Early in the morning, accompanied by the chirping of waking birds, three figures appeared at the training ground.
It was Naruto and the other two members of Team 7, all arriving with sleepy eyes.
“Morning, Sasuke.
Morning, Sakura!” Naruto greeted them listlessly, his entire body practically radiating an unmistakable message: Don’t bother me.
“Morning, Sasuke!” Sakura rubbed her eyes and forced herself to wake up before calling out to Sasuke.
Still as handsome as ever, Sasuke simply replied with a morning greeting, which counted as his response, before walking toward Naruto.
What the heck!
I even got up early and dressed up nicely!
Inner Sakura was raging helplessly.
Seeing that Sasuke had not responded to her, Sakura greeted Naruto again.
“Morning, Naruto!”
Standing beside Sasuke, Naruto quietly said to him, “Kakashi-sensei may already be here.
To prevent Kakashi-sensei from ambushing us, this is a Shadow Clone standing in for my real body.
My real body is already observing from the shadows.
Oh, and remember to tell Sakura about the arrangements.
After that, don’t disturb me!
I need to conserve my chakra.” After saying this, Naruto stopped paying attention to Sasuke.
Sasuke glanced at Naruto without saying anything, but his fists unconsciously tightened.
An actual Shadow Clone?
Just before this, he couldn’t even use the Clone Technique properly, and…
Cutting off his wandering thoughts, Sasuke remembered that Kakashi had already arrived, and his entire body immediately went on alert.
He then pretended to be relaxed and walked toward Sakura.
Seeing Sasuke walking toward her, Sakura suddenly became so nervous that she didn’t know what to do with her hands.
She took the initiative and walked toward him.
“Sa…
Sasuke!”
Sasuke took out a map showing the locations of the traps and tossed it to Sakura.
He quietly explained the arrangements the two of them had made, then said nothing more and closed his eyes to rest while waiting for Kakashi to arrive.
Unfortunately, Sasuke probably wouldn’t be seeing Kakashi anytime soon.
Although Kakashi had arrived, he had no intention of revealing himself yet.
He was secretly observing them from the shadows.
Naruto, who had seen the original story, already knew this, so his real body was currently lying in the nearby woods, with his mind inside the memory space training.
From the outside, he looked as though he were asleep.
As time passed, Sasuke gradually lowered his guard.
He glanced at Naruto and thought, Why did I believe that loser?
He then truly closed his eyes to rest.
Sakura was still watching Sasuke, but she had already begun to lose energy.
Sitting on the ground, she thought, Seriously, why isn’t Kakashi-sensei here yet?
Inner Sakura was screaming.
Naruto’s Shadow Clone remained sitting there looking listless, but countless memories from the other Shadow Clones continued pouring into his mind as they dispersed within the memory space.
“Yo!
Good morning, everyone!” Kakashi greeted Naruto and the other two at an unhurried pace.
“You’re late!” Naruto’s Shadow Clone complained.
A shuriken on his body then turned into smoke.
“Because a black cat crossed my path.” Kakashi smiled as he gave his excuse, then cleared his throat and walked toward the three upright wooden posts.
“Well, anyway, let’s set the time for twelve o’clock.” As he spoke, he placed an alarm clock on top of the middle post and pressed the button.
“Today’s task is to take these bells from me before noon!” As he spoke, he took out two bells and shook them in his hand.
“Anyone who doesn’t get a bell won’t get any lunch.
You’ll also be tied to that log and forced to watch me eat my bento.” He pointed toward the three logs in the middle of the training ground.
“What?” Naruto and Sakura exclaimed simultaneously.
“So that’s why you told us not to eat breakfast,” Sakura muttered.
She then raised her head and asked, “But wait, why are there only two bells?” She raised two fingers, looking confused, and Kakashi answered honestly.
“There are only two.
That means at least one of you will be tied to that log.
That person will have failed the mission and lose their qualification, then be sent back to the Academy.
