Early the next morning.
Many of the night guards were uneasy—they had been on duty last night, but somehow halfway through, they suddenly became extremely sleepy and fell asleep without realizing it.
However,
After waking up and looking around, everyone wore confused expressions.
"Where are we?"
"What happened? How did we get here? Where is everyone else?"
Silence.
The surroundings were completely unfamiliar. As they looked around more closely, some realized they must've been moved to the unexplored half of the training field.
Chaos erupted as everyone started talking at once.
"Everyone, quiet down."
Loe winced at the noise. Once everything finally quieted, he rubbed his temples, observing the surroundings while thinking deeply.
After a long pause, he finally spoke, "First, those on night duty last night—describe exactly what happened."
"We don't know... We just suddenly felt extremely tired and fell asleep without noticing."
Someone said meekly.
Inuzuka Ishi held Gammaru in his arms, stunned for a moment, then said, "I remember it getting really foggy."
"Fog and sleepiness—that makes sense. The fog was the Hiding in Mist Technique, and the drowsiness was the wide-range Genjutsu: Temple of Nirvana Technique. We were ambushed by the instructors. On a real battlefield, we'd all be dead by now."
Loe said flatly.
Everyone froze at his words, slowly processing what he said seconds later.
They'd grown too relaxed lately—nowhere near as alert as they'd been in the beginning. If this had truly been a battlefield, they would've died in their sleep last night.
Loe scanned the area and said, "Everyone search around. The instructors wouldn't have gone to such trouble moving us without leaving some kind of clue behind."
"Yes!"
Everyone began to move immediately.
Though only a year older than the others, Loe was still just a genin like the rest of them. Normally, no one would necessarily follow his orders, but in this critical moment, only he remained calm with clear-headed instructions. Therefore, everyone obeyed him.
Before long,
"There's an extra mission scroll on me."
"Same with me."
They gathered their scrolls together and started flipping through them one by one.
All the missions pointed clearly toward three different directions. None of them led back to the other half of the training ground. Furthermore, each task's description varied greatly.
One was about carrying wartime intelligence, another involved being ordered to reinforce the frontlines, while yet another focused on delivering shuriken and other Ninja Tools.
Everyone turned to Loe, hesitating to decide which mission to take—all three looked equally critical.
"What? Are you all expecting me to give the orders?"
Loe glanced at them helplessly.
"You've got the clearest head, hehe."
Inuzuka Ishi showed no shame whatsoever—he never had big ambitions or aspirations anyway; as long as he could tag along and complete the mission, that was good enough for him.
Some wanted to step up but lacked the ability to come up with any solid plans, so they kept quiet instead.
Loe looked around one more time, let out a long sigh, then began assigning tasks: "Select four ninja skilled in speed, stealth, and rapid assault to carry this piece of wartime intelligence to its destination. Half of the remaining group will reinforce the frontline, and the rest will come back with me to search for our missing teammates."
No one raised any objections. After a brief selection process, everyone quickly decided on their assigned roles and started their tasks.
On a large tree not far away,
Shige Nohara smiled faintly and whispered, "Jonin Shiragusa Ryosuke, looks like someone's taken charge and already started moving."
"That kid Loe has always had a sharp mind and considerable courage. It's impressive he dared to take command at a time like this. Well then, it's time for us to begin too. Everyone, proceed according to the original plan."
A faint smile appeared on Shiragusa Ryosuke's lips.
The three missions varied in priority; for example, frontline support and delivering intelligence were top-level important tasks that needed completion first.
Though shuriken and other ninja tools are important, they can be delayed slightly — rescuing comrades comes first.
Of course,
In strict terms, according to ninja principles, completing missions was the primary objective. Therefore, even if contact with comrades was lost, the mission should still take priority.
From that perspective, Loe's decision to abandon the third mission in favor of searching for teammates was clearly wrong — he could end up taking the fall for that later.
This was precisely why many clever kids hesitated to step forward.
