"...Alright, this is our strategy."
Half an hour later, Izayoi looked at Hinata and Shino, smiling. "I'll leave it to you both tomorrow, Hinata, Shino."
"Mm, I'll do my best." Hinata nodded firmly.
"Don't worry."
Shino also nodded slightly, but inwardly, he was far from as calm as his appearance suggested; in fact, a storm was stirring inside him.
In his modified body, which was now a nest for insects, some were sending feedback to him.
Izayoi's chakra was truly remarkable.
Among his peers, only Naruto Uzumaki could compare.
No wonder Izayoi knew so many jutsu and even developed powerful ones on his own.
This guy, without a surname, might not come from a purely civilian ninja family.
Perhaps, in some era, there were formidable figures in his ancestry.
Otherwise, it wouldn't be possible for his chakra to be this extravagant.
"Well then, let's head back."
After seeing that Hinata and Shino agreed with his strategy and accepted his arrangement, Izayoi nodded in satisfaction and was about to disband the group.
"Izayoi, aren't we setting traps?" Shino asked, coming to his senses.
"No need."
Izayoi shook his head. "Simple traps won't work on jōnin. Powerful traps require strong and expensive equipment, and they may not even be effective against a jōnin; they could even hurt our own people."
"If my analysis is correct, this strategy will be enough for us to pass the test."
Hinata and Shino were slightly enlightened and felt that Izayoi's words made sense.
"Since we don't need to set traps, I'll head back now."
Shino left with his hands in his pockets, turning to walk away.
Yūhi Kurenai, upon hearing the self-introduction, had noticed the special relationship between Izayoi and Hinata.
Shino, who had been in their class for several years, had long known this.
So, Shino naturally didn't join them, not wanting to be the unwanted third wheel.
Although he was a reserved type, he actually wanted to gossip a little.
But for the sake of maintaining the dignified (and somewhat aloof) reputation of the Aburame clan, Shino refrained from doing so.
Watching Shino leave, Izayoi then took Hinata's small hand and smiled. "Hinata, it's been a while since we had an outdoor meal. How about grilled fish for lunch today?"
"Mm!"
Hinata's eyes lit up as she remembered the outdoor meals after their training years ago. She nodded enthusiastically.
Ever since her father gave his tacit approval and Hanabi joined, it had been years since Izayoi and Hinata had gone to the abandoned training grounds.
Training had been mostly at Izayoi's house in the yard or the dojo on the first floor.
Meals were either brought from Hinata's home or cooked at Izayoi's place.
The grilled fish and hunting barbecues from their childhood, along with the warm moments they shared, had become beautiful memories for Hinata.
Now, being reminded of those memories by Izayoi, she really wanted to relive those feelings from years ago.
So, hand in hand, they headed towards the familiar little river.
They left the fishing work to Izayoi's shadow clones.
As the originals, Izayoi and Hinata stood on the moving water's surface, engaging in a taijutsu spar.
The chakra-induced airwaves created ripples and splashed water everywhere.
The roar of their movements startled the animals and birds in the nearby woods, causing them to flee in panic.
When everything finally settled, white smoke rose as the delicious aroma spread.
The whole afternoon was spent outdoors, and Izayoi and Hinata reminisced about their childhood.
...
The next day, at 8:30 AM.
Izayoi and Hinata arrived at the training ground.
By the tree stump, Shino was already standing there, seemingly waiting for quite some time.
"Good morning, Shino." Izayoi greeted him with a wave.
"Morning."
Shino nodded in response.
The atmosphere immediately became quiet.
Having read the original work, Izayoi knew that Shino actually hid a reserved, somewhat flirtatious side.
However, Izayoi still couldn't find a topic to chat about with him.
After all, Shino's presence was quite low, having never had friends in class, and his interests were mainly in searching for insects—there was just no common ground.
So after greeting him, Izayoi had no idea what else to say.
And since he was aware of Shino's hidden side but didn't know if the insects Shino controlled could overhear conversations, Izayoi didn't whisper anything to Hinata.
So, he leaned against a tree stump, closed his eyes, and rested while waiting for Kurenai's arrival.
Hinata, with her hands in her pockets, stood beside Izayoi.
Time passed by, second by second.
When the sound of something cutting through the air reached their ears,
Izayoi opened his eyes. Kurenai had already appeared before them.
"Kurenai-sensei."
The three of them immediately greeted her politely.
"Good morning, sorry to keep you waiting."
Kurenai smiled and nodded, then took out three bells from her waist and said, "Your task for the next hour is simple: do whatever it takes, even if it means killing me, to take these three bells from me."
She tied the bells to her waist and then took out a small alarm clock, setting it to ring in one hour.
Placing the alarm clock on the tree stump, Kurenai turned to look at Izayoi and his team. "Now… it begins."
As soon as she finished speaking, Izayoi and his team vanished into thin air.
All Kurenai could hear was the sound of the wind rustling the leaves.
She scanned the surrounding forest with a smile on her face, full of confidence.
She didn't immediately use Body Flicker to defeat them one by one.
Instead, she deliberately walked into an open area, waiting for Izayoi and his team to make the first move.
This wasn't arrogance; it was a matter of perspective.
Kurenai, too, had attended the ninja academy and knew what was taught there.
No matter how outstanding Izayoi and his team were, they only had a solid foundation, with low-level ninjutsu and family techniques passed down from their clans.
The Hyūga and Aburame clans were well-known throughout the ninja world, and their fighting styles and specialties were thoroughly researched, even by outsiders.
Though she specialized in genjutsu, Kurenai was at least a well-rounded jōnin who had mastered multiple nature transformations.
She didn't believe that even a few genin teams combined would be her match.
That's what Kurenai thought.
But the next moment, she was shocked into a cold sweat.
"Bagua—Empty Wall Palm!"
A sharp voice, growing closer, reached her ears.
Then, a terrifying shockwave, like an invisible wall, rushed toward Kurenai at incredible speed.
Where it passed, it kicked up a massive cloud of dust.
Seeing the cloud approaching, Kurenai's pupils contracted. She didn't have time to gather chakra to use Body Flicker, so she instinctively leaped backward.
The shockwave flew past her, but the dust engulfed her.
Boom, boom, boom…
The shockwave continued into the forest, smashing several trees the size of a few people, demonstrating its immense power.
Back at the origin of the shockwave, under a large tree, stood two identical girls, back to back, hands touching.
It was Hinata and her shadow clone.