章 52: Asuma's Test (1)
The BBQ lunch was pretty uneventful. Asuma shared with us some stories from the capital and his time as a genin, although it was an entirely different era back then. He became a genin during a time of great strife, during the Third Shinobi World War. I could tell that he was heavily censoring his experiences and hardships he faced during that time out of consideration for us, glossing over the details of fighting a war as a child soldier.
We occasionally joined the conversation, asking some relevant questions but were mostly content with just listening. What was on our minds weren't the riveting experiences of a jounin, but the oncoming test that we had to pass.
Our team was one composed of relatively level-headed genins, unlike the other two teams that had hotheads and loudmouths galore. Yet I could sense my teammates were still restless in their seats, barely touching the grilled meat that I had volunteered to be in charge of. Kind of rude, but I could understand their unease.
Whilst Asuma assumed a friendly, older-brother type attitude, there was no denying the raw skill and experience imbued in his every movement. Even the way he held his chopsticks had a sense of expertise that seemingly portrayed the ease in which he could use them to take a life. A freaking pair of chopsticks.
"…then I told the noble; Namahage is a man of focus, commitment and sheer fuc- I mean sheer freaking will. He once killed three man in a bar with a pencil. That kizoku pig looked like he was about to shit his pants HAHAH!" Asuma burst out laughing at his own story, while the three of us just chuckled along politely.
The jounin wiped a tear from his eyes, his laughter dying down, "Man you guys are too serious. Lighten up. Well, looks like we're about done eating. I guess it's time for me to explain your test."
The three of us sat up straighter in our seats, leaning forward so as to not miss a single detail.
"It's simple. All you have to do is track me down, and take this-" He began, holding up an Omamori charm, a palm sized amulet wrapped in red brocaded silk with floral designs, "-from me. I will strictly be somewhere inside the village boundaries, and you can use any method to find my location. Once you find me, you will have to try and either steal the amulet or take it from me by force. Of course, I will be holding myself back, but don't expect an easy challenge. It wouldn't be a test if I made it too easy, right? Any questions?"
Shino raised his hand, "Asuma-sensei, do we have a time limit?"
"Ah, right, the time is around… 1pm? You have until sunset to get the amulet which will be kept strapped to my waist, so you don't have to frisk me or anything haha. And I won't try to run away if you manage to find me, so you don't have to worry about that too. Anything else?"
[Quest Alert!]
[Asuma's Test]:
Successfully pass the real graduation test!
Accomplish the task given by Asuma
(Bonus) Complete within 1 hour
(Bonus) Complete within 3 hours
?
?
[Rewards:]
+10000 EXP
New Title
(Bonus) New Title
(Bonus) +5 Points
?
?
[Failure:]
Relegated to 'genin corp'
REP significantly decreased with Konohagakure
New Title
New Title
Accept? (Y/N)
"Has the test already started?" I asked while mentally accepting the quest and narrowing my eyes while tensing up my body. At this distance, even if I were seating down, I could probably get a half-decent flash step in and snatch the amulet before he could react.
Asuma shrugged, "Yeah sure."
With a burst of speed, I jumped out of my seat and used [Flash Step] to get next to him in the next instant, a hand outstretched reaching for the amulet he was holding.
To my surprise, however, Asuma vanished from my sight and reappeared behind me chuckling. I looked back with my eyes widened in shock. So this was the speed of a jounin, huh? Was he still holding back or what was that it? Regardless, it was still impressive.
"Good plan, but I forgot to tell you. I am just a shadow clone, the real Asuma is already hidden somewhere, so there's really no point trying to get this charm from me right now." The jounin blankly stated before openly attaching the amulet to his waist on the other side of this Guardian sash.
"Oh, and don't worry about the bill, I've already paid. Well then good luck!" With that, the Asuma shadow clone disappeared in a plume of smoke.
Tsk, I knew it wasn't going to be that easy. I looked back at my teammates, who were both surprised at the unexpected turn of events, "Was that his shadow clone eating the whole time? What a waste of food. Shino, your kikaichu got his scent?"
The Aburame nodded almost imperceptibly, "Insects don't have noses that can smell, but yes, ever since he told us about the test I have had my kikaichu memorize the chemical composition of his scent and chakra signature."
"Alright, let's get started then. Hinata-"
"On it. Byakuugan!" The Hyuuga heiress announced while activating her dojutsu, already scanning the streets and building interiors to find their jounin squad leader.
"What's the range of your dojutsu and how long can you hold it?" I asked, inwardly impressed with her decisiveness. A far cry from the original Hinata.
"60 metres, and I have no problem leaving it on for 2 hours straight. A-any more than that I'll start getting tired quickly." She answered.
I placed a hand over my chin, "The village is roughly 3 square kilometres, if we systematically scan each area with kikaichuu and Byakuugan, it's going to take too long. If we leave out certain areas and narrow down our search radius to the most likely locations, it should take probably three hours or so to find him. Hmm, this might be difficult… Let's get moving."
----------
"Oh, the shadow clone released itself. Mm, what an interesting team." Asuma mused while seated at the bar as the memories from his shadow clone . With one last gulp, he finished his beer and slammed it on the countertop, wiping away the remnant foam at the corners of his mouth. "Ahh, that hit the spot."
He was currently at one of the few shinobi-only bars in Konoha, establishments where shinobi could take a load off and talk about their troubles without worrying about any civilians overhearing things they weren't supposed to know. You had to have an official forehead protector to be able to even get in through the front door. It was one of the last refuges for ninjas to be themselves without having to uphold the reputation of a glorious shinobi of Konohagakure.
"Interesting? You lucked out, Sarutobi." A young woman next to him with purple hair styled in a short, spiky ponytail commented, "The Rookie of the Year, a Hyuuga talent and one of those super serious, no nonsense Aburame. That's a solid team comp if there ever was one. You must've pulled some strings didn'tcha?"
