Inside the Hokage's office.

"What are you planning to do? Perhaps you should be a little more patient with Kakashi."

The Third Hokage looked at Jiraiya.

Kakashi was the biggest problem child.

But.

He had talent, and the Third Hokage truly couldn't bear to see him waste away; he still hoped Jiraiya could be lenient.

However, Jiraiya replied, "If it comes to the outcome I don't want to see, then it can only be said that there is fate but no connection."

"I'm leaving."

He waved his hand and disappeared from the office.

The Third Hokage sighed lightly, his face filled with worry.

...

The next day, in the Death Forest, training ground number 7.

Yūhi Kurenai arrived early and noticed that Jing Yan and Kakashi had also come early, sitting under a tree to rest.

She tiptoed quietly, not daring to make a sound.

"Let's sit down and rest..."

But she kept thinking about things!

Yūhi Kurenai looked at the shadows of the trees above, her mood complicated.

After a long while.

"Ah, sorry, something came up on the way; I'm late."

Jiraiya chuckled.

"Lord Jiraiya, you're too late!"

Yūhi Kurenai glanced at the time.

In another hour, it would be noon.

However, upon seeing the three in front of him, his smile instantly froze.

One was wearing a mask, his gaze indifferent.

The other two were calm.

"You all work together quite well. Seeing you like this, I have more confidence in your passing the exam."

Jiraiya cleared his throat and took out a bell from his waist.

"Kakashi, I don't know what your first exam was like, but my exam is very simple: you just need to grab the bell to pass."

Ding~

The bell clinked.

He hung the bell back.

"Any questions?"

"Is it enough to grab one, or do we need to grab all?" Kakashi asked.

Jiraiya replied, "Considering the gap between us, as long as you grab one, it counts as a success. However, the one with the worst performance will be hung up and miss lunch, and in the afternoon, they will participate in another individual assessment."

Kakashi took a deep breath and said nothing more.

Jiraiya looked at the other two.

"What about you?"

"No problem," Jing Yan said.

"Good, let's start. I'll give you some time to set up your strategy."

Whoosh!

In an instant, the three disappeared from the spot.

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes, thinking, "Did they go in different directions? Could it be...?"

His heart sank.

He had high hopes for Jing Yan, but if Jing Yan had such a shallow understanding of strategy and teamwork, he would be very disappointed.

At the same time.

Yūhi Kurenai whispered, "Jing Yan, are we really not going to help Kakashi?"

"Of course we will. We’ll coordinate and design a strategy, leaving him an opening. He is a Chūnin, and if he won't cooperate actively, then there's nothing we can do," Jing Yan replied.

Yūhi Kurenai breathed a sigh of relief.

"So how do we fight?"

"You and I will drag it out in front, attract attention, and use traps and genjutsu to coordinate with Kakashi's position for a surprise attack, and see if we can grab a bell. Specifically, you use genjutsu to cooperate, and then..."

"Okay."

...

"It has begun. Before the hourglass runs out, you must grab my bell; otherwise, you will also fail."

Jiraiya flipped the hourglass over.

Then, he sensed the situation around him.

"Not bad at hiding."

A slight smile appeared on Jiraiya's lips.

These three kids, their fundamentals are quite solid.

But.

There was still one flaw.

Jiraiya walked forward, seemingly casually, but his steps were cautious.

Crash!

A massive wooden log, bound, swept toward him from the front.

Jiraiya instantly dodged.

However.

In that brief moment, he saw a figure in front of him twist and vanish.

Yūhi Kurenai?

Illusion: Tree Binding Kill!

The name of the jutsu flashed through Jiraiya's mind, and he immediately used his chakra to disrupt his own body.

In an instant, he broke free from the genjutsu.

However.

In the blink of an eye, several traps flew toward him.

Jiraiya vanished in an instant.

The next moment, he crouched on a tree, alertly observing his surroundings.

These little brats...

I can't underestimate any of them!

I never expected that the little girl from the Yūhi clan had already mastered B-rank difficulty genjutsu.

Before he could observe closely, two figures charged out.

Kakashi wielded a knife, while Jing Yan appeared from below in an instant.

A smile crept onto Jiraiya's lips.

Then.

Clang!

He held a kunai upward, perfectly blocking Jing Yan's kunai strike.