Unlike this group, the other side lacked someone like Loe to lead and was now caught up in arguments.
This group didn't have as many as three missions. They had just one main objective and were expected to choose between completing it or prioritizing the rescue of their comrades.
"Ninjas should prioritize completing the mission. I believe we should focus on finishing the task first, and search for our comrades afterward."
Uchiha Ryo said without hesitation, "Ninja are primarily meant to complete missions. I believe we should focus on finishing the mission first; comrades can wait until afterward."
"I think we should find our partners first. The mission statement indicates that our partners were scattered to another area by last night's raid. They might be in danger, and the distance between our current location and theirs is considerable. By the time we finish our mission, it might already be too late."
Take Yamano replied, "I think we should search for our partners first. The mission scroll indicated our comrades were scattered to another area during last night's sudden attack. They could likely be in danger, and the location of our mission is very far from where they might be. By the time we finish the mission, it'll probably be too late."
"I don't need your opinion, I only need mine. Listen to me!"
Uchiha Ryo coldly stated, "I don't need your opinion. I go with my own judgment. Follow my orders!"
"How could this be? When a partner is in danger, of course we should rescue them first!"
Might Duy jumped up and shouted angrily, "How can you be like that? When our partners are in danger, naturally we must rescue them first!"
Seeing someone taking a stance, the rest began choosing sides and voicing their opinions. The group couldn't convince each other and ended up arguing half the day before finally splitting into two groups: one went ahead to finish the mission, while the other set off to find their missing comrades.
Not far away, several Chunin instructors were with Akaba.
"Sir, what do we do?"
They hadn't yet figured out the exact point of this exercise, but they guessed it had something to do with teamwork and mission completion.
"I'll personally capture all those heading to complete the mission. You all will lay ambushes, blocking the group going to find their comrades. Feel free to inflict some injuries, but don't go overboard."
Once the order was given, everyone dispersed accordingly.
Akaba tracked the Genin attempting to complete the mission. These young ninja remained unaware that due to differing views, their personnel allocation wasn't quite reasonable. Among those remaining, there weren't many sensor or reconnaissance-type ninjas.
Certainly, they weren't entirely lacking in those skills, but everyone was too single-mindedly focused on completing the mission to consider other precautions.
After quite a while, a Hyūga clan ninja activated [Byakugan] for a quick look around.
However, just as he activated his Byakugan, he was immediately pulled underground by Earth Release used by hidden shadow clones. Hearing the commotion, Uchiha Ryo immediately shouted out loudly, "Enemy attack! Everyone, stay alert!"
There was no explicit command, but everyone had learned battlefield formations before. Quickly, they began to take their positions according to what they had studied.
However—
[Water Release: Waterfall Technique!]
A flood surged forward like a wild beast, sweeping violently through the trees.
"Dodge!"
Uchiha Ryo's pupils constricted as he instantly activated his Sharingan.
His reaction speed was indeed fast—he immediately jumped onto a tree to avoid the impact of the water technique. But the others weren't so quick. Some barely managed to leap up in time, while most were swept away by the torrent.
After the wave of flooding passed, only four or five people remained at the scene.
At that moment, a shadow stepped out slowly.
Sakuma Akaba!
"It's you! Good. I'll defeat you here first, then continue with my mission."
Uchiha Ryo smirked coldly.
He hurled several kunai knives. Each kunai collided midair, making their trajectories even more unpredictable.
But—
In an instant, a figure emerged from underground behind him.
Multiple Shadow Clones!
In his hand, strange chakra still glimmered.
That was the Scalpel.
"Watch your back!"
The last remaining teammate shouted a warning, but it was too late.
A hand brushed gently across Uchiha Ryo's thigh. He screamed and fell from the tree.
That single cut had severed the muscles in his leg.
What kind of jutsu was that?
The remaining four gasped in horror, filled with fear.
"You're way too weak. Arrogant and clueless about teamwork—no strength, no sense. You don't even deserve to be called a ninja."
