“First, we needed to predict how you would react. Only by establishing a degree of certainty about your actions could we build a plan around them. Otherwise, if we wanted you to go east but you went west instead, no matter how precise our plan was, it would fail because there would be nothing for it to act upon,” Sasuke explained calmly.
“That’s true. Take what I just asked, for example. How did you determine that I would come beneath this tree? Or even before that, how did you know I would pursue Sakura after she exposed herself instead of heading toward one of the other trees?” Kakashi asked, following Sasuke’s reasoning.
“The condition for failure was that we wouldn’t obtain the bells before noon. With your strength as a Jōnin, you could have simply hidden from us. If you genuinely wanted to avoid us, we wouldn’t even have been able to find you.”
“But this was an exam. You obviously couldn’t do that. If you did, it wouldn’t be an exam anymore. You’d simply be cheating,” Sasuke continued.
“So once you discovered one of us, there was an extremely high chance you would pursue them,” Sasuke concluded.
“Correct. If I simply hid and refused to come out, this survival exercise would indeed become meaningless. Naturally, I wouldn’t do something like that. Or rather, no Jōnin instructor would,” Kakashi agreed.
“So the next step was ensuring that you ended up beneath this particular tree without discovering the person hiding above it. For that reason, Sasuke, who had the best grades among us, was naturally the first choice,” Naruto said with a faint smile.
“If I’m guessing correctly, that clone was also created by Sasuke, wasn’t it?” Kakashi asked.
“That’s right. Sasuke can use the Clone Technique faster and more discreetly, reducing the chances of Kakashi-sensei noticing it. That was how we intended to force you up into the tree,” Naruto replied with a nod.
“And to lower my guard even further, the two of you transformed into each other. You deliberately exposed Sasuke early so I would believe the person still hiding was Naruto?” Kakashi said.
“Exactly. As I already said, after calculating the probabilities, Naruto and I concluded that switching identities gave us a higher chance of success,” Sasuke replied calmly.
“Heh. I didn’t expect your shurikenjutsu to be that good either, Naruto. It looked remarkably like an Uchiha’s. You really did fool me,” Kakashi said, recalling Naruto’s earlier barrage and offering genuine praise.
“Well, it’s decent enough. Back at the Ninja Academy, Sasuke always showed off that move whenever we practiced shuriken. I saw it enough times that even though I’m not particularly proficient with it, copying it for a while isn’t difficult,” Naruto replied with a faint smile.
“Then how did you ensure that I would end up beneath this tree?” Kakashi asked again.
“Because most powerful ninja share a certain habit,” Sasuke said calmly.
“A habit?” Kakashi asked.
“Bullying rookies.”
“Bullying rookies? And that alone was enough for you to determine I would appear beneath this tree?” Kakashi asked in surprise.
“Of course it wasn’t that simple. Haven’t you noticed? In the direction we were facing, this was the closest tree. Every other tree was more than twice as far away. We chose this location deliberately.”
“And people who enjoy bullying rookies tend to like cutting off their escape routes. So as long as we fled in this direction, based on that bad habit, there was a very high probability you would appear beneath this tree,” Sasuke explained.
“Why beneath the tree instead of in it? If I had appeared on the branches, I would have immediately discovered the person lying in ambush there, wouldn’t I?” Kakashi asked.
“You wouldn’t.”
“Standing above us in a tree would put you too far overhead. It wouldn’t create as much pressure as appearing directly in front of us on the ground, nor would it convey the same sense that everything was under your control.”
“So there was a very high probability that you would choose to appear beneath the tree. Of course, that conclusion still depended on the premise that powerful ninja enjoy bullying rookies,” Sasuke emphasized once again.
Clap, clap, clap…
Kakashi immediately applauded.
“Wonderful analysis.”
“But there’s still one thing I’m curious about. How did you communicate with each other?”
“From the very beginning, your hiding positions were quite far apart. If you had gathered together first and then separated again, there’s no way I would have failed to notice.”
“Morse code,” Naruto answered.
“We obviously knew that gathering together would greatly increase the risk of being discovered. So before we separated, we connected ourselves to one another with shinobi wire.”
“Then we used chakra to send signals through the wire, simulating Morse code.”
“After that, we formulated our strategy according to the terrain surrounding each of our hiding places.”
“In other words, our plan was created to suit the terrain we happened to be in. We didn’t create a fixed plan first and then search for terrain that resembled what we needed.”
“Excellent. Unexpected, clever, and genuinely impressive.”
Kakashi applauded again.
“Truthfully, before the exercise began, I didn’t think you would manage to take the bells.”
“But not only did you succeed, you did it beautifully. I’m impressed.”
“Unfortunately…”
Kakashi’s tone changed.
“There are only two bells.”
