Chapter 132: Even Match
In any case, aside from Naruto being strictly forbidden from using the Nine-Tails' chakra, any other methods—ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, traps, or anything else you can think of—can be freely used.
Kakashi paused, his right eye slightly narrowing as he scanned the three of them. "Also, you'd better remember—without the resolve to 'kill me,' you absolutely won't be able to get the bells."
The air seemed to freeze.
"W-wait a minute, Kakashi-sensei! This... this is too dangerous! This is just an exercise!"
Sakura's voice carried obvious panic as she tried to object to this overly cruel instruction. But Kakashi just lazily glanced at her, completely ignoring her protest.
"When I shout 'begin,' the exercise officially starts."
"Naruto..."
Suddenly, Naruto saw Satsuki whip her head around, her eyes staring at him unblinkingly. Her previous forced composure had vanished, replaced by a barely perceptible trace of panic.
Kakashi's words about "possibly causing irreversible damage to your body" had precisely pierced through the calm she'd been trying to maintain, allowing her deepest fears to quietly surface.
Naruto sensed her unease. He turned his head to meet her worry-filled gaze. Very naturally, he reached out and skillfully ruffled her soft black hair.
"Don't worry, Satsuki." His voice carried a soothing tone. "I promise you, I absolutely won't use it. Don't worry about that."
He leaned in slightly closer, lowering his voice. "After all, I made a promise with you to become ninjas together, right?"
Satsuki lowered her head slightly, feeling the reassuring warmth lingering in her hair, and softly hummed an "mm," steadying her composure once more.
Kakashi's gaze inadvertently swept over Satsuki, noting how she focused so intently on Naruto...
Strange... he thought absently. That kind of look... I feel like I've seen it somewhere long, long ago.
It was a fleeting sense of déjà vu, vague and distant, but like a reflection on water—gone before he could grasp it.
Just then, Naruto turned to Sakura and said, "Sakura, listen carefully. When this starts, prioritize protecting yourself and find safe cover. Only after absolutely ensuring your own safety should you look for opportunities to provide tactical support. Understood?"
"Ah? ...Yes! Understood!" Sakura instinctively responded loudly, feeling both nervous about being included in the tactical system and more grounded.
Kakashi, observing this, gave an almost imperceptible nod. Good, he didn't make the weak teammate retreat directly, but gave more practical and safe guidance under pressure.
"Very well!"
Kakashi's voice returned to its usual lazy tone. "Looks like you're all ready to face the challenge. Then..."
"Begin!"
The instant those words fell, Sakura almost reflexively leaped backward, quickly finding a thick tree as cover, kunai held horizontally across her chest, her spirit highly concentrated as she entered an alert state.
However, completely different from her defensive stance, Naruto and Satsuki showed no hesitation, standing shoulder to shoulder at the very front, directly facing Kakashi.
"Let's go, Satsuki!"
"Right!"
The next second, powerful chakra erupted from Naruto's body like surging waves—not the violent, ominous aura of the Nine-Tails, but pure and vast blue chakra originating from himself.
Simultaneously, Satsuki's pitch-black eyes suddenly changed. The deep black was instantly replaced by crimson, and three dark tomoe appeared in that blood-red base, beginning to slowly rotate.
Such massive chakra reserves! Truly worthy of being sensei and his wife's child!
When Kakashi glimpsed those three slowly rotating tomoe in Satsuki's eyes, his surprise was even greater... She awakened the Sharingan at this age? Her talent is truly astonishing...
These thoughts flashed through his mind like lightning. The next moment, Naruto's figure vanished from his original position without warning, appearing in front of Kakashi almost at the same instant Kakashi sensed the chakra fluctuation using the Body Flicker Technique!
So fast!
"Leaf Whirlwind!"
Naruto twisted his body in midair, delivering an extremely sharp sweeping kick viciously toward Kakashi's head!
Kakashi immediately raised his left arm to block. With a dull "thud," solid contact transmitted through his arm.
I see, that's Guy's taijutsu style. He knew Naruto often trained in taijutsu with Might Guy, but hadn't expected such remarkable results.