Asuma rolled his eyes while pulling out a cigarette and lighting it, "Oi, I'm just a good jounin alright? No strings were pulled, Anko."
"Hah!" Anko scoffed, "You sent a damn shadow clone in your place to meet the team, what are you even talking about?"
"It was part of the test." He answered, lazily exhaling out a cloud of cigarette smoke.
The tokubetsu jounin made a dismissive gesture while waving away the second-hand smoke, "Right, your test… what was it again?"
"Hey, weren't you listening when I told you like a minute ago?" Asuma frowned.
Anko shrugged innocently, taking a sip of her own alcoholic beverage.
"Sigh, forget it. They have until sunset to track me down and get something from me." He explained helplessly, "Should be pretty simple, given that they have a Hyuuga and an Aburame on their team."
She raised an eyebrow, "Heh, isn't that kinda harsh? Finding one person in the middle of an entire village is like finding a needle in a haystack, not to mention they only have a couple hours to do so. And they can only pass if they take something from you. You're one cold motherfucker, Sarutobi."
The jounin shook his head, "Nah. I've already given them a couple of clues. If they're at all like what the Academy reports said, they should be fine. Plus, I never said anything about them having to take it from me to pass."
Anko looked back wide-eyed, "Huh. Didn't expect you to have put that much thought into it. Not bad, Sarutobi."
Asuma's eyebrow twitched, "Like I said, I'm a damn good sensei."
"Sure, sure… so what do ya think about your team?" She asked dismissively.
The Sarutobi pondered for a moment before speaking, "Mm, it's a little too early to tell right now but they seem promising. Hinata is still slightly lacking confidence, but she can be decisive when she needs to. And that kind of stuff can be developed over time, so I'm not that worried about the girl. Hiashi can be abit of a hard ass, but he gets results."
"Hah, hard ass sounds about right. You can send her over to me if she needs some confidence-building training." Anko offered.
Asuma immediately declined, "Ah no thanks, you might break her."
"Hey, I resent that!" She pouted while playing with a senbon in her other hand.
The jounin eyed the weapon in her hand and inched away slightly, "Shino is, well, a typical Aburame. Quiet, stoic, and hard to read. His clan has a history of producing capable, albeit understated ninjas, and his academy records tells me his aptitude is all but assured. My only concern with him is his specialization in Aburame clan techniques, so I won't have much to teach him apart from the fundamentals. Shinji on the hand, hah… that kid's going to be a headache."
"The Rookie of the Year? Why, he some kind of troublemaker? I love troublemakers."
Asuma pulled out his wallet and took out a couple of ryo notes placing them on the counter and signalled the bartender while he continued talking, "Nope, the opposite. You heard about the Scroll of Seals incident, about a week ago?"
Anko perked up, chuckling at the memory, "Course I did. That Uzumaki brat stole the Scroll of Seals and led a couple dozen chuunins on a wild goose chase. That was pretty fucking funny. Why?"
"Then you probably should know about his traitor sensei who tricked him into doing it right?"
"Oh yeah, that happened. That guy died didn't he? Too bad, I would've loved to get my hands on him. Treasonous scum are my favourite toys to play with, hehe." Anko answered with a wistful look to her and a hint of bloodlust.
Ignoring the sanguine comment, Asuma continued, "Yeah? Well, that very same Rookie of the Year was the one who did him in."
The tokubetsu jounin widened her eyes at the information, "No shit. How did that happen? I heard that Mizuki guy was a solid chuunin."
"Turns out, the kid had been hiding his abilities for the past four years. Kenjutsu, advanced chakra control, medical ninjutsu, the works. Official story is, he got the drop on Mizuki and stabbed him down through the shoulder and from then on the fight, if you could call it that, was a foregone conclusion. They fought for abit, with the kid displaying real advanced stuff like chakra enhancement and chakra flow. He even cut off that traitor's arm at some point." Asuma elaborated.
"Woah, that's one scary kid." Anko gaped before smiling, "I like him. Wait, so no one knew about any of that?"
The Sarutobi nodded, taking another drag of his cigarette. "Yep. Makes you wonder what those chuunin at the academy are being paid for. My dad asked me to treat him like any other genin, but to keep an eye out on the kid, see if there's anything else he is still hiding."
She titled her head, "What, the Hokage thinks he's a spy or something?"
"Nah, we don't have any evidence of that. There're records going all the way back to when he was just a baby. He's an orphan, born and raised in Konoha. No foreign affiliation whatsoever. We've questioned the caretaker of the orphanage, the person who taught him medical ninjutsu and all the academy staff. Nothing suspicious stands out."
"So what's the deal with watching him?"
Asuma shrugged, "I'm supposed to watch him for a few months and if nothing else weird happens, then I can drop the surveillance. The kid says he hid his abilities because he didn't want the attention or to graduate early. My dad doesn't buy it. But if you asked me, I'd say he's just getting paranoid in his old age. We all know what happens with child prodigies who graduate early; that shit ain't healthy."
Anko waved a fist at him, "Hey you're talking to one of those child prodigies who graduated early!"
Laughing, the Sarutobi teased gesturing to her outfit, "Yeah? And look what happened."
She looked herself up and down, her body scantily clad in a tight fitting mesh bodysuit paired with an equally tight mini skirt that did little to hide her figure. Not exactly a practical outfit even for a kunoichi. "…okay you've got me there."
Asuma got out of the stool and made to leave the bar, "Alright, day drinking is fun and all, but I've got to go. See ya."
"Huh? Weren't you waiting for those genin of yours?"
He turned back and smirked, "I didn't say I wasn't going to move around, make it a little more difficult for them."
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