The courtyard of Nanda Parbat was silent but for the sound of Marek's breathing. The moon hung high above, its pale light cutting through the mist that rolled off the mountain. In the distance, the jagged peaks of the mountain rose like silent sentinels, observing the battle that was about to unfold.
The eight year old, stood in the center, his katana held firmly in his hands. His back was straight, his posture perfect—ready. The ancient monastery behind him loomed like a haunting phantom, watching the young warrior as he prepared for the trial ahead.
Three ninjas appeared from the shadows, stepping into the moonlight. Their black garb blended seamlessly with the darkness, but Marek's sharingan flared to life, illuminating their every movement.
Marek's heart beat steadily, the adrenaline rushing through his veins, but his mind was calm. The sharingan provided him with perfect clarity, the world slowing around him as his enemies moved into position. He could feel the tension in the air as the three assassins circled him, waiting for the signal to strike.
Without a word, the first ninja lunged forward, his blade gleaming in the moonlight. Marek moved like a shadow himself, sidestepping the attack with ease. He let the ninja's momentum carry him past, and in one fluid motion, Marek's katana arced through the air, slashing across the assassin's back.
The strike was clean but purposefully shallow. The ninja stumbled, but Marek didn't stop. He was already moving again—leaping backwards with a graceful twist; avoiding strikes from the remaining two ninjas. He lightly landed on the stone courtyard
With a spin of his body, Marek's katana sliced horizontally through the air. The second ninja was fast, but not fast enough. Marek's blade caught him across the forearm, disarming him in one swift movement. The ninja dropped his weapon and stumbled backward. The boy pressed forward, knocking the man out with a precise strike from the hilt of his sword
The third assassin came at him with a series of rapid thrusts, aiming for Marek's chest, throat and head. Yet Marek's sharingan saw it all. His body moved with instinct, twisting and ducking, each motion a deadly dance of precision. He narrowly avoiding the deadly tip of the ninja's blade, and slipped under it. Closing the distance, within a fraction of a second, he merely pinched the assassin's shoulder— a move he learnt from Black Canary—— and paralyzed the man. The ninja fell to the ground like a puppet cut from its' strings
The last ninja, with the shallow cut across his back, leaped at him from above, his body a blur as he descended toward Marek with a deadly sword swipe aimed at the boy's head. Marek's eyes narrowed, his sharingan tracking the movement as he lightly stepped around the strike, moving away from the descending blade with minimal movement.
Marek created distance and waited for the final assassin to steady themself. He engaged the assassin again, this time in a quick, serpentine like fashion. With inhumane flexibility he avoided the ninja's strike and in one uninterrupted strike disarmed him
With careful application of bloodlust, he saw his attacker fall unconscious
Marek stood amidst the fallen assassins, his breathing steady, and with a swipe, he flicked his blade clean, easily placing his sword back into the sheath with a swift motion
The courtyard was silent now, save for the distant call of a bird echoing from a nearby mountain's peak
From the shadows, Lady Shiva stepped forward, her eyes cold and calculating as she surveyed the scene. She had watched every move, every strike, every twist. She saw the precision of Marek's attacks, the fluidity of his movements
She said nothing for a moment, simply observing the boy who had just defeated three deadly ninjas as if they were nothing more than training dummies. Then, slowly, she nodded in approval.
"You failed to kill them," she said, her voice low and measured. "You're a master in the making. But remember, this is a fight for survival. And the League does not tolerate failure"
Marek met her gaze without flinching
"I didn't fail", he said simply
Lady Shiva said nothing more. Her gaze lingered on him for a moment, then she turned and disappeared into the shadows as silently as she had arrived.
