Kuro pulled out his short sword and make a deft slashing motion past Masatake's throat. "Dead. One blow guaranteed. I don't need to be fancy or even honorable to meet the ends assigned to me by my clan. And unless you got some paralyzing poison on there one senbon isn't enough to cut it. I've seen all sorts of ninja weapons senbon need multiple blows to kill and unless they're long needles they don't have enough room to reach my vitals. Only neck shots would be fruitful."

Besides you wouldn't even get that chance to do that. You're expertise is medical ninjutsu isn't it? Mine is combat, I know over one hundred ways to kill people with my bare hands, and just as many with my sword and ninjutsu. Don't talk down to me like you're some sort of superior ninja I can guarantee for every strength you have I have an answer for it. Or are you not aware that I'm from the legendary Uchiha clan like our sensei just said to Mikone? You think you have good eyes? You haven't seen mine and I don't rely on them as a crutch either. Whatever you know what? I'm going to just back off and you do the same. I'll show you just how talented I really am in a moment. If you really think you're better than me than so be it prove it don't show it."

With encouragment from her teacher, Mikone held the star in her hand and cleared her mind of what happened (with difficulty). She breathed then followed instruction and threw the star with her intuition instead of brute force and bad technique. The star spun but that was the goal. It flew, like a bird then nailed the tree, not dead on but near the target where there was already another kunai.

"I did it!" She exclaimed, ignoring the two behind her. She did catch those last words though, something about proving someone was better than the other. "Uh. Thanks Sensei I'll practice everyday with that advice." There was a little bit of sucking up with her intention but she meant all of it. She hadn't been so happy since... actually she'd been pretty happy earlier in the day when she got her headband. It seemed that it was going to be a mix of ups and downs. Mikone knew the next 'down' was inevitable but without one there could not be another 'up.'

"I guess it's your turn then." She said getting out of the way of the boy. She was sure to actually stay away from him which could be viewed as fear... which it was. Everything about those boys was suddenly bothering her. Death, family, revenge... all of those things were something couldn't relate to. Was she the odd one out in the team? She though, hoping that there would be something they could bond over.

"I know you'll do great" She said, trying to be positive.

Kuro pulled out his short sword and make a deft slashing motion past Masatake's throat. "Dead. One blow guaranteed. I don't need to be fancy or even honorable to meet the ends assigned to me by my clan. And unless you got some paralyzing poison on there one senbon isn't enough to cut it. I've seen all sorts of ninja weapons senbon need multiple blows to kill and unless they're long needles they don't have enough room to reach my vitals. Only neck shots would be fruitful."

Besides you wouldn't even get that chance to do that. You're expertise is medical ninjutsu isn't it? Mine is combat, I know over one hundred ways to kill people with my bare hands, and just as many with my sword and ninjutsu. Don't talk down to me like you're some sort of superior ninja I can guarantee for every strength you have I have an answer for it. Or are you not aware that I'm from the legendary Uchiha clan like our sensei just said to Mikone? You think you have good eyes? You haven't seen mine and I don't rely on them as a crutch either. Whatever you know what? I'm going to just back off and you do the same. I'll show you just how talented I really am in a moment. If you really think you're better than me than so be it prove it don't show it."

Masatake Groaned softly at him as he put his sword against his throat and told him about how he was made for combat but Masatake wasn't trying to say he was superior or anything! Masatake wanted to talk back he wanted to hit him but damn it Masatake didn't want to be the one who would destroy what little stability they had with each other. im not trying to say im superior what im trying to say is that just because my fighting style Is different from your doesn't mean you have the right to say its inferior. I know your strong but ill be damned if you start saying that im weak. you have power and I have accuracy that's it, it doesn't mean I think im superior to you or anything your just so damn hot headed that the second I oppose you about it that's what you think. Be the strongest if you want to be because I don't care, but the least you can do is not bad mouth my fighting. Masatake said to him thinking he got his point across as he walked back to his spot away from the group waiting for their next challenge to present itself...

Fukusho stood there as their sensei started to talk about a war long gone and now they were in times of peace. It was true that they would not be fighting any war now but his old man always said war and peace is a cycle that never ends. That means Fukusho had time to train his skills for the next war. Who knows he might still be a genin or a general when that time comes but now he has to put his time into training. Too bad he never put anything extra into his kunai throwing. Masa-kun seemed pretty accurate and Kuro-kun seemed to make bigger thuds when he threw his shots. Mikone-chan was having a difficult time throwing but Akihiko-sensei gave her some encouragement. "I guess its my turn." Fukusho said not really sure how confident he was about this particular exercise. "Here I go." He picked up the first kunai and it slipped right past the tree. "Uh, that was just a warm up. He threw the second one and it grazed the side of the tree pulling bark off but still a miss. The third one hit the tree but unless it was hitting a ninja nine feet tall it would not kill anything. He threw the rest continuing to get a little getting until the sixth was a point black in the center. Then he threw the last one and it missed. "Well now that's over." Fukusho said as he went to look for those three knives.

