Iruka took them all to practice ground for their ability a.s.sessment. He told them to choose groups in random, at most five people per group. Jun was in a group with Ino, Sasuke, the pink haired girl, and the blond haired mischief maker. He saw other people he knew also being paired off, maybe those from ninja families automatically sought each other. He saw Hinata going in a team with Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba and Shino. The other kids also made groups of five. When everyone had formed their groups, Iruka told them the method to test their ability, an Obstacle race."First we will be doing some basic exercises that will help you to use your muscles to their max potential. After that we will have you all compete in the Obstacle Course. Just to inform you, the record of this obstacle course was set by a child during the third ninja war, n.o.busaki Tomoya. Poor guy died during an ambush of k.u.mo Ninja, saving his comrades. He despite being a civilian background holder, saved many of the people from Ninja Clans. All because he was an extremely dedicated child, hardworking to the extreme. Therefore you can remember this lesson, Background doesn"t matter as much as what you do with your Hard work, Willpower and Dedication."
Saying so Iruka started the obstacle course. First some of the civilian students tried their attempts. They were motivated by Iruka"s speech and wanted to prove that they were not any less than the ninja children of the clans. However the course proved especially difficult for them, pitfalls, tripwires, launchers that shot blunted light wooden shuriken, twists and turns that would need time to get used to and various traps that were designed to make a person think on their feet. It proved bit more difficult than they realized. Although everyone was really fit beyond their age, however none could go past the course in less than ten mins.
Finally Iruka decided to focus on the ten students among whom he saw the strongest of his cla.s.s. He gave the chance to Hinata"s group first, Shino went first among them. He went past the tripwires and pitfalls easily, however shurikens gave a bit of problem. Still he did them by 6 minutes. Kiba and Choji finished with 5.20 and 8.15 respectively. Shikamaru easily pa.s.sed every trap with a slow jog, taking his time. He finished barely within 10 minutes. When Iruka asked why he not put more effort for the course, he replied with one word, "Troublesome". Hinata went last and finished in 9 minutes, only because she tripped over one of the wires in her nervousness.
"Next Sakura!" Iruka called out. The pink haired girl rushed out with a last look at Sasuke. However she got tired halfway into the course and finished at 10.20. While she panted in exhaustion, the blond haired boy went forward and talked to her in excitement.
"Hi I am Uzumaki Naruto! What is your name?"
"Sakura Haruno."
"Well Sakura, you were good, But not as good as me. Watch now." Ino b.u.t.ted into their conversation and went on to the course. She started off in a burst of speed, pa.s.sing through the shurikens in less than a minute. Jumping around various traps, pitfalls and tripwires, she put one final burst of speed, and completed it in 5.40. Sakura and Naruto looked at her dumbfounded.
"No need to be surprised," Dragging Jun forward next to her she continued, "when Jun had had his chance then you will know the meaning of surprise." Ino said with a grin.
"No need to wait that long, I will be going next." Jun supplemented Ino"s statement and went forward. Sasuke finally started paying attention on the course. He had been impressed by him when he saw him in Hyuga mansion. As Jun got ready to start he got a notification.
[Chain Quest Alert! Part One!]
Training Montage
Iruka is going to put you through a training regimen, so do your best.
First Objective: Beat the time of everyone on your team in the first attempt.
Time to beat: Depends on the result of rest of your team
Objective Completion Reward: + 100 EXP, + 2 Stat Points
Bonus Objective 1: Beat time of everyone in your cla.s.s.
Bonus Objective 2: Beat the previous record holder"s time of 3.22
Bonus Objective 3: Impress Sasuke and Naruto and organize a spar session.
Failure: + 50 EXP
He started with a smile, and enhanced his body with nature chakra. He blinked off in a spread of dust, pa.s.sing by the shuriken launchers before they had a chance to fire off. Jumping beyond the tripwires, he dodged the pitfalls while thinking of how to organize the spar.
"Naruto is easy, I just need to get that pink haired girl, Sakura to join. Sasuke is not that difficult, he will do anything to compete with his brother. He will easily agree as long as it makes him strong. Sakura… I will have to see what to do about her."
By this time he was already past the pitfalls and nearing the twist and turn part of the obstacle course. Since there was no more dodging past, he turned his gear onto another notch as he flashed through it like a lightning bolt. Before anyone realized how he had done it, he already had finished the race, without breaking a sweat.
Iruka looked at him in amazement, before calling out his time. "2.40" Iruka called out as the cla.s.s went in uproar. The seemingly injured guy who they thought only had good looks, defeated each record ever made on this course. Iruka too came forward and praised Jun.
"Well done, you had me worried for a second, you being injured and all. But you far surpa.s.sed what I could have ever imagined even if you weren"t injured." Iruka praised Jun.
Sasuke finally started taking him seriously and Sakura started to cheer him as he stood on the start line. On Iruka"s signal he blasted of, putting all his effort to beat Jun"s record. His Uchiha blood craved power and accomplishment, give him the will power to push his body beyond his limits. Jun observed Sasuke as he blew past all obstacles. However in the end, the twist and turns dropped his speed a bit, giving him a 3.51 on the time taken.
Finally, it was Naruto"s turn, after sending a "V" sign at Sakura to show off and a glare at Sasuke at whom she was staring while ignoring him, he took position at start line. With Iruka"s signal to start he bounded off like a rabbit, his head and body crouched down, and his hands slanted back. He ran light a fired bullet, using max strength at each step, sending a pile of dust into the air as he blazed past. When Jun realized that he had been keeping max speed the whole time while dodging traps and jumping past tripwires, he was impressed. "He is agile as well as has a tremendous stamina, a born hard worker." As he reached the final part, Naruto sped up even more, finally finishing with the time of 3.51, same as Sasuke, gaining the attention of entire cla.s.s, except Sakura, who still believed Sasuke was cooler. Sasuke on the other hand was glad to have another compet.i.tor.
When Naruto was about to boast off to Sasuke, Jun arrived between the two.
"Congrats Naruto, I didn"t know you had that in you. Reaching a draw with an Uchiha, no small feat. I was going to organize a training session along with Ino, Would you guys like to come too? We could have some dedicated practice without disturbance." Jun suggested
"Hey Sakura you come too! We could have lots of fun." Ino called out to Sakura, she liked the girl and wanted to be her friend.
"Hey don"t forget about me, I am going to beat this arrogant b.a.s.t.a.r.d in the training, Believe It!" Naruto Yelled.
"Hey no need to yell mischief maker, I got you are coming. Stop jumping around like a monkey." Jun retorted seeing he yelling with that puffed up face and raised hands. Ino and Sakura laughed, even Sasuke snickered at that.
"So, tomorrow evening, training ground 3? That should be available for all students for practice and it too has its own practice equipment" When everyone agreed to it, Jun got a notification.
[Chain Quest Alert! Part One!]
Training Montage
Iruka is going to put you through a training regimen, so do your best.
First Objective: Beat the time of everyone on your team in the first attempt. - Completed
Objective Completion Reward: + 100 EXP, + 2 Stat Points
Bonus Objective 1: Beat time of everyone in your cla.s.s. – Completed
Reward: Basic Fist Arts +1 level, Basic Sword Style +1 level, Basic Pole Arts +1 level
Bonus Objective 2: Beat the previous record holder"s time of 3.22 - Completed
Reward: Ninjutsu Scroll: Fire Style: Great Fireball, Water Style: Large Projectile
Bonus Objective 3: Impress Sasuke and Naruto and organize a spar session. – Completed
Reward: Made impression on two Main Characters of the World"s timeline, changing their fate. Gained a Soul Memory Shard.