Both strength and control are quite excellent... this level of taijutsu would be considered outstanding even among Chunin. Kakashi continuously blocked and dodged Naruto's relentless punches and kicks, finding his attacks dense and extremely fast-paced, clearly the result of rigorous training.
Seems like I can't handle this while reading a book like when testing previous graduates...
However, this seemingly intense taijutsu assault was actually Naruto's deliberately controlled performance. He wasn't using his full strength.
What concerned Kakashi more was the gaze that had been locked onto him from behind. Satsuki's three-tomoe Sharingan was fixed firmly on him, and this feeling of being watched forced him to stay alert and guard against potential deadly attacks from behind.
Just as he blocked one of Naruto's straight punches, an unusual sensation struck without warning! Kakashi suddenly noticed an extremely subtle sluggishness and disorder in his internal chakra flow. This feeling...
Something's wrong!
Alarm bells rang in his mind as he immediately forced himself to interrupt his response to Naruto's attack, unhesitatingly stepping back while rapidly mobilizing chakra with one hand to form a simple seal.
"Release!"
The slight feedback of a dispelled genjutsu came through. Without any hesitation, Kakashi almost instinctively used the Body Flicker Technique, his figure disappearing from his original position with a "whoosh" and appearing more than ten meters away.
After steadying himself, he looked up. Sure enough, at his original position, Naruto and Satsuki stood side by side. Naruto's face showed a hint of regret at their failed plan as he clicked his tongue, while Satsuki frowned slightly, her eyes similarly showing a trace of disappointment.
How embarrassing...
Kakashi smiled bitterly to himself. He'd actually fallen for a genjutsu.
Satsuki's three-tomoe Sharingan, awakened on the night of the massacre, had never stopped training over these years. Years ago, when Fugaku learned that his young daughter had not only opened her Sharingan at such a young age but had even leaped to three-tomoe—second only to the Mangekyo—though he only calmly said on the surface, "Truly worthy of being my daughter."
His heart had long been filled with enormous pride and relief. After laying down the heavy burden of clan leadership, he had more time to impart all his lifelong understanding and application techniques of the Sharingan without reservation, one-on-one, wholeheartedly helping Satsuki master this power.
"In that case, Kakashi-sensei! We're going to get serious now!" Naruto shouted loudly. "Satsuki, use that technique!"
"Right, I understand!" Satsuki immediately caught on.
Both began forming hand seals rapidly at almost the same time. Seeing this, Kakashi instinctively lowered his center of gravity, concentrating fully as he watched their movements with utmost vigilance.
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
Naruto took a deep breath, his chest expanding, then released an extremely violent, impressively large horizontal tornado from his mouth! It roared as it swept up grass and dirt from the ground, charging forward with the force to tear apart everything!
Almost the instant after the wind technique was released, Satsuki's seals were also complete.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"
After her fingers stopped on the final seal, she consecutively spat out several blazing fire balls. These fireballs precisely and actively threw themselves into the raging tornado Naruto had created!
In chakra nature theory, fire naturally counters wind. However, this countering relationship at this moment didn't result in mutual cancellation, but produced a wonderful complementary effect—the raging wind not only didn't extinguish the flames but provided endless oxygen and a medium for expansion, causing the fire to instantly surge!
Under the precise chakra control honed through their repeated practice sessions, Satsuki's fireballs perfectly merged with Naruto's wind technique. Each fireball became part of the tornado, stretched and extended by the fierce wind, ultimately transforming completely into roaring flames.
The originally white tornado was instantly dyed blazing orange-red as an enormous, wildly spinning fire tornado took shape, charging ferociously toward Kakashi!
This was precisely the combination technique that Naruto and Satsuki had secretly practiced and refined over extensive time. Naruto had given it an extremely impressive name.
Wind Style Secret Technique: Super Flash Brilliant Wind Dragon Flame Heaven Whirlpool Roaring Formation!
Facing this compound jutsu that far exceeded Genin level—one that would intimidate even average Chunin—Kakashi's visible eyebrow raised slightly.
"Well... for fresh graduates, this is rather frightening."
He muttered to himself, "Seems I absolutely cannot treat them as ordinary brats."
Seeing the massive fire tornado about to engulf him, Kakashi no longer held back. His hands also began forming seals rapidly, preparing to seriously respond to this "surprise" from his students.
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