Blood & Hidden Leaves

"It really wasn't that funny," Kusuri said, exasperated.

Still in the throes of a fit of laughter, his friends tried, but eventually failed, to eke out a response.

"It was pretty funny," Takeshi said, handing out bento boxes.

Trying to ignore the fun being poked in his direction, he accepted his lunch, thanking Takeshi.

The boxes themselves were rather simple, their contents even more so. They weren't bad though, especially since the three students had grown rather hungry.

Being healed by or utilizing medical ninjutsu tended to take a good bit out of you after all.

Despite their hunger, they still ate rather calmly, if only to be polite.

Their meal was filled with bits of small between the members of Team 9. Most of it had been sparked by Takeshi posing icebreakers, but they were quickly taken off the rails by side tangents caused by either Taga or Kusuri.

After half an hour or so, they finished eating and moved on to the next phase of their first team meeting.

"Now then, I assume you might be wondering why I held back so little during our little sparring matches, correct?" Takeshi asked.

"That's one way to put it," Taga muttered under his breath.

"Simply put, my reasons were twofold. First, I wanted to see each of you fight for real. It is my belief, just as it was my sensei's, that a person's truest nature, and most of all flaws, come through the clearest when in live combat. You may not realize it, but I've already learned quite a few things about each of you."

Takeshi turned his gaze over to Taga and leveled his finger at him.

"First off, you, Taga, are impulsive, and act before you think, but even with that, you also showed a distinct lack of trepidation, which can be the difference between life and death".

Taga wasn't sure if that came out to a net complement, so he decided to stay quiet and let Takeshi continue.

"Secondly," Takeshi said, now turning to Nori, "Almost as a clear contrast to Taga, I could easily tell that not a single one of your attacks was aimed at a vital area, which shows a remarkable amount of trepidation, as well as impressive forethought and self-control".

Nori was similarly unsure how to take that prognosis, but, unlike Taga, said confusion was not hilariously obviously plastered on her face.

"And finally, Mr. Wet Cat," Takeshi continued with a smirk, "The main thing I can remark about for you is the same reason you surrendered: you need to plan for the unplanned. You came up with what was undoubtedly a very solid, if straightforward, combat strategy, but the moment it went sideways, you floundered."

The three students were frankly a bit stunned to have their own flaws be laid bare so directly. Especially ones that, if it had been real combat, would've gotten them killed.

"You all look like you've realized my second point of reason; I wanted each of you to realize how fragile you three really are," Takeshi announced, voice several degrees colder than before, "Each of you knows that if that had been real combat — if I had been a real enemy — all of you would be dead. Thankfully, it wasn't."

Takeshi paused, taking a deep breath, in and out.

"The number one reason why all genin are assigned to a Jonin is not to train you, it is to keep you all alive on missions. It doesn't matter how much we train you, or how smart you are, if an enemy Jonin tries to fight you, you will lose. Even with me there, my presence can't keep you safe if you do something stupid. Do. You. Understand," Takeshi questioned, his large, white eyes staring deeply into each of his students.

"Yes Sensei," they chorused solemnly.

Takeshi sighed. He seemed a bit more relaxed with his spiel out of the way.

"Now then, let's get on to lighter topics. Now that I've seen your go-to moves, I'd like to see what you can all do in a calmer setting. We'll all rest for a bit after, and then we'll end with a three-on-one."

----------

Each of the three students spent the next half hour showing off all the techniques they were capable of, sans those required to pass the academy.

Taga spent the least time, only having two techniques to show, followed by Nori with four, who was then blown out of the water by a whopping eight from Kusuri. 

This sent Takeshi into something of a state of shock.

He had been surprised from the beginning that two of his three students could use an elemental release, as that put the lot of them solidly beyond the curve. Even if it had only been two Jutsu each, that would've still given them a pretty serious headstart.

Then Taga used two lighting release techniques.

That wasn't as much of a shock as it could've been, especially when having seen the other two use them as well. Considering they seemed to carry themselves largely as equals, to a certain extent at least, it kind of made sense.

Then Nori showed off two more Earth Release Jutsu.

Followed by Kusuri showing off five Water Release plus two medical ninjutsu.

"These kids are monsters!" Takeshi thought, eyes going wide, "I mean, their proficiency and combat skills could use some serious work, but for crying out loud, Kusuri knows more Jutsu than most Chunin! Either these kids had a damn good teacher or they're damn good students".

His gaze wandered to Kusuri for a moment.

"Now that I think about it, it might be both. Either way, I guess I won't have to spend much time getting them new jutsu".

"Out of curiosity, you guys do realize you know way more techniques than most people your age right?" he asked, a touch of trepidation in his voice.

"We wouldn't be this far ahead if the academy curriculum weren't horrific," Kusuri retorted, "We've spent the past several summers and a lot of time outside of school trying to learn as much as we could."

"I got my techniques from asking around my clan, Ku and Nori got most of theirs from either teachers or Ku's uncle," Taga added.

"Huh," Takeshi said, losing himself in thought for a moment, "That's... kinda fair, honestly. Good job then! Certainly saves me trouble. I suppose your collective initiative payed off."

----------

After the show and tell was over, Takeshi told them to spend the next hour or so recovering their chakra. 

He was originally going to have them rest for about 15 minutes, but they ended up using far more chakra than he had expected.

After they were finished resting, they moved on to another clearing; by request of the students, it was a rockier area with less even footing, an attempt to weaken the effectiveness of Gentle Fist, which preferred even ground.

The trio was arranged in a triangle pattern, with Kusuri and Nori in the back, and Taga in the front.

Roughly thirty meters away, Takeshi stood battle-ready as well, in a stance that vaguely reminded Kusuri of Karate.

His Byakugan were still deactivated, as some small handicap to his prepubescent opponents.

Then chakra was gathered, muscles were tensed, and Takeshi announced loudly,

"Three... two... one... GO!"