Jing Yan didn’t linger, instantly disappearing from his previous position and landing on another tree.

But.

"Good strategy."

Behind him, Jiraiya's voice rang out.

The Jiraiya from before instantly turned into a puff of smoke and vanished.

It was a shadow clone.

Jiraiya immediately launched a flurry of punches and kicks at incredible speed.

In a moment, Jing Yan exchanged three punches and two kicks with Jiraiya.

Not bad at taijutsu!

Jiraiya was surprised deep down.

Jing Yan's skills...

Among the Genin, he was definitely top-tier; many Chūnin might not be as good as him.

He had a thought and immediately used more force.

As a result.

Bang!

The figure in front turned into a wooden log.

The real Jing Yan...

Had escaped to another position.

Good kid!

A flash of appreciation crossed Jiraiya's eyes.

He admired not only Jing Yan's skills and the combination of the substitution and body flicker techniques but also Jing Yan's judgment ability.

Just as he used heavy force, the other party quickly fled.

Such judgment shows that Jing Yan is quite calm.

Impressive!

"This way!"

A giant wooden log flew down from above, sweeping toward Jiraiya.

Yūhi Kurenai cut down a trap to cover for Jing Yan.

However.

Jiraiya directly punched, smashing through the wooden trap.

"If it's just like this, you definitely won't pass the exam."

"Go!"

Jing Yan was very clear—

Jiraiya had not used his full strength!

If it were real combat, the opponent could have directly used the Lion's Barrage technique; his speed should be even greater.

After all, he's one of the Legendary Three Ninjas!

Now Jiraiya's speed was just slightly faster than his.

He needed to use traps or cooperate with his teammates to escape.

This was a problem.

However.

He had already led Jiraiya to the necessary position.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

A series of spiked wooden planks flew from all directions toward Jiraiya, who was jumping in the air.

At the same time, two clones charged out.

One looked like Jing Yan.

The other transformed into Kakashi.

The two "people" rushed quickly toward Jiraiya.

Yūhi Kurenai, in the tree, formed hand seals.

In the blink of an eye, four or five wooden plank traps and two "people" had already arrived in front of him.

Instantly.

His hair began to grow rapidly, spreading outwards, grabbing the first flying wooden plank, while the other few reached out to grab the two attackers.

Bang!

The clones immediately exploded.

This was a genjutsu created by Yūhi Kurenai, the Hell's Clone.

An advanced clone jutsu with added abilities.

Jiraiya had been maintaining chaotic chakra and had not been hit at all. But at this moment, the wooden planks flying from behind instantly transformed into human shapes.

Kakashi grabbed a rope, the blade in his hand like a beast's fang, rushing toward Jiraiya at high speed.

Clang!

Jiraiya blocked the blade with his kunai.

However.

From behind, a gust of wind approached.

Jing Yan?

Such speed!

Jiraiya was shocked—

Although he had long known that Jing Yan's body flicker technique was incredible, facing full power body flicker was still astonishing.

At seven years old, to master such a level of body flicker technique...

Simply incredible!

Not only that.

His punches, kicks, and body balance all surpassed the taijutsu level of his peers.

The only ones who could compare to him...

Were probably Kakashi and another bizarre youth.

Moreover.

At this moment, there was still another Kakashi attacking him.

Knife, kunai, fists.

And the dazzling cherry blossom illusion technique.

The three worked together, creating a dizzying effect.

In the next moment, the knife and fist struck simultaneously.

"Be careful!"

When Jing Yan's fist made contact, he immediately sensed something was wrong.

This was not the normal texture.

Moreover.

With their meager skills, could they really pose a threat to Jiraiya?

Sure enough, the Jiraiya in front of him turned into a puddle of mud.

This was an Earth Clone.

"Above!"

Yūhi Kurenai shouted immediately.

Without needing to command, Kakashi swung his blade upward—

A large net flew down from above.

All around, the wooden planks that had been fixed by hair also rushed toward the center.

Rip!

The net was cut open by Kakashi's knife, creating a huge opening.

Before he could pull back, Jiraiya had already arrived in front of him.

However.

Jing Yan instantly appeared in front of him.

Bang!

A solid fist collided.

Boom!

Jing Yan was sent crashing to the ground, but at that moment, he shouted, "Lord Jiraiya, you also don’t want people to know that you..."