Around nine in the morning, at the training ground—
Sasuke and Sakura were so hungry their stomachs were practically sticking to their backs by the time Kakashi finally arrived.
“Yo. Morning!”
Kakashi casually greeted the two of them.
“You’re way too late!” Sakura shouted.
Even Sasuke looked somewhat irritated.
“A cat blocked my path on the way here this morning, so I ended up being late,” Kakashi said, offering an excuse that no one could possibly believe.
“Speaking of which, where’s Uzumaki Naruto? Why isn’t he here yet?” Kakashi asked.
“Who knows? That guy probably overslept. He did that all the time back at the academy,” Sakura replied irritably.
Sasuke remained expressionless, his thoughts unreadable.
With Naruto absent, the exercise couldn’t begin.
Kakashi found himself in a dilemma.
Was he seriously going to have to make another trip to Naruto’s house to fetch him?
Just as the thought crossed his mind, a figure appeared in the distance.
Uzumaki Naruto slowly walked toward them, dressed in a white short-sleeved shirt and black shorts, his blond hair now parted down the middle.
“Sorry, sorry. A cat blocked my path on the way here, so I ended up being late.”
Kakashi: “…”
Sakura: “…”
Sasuke: “…”
“Kakashi-sensei, you and Uzumaki Naruto aren’t secretly brothers, are you?”
Sakura stared suspiciously at the two of them.
Kakashi: “…”
Ignoring Sakura’s question, Kakashi turned toward Naruto.
That new outfit…
And that hairstyle…
Good grief.
He definitely bought all of that with the mission money I gave him, didn’t he?
Naruto was probably late today because of that too.
“Did you eat breakfast, Naruto?” Kakashi asked. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
Naruto pulled a steamed bun from his pocket, took a bite, and replied,
“Yeah.”
Kakashi: “…”
He suddenly felt as though his authority was being openly challenged.
With an inward sigh, Kakashi thought,
Forget it.
I’ve spent so much time around this brat that he’s already figured me out.
Kakashi took out an alarm clock and set the timer.
“I’ve set this for noon. Your task is to take these bells from me before twelve o’clock.”
“Sensei, why are there only two bells? There are three of us.”
Sakura immediately noticed the problem.
Kakashi naturally followed up with an explanation.
“Because one of you is guaranteed to be sent back to the academy for remedial training!”
“You’re kidding, right?”
Sakura froze.
She had trouble accepting such a harsh exercise.
Sasuke, meanwhile, had already begun thinking about how to take a bell from a Jōnin.
As for Naruto…
His expression remained blank and lazy.
He didn’t care in the slightest.
“From this point onward, you can use kunai, ninja tools, or whatever other methods you want.”
“I suggest coming at me with the intent to kill.”
“Otherwise, you’ll never manage to take a bell from me.”
Hearing that, Naruto laughed inwardly.
If I actually came at you with the intent to kill, you really might die.
Naruto’s current strength had unquestionably reached Kage level.
He had mastered ninjutsu from all five chakra natures, possessed excellent swordsmanship, could use Wood Release, and had access to the Nine-Tails’ chakra.
With everything he had accumulated by now, Naruto dared say that he was even stronger than the current Third Hokage!
“Come at you with the intent to kill? Kakashi-sensei, isn’t that a little dangerous?”
Sakura looked worried.
Naruto glanced at her as though he were looking at an idiot.
Fortunately, Sakura’s attention was entirely focused on Kakashi, so she didn’t notice his expression.
Otherwise, another argument between the two of them would have been inevitable.
Kakashi looked at Sakura.
“When you become actual ninja and start carrying out missions, things will only become more dangerous.”
“Are you planning to give up?”
After hearing that, Sakura stopped questioning the safety of the exercise.
Kakashi pulled out Icha Icha Paradise and began reading.
“All right, then.”
“The exercise starts now.”
The moment he finished speaking, Sasuke and Sakura vanished from where they stood and hid themselves in the surrounding forest.
As for our protagonist, Naruto—
He simply stood there with both hands in his pockets, looking utterly exhausted.
Last night’s Icha Icha Paradise had been pretty good too.
“Aren’t you going to hide, Naruto?”
Kakashi looked at him.
“Or are you confident enough to defeat me head-on and take the bells?”
Hidden in the forest, Sasuke and Sakura were already cursing Naruto for being an idiot.
He had actually forgotten even the most basic principle of a ninja exercise—concealing himself.
But was that really the case?
“What would be the point of hiding, Kakashi-sensei?”
Naruto casually scratched his ear.
“Playing hide-and-seek against a Jōnin only splits up our fighting strength and lets you defeat us one by one.”
“Only an idiot fresh out of the Ninja Academy would fight like that.”