Akaba said coldly.
Uchiha Ryo was in unbearable pain. His leg hurt terribly now, making even walking difficult.
He raised his eyes and attempted to use genjutsu on Akaba—
[Magical Forest Binding Murder!]
However,
"[Using genjutsu against me? Should I call you naive or just stupid?]"
Akaba sneered.
Without any deliberate effort to break it, the massive difference in their spirit points alone enabled him to forcefully rebound the genjutsu.
Trapped by massive roots, Uchiha Ryo screamed desperately. From within the tree itself emerged his long-feared rival.
What made him feel most hopeless was—
They were clearly the same age, yet Akaba had transformed from a lowly Genin who once struggled even to dodge a basic Fireball Jutsu into an incredibly powerful warrior.
And himself?
Uchiha Ryo began doubting his life choices. Truthfully, he wasn't weak—he had already mastered many traditional Fire Release techniques and genjutsu passed down by his clan—but in front of Akaba, he hadn't even gotten a chance to show off his abilities.
The other four stood there frozen, expressions full of terror and confusion.
They were absolutely petrified.
Looking at them, Akaba sighed somewhat disappointedly, "At least he dared to attack me, while you don't even have the courage to fight. Experience some pain."
As his words faded, the genjutsu activated.
All four were struck. They collapsed onto the ground helplessly before passing out—this was [Narakami no Jutsu], capable of delivering lifelike physical pain.
The medical team got to work.
Even though Akaba controlled the amount of chakra put into the waterfall technique, maintaining its strength at about half power, it still ranked among highly destructive ninjutsu.
After searching around thoroughly, all the students were eventually located.
Some were nearly drowned unconscious, while others were battered against rocks and trees by the raging current. Most sustained severe injuries. The Hyūga representative had it the worst—he was half-buried in the ground when the waterfall activated, forcing him to swallow a stomach full of water.
Not long after, all students regrouped at the open plaza.
They split into several groups — Loe stood alone, while the ninja aligned with Loe's side formed a separate group. Might Duy and Take Yamano, who had pushed for rescue efforts, formed another group. Uchiha Ryo and the twenty-odd ninja who insisted on completing the mission formed yet another group.
Except for the four still trapped in genjutsu, everyone else had awakened.
"Loe did adequately," Akaba observed flatly. "Although he gave orders alone, every command was correct, considering multiple perspectives. As for you all..."
He turned his gaze toward the second group. "Your performance was terrible. You completely lacked team coordination. You split forces without sufficient strength or proper personnel allocation—you're exactly the kind of Genin who die fastest on the battlefield."
"Yes sir!"
Take Yamano and others quickly admitted their faults, not daring to protest.
However, some from Uchiha Ryo's faction refused to accept this. They shouted loudly: "You're a Jonin—we obviously can't match you. But completing missions is a ninja's primary objective. What mistake did we make in our decision?"
"In the ninja world, those who break the rules are called trash," Akaba replied icily. "But someone who doesn't value comrades isn't even worthy of being called trash. Furthermore, granted I'm a Tokubetsu Jonin, that's no excuse for your total failure to detect ambushes I set long before this exercise began. You'd better retake classes at the academy."
"I don't accept this!"
One protester tried to argue back, but an Anbu agent silenced him with a strike and dragged him away.
Seeing this, the others dared not speak out, though many secretly resented the treatment.
Ninja live by the rule that completing missions comes first—it's practically engraved in the textbooks. They felt they had only followed standard orders.
"I know you refuse to accept this, but this is my personal principle. Now, I'll let you experience something beyond what the manga describes. Understand my words yourselves. Don't forget to submit a written report afterward."
After finishing, Akaba summoned Little Yumekuma, linking his secret technique with his spirit points.
A moment later, the genjutsu took effect.
The illusion began with Kakashi's childhood and progressed forward in time to the Kannabi Bridge incident. Everyone would now experience Kakashi's life journey through his perspective, feeling the transformation of his inner state firsthand.
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