The morning dew hadn't fully dried yet.
At Training Ground Three, cicadas buzzed nonstop. Kakashi leaned lazily against the chain-link fence, flipping a page of Icha Icha Paradise.
"You're late," he said without looking up.
Naruto came sprinting in, drenched in sweat. "S-Sorry! I ran into a black cat on the way, so I had to take a detour—"
"Excuses," Sasuke said coldly, hands in his pockets as he stood nearby.
Sakura hurriedly bowed. "We're very sorry!"
Rin arrived last.
He strolled out of the forest, still holding a half-eaten rice ball. Seeing Kakashi, he nodded in greeting, then leaned against the nearest tree and continued eating.
Kakashi lifted one eye from behind his book. "Did you all eat breakfast?"
"Yes!" Naruto shouted.
"Good," Kakashi closed the book. "Then the survival exercise begins now."
He pulled two small silver bells from his ninja tool pouch. They glinted sharply in the morning light.
"The rules are simple," Kakashi said, tying the bells to his belt. "Take a bell from me before noon. Anyone who doesn't—" he paused deliberately, "won't get lunch and will be tied to a post, forced to watch the others eat."
Naruto's face went pale.
"And one more thing," Kakashi added. "There are only two bells."
That meant at least two people would fail.
The training ground fell silent.
Rin swallowed the last bite of his rice ball and brushed the grains from his fingers.
"The First Hokage liked using this kind of test too."
Kakashi glanced at him. "Oh?"
"A typical Senju tactic," Rin said calmly. "Using competition between comrades to draw out potential. Childish."
Sasuke frowned. "What did you say?"
"I said it's childish," Rin straightened. "Real strength is never gained by stealing bells."
Naruto couldn't hold back anymore. "Hey! Rin, you've been saying weird stuff like this forever!"
"Then prove it with your actions," Kakashi said, amused. "But Rin… what you just said reminds me of someone."
"Who?"
"Someone who's been dead for a very long time." Kakashi tucked the book into his vest.
"Begin."
Before the word had fully faded—
Kakashi vanished.
It wasn't the Body Flicker Technique. It was pure speed.
Sasuke's Sharingan activated instantly, but all he caught were blurred afterimages.
"Behind you!" Sasuke shouted.
Naruto spun around in panic—but a kunai was already at his throat.
"Too slow," Kakashi whispered.
The next instant, he disappeared again.
He reappeared behind Sakura, lightly tapped her neck, and she collapsed before she could react.
"Second one."
Sasuke clenched his teeth and hurled three shuriken. Kakashi casually knocked them aside with a kunai and vanished once more.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Sasuke's jutsu roared forward, engulfing Kakashi's last position—but hit nothing but air.
"Even with the Sharingan… I can't keep up?" Sasuke panted.
From the very beginning, Rin hadn't moved.
He simply stood there, watching Kakashi glide through the training ground like a ghost. Naruto was taken down again and again. Sasuke's Fire Release was always half a step too late. Sakura was knocked out the moment she struggled back to her feet.
"Aren't you going to do anything?" Kakashi's voice suddenly came from behind Rin.
Rin didn't turn around.
"I'm observing," he replied. "Your movements carry traces of the White Fang and echoes of the Fourth Hokage—but most of it is your own style."
Kakashi's motion paused for a split second.
And in that instant, Rin moved.
He didn't charge Kakashi.
Instead, he stepped three paces to the front-left, pulled out two shuriken, and threw them toward empty air on his right.
Clang! Clang!
The shuriken were knocked aside by a kunai as Kakashi appeared exactly where Rin had thrown them. For the first time, a serious look crossed Kakashi's face.
"Prediction?"
"Calculation," Rin said. "Your movement has a pattern. You prefer attacking from blind spots, but before every shift, your gaze flicks toward your next position."
Sasuke froze.
Even with the Sharingan active, he hadn't noticed that.
Kakashi smiled faintly. "Interesting."
He vanished again—faster than before.
Three afterimages appeared at once, closing in on Rin from different directions.
Rin still didn't dodge.
He closed his eyes.
[Current Synchronicity: 4.5%]
[Yin Release Perception: Radius 1 meter]
Chakra flowed through his awareness like ripples on water.
The chakra in the left afterimage was thin—it was a clone.
The chakra on the right surged briefly—it was a feint.
Directly behind him—
Within the range of Yin Release Perception, Rin sensed chakra not with his eyes, but with his mind—similar to the Byakugan, yet fundamentally different.
Rin opened his eyes.
He dropped low, braced his right hand against the ground, and swept his left leg backward.
Kakashi appeared exactly there and had to jump back to avoid the strike.
"A third correct read," Kakashi said as he landed, his single eye narrowing.
"That can't be luck."
"Uchiha eyes see things others can't," Rin said, standing up and brushing dirt from his hands.
"You only have one tomoe," Kakashi noted.
"And who says you need more than one to see the truth?"
Naruto painfully dragged himself upright, his face bruised and swollen.
"Hey! What are you two even talking about?! Hurry up and help me grab a bell!"
"Shut up, loser," Sasuke snapped.
The fight continued, but Kakashi's attention clearly shifted to Rin.
He stopped darting around wildly and instead advanced step by step, each movement placing him at the optimal striking distance.
Rin moved as well—not retreating, but circling Kakashi, always keeping exactly three steps between them.
"You're copying my tactics," Kakashi said.
"Learning," Rin corrected. "Hashirama learned from Madara too."
"You really like bringing those two up."
"Because they changed this world," Rin stopped moving.
"Though I don't entirely agree with how they changed it."
Kakashi attacked without warning.
His kunai shot straight toward Rin's throat—more than twice as fast as before.
Rin twisted aside. The blade grazed his neck.
Kakashi flicked his wrist, slashing horizontally. Rin leaned back, the blade cutting through empty air.
The third strike followed immediately—Kakashi's knee driving toward Rin's abdomen.
This time, Rin couldn't fully evade.
Thud.
He was sent flying into a tree. He coughed twice, then slowly pushed himself back to his feet.
"Does it hurt?" Kakashi asked.
"It's fine," Rin wiped the corner of his mouth. "Lighter than I expected. You held back."
"I have to go easy on kids," Kakashi said with a smile.
"But your taijutsu—who taught you?"
"Self-taught."
"You reached this level on your own?" Kakashi glanced at Rin's footwork.
"That's the ancient Uchiha style. Hardly anyone knows it anymore."
Rin said nothing.
Taking advantage of the moment, Naruto suddenly charged forward.
"Take this! Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"
More than a dozen Narutos rushed Kakashi at once.
Kakashi sighed and formed hand seals.
"Earth Release: Mud Wall."
A wall erupted from the ground, and the Shadow Clones smashed into it, collapsing in confusion.
But Sasuke's Great Fireball immediately blasted the Mud Wall apart.
As Kakashi leapt to evade the flames—
Rin's shuriken arrived.
Not one.
Three.
And they didn't fly straight, but curved through the air.
Kakashi twisted midair, dodging two.
The third brushed past his waist.
Jingle.
One silver bell fell to the ground, bounced twice—
And came to a stop.