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"Kinda yes, kinda no." the bearded man replied as he absently started flipping a few piece of meat over. "Yes, you took the Academy Genin Exam, but that was simply to clear out those who were clearly incapable of becoming Shinobi in the first place. Those of you who have passed the Academy Test have proven to have the bare minimum amount of knowledge and skill to become Shinobi. Now you, and your classmates, have to pass the Jonin-sensei Exam, which varies from sensei to sensei. About three-quarters of you will fail it and be sent back; no thanks to how badly the Academy's standards have fallen in recent years. You've probably already heard all about that from your Chunin-sensei. Anyway, once we've eaten our fill here, we'll head to a training field and you'll demonstrate your skills before all three of you spar against me at once. Land a solid blow on me inside of a time limit and you pass. Fail to do that and you go back to the Academy. Simple as that."
"EHH?!" Naruto's eyes bugged out. "Man, talk about a high hurdle! Even all three of us put together aren't a match for you!"
"Easy there kid, I'm not going to be going all out." Asuma chuckled before reassuring the blonde jinchūriki and the now-uneasy girls. "That would completely go against the purpose of the test. Yes, I could beat all three of you with one hand tied behind me if I wanted to. So what? I'm a Jonin and you three aren't even recognized genin yet. Unless you had several hours to prep an area with traps for an ambush and I was stupid and cocky enough to walk right into it, there's absolutely no way for you to win against me. What I want to see is if you can come up with a plan to fulfil an objective and then execute it properly. The purpose of the demonstration isn't for me; it's for your teammates so they know what you are capable of. Knowing the skills of your teammates is absolutely essential if you want to make a plan, especially against a stronger enemy."
The three genin absorbed that for a moment, and then exchanged looks with one another. No matter how they stacked the odds in their favour, a Jonin was so far above them in every category that even landing a single blow seemed to be a coin toss at best.
"I'll keep myself to the strength of the average chunin, with no jutsu above C-Rank or my trench knives." Asuma continued as he served up the plates with meat, adding in the veggies that he'd been cooking on the side too. "It helps that thanks to my stint with the Twelve, I'm more than a bit rusty."
"Eh?" Sakura tilted her head to the side in curiosity.
"The Guardian Shinobi Twelve are the Fire Daimyo's personal guard, Sakura. We have to be on guard almost all the time, and there are only twelve of us." the bearded Jonin chuckled. "Even with us working in shifts, that doesn't exactly leave as much time for training as we might like, and I was a member for over a decade. As much as I'd like to think I haven't gotten weaker from all of that standing around and reduced training time, I likely have. One reason why I decided to take a genin team is that it lets me ease into the life of a regular Jonin again and rebuild my strength back up to its former level without too much hassle."
"Makes sense." Ino nodded. "Didn't you have an interview with Daddy a couple of months ago too?"
"Mandatory counselling after an extended deployment outside of Konoha." Asuma agreed. "Thanks to the Yamanaka Clan, our Shinobi Forces generally speaking have the best mental health in the Elemental Nations. There are outliers, but we're all in better shape, mentally speaking, thanks to the Yamanaka."
Ino looked smug at that.
"Now tuck in. We have a lot to do today and you need to eat to keep your energy up." Asuma urged them.
Not needing any further urging, the three genin fell upon the barbecue with a gusto. It impressed Asuma how Naruto could eat more food after visiting his favourite ramen eatery, but chalked it up to his Uzumaki heritage. Kushina had been a big eater as well, from what his dad had said.
His eyes lingered on the sole male genin for a moment. What his father had told him was utterly ridiculous, a fairy tale practically...but Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't joke about the abilities of the ninja under his command, especially when it came to one Uzumaki Naruto.
'If the kid really has got some kind of RPG power, then it would explain how he's managed to do a complete 180 from Dead Last to capable student this year.' Asuma mused as he started on his own meal. 'It would also explain how he learns jutsu so fast as well. This will be interesting, if nothing else.'
Later
Training Field 10, Konohagakure Outskirts
[Quest Alert!]
The True Genin Exam!: Your Jonin-sensei, Sarutobi Asuma, has revealed that you and your teammates are going to be tested by him to see if you truly deserve the hitai-ate that you wear. In order to pass your team must land a single solid blow against him, whether it be ninjutsu or taijutsu, within a specified time limit.
Quest Reward: Confirmation of Genin Rank, 7500 EXP, 10000 Ryo, Two random jutsu scrolls.
Quest Failure: Demotion back to Academy Student.
This quest cannot be refused and has thus been auto-accepted.
Naruto eyed the pop-up and resisted the urge to frown. After three years, he had graduated at long last. He was NOT going to fail this test. Like hell he was going to go back to being an Academy Student after all of this!
He leaned back against a tree and glanced around the training ground. It wasn't anything special, at least compared to the chakra-saturated training ground that he frequented. The place was basically a clearing in the middle of a lightly forested area, with a path leading through the trees to the entrance of the training ground.
In the clearing itself, which was larger than the entire Academy sparring ground, Asuma and Ino were watching with interest as Sakura made a Suijōki Bunshin using the materials that she'd brought with her in scrolls.
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