“So now it’s time for you to make a choice.” This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
“One of you must be eliminated.”
“Who will it be?”
“No one is getting eliminated, because all of us have a bell,” Sasuke replied.
Clang!
He sliced one of the bells in half.
“Half a bell is still a bell.”
“Heh. You think I’ll accept that kind of clever trick?” Kakashi asked with a chuckle.
“Then what about this?”
Sasuke remained unmoved.
He cut the other bell in half as well.
“Now none of us has a complete bell.”
“Sasuke-kun!”
Sakura stared at Sasuke in deep emotion.
Naruto, however, was completely indifferent.
They had already seen through the purpose of the exam.
If they still managed to fail now, they might as well find a block of tofu and smash their heads against it.
“What about you two?”
Kakashi looked at Sasuke’s unwavering expression, then turned toward Naruto and Sakura.
“Sasuke refuses to eliminate either of you. Are you willing to eliminate him?”
“Absolutely not! Even if I had to eliminate myself, I would never eliminate Sasuke-kun!” Sakura declared firmly.
Naruto merely smiled faintly.
“I don’t care. Sensei, eliminate whoever you want. You can eliminate me too.”
“You pass!”
Seeing that there was no longer any point in testing them further, Kakashi finally smiled.
“Yes! Just as we thought! The real purpose of this exercise was teamwork!” Sakura immediately cheered, accidentally blurting out the truth.
“Oh?”
Kakashi looked surprised.
“So you had already seen through the true objective of this survival exercise?”
“Ah! Sorry, Sasuke-kun, Naruto! I let it slip!”
Sakura immediately realized what she had done and covered her mouth, hurriedly apologizing to the two of them.
“We’re ninja.”
Sasuke looked calmly at Kakashi.
“We took the test as ninja. If we passed, then we passed.”
“You can’t suddenly say we fail just because we figured out what the question was really testing.”
“If that were enough to invalidate the result, then the one who ought to fail wouldn’t be the examinees.”
“It would be the examiner who wrote the test.”
“Am I wrong, Kakashi-sensei?”
“That certainly is the ninja way of doing things.”
Kakashi nodded.
“Since I’ve already announced that you passed, then naturally you passed.”
“I admit I’m surprised you managed to see through the deeper purpose of the survival exercise, but that isn’t a reason to revoke your results.”
“However…”
“Since you already understood what this exam was truly testing, I have to make sure everything you showed today wasn’t simply an act.”
“So from now on, I’ll continue observing you.”
“If I discover that you still don’t value your comrades or understand their importance, I can send you back to the Ninja Academy for retraining at any time.”
“Huh? So it still isn’t over?”
Sakura had never expected that accidentally letting the truth slip would lead to such serious consequences.
“That’s right. It isn’t over.”
Kakashi’s gaze shifted toward the Memorial Stone.
“But I still have to say this—you did well.”
“A ninja must remain calm, composed, and cautious.”
“Those who violate the rules and laws of the shinobi world are called trash.”
“But those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash.”
“I hope all of you remember that.”
His voice carried an unmistakable heaviness.
“Kakashi-sensei, since we’ve already passed the test, shouldn’t you give us something to show for it?”
Naruto knew Kakashi was once again reminiscing about Obito, the man responsible for his father’s death, so he did not bother being polite.
“Teach me the Shadow Clone Technique.”
It never hurt to ask.
Maybe he would get lucky.
“If you want me to teach you ninjutsu, that depends on how you perform from now on.”
Kakashi neither refused nor agreed immediately.
“Starting tomorrow, Team Seven will officially begin carrying out missions.”
“For now, let’s head back.”
“Kakashi-sensei.”
Naruto’s expression became unusually serious.
“I really need to learn the Shadow Clone Technique.”
“So I hope you can finish evaluating me quickly.”
“Preferably within a week.”
“By then, I want an answer on whether you can teach me or not.”
“Oh?”
Kakashi looked at Naruto inquisitively.
“Why are you in such a hurry to learn the Shadow Clone Technique?”
“To make the necessary preparations for becoming Hokage,” Naruto replied calmly.
Kakashi knew Naruto was not telling him the truth.
He studied Naruto for quite a while but could not think of what value the Shadow Clone Technique would have in helping Naruto become Hokage.
More importantly, Kakashi had not forgotten how utterly insincere Naruto had sounded when talking about his dream of becoming Hokage.
“For this week, focus on performing well first. We’ll talk about the rest afterward.”
So Kakashi continued neither rejecting nor agreeing to Naruto’s request.
Sasuke actually wanted to ask Kakashi to teach him ninjutsu as well.
But his skin was not nearly as thick as Naruto’s.
Moreover, Sasuke feared that his single-minded pursuit of power to kill that man would not be understood.
He opened his mouth.
In the end, however, he still could not bring himself to ask.