With a sharp crack, the Kakashi surrounded by the trio burst into smoke, leaving behind nothing but a shattered log.
The substitution jutsu had saved him from being crushed by Naruto and Sasuke's combined strike, but even so, sweat trickled down his forehead.
These three brats really don't pull their punches…
From across the training ground, Naruto narrowed his eyes at a patch of foliage.
"Hiding won't work against us."
Hinata and Sasuke also turned their gaze the same way, their Byakugan and Sharingan making concealment pointless. Green wind chakra swirled faintly around Naruto as if nature itself was giving away Kakashi's position.
Caught, Kakashi could only step out from the treeline with an awkward chuckle.
The moment he revealed himself, Sasuke's fingers flashed through seals.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Naruto's hands moved just as quickly.
"Wind Style: Gale Breakthrough!"
The two jutsu merged seamlessly, wind feeding the fire until the roaring inferno doubled in speed and size, blazing toward Kakashi with devastating force.
Kakashi's eye widened. He slammed his palms to the ground.
"Earth Style: Earth Wall!"
A stone barrier surged upward, carved with the snarling head of a hound. The fire slammed into it an instant later, tearing the wall to pieces and scattering molten shards in every direction.
Behind the crumbling defense, Kakashi crouched low, shielding himself with a stubborn fragment of earth. Heat washed over him in waves, scorching the air.
Then a sharp voice cut through the roar.
"Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms!"
Kakashi's breath caught. Behind me?
Before he could react, Hinata appeared like a phantom at his back. Her palms struck in a rapid, merciless flurry four, eight, sixteen, thirty-two until sixty-four precise blows landed in less than a heartbeat.
Her final strike sent chakra rippling into his system. She pulled back with a gentle smile.
"Kakashi-sensei, I've sealed your chakra pathways. That should end the fight."
But the figure she struck flickered violently, breaking apart into a surge of lightning that crackled hungrily toward her.
Hinata gasped until strong arms pulled her aside.
Naruto set her gently down a safe distance away, frowning at the dissipating lightning clone.
"Lightning Clone. He switched when he cast that earth wall… classic Kakashi-sensei."
He drove his heel into the ground. Chakra exploded downward, cracking the training field in a wide radius.
Above them, Kakashi leapt clear, but Sasuke was already waiting.
Lightning screeched in Sasuke's hand, forming a spear of crackling energy.
"Chidori!"
He launched upward, his Sharingan burning with focus.
Kakashi grimaced. My own jutsu… used against me? He's really trying to kill me here.
He weaved seals faster than thought.
"Water Style: Water Prison Wall!"
Liquid surged into existence, swirling into a barrier that cocooned Sasuke mid-attack. What should have been a defensive technique became a prison.
Kakashi's counter came instantly.
"Lightning Style: Thunder Beast Pack!"
Three enormous hunting hounds of pure lightning burst from the water, snarling as they lunged at Sasuke. The water amplified their strength, feeding them with dangerous precision.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed, Sharingan spinning wildly. Water conducts lightning… this is bad.
Abandoning the Chidori, he planted his feet and used the current itself as leverage, propelling himself backward. His hand flicked, releasing shuriken laced with lightning chakra.
They hit the thunder beasts dead on only to melt away uselessly in the surge of energy.
But by then Sasuke's true body had already escaped, the shuriken serving as a distraction for a substitution. He reappeared atop a tree branch, chest heaving, the faint scent of ozone clinging to his singed sleeve.
"Not bad," Kakashi admitted as he landed gracefully. His fingers blurred into more seals. "But your strategy is still too straightforward, Sasuke."
The earth beneath Sasuke softened suddenly, turning into a quagmire that dragged him down.
"Earth Style: Quicksand Swamp!"
Sasuke sank up to his waist. His Sharingan spun furiously as he thrust both palms into the muck. Lightning flared along his arms, bursting outward in a shockwave that blew the mire apart and launched him free.
Yet Kakashi was already there, moving with perfect timing. He seized Sasuke mid-air, kunai pressing against his neck.
"Match over."
Sasuke smirked even as smoke began to leak from his form.
"Not quite."
The "Sasuke" Kakashi had captured dissolved into white mist.
From below, the real Sasuke lunged upward, blade poised. The kunai scraped across Kakashi's hip pouch, sending two small bells tumbling into the air.
"Eight Trigrams: Empty Palm!"
Hinata's chakra strike cut the bells' trajectory, knocking them toward the waiting hands of a Naruto clone.
The clone caught them neatly, vanishing in a puff before the real Naruto appeared, grinning wide as he jingled the bells.
"Kakashi-sensei! Looks like the test is complete."
Kakashi rubbed the back of his head, sighing. "You kids really are terrifying together…" He glanced between the three of them, each radiating confidence and strength far beyond ordinary genin. Thank goodness this was just a formality.
"Well then," he said at last, smiling behind his mask, "congratulations. From today onward, we're an official ninja squad. Please take care of me."
The three chorused back in unison, their respect for him genuine.
"Yes, Kakashi-sensei. Please take care of us."
Thus, Team 7 was formally born.
But being a genin was never as glamorous as they imagined. Before they could take on high-ranking assignments, they had to endure D-rank missions chores disguised as work, all within the safety of the village.
Tasks like weeding fields, cleaning rivers, and carrying groceries filled their days. It was a way to ease them into the life of a shinobi while giving Kakashi time to guide them.
That morning's mission was simple: helping a farmer cultivate new fields.
The man who greeted them bowed gratefully, iron tools clutched in his hands.
"Ah, thank you, young ninja. Lord Naruto, you yourself accepted this task? What an honor!"
Naruto scratched his cheek sheepishly. "Yeah, well, I've just officially become a ninja too. Gotta start somewhere." His eyes drifted to the farmer's heavy tools. "But… those won't be necessary."
The farmer blinked. "Without tools, how do you expect to till the land?"
Naruto grinned, flexing his fingers. "With these. It'll be good training anyway. Builds finger strength." He winked at Sasuke and Hinata. "What do you guys think?"
Sasuke smirked. "Fine by me."
Hinata nodded softly, her cheeks faintly pink. "It'll help with… my strikes."
Kakashi leaned lazily against a post. "You heard them. We'll just watch from here. Don't worry, they'll manage."
The farmer wanted to protest further until his jaw dropped.
The three genin crouched, thrust their hands straight into the earth, and began churning the soil apart with raw chakra strength. Clods of dirt flew as the field broke open row by row.
Their speed was inhuman. Within minutes, the ground looked freshly plowed, as though a whole team of farmers had worked since dawn.
The farmer stared, slack-jawed. "T-this… with bare hands? How is that even possible? Don't their fingers hurt?!"
Kakashi only chuckled behind his mask. "Better get used to it. They're not ordinary kids."
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