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Chapter 128: Gathering
"Mm, very good." Kakashi nodded with satisfaction. "You three all have quite distinct personalities! Well then, tomorrow morning at five o'clock, we'll begin our class's first mission—a survival exercise."
"Wait a minute?" Sakura immediately caught something off, asking in confusion, "Exercise? How can a mission be an exercise? Besides, we've already done plenty of exercises at the Ninja Academy."
"Heh heh heh heh heh heh..."
Just as Sakura finished speaking, Kakashi suddenly lowered his head and let out a series of low, ominous chuckles filled with ill intent.
This laughter made Sakura involuntarily shiver. "What's... what's so funny?"
Naruto watched this scene unfold, his expression becoming somewhat strange.
After all, in the original story, Kakashi as a child was a typical cold, sharp-tongued genius. Even when he occasionally showed a hint of human warmth, it was nine parts arrogance and one part tsundere.
At the same age, he was even colder than "Sasuke".
But now this sullen, scheming, mischievous appearance... how did he end up like this?
...You could only say that Guy-sensei's influence was truly terrifying—he had literally led an iceberg astray into becoming scheming and sullen.
Kakashi finally stopped that spine-chilling laughter and looked up, sweeping his dead-fish eye over the three of them, his tone becoming "earnestly caring" yet full of mockery.
"Those house-playing games at the academy can't be called real exercises. My survival exercise... is on a completely different level. By the way, let me tell you something interesting—" He deliberately paused, enjoying the three's expressions, especially Sakura's nervous one.
"If you can't pass, you won't qualify as ninja and will have to return to the Ninja Academy. Moreover..."
"Among the 27 graduates, only 9 will be recognized as Genin... which means this is an ultra-difficult test with a failure rate of over 66 percent. So for tomorrow's exercise, you'd better come prepared for the possibility of 'returning to the academy to start over.'"
"Anyway, tomorrow morning at five o'clock, gather at the training ground! Remember to bring your ninja tools."
This announcement of a "66% casualty rate" had a significant effect. Sakura felt her heartbeat involuntarily accelerating, her palms beginning to sweat. No way! Absolutely not!
She had finally been grouped with the Satsuki she admired—how could she be eliminated here?! She absolutely had to pass this test! No matter what!
Satsuki maintained her calm, unperturbed expression on the surface, but her hands resting on her knees clenched slightly from tension and determination.
That exaggerated elimination rate from Kakashi's mouth did put some pressure on her... but no matter what, she absolutely had to become a ninja together with Naruto! They absolutely couldn't be separated!
As for Naruto... his heart was completely calm, he even wanted to laugh a little.
Survival exercise? Wasn't it just grabbing bells? Old routine... What he was thinking about now was how much strength he should display tomorrow.
Would it be inappropriate to perform too dramatically and directly defeat Kakashi? Would that scare him?
"Ah, right." Kakashi, who had already turned to leave, seemed to suddenly remember something and looked back to add, "Remember not to eat breakfast tomorrow morning... or you'll throw up."
After this "warm reminder," Kakashi's figure disappeared from the spot using the Body Flicker Technique.
"Eh? He's already gone?" Naruto looked at the empty spot, scratching his head with some regret. "I was thinking of inviting him to lunch..."
As soon as he finished speaking, he felt someone gently tugging at his sleeve. Turning his head, Naruto found Satsuki looking up at him with her dark eyes full of expectation and a trace of... obvious hunger?
Why? Because today was an important day—it was the day Naruto and Satsuki had agreed that Naruto would personally cook lunch! Satsuki had been looking forward to this meal since morning, and Kakashi's intimidation hadn't affected her appetite in the slightest.
"I know, let's go then. Today's menu is all your favorite dishes." Naruto smiled, habitually reaching out to ruffle Satsuki's soft black hair. He performed this intimate gesture with complete naturalness, and Satsuki slightly narrowed her eyes, clearly enjoying it.
Sakura watched this incredibly harmonious and intimate scene with great envy. Head patting Satsuki... she really wanted to try that too!
But wait, had they arranged to have lunch together?... Though back at the academy, she did always see them eating together at noon...
Watching her two future teammates seemingly about to naturally leave her behind, recalling how Satsuki had curtly and even coldly refused her invitation earlier, Sakura couldn't help feeling a wave of loneliness and isolation. Really, she still couldn't fit in...
However, Naruto noticed the subtle disappointed expression on Sakura's face. This kind of "isolating" teammate behavior made him uncomfortable.
After all, they'd be in the same squad from now on, and making relationships too strained wouldn't be good. So he turned to look at Sakura and extended an invitation. "Oh right, Sakura, want to come along too? As future teammates, it's a good chance to get to know each other, and you can try my cooking."
"Eh? Really?!" Sakura was pleasantly surprised to hear Naruto actually invite her, her eyes lighting up.
"Of course it's real." Naruto smiled affirmingly, his smile as straightforward as always.
But standing beside Naruto, Satsuki... though her face remained expressionless, her inner activity instantly became intense.
Huh?! This... this sounds like just polite talk, right?! Though... knowing Naruto's way of thinking, he's definitely serious... but still!
But shouldn't you be able to tell it's just politeness?! A girl so easily accepting an invitation to eat at a boy's house? Being overly familiar has its limits! Have some sense of boundaries!
You're not really going to accept, right?!
"Thank you so much, Naruto-kun! Then I won't be polite!" Sakura happily and unhesitatingly agreed, her face blooming with a brilliant smile.
However, just as she finished speaking—
Sakura suddenly shivered violently without warning. Wh-what's happening?! Why does it suddenly feel so cold?!
She instinctively hugged her arms, looking around warily, but only saw the smiling Naruto and... Uchiha Satsuki beside him, still expressionlessly staring at her.
Was it just her imagination...?
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