.
For the side holding the clock, it became a defensive battle.
"Sensei, do we need a ten-second countdown?" Maí asked.
"No," Minato shook his head.
The moment his words fell, Maí and Kakashi moved at the same time, sprinting toward the alarm clock on the rock. As he ran, Maí pulled out several shuriken and hurled them straight at the clock, intending to destroy it.
What the hell?!
Kakashi's eyelids twitched violently. His hand reaching for the clock snapped back, his short blade flashing as he struck again, deflecting the incoming shuriken.
This guy - did he even want to win?
A beat slower to react, Guy finally realized the training had already begun. He launched himself forward, kicking straight at Kakashi.
"Hyah!!"
Forget grabbing or protecting the alarm clock. In Might Guy's eyes, there was only one rule - fight!
Kakashi wielded his short blade, executing the Hatake sword style, each strike aimed at Guy's vitals. After just a few exchanges, he had completely suppressed him.
All this time, Kakashi had only sparred with Guy using pure taijutsu, training his fundamentals.
Over the past year, Guy had improved rapidly. In pure hand-to-hand combat, he was almost on par with Kakashi, even forcing him into difficult battles more than once.
But one thing mustn't be forgotten - at this stage, Kakashi's greatest strength was swordsmanship, followed by taijutsu and Lightning Release.
After suppressing Guy, Kakashi spared a moment to glance back at the alarm clock - and his pupils shrank.
While he'd been tied down, Uchiha Maí had already taken the clock.
Was the exercise over?
No. This was only the beginning. Holding the clock didn't mean victory. Only if it rang at eleven while still in their possession would they win.
But one thing was certain: whoever held the clock held the advantage.
Kakashi forced Guy back with a slash, then rapidly formed hand seals and slammed his palm into the ground. Chakra surged forth, transforming into arcs of lightning that slithered toward Maí.
Lightning Release: Earth Walk!
The alarm clock was just an ordinary clock. Heavy impact, water, or electrical interference could easily destroy it.
Maí currently held the advantage - but only if he could protect the clock until eleven.
Kakashi was certain Maí wouldn't accept a result where the clock was destroyed and both teams lost.
"Trying to destroy it? Not that easy," Maí chuckled, clutching the clock as he retreated rapidly, dodging Earth Walk.
And that wasn't all. After evading the technique, Maí suddenly accelerated again, charging straight into the forest and vanishing from sight.
Kakashi's eyebrow twitched. This guy actually ditched his teammate and ran - did he really have no shame?
"Leaf Whirlwind!"
At that moment, Guy, who had just been forced back, roared and launched another flying kick at Kakashi, completely unaware that his good brother had already abandoned him.
Damn it!
Kakashi's gaze turned cold. With Maí in the forest and focused solely on evasion, he might actually manage to stall until eleven. The situation was extremely unfavorable.
He couldn't drag this out any longer.
Chakra surged, Lightning Release chakra coating Kakashi's other hand. Blade in one hand, lightning-clad fist in the other, he subdued Guy in fewer than ten moves, pinning him beneath his weight.
Up - down. Back on his knees again.
At this stage, the gap between Guy and a fully unleashed Kakashi was simply too large.
Guy looked furious, unable to understand how he'd gone down so quickly. Just as he tried to struggle, Kakashi drove his blade through Guy's wrist, pinning it to the ground.
The blade flashed again, piercing Guy's other wrist and both ankles in rapid succession.
Tendons and fascia were severed. Guy had completely lost his ability to fight.
This was the intensity of training during Konoha's wartime preparations - every move aimed to cripple the opponent. At worst, they'd toss you into the Konoha Hospital. A few days later, you'd be alive and kicking again.
Having medical-nin support really was convenient.
Kakashi straddled Guy's waist, his short blade pressed to Guy's throat, eyes scanning every blade of grass and leaf around them - fully alert for a sudden ambush from Uchiha Maí.
(End of Chapter)