Sakura and Sasuke were floored. The battle they had just witnessed was a masterclass in tactical exchange; they had no idea Kanon was actually this strong.
However, it was no surprise to the man himself. Kakashi had been observing Kanon's training from afar; her formidable performance was exactly what he expected. In his eyes, he already viewed Kanon through the same lens as a young Itachi Uchiha. The siblings were clearly cut from the same cloth of genius.
Nearby, the kicked-away Naruto struggled back to his feet.
"You jerk!" Naruto was on the verge of an explosion. His rage was bubbling over. Seeing Kanon's Shadow Clone pop into blue smoke under Kakashi's grip, he charged forward blindly once more.
Seeing Naruto rushing him while Kanon remained hidden, Kakashi simply pulled out Icha Icha Paradise and resumed reading. No matter what tricks Naruto tried, punches, kicks, or lunges, Kakashi deflected them all with one hand without even looking up from his page.
During one of Naruto's lunges, Kakashi vanished into thin air. Sasuke and Sakura felt a chill of genuine fear at the speed.
When Kakashi reappeared, he was directly behind Naruto.
"Look out!" Sakura screamed.
At that moment, one of the shuriken on the ground, which had been lying there since the previous exchange, puffed into white smoke, revealing Kanon.
It turned out that among the three shuriken Kanon's clone had "failed" to hit with earlier, one was actually her true self using the Transformation Jutsu. Her plan was to wait for the exact moment Kakashi let his guard down to strike like a hidden viper and snatch the bells.
But seeing Naruto leave himself wide open, she realized her plan had hit a snag. To her, Naruto was more important than the plan; he was her best friend. She could have stayed hidden, waiting for Kakashi to finish off Naruto before ending the exercise with a sneak attack, but she couldn't just stand by and watch her friend get...
Before Kanon could move, Kakashi's eyes crinkled behind his mask.
"I've hooked two of you at once..."
"Lesson one: A ninja must never show their back to the enemy."
Kakashi's hands blurred into a seal. Kanon, being the closest, recognized the hand signs instantly. Majestic Destroyer Flame?!
Panic flared in her chest as she screamed at the distant Naruto: "Naruto! Run!"
At her shout, Sasuke and Sakura both thought the same thing: A Fire Release Jutsu?!
"Naruto, get out of there! You'll die!" Sakura wailed.
"What?"
"Too late!" A sharp light gleamed in Kakashi's eye.
"Konoha Secret Finger Jutsu: One Thousand Years of Death!"
For a fleeting second, Naruto's face went through a spectrum of colors, mostly a flushed, shocked red, before he was sent screaming into the air from the sheer pain of the impact.
Kanon and Sakura both lowered their heads, their faces beet-red with embarrassment.
"What... that wasn't a Ninjutsu at all..."
Sasuke wiped cold sweat from his brow. Are there three idiots on this team? One of them is my own sister! Is Konoha becoming the Village Hidden in the Idiots?
As Naruto splashed into the water, Kakashi turned his gaze toward Sakura and Kanon.
"I've found you both."
Just as his eyes landed on Kanon, a shuriken whistled through the air from the furthest thicket at high speed! It was weaker than Kanon's throws, and Kakashi caught it effortlessly with two fingers.
"What?!" Hiding in the brush, Sasuke broke into a cold sweat. He even has a defense for his blind spot?
"Stay back, both of you! I'll take him on alone!" Sasuke shouted, stepping out. Suddenly, his stomach let out a loud growl. Almost in sync, Kanon, Sakura, and even Naruto (who was climbing out of the water) had stomachs that roared in protest.
"It's just hunger... I have to become a ninja. No matter what, I can't... I can't go back to the Academy!"
As Naruto stood with his back to the water, the surface behind him began to churn violently. This was his signature move: the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu! Seven Narutos leaped out, swarming Kakashi.
"Not afterimages, but solid Shadow Clones? This is the forbidden Jutsu used to take down Mizuki," Kakashi noted, slightly impressed. "But with your chakra control, you can probably only maintain this for a minute. Even with this momentum, Naruto is still just Naruto. This Jutsu won't hurt me."
