Kunai clashed. Earth exploded. Smoke bombs whistled through the trees.
The bell test was in full swing—and Asuka-sensei was a ghost in the battlefield.
Tsubasa ducked behind a tree, breath steady but sharp. Daiki had tried to ambush from below using Earth Release, while Nanase rigged a trap line through the trees. Neither tactic worked. Asuka had read them like an open scroll.
She's not just fast. She's unpredictable. Surgical.
Tsubasa's fingers tingled again—space warping subtly in a ripple around his skin.
He held his breath. A faint flicker, just above—
There.
He leapt sideways just as a barrage of shuriken rained down, cutting through leaves and dirt.
"Asuka-sensei doesn't play fair," Nanase grunted, dropping beside him. A scratch ran along her cheek.
"She's not supposed to," Tsubasa said. "This isn't about power. It's about adaptation."
Nanase blinked. "You talk like a jōnin."
Tsubasa smirked. "Let's say I learn fast."
Daiki's voice crackled in their earcom. "Got a plan?"
"Yes," Tsubasa replied, eyes narrowing. "But it depends on whether I can pull off something new."
Nanase raised an eyebrow. "New?"
Tsubasa didn't answer. He stepped forward and focused on the air ahead of him.
Come on… just a flicker… warp.
His chakra pulsed—erratic, unstable—but then…
The space ahead bent.
For an instant, he reappeared five meters ahead—no hand signs. No seals. Just pure spatial displacement.
He staggered, coughing.
It burns. Not ready for long range… yet.
But it was enough.
"Asuka's to the right!" he shouted.
Nanase hurled a trap tag. Daiki burst from underground. Tsubasa blurred behind Asuka with a warped kunai in hand—his first custom tool: a chakra-marked blade attuned to his space-time signature.
She parried, but the shock registered in her eyes.
"How—?"
Tsubasa twisted, feinted, and tagged the bell string.
Not a clean steal, but close enough.
They hit the dirt in a tangle of limbs and leaves.
The bell jingled softly between them.
Asuka stood slowly. "You pushed me to use chakra. That's rare."
She turned to all three of them.
"Tsubasa. You've got dangerous instincts. But you're unstable."
Tsubasa looked down at his shaking hands. "Yeah… I noticed."
"Nanase. Good trapwork. Daiki, better timing next time."
She tossed the bell up—and caught it.
"You all pass."
Daiki whooped. Nanase grinned.
Tsubasa just exhaled.
But deep down, something gnawed at him.
The space-time chakra had responded… too easily.
And for a moment, when he blinked—
—he saw a reflection of himself in the distortion.
But it wasn't him.
It smiled back.