"What's Naruto doing spacing out at a time like this?!" Sakura whispered anxiously from the grass, her face filled with worry.The test had already begun—just standing there doing nothing, what was he thinking?
Perched on a dense tree branch, Sasuke frowned, silently watching, unsure of what Naruto intended.
Kakashi narrowed his eyes with a lazy smile, staring at Naruto."So… you plan to snatch the bells head-on?"
Naruto didn't answer. The panel's options he had received didn't lead anywhere useful.
If he tried to take the bells from Kakashi by force, he'd need at least the strength of a tokubetsu jōnin—which meant inevitably relying on the Nine-Tails' power.But if the test's condition was that just one person getting a bell was enough for the whole team to pass, it might be worth a try.
Yet Naruto already knew Kakashi's true purpose—what he wanted to see was not a single person's strength, but their ability to value teamwork and camaraderie.
And even if he did snatch the bells, how would they divide them? With only two bells for three people…
Still, knowing Kakashi's character, simply lying flat and doing nothing would almost certainly get him marked as a failure for having a negative attitude.
Moreover, mastering the rare Wood Release bloodline limit would only bring more trouble. Danzō wouldn't let him off, and the Third Hokage wouldn't simply let him go his own way either.
If that was the case, then he might as well show his true strength. Sooner or later, he'd have to use the Nine-Tails anyway.
After all, what the Hokage and the higher-ups cared about wasn't him as a person—it was his Uzumaki chakra reserves and his status as the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki. They wanted to brainwash him into becoming the village's loyal weapon.
Otherwise, why would they have set him up to "steal" the Forbidden Scroll in the first place, even preparing the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu for him?That jutsu was useless to anyone without massive chakra reserves—it was no different from ordinary clones.
[Nine-Tails' Approval: 2.2%]
That was the power he could currently use.
"Then I'll take the bells!" Naruto bent his knees into a launching stance. "As long as I grab them, that counts, right?"
"Of course." Kakashi jingled the bells at his waist, smiling. "Even just one, and you pass."
"Then I'll take both!"
Kakashi blinked. For a moment, Naruto's aura felt like an entirely different person.That familiar sensation…
Red chakra flared around him, obscuring his expression.
Like an arrow released from its string, Naruto exploded forward in an instant. The grass beneath his feet tore apart, earth scattering in his wake.
His speed under the Nine-Tails' cloak was terrifying—inhumanly fast and flexible.
In a blink, his fist shot out. Kakashi tilted his head, narrowly dodging. Missing, Naruto's body twisted midair, swinging a vicious elbow strike.
When that too missed, his left leg came crashing down.
"Naruto—he's—!" Sakura gasped in shock, covering her mouth.
The thought struck her: Without Naruto, they'd never be able to snatch the bells from a jōnin.
And right now, Kakashi's attention was locked onto him. She had to act!
Her body moved before her mind fully caught up—darting around to flank Kakashi, her hand reaching for her ninja tools.
Meanwhile, Sasuke hurled six shuriken from above, their arcs sealing off Kakashi's possible escapes.
But Kakashi only smirked. His body blurred with speed, weaving perfectly through the deadly projectiles.
Then came the whistle of kunai—three more, thrown by Sakura, desperately following Sasuke's rhythm.
Thud. Thud. Thud. They buried themselves into a tree trunk—clean miss.
"Genjutsu!" Sakura cried as Kakashi appeared in front of her, quickly forming seals.
"Genjutsu," Kakashi countered smoothly, turning her own technique against her. His version was simple but enough.
Caught, Sakura froze, eyes glazing over as she collapsed unconscious in the grass.
"Too slow," Kakashi commented lightly, dodging Naruto's spinning kick without even looking, before snatching his leg and slamming him into the ground.
But the body burst into smoke with a poof!
Kakashi blinked. A substitution jutsu?
He hadn't even noticed it—yet he knew he had grabbed a real leg. The weight, the texture—it had all been real.
For a mere academy-level brat to execute a substitution so flawlessly it could fool an elite jōnin…
"Not bad," Kakashi admitted with genuine approval.
But then he realized—Sasuke had already slung the entranced Sakura over his shoulder and retreated.
"Caw!"
A crow circled overhead, blood-red eyes watching everything below.
Kakashi stood alone in the clearing, silence pressing in. Naruto and the others were nowhere to be seen.
"So it was all just to draw my attention, while Sasuke rescued Sakura." Kakashi rolled his neck, vertebrae cracking, and with no rush pulled out a small book from his pouch—Icha Icha Paradise.
Flipping it open lazily, he drawled,"Well, they're starting to look the part."
Then he strolled toward the riverbank, calling out,"Come on now. If you want the bells, show me what you've really got."
From the bushes, Naruto scowled at Sasuke."Why're you staring at me? I can't dispel genjutsu."
But before the words finished, Sakura suddenly opened her eyes. Her pupils dilated, then refocused. Seeing Naruto and Sasuke, she let out a relieved breath.
"Kakashi-sensei's seals were too fast…" she said with lingering fear.
Noticing both of them staring, she blinked, glanced behind her, then asked, puzzled,"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"How'd you wake up on your own?" Naruto asked.
"Genjutsu can be broken," Sakura explained. "I'm decent at it, so I just took some time to dispel it myself. Mainly, Kakashi-sensei was holding back—he didn't use his full strength."
Naruto fell silent. Truly, Sakura had pushed her limits as an ordinary human. No bloodline, no special gifts—just brains and willpower.
Maybe yesterday's setback had matured her. She looked steadier now, her smile faint and tired, but with a trace of resilience shining through.