Although Kakashi appeared to be reading his book, his focus remained entirely on the kids nearby.
He wanted to see whether these newly teamed brats would pull off genuine cooperation when facing a challenge, or if one of them would reveal unexpected individual talent.
Meanwhile, Kamiki, turning over various approaches in his mind, landed on an idea.
He brought his hands together into a seal.
“Shadow Clone Jutsu!” Poof, poof, poof, poof— Hundreds of shadow clones crowded into the training grounds.
Kakashi froze, book still in hand.
It was one thing for Naruto to summon dozens earlier, but this kid had called forth hundreds in a single breath.
Do kids nowadays carry this much chakra reserves naturally?!
Transplanted in Kakashi’s left eye was Obito Uchiha’s Sharingan, and maintaining it drained a steady, massive amount of chakra.
Because of this, Kakashi dealt with frequent chakra fatigue, often running dry after firing off just a few techniques in combat.
Seeing the kids in his squad possess such immense reserves one after another, he could not help feeling envious.
Watching Kamiki resort to the same blunt approach he had attempted, Naruto called out, “Kamiki, the Shadow Clone Jutsu won’t work on Kakashi-sensei!
He’s ridiculously strong—a single kick is enough to disperse them!” “It’s fine.
I’ll test it out,” Kamiki replied with a calm smile.
Right then, a light breeze moved through the training field.
The wind ruffled Kamiki’s red hair and the strap of the forehead protector tied across his brow.
Under the morning light, Kamiki smiled.
Kakashi glanced up and caught the moment.
He paused.
The impression was strange.
The boy was not even thirteen, yet he gave Kakashi the sensation of a distant star—a warm, bright presence.
Perhaps this squad won’t be a disappointment after all, Kakashi thought without warning.
During that brief lapse in attention, Kamiki’s voice cut through the air.
“Sensei, getting distracted right now isn’t wise.” Hundreds of Kamikis spoke at the same time, the collective roar ringing loudly in Kakashi’s ears.
The next second, Kamiki gave the command.
Hundreds of clones surged toward Kakashi like a wave!
“Go!” Watching the sea of clones sprint his way, Kakashi quietly formed a hand seal.
Before completing it, he felt a light graze against the bells at his hip.
Glancing down, he saw a Kamiki clone trying to snatch them during the initial rush.
Using clones to draw attention while the main body sneaks in for the objective, just like Naruto?
Still too green!
Kakashi reacted instantly.
Shifting his weight, he twisted his torso sharply.
Snatch!
The bell Kamiki’s fingers had barely brushed was pulled clean out of reach by Kakashi’s dodge.
The next moment, Kakashi finished his seal.
Poof!
His body vanished from the clearing, leaving a dry log in his place.
The basic evasion technique used by ninja to escape tight corners—the Substitution Jutsu.
After completing the substitution, Kakashi reappeared high on a sturdy branch beside the field.
His reasoning was simple.
Although the Shadow Clone Jutsu created solid, physical duplicates, each clone possessed an independent mind identical to the user.
High numbers paired with separate thoughts inevitably created confusion and friction.
Kakashi intended to exploit that trait, shaking Kamiki off while letting the clones get in each other’s way.
Yet this red-haired boy’s clones acted strangely.
Seeing him vanish, they did not scatter, argue, or search the area.
Instead, they stood quietly in place, like constructs that had executed their primary command.
What is going on with these clones?
Kakashi muttered under his breath.
Just then— Flash!
Kamiki appeared directly behind him!
Mid-air, Kamiki cleanly slipped the bells from Kakashi’s waist, landing steadily on the branch.
Kakashi turned stiff with shock.
Wait!
What just happened?!
How did this kid appear behind me without a sound?!
Down on the grass, Naruto stood frozen in place.
They both opened with the same clone technique—how was the outcome so completely different?!
Over in the brush, Sasuke stopped cold.
The moment Kakashi announced the start of the exercise, Sasuke had slipped into the trees to wait for an opening and strike when the teacher let his guard down.
Now it was obvious that his ambush plan could not match Kamiki’s direct approach.
More importantly, Sasuke had no idea what kind of jutsu Kamiki had just used to step behind Kakashi out of thin air.
“Sensei, does this count as passing the test?” Kamiki asked with quiet politeness.
Ever since driving Yamato away with his apparent arrogance—at least in Kamiki’s own view—he made a conscious point to treat instructors with absolute respect.
Kakashi gave no immediate response.
Instead, his eye narrowed onto the bells in Kamiki’s hand.
With years of experience in the Anbu, his eye for detail caught the anomaly right away.
Etched onto the surface of the bells was a miniature, tree-shaped mark.
A subtle, familiar space-time vibration radiated from it.
Kakashi knew that vibration better than almost anyone.
It belonged to the signature technique of his former master, the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze—the Flying Thunder God Technique!
Invented by the Second Hokage and refined by the Fourth, the jutsu was brutally effective.
Minato Namikaze had earned the moniker “Yellow Flash” across enemy nations purely on the terror of this instantaneous shift.
The problem was that the requirements to learn the Flying Thunder God were exceptionally steep; it was an S-rank forbidden technique with almost no margin for error.
Where did this kid learn a jutsu like that?!
Did the Third Hokage teach him directly?!
Even with personal instruction, mastering it without profound natural comprehension was impossible.
Kakashi himself, recognized as a prodigy who made Jonin at age twelve, had never managed to learn it.
Now Kakashi understood why the Third Hokage had warned him against being too shocked before taking on Team 7.
The old man had been preparing him for this.
Mastering an S-rank jutsu at twelve years old, backed by staggering chakra reserves.
His actual combat experience was raw, but his theoretical intellect was off the charts.
This kid was already on par with his younger self—in fact, he had clearly surpassed where Kakashi had been at twelve!
“Sensei, if you feel this method was underhanded, I can try taking them again,” Kamiki said, growing nervous at Kakashi’s prolonged silence and assuming the teacher disapproved of a shortcut.
“Try taking them again?” Kakashi echoed slowly.
In truth, the idea was tempting.
Not because he considered Kamiki’s grab invalid— He simply wanted to see what other surprises this boy was keeping in reserve.