The sun had climbed higher by the time Team 14 gathered on the Academy rooftop.
It was a strange place to meet — the other teams had been called to classrooms or training fields. But Takeshi had simply said, "Come to the highest point. If you can't find it, you fail."
Rei Inuzuka arrived first, his white-furred companion barking at the wind.
"Smells like storms," he muttered. "And secrets."
Hinata arrived next, slightly out of breath from the climb. Her pale eyes scanned the rooftop until they landed on Rei. She gave a quiet nod.
Then Kaito appeared.
He didn't walk up. He was just there — like fog rolling in from nowhere.
Rei blinked. "You're quiet for someone who keeps showing up like a ghost."
Kaito didn't reply.
Rei stepped closer, a little too challenging. "You gonna keep ignoring everyone, or just me?"
Hinata stepped between them again. "Rei… don't."
Rei shrugged. "Hey, I'm not picking a fight. I just like knowing who I'm teamed with. Cursed boy and princess, huh? Guess I'm the wild card."
Kaito's eyes narrowed slightly. "No. You're the loud one."
Rei grinned. "Now we're talking."
A shadow moved across the rooftop. Takeshi stood at the edge, arms crossed, silent. No one had seen him arrive.
"You made it," he said. "Good."
He stepped forward, scanning each of them. When he spoke again, his voice was calm, almost bored.
"Sit."
They obeyed.
"I'm not here to congratulate you," he said. "I don't care if you passed the Academy exams. That doesn't make you shinobi."
Rei frowned. Hinata lowered her gaze. Kaito sat motionless.
"I've seen genin die on their first mission," Takeshi continued. "Because they didn't understand the most important rule."
He held up one finger. "A shinobi must see through deception."
Rei blinked. "Huh?"
"You'll have your test tomorrow," Takeshi said. "You'll need to work as a team. Fail, and you go back to the Academy."
"But we already—" Rei started.
"You passed the Academy," Takeshi interrupted. "Not me."
There was a long silence.
Then Hinata raised her hand. "Wh-what's the test?"
Takeshi looked at her, then turned away. "You'll find out at dawn. Training Field 7. Don't be late."
With that, he stood and disappeared in a swirl of wind — faster than any of them could track.
Rei stood up, cracking his neck. "Well. That guy's cheery."
Kaito remained still, staring at the space where Takeshi had stood.
Something was wrong.
He could feel it.
The wind was whispering again.
That night, as the other teams celebrated, Kaito returned to the orphanage. But sleep didn't last.
At exactly midnight, he awoke to a sound — like paper being unrolled.
There, on his window, hung a black scroll tied in silver thread. No seal. No sender.
He took it silently and opened it.
Inside, a single sentence written in clean ink:
They are watching. The test is real. If you fail, you disappear.
Beneath it — a symbol. An ANBU mask. But the mouth was stitched shut.
Kaito stared at it for a long time.
Then he burned the scroll in his hand — no jutsu, no fire tag. Just heat. Raw chakra flickering like a blue flame.
It burned clean.
No ashes.
Elsewhere in the village, Rei was pacing in his room.
His dog, Kuro, growled.
"I know," Rei muttered. "Something's off."
He sat down and stared at the moonlight through the window.
"That fog kid… there's something weird about him. Not just the chakra. It's like…"
He hesitated.
"It's like he's not really… here."
At Training Field 7, the sky was still pale when the three of them arrived.
Takeshi stood waiting beside two wooden posts. On one of them, two bells hung from a string.
He looked at them without expression. "Your task is simple. Take the bells from me. You have until noon."
"There's only two," Rei pointed out.
"Exactly," Takeshi said. "Someone will fail."
Hinata paled. Rei tensed. Kaito just stared at the bells.
"Begin," Takeshi said.
And vanished.
For a heartbeat, none of them moved.
Then Rei grinned. "Alright! We grab the bells, easy—"
A kunai struck the tree beside his head with a thunk.
Rei blinked. "Okay. Not easy."
Kaito vanished into the mist crawling low across the grass. Hinata melted into the tree line, her breath shallow, hands trembling.
Takeshi's voice echoed from nowhere.
"Come at me head-on… and you lose."
From the mist, Kaito tracked subtle air shifts. He whispered a word. "Whisper Veil."
The mist thickened instantly, cloaking him in silence. Then — he found Takeshi, perched on a high branch.
The jonin looked directly at him.
He saw through the veil.
Senbon flew. Kaito ducked — but Takeshi was already behind him.
"Too slow."
Kaito turned, and wind chakra exploded outward from his palms, driving Takeshi back — but the jonin vanished again, leaving only rustling leaves.
Meanwhile, Rei charged in from the opposite side.
"Let's go, Kuro! Fang Rush!"
The two launched forward in a spinning blur — Rei's personal take on the Inuzuka style, layered with clones.
But it hit nothing.
Ink-script traps detonated beneath his feet, binding his limbs.
"What—?!"
Takeshi stepped out of the shadows. "Too loud. Too predictable."
Rei struggled. "You really think this stops me?"
Kuro lunged — but Takeshi was already gone.
Hidden in a tree hollow, Hinata activated her Byakugan.
The world lit up in chakra paths. Takeshi moved like a ghost — silent, fast, calculating. But he had a pattern.
He was watching them. Pushing them. Not to test skills…
To test choices.
Hinata whispered, "This isn't about the bells…"
Kaito regrouped near the clearing. His chakra… felt alive. Flickering. Pulling the air around him.
Then he remembered the scroll.
This wasn't about passing.
It was about trust.
He sprinted toward Rei.
Rei was still tangled when Kaito appeared.
"You here to grab the bell?"
Kaito said nothing. He crouched and pulsed wind chakra — slicing through the ink trap.
Rei blinked. "You helped me."
"No one's getting a bell alone."
Rei stared. "…You really are cursed. No one helps in these things."
"Then let's break that rule."
They found Hinata already waiting.
"I figured it out," she said. "The real test… is if we stay together."
Kaito nodded. "Let's not give him what he wants."
They stepped into the clearing together.
Takeshi stood calmly, bells swinging from his hand.
"Back again?" he asked.
"We're not taking the bells," Kaito said.
Hinata raised her voice. "If only two of us pass, we all fail."
Rei folded his arms. "Yeah, we're annoying like that."
Takeshi was silent.
Then he smiled — the first smile they'd ever seen.
"You pass."
Later, under the same tree, Takeshi handed each of them a forehead protector.
"I don't need strong shinobi," he said. "I need a team that won't break."
He turned to leave, then paused.
"Kaito."
The boy looked up.
"There are things about you that will surface soon. When they do — remember today. Remember them."
Then he vanished.
Hinata looked at Kaito. "What do you think he meant?"
Kaito didn't answer.
But in the distance, a storm was building.
And the wind whispered louder than ever.