Marek stood alone once more, the weight of his katana heavy against his back. The moonlight illuminated the fallen ninjas around him, their chests still heaving
————————————————————x
The forest was still, bathed in soft shafts of sunlight that filtered through the dense canopy above. Birds chirped in the distance, and the slow rustling of leaves carried the illusion of peace. But Marek knew better. Peace was a lie in training grounds like these
He crouched low behind a thicket of ferns, his body still as stone, breath measured. The Sharingan in his eyes slowly rotated, catching every subtle shift in the forest—branches disturbed by foreign movement, unnatural footsteps in the underbrush. He counted them: four enemies. Spread out. Coordinated
This was a live stealth evaluation
One ninja stepped lightly into a clearing ahead, scanning the trees for movement. Marek had already circled behind. Camouflaged by mud and leaves smeared across his bare arms, he slipped down from a branch with the silence of falling mist. His feet barely touched the ground as he crept up behind the man
A flick of the wrist. Two fingers applied swift pressure to a nerve cluster behind the neck—instant blackout. The man slumped forward into Marek's arms, caught and gently lowered into the moss without a sound
One down
He vanished again, diving into the creek that split the forest. The icy water wrapped around him as he swam beneath a fallen log. Above him, another ninja was crossing the stream carefully. Marek waited, his breath suspended, every heartbeat slow and deliberate
When the ninja's foot reached the log's center, Marek surged upward. He grabbed the ankle, yanked hard, and dragged the enemy into the water. Before the ninja could scream or struggle, Marek applied a chokehold and gently slammed the head against a smooth stone—just hard enough to knock him unconscious. No bubbles. No noise
Two down
He retreated into the brush, flattening himself beneath a layer of leaves. The third ninja passed inches from him, completely unaware. Marek studied the pattern of footsteps, counted breaths. At the perfect moment, he rose like a ghost, looped a wire snare around the ninja's arms and yanked hard. The wire tightened silently. The man twisted, fought—but Marek had already spun behind him, tripped his legs, and brought him down. A single precise strike to the solar plexus and the ninja went limp
Three down
The last one was smart. Marek could tell. She moved erratically, never followed the same path twice, and kept her back to trees. A seasoned tracker. Marek smiled slightly. Good
He moved high this time, scaling a tree and crawling across a thick branch. She was beneath him now, scanning the area
He waited. Listening. Watching her rhythm
Then—a distraction. A bird called from the other end of the forest. Her head tilted toward the sound. Marek dropped silently behind her and slammed the butt of his blade into the back of her knee, buckling her stance. Before she could recover, he spun around her body and applied a nerve pinch at the base of her spine. She dropped without a word
Four down
He exhaled and stood alert in the clearing, his clothing streaked with mud and water, but his blade clean. Not a drop spilled. Not a single alert raised
From the trees, Lady Shiva appeared, her arms crossed, a faint, unreadable expression on her face, "You didn't kill them", she said, tilting her head, "and you weren't seen"
Marek wiped a streak of mud from his cheek and met her gaze, "didn't have to kill them"
She walked past the unconscious ninjas and inspected them. Each was alive, breathing, and unmarked—save for the bruises of defeat
Finally, she turned to him and offered the rarest thing in her arsenal: a faint smile
————————————————————-x
The morning sun filtered through dense pines, casting dappled light onto the mossy ground. Marek crouched low, moving slowly through the forest toward the monastery's hidden entrance
Ahead, the vault lay beneath layers of stone and steel, protected by cameras, motion sensors, and patrolling guards. Marek slipped through thick underbrush, blending perfectly with the shadows. His Sharingan, sharp as ever, tracked each camera's sweep and every guard's route. He timed his steps to avoid the shifting cones of vision, darting between trees and boulders like a ghost
Pausing behind a cluster of bushes, Marek watched two guards approach the entrance, their footsteps crunching softly on gravel. He melted deeper into the shadows, holding his breath until their voices faded away. Creeping forward, Marek reached the entrance—a heavy steel door locked with an electronic keypad
From his jacket, he pulled a small hacking device and attached it to the keypad's panel. Fingers dancing over the interface, he bypassed the firewall, overriding the lock silently. The door slid open with a whisper
Inside, the narrow corridor was dimly lit by fluorescent lights. Cameras rotated lazily along the ceiling. Marek moved against the walls, flattening himself to avoid detection. He paused at blind spots and timed his advances with the slow sweep of the sensors
Ahead, a guard appeared at the corner, making a slow circuit of the vault. Marek froze, heart steady, blending with the steel shadows. The guard's footsteps passed by without incident. Finally, Marek reached the secure terminal room. The door beeped with biometric scanners and password prompts. Using a stolen keycard, he gained entry and connected his device to the terminal. Lines of code and encrypted data streamed past his vision as he worked quickly, breaking through layers of security
Suddenly, a soft beep indicated his window was closing—he copied the files onto his device and unplugged, shutting the terminal down just as the next guard entered the hallway
Moving swiftly but silently, Marek retraced his steps. Outside, the sun had climbed higher, but the forest's shadows still cloaked his escape
From the treeline, Lady Shiva —— his master appeared, "you moved without error," she said quietly, "No guards raised alarm, no cameras caught your shadow. You hacked their systems with precision. Good"
Thus Marek had proven himself once again, but he knew there were more tests to come