4:50 a.m., Training Ground Three.
Uchiha Sasuke arrived first. Arms folded, he leaned against a tree with his eyes closed, resting in silence.
Soon after, Haruno Sakura came hurrying over as well. The moment she saw Sasuke, she quickly fixed her hair and clothes.
"Good morning, Sasuke-kun."
Sasuke did not even open his eyes. He merely gave a faint "Mm."
At 4:58, Naruto appeared. He nodded at the two of them in greeting.
Time passed minute by minute.
The sun climbed higher, gradually burning away the morning mist and bringing the training ground into full clarity.
But Kakashi still did not appear.
One hour. Two hours…
It was nearly noon by the time Kakashi finally showed up, standing atop one of the wooden posts in the middle of the field.
"Yo. Morning, everyone."
"You're way too late!!!"
Sakura and Sasuke, who had been bottling up their anger for hours, roared in unison.
"Now, now, don't be so mad." Kakashi offered a completely insincere explanation. "I got lost on the road of life…"
Yeah, right.
Both Sasuke and Sakura were screaming internally.
Kakashi ignored their murderous stares and placed two lunch boxes and an old alarm clock on the post at his feet.
"All right, let's get to the point. Today's survival exercise has very simple rules."
He took out two bells and gave them a little shake.
"Before twelve o'clock, you need to find a way to take these bells from me."
He paused, and his tone turned grim.
"Anyone who fails to get a bell gets no lunch. On top of that, they'll be tied to those posts over there and forced to watch us eat."
"But… there are only two bells…" Sakura immediately caught the problem, and her face turned pale.
"Which means at least one of you will fail," Kakashi said meaningfully, his gaze sweeping across the three of them. "Possibly all of you."
He let the words settle before continuing.
"You may use shuriken, kunai—whatever you want. If you don't come at me with the intent to kill, you'll never get these bells."
After explaining the rules, Kakashi set the alarm clock.
"Then… begin!"
The instant the word left his mouth, Sasuke and Sakura both leapt backward and vanished into the trees.
Naruto, however, did not hide.
He stayed where he was.
That abnormal choice made Kakashi lift a brow, and it also left Sasuke and Sakura, concealed in the woods, feeling puzzled.
"Naruto, you're not going to hide?" Kakashi asked with interest. "Or do you think you can pass this test on your own?"
Naruto shook his head.
"No. I just think that, as the dead last, the most appropriate thing for me to do is draw your attention from the front, probe out information about you, and create an opening for the teammates hiding in the dark."
Behind the trees, Sasuke's eyes shifted slightly.
He had originally planned to act alone and wait for his own chance to seize a bell.
But Naruto's words stirred something unexpected in him.
If Naruto could really hold Kakashi's attention, then it would indeed create a better opportunity for a sneak attack.
Sasuke made a quiet decision in his heart:
If I get the bells later… maybe I can spare him one.
Sakura was even more shocked.
Naruto… actually thought that far ahead?
Thinking about how all she had done was hide and worry about Sasuke, she felt a little ashamed.
Careful-minded. Aware of teamwork. Willing to sacrifice himself.
Kakashi gave Naruto an approving look.
Just as expected of Sensei's son.
Even so, a proper test was still a proper test.
Kakashi beckoned to Naruto.
"Come on, then. I'll properly teach you what being a ninja means."
"Then excuse me, Kakashi-sensei!"
Naruto formed a seal with both hands.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Several clouds of smoke burst one after another, and more than thirty Narutos instantly filled the open space in front of Kakashi.
"So strong!" Sakura clapped a hand over her mouth from her hiding place.
Even Sasuke's pupils contracted slightly as he stared at the scene.
"That technique again? This guy's chakra reserves…"
Even Kakashi's visible eye widened a little.
It was not just the number of clones—their solidity was impressive too.
So after learning this technique from the Scroll of Seals yesterday, Naruto had not merely learned how to use it. He had already reached the point of basic mastery.
"Everyone! Go!"
Hidden among the clones, Naruto gave the command.
"Yeahhh!"
More than thirty shadow clones shouted in unison and charged at Kakashi from all directions, like a human wave crashing toward the post.
Yet against that overwhelming swarm tactic, Kakashi remained absurdly calm.
He even had the leisure to pull out a copy of Icha Icha.
"Nice spirit," he said lazily. "But… too slow."
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Kakashi did not use a single ninjutsu.
He simply moved, sidestepped, lifted a hand, flicked a kick.
Every time he made a move, one of Naruto's shadow clones burst into smoke and vanished.
"Not enough power. Your intent is far too obvious. And your coordination is completely chaotic."
As he dismantled the clones one after another, Kakashi still had enough breathing room to offer commentary.
"Naruto, sheer numbers aren't enough to defeat a real expert."
In just a little over ten seconds, more than half of the thirty-plus clones had already been wiped out.
Behind cover, Sasuke frowned hard.
No good. This is just wasting chakra. An attack at this level doesn't even count as a proper probe.
He tightened his grip on the kunai in his hand, searching for an opening in Kakashi's movements.
Sakura, meanwhile, was so tense that her palms were sweating.
What do we do? Naruto's almost at his limit!
And yet Naruto himself, right in the middle of the battle, showed no trace of panic.
While directing his remaining clones to keep pressing with feints, he watched every single movement Kakashi made.
Then, the instant Kakashi split the last shadow clone apart with a chop of his hand—
A sharp glint flashed through Naruto's eyes.
Now!
He lunged forward, right fist clenched, looking as though he were about to launch another reckless frontal attack.
Kakashi shook his head faintly, as if disappointed that Naruto still had not learned his lesson.
He casually raised his left hand, ready to block and subdue Naruto in one motion.
But just as Naruto's fist was about to meet Kakashi's arm, he suddenly dropped low. His fist changed into a claw and shot straight toward the bells at Kakashi's waist.
"A feint to the east, strike from the west? Not bad."
Kakashi reacted instantly. His right hand shot out and caught Naruto's attacking wrist with pinpoint precision.
"But too naive."
Yet the moment Kakashi grabbed that wrist—
Something felt wrong.
The "Naruto" in his grip exploded into a puff of smoke and became a block of wood.
"A Substitution Technique? When did he—?"
For the first time, surprise flickered through Kakashi's mind.
At almost the exact same moment, Naruto's real body appeared behind and slightly to Kakashi's side.
His earlier charge, his feints, even the "real body" that had been caught at the end—
all of it had been carefully arranged bait, meant to create this one brief instant.
Naruto held his breath and reached for the bell again.
Got it!
But a large hand clamped down on his wrist once more.
Kakashi had already turned around at some unknown point, calmly looking at him as though he had foreseen the entire sequence.
"Good tactical use," Kakashi said evenly. "A chained lure, decent timing too."
Then his tone hardened.
"But in the face of an absolute gap in strength, little tricks like this are useless."
Before the words had fully fallen, Kakashi flicked his wrist.
Naruto felt the world spin.
His whole body was lifted and swung through the air before being slammed heavily into the ground.
Boom!
The dull impact kicked up a cloud of dust.
"Naruto!" Sakura cried out involuntarily from her hiding place.
Sasuke clenched his fist tighter.
So even that didn't work? Even with such a good chance, he still couldn't pull it off…
Kakashi no longer paid Naruto any attention. Instead, his gaze shifted toward the forest, and his voice rang out clearly:
"So, what about the other two? How long are you planning to keep hiding?"
He let the silence linger for a beat, then added:
"Are you waiting until your teammate is completely beaten down before you come out?"
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