At least one of you will be sent back, and at most, all of you could be.
Of course, if you succeed, we’ll tie up whoever contributed the least.
Here’s a little hint: you can use shuriken, too!
Unless you’re prepared to kill me, you won’t be able to take the bells.” After saying this, Kakashi closed his hand around the bells.
“But that’s too dangerous, Sensei!” Sakura shouted.
Naruto also nodded beside her.
“Yeah!
Yeah!
You couldn’t even dodge a blackboard eraser earlier!”
“In this world, the less capable someone is, the more they like to make a fuss!
All right, we’ll leave the loser alone for now.
Once I say ‘Begin,’ the test starts.” Kakashi rolled his eyes as he finished speaking, then glanced at Naruto.
Hearing the word “loser” seemed to deal a devastating blow to Naruto.
His entire body immediately slumped.
“Ready…
Begin!”
The moment Kakashi gave the command, Sasuke and Sakura sprinted in different directions, searching for suitable places to hide.
Naruto was the only one who remained where he was.
…
Meanwhile, in the reception room, Iruka and the Third Hokage sat facing each other.
“What do you want to know?
You didn’t come here just to have tea with me, did you?” The Third Hokage spoke first.
What kind of teacher is he?
Is he very strict?” Iruka asked nervously, his interlocked hands revealing that he was far from calm.
“Kakashi?
Are you concerned about him?” The Third Hokage asked calmly.
“I’ve just heard some rumors that made me a little concerned.” Iruka placed his hands on the table.
Hearing this, the Third Hokage took a book titled The Ninja Way from his robes and handed it to Iruka.
“What is this?” Iruka asked, puzzled.
“This is the list of genin that Kakashi has been responsible for up until now who have passed his test.” As he spoke, the Hokage pushed the book slightly closer.
“Let me see.” Iruka picked up the booklet and looked through it.
His expression quickly became serious.
“This…
this is…”
…
“The most basic principle of being a ninja is hiding your presence!
Not bad.
You all did a good job hiding!”
Standing in the middle of the training ground, Kakashi looked around.
Sasuke and Sakura had already disappeared from his field of vision.
He turned around and looked at Naruto’s Shadow Clone, who was standing in the middle of the field and loudly shouting, “Come out and fight me fair and square!”
Kakashi felt speechless.
Although he had secretly observed them and already knew that the Naruto standing there was a clone, he hadn’t expected this Shadow Clone to be so bold.
You’re pretty brave, aren’t you?
Pretending not to know anything, Kakashi said, “You there…
I think there’s something wrong with you.”
Naruto didn’t answer and simply charged straight toward Kakashi.
Watching Naruto rush at him, Kakashi leisurely slipped a hand into his ninja pouch and said, “Ninja tactics, lesson one: I’ll teach you some taijutsu!”
Just as he was about to pull out Make-Out Paradise and put on a show, Naruto took several shuriken from his own ninja pouch and hurled them at Kakashi.
Kakashi’s attempt at looking cool was ruined.
He could only raise one hand and catch two of the incoming shuriken between two fingers, then dodge the other three before advancing toward Naruto.
At that moment, one of the shuriken behind Kakashi dispelled its Transformation Technique and turned into Naruto, a kunai in hand, stabbing toward Kakashi’s back.
A combination of the Transformation Technique and Shadow Clone Technique?
Not a bad strategy.
Thinking this, Kakashi casually threw a kunai backward.
The Shadow Clone shattered on the spot.
“Bang…”
The instant the Shadow Clone turned into smoke, the shuriken that had just fallen toward the ground transformed into another Naruto.
Now, two Narutos, each holding a kunai, charged toward Kakashi from the front and behind.
Kakashi praised the strategy inwardly.
He swept his gaze to either side, then grabbed the hands of the two Narutos with his left and right hands and flung them in opposite directions while kicking both of them at the same time.
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