Chapter 5: Probing
Just as Yamada Juki and Tanako Hon finished speaking, another ninja entered the classroom. He looked to be in his forties, with a burly build that hardly seemed like that of a ninja.
The fierce aura around him instantly silenced the once-noisy classroom.
He walked up to the podium and swept his gaze across the room.
Very quickly, it locked onto the three of them.
"Team 11, come with me."
Brief and direct.
This ninja was the instructor for Yoruha's team.
After speaking, he turned and walked out of the classroom by himself.
Yamada Juki and Tanako Hon were thoroughly intimidated by him.
"How come our teacher is someone this scary?" Yamada Juki complained.
Tanako Hon also said worriedly, "Looks like we're in for it from now on."
Yoruha, however, didn't care much.
He thought to himself, "This man has a strong presence, and there's a heavy smell of blood on him. Looks like he used to be in a department like Anbu."
"But that should be a good thing. Being able to enter Anbu proves his strength."
Not everyone in Anbu was a Jonin; even Chunin could enter. But anyone who made it into Anbu, even a Chunin, was among the very best of the Chunin.
"Let's go. If we don't follow now, who knows where he'll disappear to," Yoruha reminded the other two.
After the three left, Naruto, who had been sitting in the back, finally let out a breath of relief.
"That scared me to death. Yoruha's in trouble. His instructor looks really hard to deal with."
"My condolences for his future ninja career."
Sakura beside him also said with lingering fear, "Who exactly is that teacher? He felt like he was about to kill someone."
Only Sasuke seemed thoughtful.
"That ninja has an aura similar to that man's. He's probably from Anbu."
Compared to Naruto and Sakura, Sasuke had seen more.
From Yoruha's instructor, he sensed something similar to the aura of his brother Itachi.
After leaving the classroom and catching up to their instructor, the three of them silently followed behind him the whole way.
Yamada Juki and Tanako Hon were intimidated by the aura coming off their instructor.
As for Yoruha, he simply wasn't much of a talker.
Their instructor didn't say anything either.
The four of them walked in silence out of the Ninja Academy and arrived at one of Konohagakure's training grounds.
Konohagakure had many training grounds, all of them very large. The most famous was naturally the Forest of Death, which had a diameter of twenty kilometers.
The three stood before their instructor. Aside from Yoruha, both Yamada Juki and Tanako Hon were trembling slightly.
The instructor looked over the three of them, then fixed his gaze on Yoruha.
A moment later, Yoruha felt a heavy force pressing down on him.
The sensation made him very uncomfortable.
He knew where that feeling was coming from.
But he had no intention of yielding.
Even if his mind was starting to blur.
This was the Pressure released by the instructor.
Under that terrifying Pressure, Yoruha's expression didn't change in the slightest.
He even looked as though he hadn't been affected at all.
The instructor was stunned.
"Interesting brat."
The Pressure had failed to suppress Yoruha, and that made the instructor very interested in him.
After all, Yoruha was only a student who had just graduated from the Ninja Academy.
Yet under the Pressure he released, the boy remained so calm and composed.
Even Chunin couldn't do that.
"Hahaha, brat, you really are a surprise. I thought the ones assigned to me would just be a few green kids. Didn't expect one of you to be this interesting."
The instructor finally spoke.
Yamada Juki and Tanako Hon, who had been caught in the Pressure's spillover, had already gone deathly pale, their entire bodies trembling, their consciousness wavering.
After all, this instructor was a ninja who had come out of Anbu.
His Pressure carried a murderous, blood-soaked terror with it.
Yoruha raised his head and looked at him. "Sensei, I don't think you should be using such bloody methods on a few ninja trainees."
Although Yoruha had endured the instructor's Pressure, that didn't mean he didn't mind it.
Just now, his mind really had gone hazy for an instant.
If not for last night's reward—
If not for the fact that it had improved his mental and physical abilities several times over—
he would already have mentally collapsed just like Yamada Juki and Tanako Hon.
The instructor was taken aback by Yoruha's words.
Just as he was about to say something, he helplessly waved his hand. "Fine, fine. I knew I wasn't suited to being a teacher for little brats like you."
"If this were in the past, if you dared talk to me like that, I'd at least beat you up once."
"Kid, your name's Yoruha, right? Looks like the evaluations from the Ninja Academy teachers weren't very accurate."
"You're not ordinary at all."
The instructor smiled as he spoke.
Once the instructor withdrew his Pressure, Yamada Juki and Tanako Hon finally felt a little better.
But the way they looked at him was full of fear.
They had never experienced anything so terrifying before.
At the same time, both of them looked toward Yoruha. Under that kind of terrifying Pressure, he had actually remained calm.
Yoruha was terrifying too.
Before, they had thought Yoruha should be about the same as them.
They hadn't expected the gap between them and him to be so large.
What they didn't know was that the instructor's Pressure had been focused mainly on Yoruha.
If they knew that, they would have been even more shocked.
Just the aftereffects had nearly made them lose consciousness.
There was no need to mention how powerful Yoruha must be, bearing the brunt of that Pressure.
Yoruha did not deny what the instructor had said.
Trying to explain would only seem deliberate.
The instructor didn't dwell on it too much either.
Instead, he seemed rather pleased.
"Alright, let me introduce myself. My name is Kihon Toichi. You can call me Toichi-sensei."
"That just now was a small test for you. You all did pretty well—especially Yoruha."
Kihon Toichi was very satisfied with Yoruha's performance just now. More than satisfied—pleasantly surprised.
"Alright, now you should introduce yourselves."
After hearing Kihon Toichi's words, Yamada Juki raised his hand first and said excitedly, "Sensei, sensei! My name is Yamada Juki. My favorite food is grilled meat, my least favorite is green peppers, and my dream is to become the strongest ninja in the world, and then the strongest Hokage in Konohagakure!"
Yamada Juki was a lot like Naruto.
Even their dreams were similar.
But becoming Hokage was probably the dream of most children in Konohagakure.
Kihon Toichi smiled. "Then you'll have to work hard. There are many powerful ninja in this world. If you want to become the strongest, you'll have to put in more effort than everyone else."
Now that Kihon Toichi no longer carried that keep-away aura from before, he actually seemed rather amiable.
Tanako Hon, however, still hadn't forgotten the fear Kihon Toichi had inspired in her.
In a trembling voice, she said, "M-my name is Tanako Hon. I'm twelve years old."
Her voice was so soft it was nearly inaudible.
Already delicate and pretty to begin with, she now looked even more pitiful and endearing.
Her waist-length blonde hair made her seem breathtakingly lovely.
Even Yoruha was momentarily struck by how beautiful she was.
"A girl this pretty never appeared at all. Looks like she probably dies on some mission somewhere," Yoruha thought, frowning.
Both Tanako Hon and Yamada Juki had left a good impression on him.
Though they had only just met, Yoruha had already accepted them.
"I wonder if my appearance will change their future fates."
That was what he was thinking.
When it was Yoruha's turn, he calmly said, "My name is Yoruha. My dream is to become an outstanding ninja."
Yoruha gave a very ordinary dream.
After all, he really didn't have any particular dream.
He hadn't had one before obtaining the system, and even after getting it, not much had changed.