Suddenly, one of the clones managed to grab Kakashi from behind.
"What?! From behind?!" Kakashi acted surprised.
"Hehe! A ninja shouldn't show his back, right, Kakashi-sensei?" the Naruto clones jeered. "Use clones to distract from the front, then sneak one around for a back-attack! I'm paying you back for that last move!"
Even Sakura and Sasuke allowed themselves a small smile. The idiot actually used a feint!
But Kanon only sighed helplessly. She saw the "Kakashi" in Naruto's arms puff into smoke.
"It's the Substitution Jutsu," she muttered.
Sasuke echoed her sigh. Naruto, thinking Kakashi had transformed into him, led his clones into a massive brawl with each other. By the time the clones dispersed, Kakashi was long gone. It was a classic case of psychological warfare, turning the enemy against themselves. Kanon actually felt like applauding the elegance of the trap.
Moments later, Naruto and Kanon both spotted a bell lying on the ground.
"Naruto! Don't—!" Kanon started, but it was too late.
Naruto lunged for it and was instantly hoisted into the air by a snare trap, dangling upside down from a tree.
"I can't reach it..."
Kanon looked on, face-palming. How did he fall for that?
Kakashi stepped out from the shadows, looking up at the dangling Naruto with amusement. But before he could deliver his victory speech, a volley of shuriken erupted from the bushes. Sasuke's attack was incredibly fast, but "Kakashi" merely popped into a log once more.
The Jonin was truly in a league of his own. In short order, none of the four had made any real progress. The only notable moment was Kanon's shuriken play, which only failed because she chose to save Naruto. She didn't regret it for a second.
Now, Naruto was tied up, and Sakura had been knocked out by a Genjutsu. Only the Uchiha siblings remained. Sasuke stepped in front of Kanon.
"Let me take him one-on-one."
Kanon nodded and stayed back. Sasuke opened with a shuriken distraction, followed by a relentless barrage of Taijutsu—kicks and punches that actually forced Kakashi to give ground. During the scuffle, Sasuke's fingers brushed against a bell, but he couldn't snag it before Kakashi leaped away to create distance.
"You siblings... even if you're just graduates, your skill is already beyond the Genin level," Kakashi admitted softly.
Before he could finish, Sasuke's hands were already a blur of seals. Does he have enough chakra for that?! Kakashi thought, startled. He expected Kanon to have grown this much, but he hadn't tracked Sasuke as closely.
"Fire Release: Fireball Jutsu!"
With Sasuke's roar, a massive sphere of flame surged toward Kakashi's face. When the flames cleared, Kakashi was gone.
"Below you!" Kanon screamed.
Sasuke looked down just as Kakashi's hand burst from the earth, grabbing his leg and dragging him shoulder-deep into the ground.
Kanon didn't hesitate. She leaped high into the air.
"Now you're the one in mid-air!"
Suddenly, Kakashi's voice whispered right in her ear.
"Wha—?!"
Kanon gasped. In mid-air, Kakashi struck her down toward the ground. As she landed, the Kakashi in the air puffed into smoke, a clone, while a hand erupted from the dirt beneath her.
"Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu!"
Both Uchiha siblings were now buried up to their necks in the soil.
Kanon's face darkened with frustration. She had been caught. However, she knew why; she had avoided using her high-lethal techniques for fear of hurting Sasuke in such close proximity. This was a test, not a death match.
Taijutsu, Genjutsu, Ninjutsu… Kakashi had systematically dismantled them using every tool in the book. Even the "genius" Kanon had been snagged. However, she used a burst of Wind Release chakra to shatter the earth around her and vault herself out of the hole.
Just as her feet hit the grass, the alarm on the log rang out.
The four of them felt their hearts sink. They stared at Kakashi in disbelief.
"Time's up?" Sasuke asked Kanon.
"I hate to admit it..." Kanon replied, her voice low. "But yeah. Time's up."
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