Fate DxD

Chapter 37

"You three had better drop it, you don't have the stuff to carry on." He said brutally.

"What?! Let it go?! What does that mean?! I remind you that we managed to get your bells!" Sakura snaps.

"Bunch of jokers. Not one of you has the temperament of a Hero or a Shinobi."

I can hear Sasuke gritting his teeth next to me. Then he leaps to his feet and rushes towards Kakashi, ready to fight.

"Sasuke-kun!!!" Sakura screams at the top of her lungs.

But in a fraction of a second, Sasuke found himself immobilized on the ground. Kakashi sat on his back, holding his right arm with one hand and putting his foot on his head, preventing him from moving.

"Haven't you learned your lesson yet?" Kakashi asked calmly.

"He has the nerve to trample on Sasuke-kun! It's revolting!!!" Sakura couldn't believe it.

"Do you think it's easy to become a Hero or a Shinobi? Do you? Why do you think we divided you into teams to do this test?" Kakashi gives us a piercing look.

"Huh? What's he getting at..." Sakura is lost.

"What I'm saying is that you're completely missing out on the mentality that would allow you to pass this test."

"Mentality?" Sasuke mutters.

"It's this mentality that determines your success or failure in the test."

"Well point it out to us then, that mentality!" Sakura asked.

Kakashi disfigured us for a long time in a heavy silence, then sighed and laughed lightly.

"Rraaaaah! I'm fed up! Is that answer coming?!" Sasuke grew impatient under Kakashi's foot.

Kakashi looks down at him, then back up at me.

"Senji, you know the answer don't you?" He asks me.

"Yes, I understood shortly after I was hooked to the tree." I answer indifferently.

"Perfect, then illuminate your comrades who have no idea."

"...It's team spirit." I give the answer as clearly as possible.

Sakura and Sasuke's eyes widened, surprised by my answer.

"That's right. If all three of you had attacked me at the same time from the start, you would have gotten the bells considerably easier."

"But how do you expect us to cooperate when there are only two bells! There's bound to be one of us whose efforts haven't been rewarded! The proof! Senji didn't manage to catch one! This so-called collaboration would only have led to arguments!" Sakura tried to retort what Kakashi had said, but he seemed unfazed.

"Yet you agreed to collaborate with Senji, didn't you? I imagine you tried to convince Sasuke but he refused, am I right? Go on, explain it to them, Senji."

"...This test is precisely designed to sow discord within the teams." I repeat what I concluded when I was attached.

"Bingo, good answer. The purpose of the exam is to see whether or not, in a situation like this, you're able to put your personal interest on the side and put teamwork first." Then he brings up the alarm clock, and Sasuke and Sakura are surprised by the time shown. "The only one who understood and saved the situation, Senji, made you believe there wasn't much time left, when in truth, it's now 11:57, which means that earlier you still had about twenty minutes."