"Alright Mikone your throw is alright but as you said keep working on it. And don't just follow me advice exceed it. Find new ways to improve your throwing arm. And as for you Fukusho. Just keep training your arm as well. My advice is to get together with Mikone and train together. Kuro. You're throws are too rough but they're right on the mark too. I can't say much about you without sounding condescending or moronic because as I'm going to talk about later on ninja need to be taken down with a good clean shot or they may get back up. You got a good point with aiming to kill but you can also aim to incapacitate a person as well. Interrogation is key to any successful ninja operation. Killing isn't the only way to get things done." Akihiko said moving away from the kunai and back towards the group.

"And you Masatake...I want you to listen to Kuro and disregard him at the same time. Your dream is to become a medical ninja right? Then you better learn how to incapacitate people with those senbon needles you use. Poison, stunning agents, and other materials will serve you well with that accuracy of yours and more hits then the rest combined certains says a lot as well. On the down side if you don't have anything you're fucked kid. I'm not even going to mince words. Senbon are ineffective killing tools, they're medical tools used as a last resort or thrown in mass by ninja who can't handle a straight up fist fight or ninjutsu brawl. Kunai and throwing stars will serve you much better if you do it one at a time. Because..." Akihiko paused and then moved over to the kunai that Masatake threw and merely poked them and nearly all of them fell off.

"Your throw with these things are weak. If you meet a ninja you better have a good taijutsu set ready. Or throw with more intent to hurt behind them and use less of them unless it's absolutely necessary. I hope you understand what I'm saying and not ignoring it because it crosses your personal beliefs...Or do they? Since you intend to kill someone for whatever reason in the future or at least ruin their lives." Akihiko said as he looked down at Masatake. Before going to one of the trees and gathering a group of walnuts that had fallen down from the tree and handing them out to each and everyone of them. "I want you to break those walnuts."

Nah kunai and throwing stars are just heavier then im used to. They wont go as far as my senbon until I practice more with them" Masatake said not going to respond to his kill someone or ruin their lives comment and decided it just wasn't worth the argument anymore. Masatake looked at sensei as they gave him wall nuts to break and Masatake thought it was kind of a stupid test but he was the boss.

Masatake tried to just break it in his hand but that didn't work and then he groaned a little annoyed then he tried to smash it against a tree trunk and still it wouldn't break growling more "stupid walnut!" Masatake groaned as he went to a stump and he jumped trying to smash it with his foot but that didn't do anything either "RAh! break you stupid nut!" Masatake groaned as he grabbed a rock and smashed it on the stump and sighed when he finally saw the nut break. Obviously Masatake would need training in Taijustsu even if he knew dynamic entry which wouldn't have helped him since he would need to run and make the hit at an angle for it to work on the stupid little nut!

Fukusho took his sensei's advice in stride. He would spend as much time as possible to become the strongest ninja. That meant he had to be the most accurate ninja as well. Now he looked at the new challenge that his sensei had presented him with. Breaking a walnut. "Sensei consider it broken." Fukusho stated proudly. He picked up the small nut and held it in his palm. He clutched his fist ad quickly opened to see that nothing had happened. "Okay this may be a bit harder than I thought. " Fukusho said as he took this task as something he would accomplish. The young ninja then began to grind both palms against the walnut at full force. Still it was broken so he saw Masa-kun over there trying to stomp his nut out. That was a perfect idea since Fukusho prided his leg strength. He placed the walnut on a flat rock to stabilize it. "Now I have to have it now." Fukusho said as he slammed his foot down at full force. The heel struck the walnut with a a big pop. It had finally broken. The only thing was that it was not perfect. He only broke one side of it. It like two pieces being held together by one strip of walnut. Fukusho pulled those apart and ran up over to sensei. "Look, I broke it." Fukusho said proudly.

That walnut is going down! Mikone thought to herself, eager to test again. Under her teacher's guidance she felt happier around the group since he handled them so well already. Perhaps it wouldn't have been the same with other teammate or even the teacher. Hoping she'd never get on her sensei's bad side, she got a walnut in her hand then looked at the others. It was real obvious that the walnut wasn't going to break without something real tough pounding against it. I guess it's either brute strength or ingenuity now.

