Chapter 74: The Final Test 

Two giant Fūma shuriken tore through the air above Training Ground 98. Chakra threads extended from Shikun's fingers, guiding both spinning weapons along converging paths toward Tonbo. 

The control impressed him. The Fūma clan's work with shaped chakra possessed a character unlike any standard Academy discipline. 

Tonbo sensed the second attack approaching from behind. Chakra covered Saiji's hands and feet in curved claws. Two pointed ears rose above his hair, and a flexible tail balanced his surprisingly agile charge. 

From the opposite side, Hana and the three Haimaru Brothers used Beast Human Clone. Four identical versions of Hana dropped low and rushed Tonbo with the coordinated ferocity of a hunting pack. 

All three children had prepared Throat Guard. They believed Tokuma's countermeasure had removed Tonbo's most dangerous weapon. 

Their formation showed months of improvement. Shikun's weapons controlled the open space and forced a target toward the center. Saiji attacked the blind angle created by their passage, while Hana's pack waited for Tonbo to evade. They had even staggered their arrival so that one defensive movement could not answer every threat. 

Against an ordinary genin, perhaps even an inexperienced chūnin, the plan might have succeeded. Against Tonbo's perception, it merely gave him several good choices. 

"A good defense," Tonbo said, "but much too narrow. Saiji, watch what your family's technique can become." 

He threw an open scroll into the air, completed the necessary hand seals, and pressed chakra into the writing as it descended. 

"Cat Spirit Possession." 

A vast feline avatar formed around him. Dense chakra created its rounded body, heavy paws, curling tail, and upright ears. Tonbo stood protected within its center. 

One paw struck both Fūma shuriken from the air. They spun away and buried themselves deep in the earth. 

The avatar's tail coiled around Saiji before his claws came within reach. He yelped as Tonbo swung him toward Shikun. The Fūma boy released his chakra threads and caught his teammate, though the impact knocked them both backward. 

Hana and her transformed ninken reached the avatar together. Four punches landed at separate angles with enough force to stagger an ordinary opponent. The chakra shell did not ripple. 

"That needs work," Tonbo observed. "And don't imagine I failed to notice that you and your brothers have been taking turns attending training. This is what avoiding two-thirds of your practice produces." 

Hana froze for a fraction of a second. The three Haimaru Brothers were nearly identical, and she had believed rotating them would divide the burden without Tonbo realizing. 

The avatar's tail swept low. Hana reacted first and leaped, while all three ninken followed. A padded chakra paw descended before they could change direction. 

The impact drove the four attackers into the grass. Smoke burst around the transformed dogs, revealing their original bodies in a dazed heap. Hana landed beside them and tried to stand, but her legs refused. 

The battle had lasted only moments. 

Tonbo allowed the avatar to remain while the children recovered. Its presence made the lesson impossible to dismiss as a difference in speed alone. They had designed their defense around his known auditory genjutsu, then attacked as if solving that single problem guaranteed victory. A shinobi who revealed one technique might possess ten others—or might borrow the opponent's own strength. 

"Your preparation was correct," he told them. "Your conclusion was not. Never confuse countering one weapon with countering the person who carries it." 

Shikun and Saiji stared at the towering cat avatar while they struggled for breath. 

"Your clan can do that?" Shikun asked. 

Hana turned toward Saiji with the same disbelief. 

The boy could barely look away. "Cat Spirit Possession is our greatest secret art. During the Warring States era, it allowed the Izuno to establish a place in the Land of Fire." 

Seeing the completed technique changed something in him. The clan he had quietly regarded as weak possessed an art with complete defense, long reach, and overwhelming physical force. Their present decline did not erase what earlier generations had created. 

"It requires enormous control and substantial reserves," Saiji admitted. "Almost no one can complete it now." 

"You can," Shikun said. Envy colored his voice, but so did conviction. "Maybe not soon, but someday." 

Hana sat among her recovering partners. "The Inuzuka have advanced techniques too. Most require a stronger body than mine. We'll all get there." 

Tonbo dismissed the avatar. He had used the secret art inefficiently, more for demonstration than necessity, but that had been the point. Their final test was meant to humble them without extinguishing their ambition. Throat Guard proved that they could research and prepare; their defeat proved that no countermeasure solved every battle. 

He reviewed the exchange with them while the ninken regained their footing. Shikun should have kept one shuriken in reserve. Saiji had committed before confirming that Tonbo was trapped. Hana had recognized the counterattack fastest but allowed all three partners to leap in the same direction. Each mistake was specific and correctable. None meant their overall plan had been foolish. 

"This was your last scheduled lesson," he said. "You no longer need to report here after the Academy. Your foundations are strong enough for independent practice, and each of you should graduate without difficulty." 

The children received the news with unexpected silence. 

For half a year, they had complained about Tonbo's exercises, his impossible standards, and the harmonica he lifted whenever they slowed. They had also grown faster than any of them expected. Their control, taijutsu, teamwork, and knowledge now placed them among the Academy's strongest students. 

Tonbo gave each of them a written training sequence. Hana's emphasized coordination with all three Haimaru Brothers rather than rotating them. Shikun's divided chakra-wing development into shapes he could practice safely. Saiji's plan built from Cat Cloak toward the layered structure of Cat Spirit Possession. He also instructed them to consult their families before changing any inherited method. 

Ayame would give birth soon. Tonbo intended to reserve the coming weeks for his family, not daily instruction of three children who could now guide their own progress. 

Shikun bowed first. "Tonbo-sensei, I will become strong enough to protect Konoha." 

Saiji followed. "I'll master Cat Spirit Possession and become a shinobi like you." 

Hana rested a hand on the Haimaru Brothers. "We won't waste what you taught us." 

Tonbo had taught more than physical foundations. Every lesson connected their growth to the people who depended upon them and to the village that joined their separate clans. The Will of Fire offered a simple structure for courage, duty, and belonging. Iruka, Togekei, Shinobu, Itachi, Anko, and now these children had all responded to it. 

"Good," Tonbo said. "Konoha's future belongs to you. Hana can become the Fifth Hokage, Shikun the Sixth, and Saiji the Seventh." 

The solemn moment shattered. 

"Why am I seventh?" Saiji demanded. "I should be sixth." 

Shikun placed a consoling hand on his shoulder. "We're teammates. You shouldn't mind waiting until after my term." 

"I will become Hokage before you. My clan's avatar is stronger." 

"Only if you can catch me. My clan's wings can fly." 

They argued across the training ground while Hana laughed at both of them. 

Tonbo listened with quiet amusement. He had no desire to occupy the Hokage's seat himself. Authority near the center of Konoha gave him influence without consuming his life beneath the village's entire weight. The Ino–Shika–Chō clans understood that balance well. 

If his three students retained even a fraction of their present confidence, the impossible titles he had offered them had already served their purpose.