[Chapter Size: 2100 Words.]
Third Person POV
Konoha, 43.
...
...
"Good morning, Kakashi-kun." Rin greeted him as they arrived early in the morning at Training Ground 7, just as sensei had said.
Kakashi only looked at her and nodded.
They stayed there for a while in silence, Rin clearly wanted to start a conversation, but Kakashi remained closed off, waiting for his teammates and Sensei, and 30 minutes passed. Kakashi lost his patience.
"Where is Obito?" he asked in a tone of disapproval.
"I don't know… maybe sothing... happened?" Rin said timidly, worried about her friend's delay.
"Tsc." Kakashi clicked his tongue.
"He can't be that late. The teacher hasn't arrived yet either," Rin said, tilting her head slightly.
"There is nothing in this village that happens without Minato...-sensei knowing." He made a small pause before using the term 'sensei', still getting used to calling Minato sensei. "Minato seems to know everything that is happening in the village..." That seed to surprise Rin.
Kakashi knew that Minato had the ability to detect everything in the village. It was no wonder he knew the exact mont Kakashi had returned from his last mission outside the gates, confirming it personally and even giving details.
"Really…?" Rin murmured, worried about Obito.
"Our sensei is quite capable. He must be sowhere hidden. We might not be able to detect him, but he must be watching us."
"So Obito might be in trouble," Rin added.
"That's true, but there's nothing we can do. We're not that guy's babysitters." Kakashi clicked his tongue again, while Rin sighed carefully.
It took a while, but Obito finally appeared running toward them, at the edge of Training Ground 7.
"You're late!" Kakashi said imdiately.
"Obito, did sothing happen?" Rin asked, treating him completely differently.
Obito growled at Kakashi. Yesterday, after Minato simply left, Kakashi and Obito started fighting.
Kakashi mocked him, provoking him, while Obito was cursing at him and acting quite imperatively. The argunt escalated, and Obito ended up being struck by Kakashi, forcing Rin to take care of his injuries.
Before they could continue arguing, Minato appeared near them with Hiraishin, arms crossed, wearing the village's jōnin uniform.
"What is this? Already arguing before we even begin?" Minato said in a reproachful tone.
"Obito is late," Kakashi said mockingly.
"Wait, there must be so explanation, right, Obito?" Rin tried to defend him.
"Of course there is! I was helping an…" He seed a little embarrassed. "...An old lady cross the street with her groceries."
Kakashi clicked his tongue even louder. Not believing that.
"What was that, huh, Kakashi-Baka?" Obito asked, not liking the mocking gesture.
"Hey, hey, let's calm down. Save your energy for the test. But there are certain points we need to deal with here before we begin. After all, you are a team, and harmony and teamwork are essential," Minato said, looking from one to the other, without his usual smile.
He was speaking seriously.
Even Kakashi and Obito fell silent.
Rin seed worried.
"To begin with, Kakashi, do not openly mock your teammates." Minato was still speaking seriously. "I know you get along well with Guy. I'm sure you can do the sa with them too. They will be your teammates and will work with you for years. They will be your bonds and the ones who will watch your back."
Kakashi wanted to say sothing, but a single look from Minato seed to say: 'If you really want to work with the best, then maybe you're not on the right team.'
Kakashi fell silent imdiately. If he wanted to learn from the best, he needed to be on Minato's team, even if that ant working alongside two whom he, in a way, despised for the inferior strength he believed they had.
"Aham." Soone let out with a superior air. Obito seed satisfied that Minato had scolded Kakashi.
"And you, Obito." Minato turned back to him, catching him off guard.
"You have a lot to improve to begin with. I know you were indeed late because you were helping an elderly lady cross the street with her groceries," Minato said, while Obito puffed out his chest, as if that proved he wasn't lying.
But Minato was not finished yet.
"However, there is a commitnt to this team, Obito. You cannot arrive late. For a ninja, being late can cost the lives of your teammates. Make a habit of leaving earlier and arriving at the agreed ti. I'm serious."
Obito fell silent, surprised by the teacher's firm tone.
"As noble as it is on your part to help people, your commitnt will always be to your team. Delays can cause serious problems for your teammates. Your priority must always be them, before anything else, especially on a mission," Minato concluded.
It was harsh, but there was much to be worked on in Obito. Minato intended to turn the hardworking boy into soone competent, soone who could be a fundantal pillar for his teammates. Even Kakashi would one day acknowledge his strength.
Obito had potential — potential even to surpass Kakashi. And if Minato managed to work with the two of them properly, perhaps Kakashi could even surpass his own father by being competitive with Obito. In the original tiline, Kakashi never reached the level of fear his father had in an even more chaotic era of the ninja world. His peak only ca when he temporarily used the ocular power granted by Obito, awakening an absurd power like Susanoo. What Minato did not know was how that had happened, thinking it was a damn plot hole.
"I…" Obito tried to speak, but Minato interrupted him.
"Your commitnt is, and always will be, to your team, Obito. I want you to rember that. If you want to beco strong, you need to have discipline and be competent. The problem is that you cannot carry everyone's problems when it harms others, especially your team. I'm not saying that a training session here will truly put Rin and Kakashi in danger because of your delay. But you need to keep in mind that you cannot be late. That is a habit you will have to remove imdiately."