She looked at the walnut, trying to find any form of cracks already existing. Nothing but the external shell of wooden steel.

Feeling it was appropriate since the other genin were doing it, she put the walnut on the ground then used a bigger looking rock to smash it to bits. And like that the seed of a newborn tree was no more than rubble underneath the powerful stone in the girl's hand.

"Was that what you were looking for us to do?" She said, worried that it was in fact a strength test.

Kuro looked at the walnut with disdain. It was rather pathetic really that this is what he'd be up against his first genin trials. Why the hell did this even matter? He supposed it had to do something to do with physical or mental strength or perhaps jutsu. Kuro didn't even hesitate or try to crack the nut open with his hands he pulled out his kunai and flipped the thing over and tried to break it with his kunai's palm. It didn't work so he tried again. It felt like it budged a little but that wasn't going to work. So Kuro pocketed the kunai knife and pulled out his short sword and put it between the crack of the walnut that had opened a little wider after the pummeling it just got. Kuro slowly sawed at it slowly and precisely which took longer than simply smashing it but in the end it came open and Kuro presented the nut inside with minimal damage to it aside from the top where Mitsuhide had hit it. "What's the point of this?" Kuro asked as Akihiko shrugged. "What was the point of it? You all tell me why: Why did you open the nut? Why did you do it the way you did? Did you consider any other methods? Do you feel like you accomplished your objective? Well I'm all ears you four." Akihiko asked simply as he put his ring finger into his right ear and moved it around before flicking some ear wax onto the near by tree. "Bah...this is stupid. The point I suppose is to test our ingenuity by the sounds of it. You wanted to see how we got it done and what we thought of. And no I don't feel satisfied because a walnuts are disgusting and gross. Moreover I did consider other methods I tried my kunai because that was the obvious route. It's point lets you cut into things but I didn't want to break the nut inside of it. Instead I tried to pummel it open which failed but it got me a smaller crack which let me use my sword. All the same I could've used a rock or even a ninjutsu. But I didn't because what's the point in opening this damn thing if I don't at least have something to show for it?" Kuro said bluntly as he crossed his arms after putting away his sword.

"I... I just smashed it cause it was easy and that's how they got it open." Mikone said, embarrassed by her lack of planning. She picked up the small pieces on the ground, slowly gathering them up from the dirt and grass. Knowing that she missed a few miniscule parts, Mikone wondered if they were actually gross like the boy said. But she wasn't about to eat a dirty piece from off the ground, who knew what bugs and animals crossed this very spot?

"Also, you didn't really give us any restrictions or instructions... so I guess that's why I didn't really think about it too much." Honesty as a good policy to her.

I think it was to test our strength. Obviously not my strong suit which was why I had Trouble with the stupid nut. I competed the objective but I knew how to perform dynamic entry but I didn't think it would work as well as just using a rock to bash it open. Masatake said as he lifted the rock and looked at the nut and took out the small amount of meat in it and ate it. Despite the trouble it out Masatake through it was still food.

Fukusho showed sensei his accomplishment only to realize he probably missed the purpose of the exercise. He could have done about anything he wanted to break it open. Then again if the point to this whole exercise was to see his natural response then he was honest. In battle Fukusho would prefer to punch and kick and again the walnut he tried to crush and stomp. "Sensei, at first I tried to squeeze the walnut but that did not work. Then I looked at my teammate Masa-kun for inspiration and he tried to stomp his. Then I realized if I trust my feet to get around a battlefield then why not turn it into a weapon for battle as well. It may not be graceful as some or as forceful as others but I feel like it is a win if I can get the job done." Fukusho said proudly.

"Then it was your purgative to think on your own and consider all possible choices given to you. There are multiple choices to go around any scenario and it's not always up to your leader to decide and sometimes they can't decide themselves. Sometimes YOU need to decide what is best for any given scenario and you don't have people to tell you how to do it. Sometimes it's best if you go along with a plan other times you need to improvise. Likewise did anyone of you ever stop to ask me why you're doing this or if there is even a point to all of this at all?" Akihiko simply said indifferently as if he was asking how the weather was to Mikone. "As for you Fukusho you need to think more independently. Just because your team mate is doing something doesn't mean you should. Good thinking though. And as for you Masatake...you need to visit the library more. There's more than one way to get things done as I just gone done saying."

Fukusho took the advice his sensei was offering. He did trust his sensei and he was going to try and listen to his advice but in reality this was not that scenario and that scenario was not this. "Sensei it is true there will be times where I must make my own choice but I would rather adapt and go with the current situation I'm in. And this situation places my teammates in front of me and my sensei grading me. I'm sure if none of you were here then I would still find a better way to succeed and conqueror any challenge that presents itself to me."

"So what's next?" Mikone asked, wondering if it was going to be how long they could stay under water or how high they could climb a tree. In both cases she didn't want to accidentally drown or fall. "More walnuts?" She joked.

Following the heard was her option too, but it was effective to get the job done. Wasn't that the goal of a shinobi? She wondered, then taking in her teachers words made her think of situations where getting the job done was the bad thing. Maybe he means think for ourselves instead of just following orders or needing them to act. SO that's improvisation? Huh.

Fukusho heard his sensei's words and tried to interpret them to himself. It was clear Akihiko-sensei did not agree with his actions this moment but he did do what was asked and that was it. "I understand sensei, I will complete every task so I get the job done in the best way possible. As long as I become the best ninja there is nothing stopping anyone on our side from coming out on top. " Fukusho said as he got an interesting thought. He had no idea how sensei would solve that problem but that information could wait until later. All he had to focus on now is the next test and how he was going to complete it.

"That's a good mind set to have. Just remember don't do as I say or do as I do unless it benefits you in the long run or it benefits your end goal in the long run. Never compromise your beliefs unless you come to find them flawed. You're the master of your own destiny as a shinobi. Many people in the world don't have the freedom to do as they believe due to their own inferior abilities or because they don't have the mental capacity or capabilities to understand that they don't need to serve someone or do something." Akihiko said before grunting and shaking his head briefly, "Sorry I forgot you three were children I'm sure those words went right over your heads. I'm sorry you gotta listen to your sensei's philosophical bull shit. But hey that's just how I am apparently. Now as Mikone is so eagerly awaiting your next test is a simple one. Let's see how good you're at with this one." Akihiko said as he forced Masatake to go and pick up his kunai that he had borrowed to throw at the trees.

He took the kunai and inserted them back into his various pouches and made sure that they were not in need of sharpening. However he kept four of them out and tossed them back to the four genin in front of him. Kuro however immediately tossed it back and brought up his own kunai, "I use my own weapons for tests." Kuro said flatly as he grabbed one of his kunai from his own pouch. "It's A disgrace that any shinobi must use tools that aren't his to do something. A shinobi must be ready for any situation with any tool at his disposal. Only when you don't have the proper tools for an occasion should you borrow someone else's." Kuro said in his usual blunt tone to Akihiko who shrugged and simply stated 'whatever' as he looked at the three of them. "Balance the kunai on the tip of your finger. First with your right hand and then your left. Then do it using your chakra if you know how to do it." Akihiko said as he waited to see what the group would do. "Well you heard me get to it chop chop."

Masatake sighed a little as he went and grabbed the Kunai that he threw and gave them back to sensei only so he could put them in a bag then he threw one to Masatake and he explained the next exercise was to balance the kunai on their fingers. This would be an easy one to Masatake as he took the kunai and again tested its weight for a few moments before he put the pointy end against his index finger since it was the smallest point in the blade and Masatake was so used to Senbon it would easier for him that way.

As expected Masatake was able to keep it still for a good few moments before he popped it upwards in the air and then transferring it to his left index finger, again he was able to balance it the same way even with that switching maneuver he did. The next thing Sensei wanted was for it to be balanced using chakra and while Masatake couldn't maintain a tiny amount of Chakra into his finger he would be able to put it into his palm. So again Masatake popped it up and put his hand out flat and he used his chakra to keep it balanced just a few centimeters in the air above his palm this however put strain on Masatake and he dropped it in his palm after a few seconds...

Mikone watched Masatake do the impossible kunai trick with the point sitting on his finger tip. Cringing at the thought of tossing it into the air made her worried about actually doing this test. These kunai were real and sharp and there was no way she just put the tip of the knife on her finger without drawing more blood than a river carries water.

"How did..." She began "Oh god ok." She held the kunai in her hand, getting a feel for the weight. Its center of gravity was in the bulk of the weapon so it seemed like using the pointy tip would make it easier to balance. But she wasn't about to do that, instead she used the round edge of the bottom. Holding it with her left hand to position it straight up she tried letting go. The kunai was up for a second then it fell over to the ground. "Uhh.." She tried using her left index finger this time. It went right over instead.

Then she remembered, she could use her chakra. Holding it on her right index finger this time, she concentrated on her heart beat and the flow of her energy. The kunai was then balancing, with a tiny little wobble as her heart beat wasn't exactly calm. Happy that she was able to hold it still, she stopped only to switch hands. Switching side made no difference if she could use her chakra. She was well able to control that aspect of herself.