"I will try…" Obito said, sowhat insecure and shrinking under the teacher's harsh words.
He always helped the old ladies in the village, but Minato was cornering him by practically equating being late with putting his future teammates in danger.
Rin looked at him, worried.
"Another thing: put your pride aside, Obito. If you stop wasting energy trying to belittle others or trying to make yourself look greater, and use that ti to train and improve, you will not remain stuck in the sa diocrity," Minato said.
The boy shrank even more, but Minato opened a small smile.
"You have potential, Obito. Potential to go very far. At the very least, to the level of a Kage." Minato left Obito, Rin, and even Kakashi stunned.
"Sensei… you're joking, right?" Kakashi murmured, with an incredulous look. Not even his own father or Minato had said sothing like that about him.
"I'm not saying that you simply have the talent to reach that level quickly. Do not misunderstand, Obito," Minato continued, before the boy started jumping with joy at such praise. "I'm saying that you have potential, but you still lack natural talent. That does not an you cannot reach that level, but you will have to work much harder. More than Kakashi and many other geniuses. That is why, if you stop wasting ti with jealousy and with things that hold you back — no matter how noble they may be — you can go far, even if the path is difficult."
Obito stared at him for several seconds in silence. Even the others remained quiet after hearing that.
"Well, and you, Rin, must also strive," Minato continued. "I truly do not know how far you can go right now, but you will not be weak and you will not be an unknown ninja being my student. However, you must strive and train hard for that. A ninja's life is not based only on rank or on the number of missions. Ninjas must train constantly. Even Kakashi is here waiting to be trained to achieve his goals."
Minato had finished. That would be the first lesson for all of them.
He needed to deal with Kakashi's arrogance, with Obito's recklessness and lack of discipline, and also with Rin's lack of confidence, which was a burden on the team for her being potentially weak. It was clearly a problematic team, but there was potential in them. And they would not need to go through an enormous tragedy to beco strong.
Although Minato knew that there was potential even in a tragedy — Rin could beco the jinchūriki of the Three-Tails, Obito could awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan, and with Mokuton cells, Kamui would not leave him blind — Minato did not intend to make them suffer real tragedies to achieve that...
He had already done sothing similar in the past. Mikoto had to face extre situations to awaken certain powers during the Second War, which left her traumatized and angry at Minato for a ti, especially when he simulated his own death in front of her, at a ti when she did not yet fully understand his intangibility ability.
Minato still had much to think about in order to know how to reach the maximum level of these children.
For now, he needed to focus on the children in front of him without thinking too much about the future yet, since now they would officially beco part of his team.
He uncrossed his arms and took sothing from his pocket.
"Well, I know you have a lot to think about, but we will deal with that after you pass the test. After all, there is still the test to decide whether you will work with or not."
Minato then raised his hand, revealing two bells.
"The test is as follows: you must face with everything you have — even with killing intent — with the objective of taking these bells."
"But… there are only two?" Rin murmured cautiously. She did not like that. Two bells for three genin.
"Exactly. Everything will depend on your performance. Those who manage to get the bells will earn a Rank B jutsu from the Namikaze clan," Minato said.
Even Kakashi was surprised.
The newly ford Namikaze clan was already known for all the treasure it supposedly possessed, since Minato had been accumulating various techniques. From variations of the Uchiha jutsus that Mikoto mastered, advanced sealing techniques of the Uzumaki clan, acquired from Mito-sama and within the Uzumaki clan. The legendary jutsus of the Senju clan and many techniques that Hanabi mastered from the Hyuga clan. Lastly, the jutsus executed and created by Minato. He had a repertoire of S-rank jutsus.
All the combinations accumulated and created by Minato and his wives. All these techniques were kept in sealed vaults, protecting even forbidden jutsus.
There were hundreds of jutsu scrolls in the Namikaze clan's vault, at the very least.
"A Rank B jutsu would certainly make stronger," Obito said, gaining more confidence.
"But I doubt we can get those bells from you," Kakashi murmured, being more realistic.
"Do not be so discouraged. I have a rule: I will limit myself to the three basic academy jutsus and taijutsu. What do you think?" Minato said.
"Wait… you're only going to use the three basics? And we can even use the jutsus we learned at the Academy with you, sensei?" Rin asked imdiately.
Minato nodded.
"As I said, you can co at with everything, with the intent to kill. But do not think it will be easy. I may not use my light abilities, my more powerful jutsus, or even my teleportation, but I am still one of the most powerful ninjas in the world when it cos to taijutsu."
Perhaps the most powerful. He had not yet faced soone with the Eight Gates fully released to state that with absolute certainty. But at the peak of his haki, he was confident that he could even fight against the Gate of Death without needing to use the intangibility of his light fruit to protect himself.
In any case, Minato showed the bells and fastened them to his waist.
"Let's begin."
He announced this before disappearing in an explosion of smoke, leaving a log behind.
The three imdiately moved into combat positions and also vanished from there, hiding themselves.
The Bell Test began at that mont.
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