“What exactly is going on, Kakashi?”
Sasuke stared fixedly at the Mangekyō Sharingan in Kakashi’s left eye, unable to keep his emotions under control.
“What happened to your eye?!”
Those eyes again…
That kind of Sharingan again…
Sasuke’s body began trembling against his will.
The image of that man’s eyes surfaced repeatedly in his mind.
“…”
Kakashi remained silent for a moment before answering in a low voice.
“I wasn’t the one who awakened this Mangekyō Sharingan.”
His visible eye darkened.
“The eye’s original owner awakened it long ago.
I simply never realized it until recently.”
“The Mangekyō… Sharingan?”
It was the first time Sasuke had ever heard that name.
In an instant, Itachi’s words from that night echoed through his mind.
“Come before me once you possess the same eyes as I do.”
The same eyes…
Was he talking about the Mangekyō Sharingan?
“Damn it…”
Sasuke clenched his fists until his nails dug into his palms.
Hinata watched him anxiously.
There was clearly something wrong with his current state.
Naruto also released a quiet sigh.
Sasuke’s emotional wounds ran far too deep.
The truth of the Uchiha massacre had become a curse wrapped in thorns around his heart.
The more desperately Sasuke struggled against it, the deeper those thorns pierced.
It looks like Itachi is the only person who can truly free him from this pain.
Still—
For now, passing the survival exercise was more urgent.
Naruto scratched his head, feeling a headache coming on.
He casually threw a shuriken toward Kakashi.
Kakashi merely tilted his body and let it pass beside him.
Naruto grinned.
“Why didn’t you dodge it with Kamui in a cool and mysterious way, Kakashi-sensei?”
A bead of sweat appeared on Kakashi’s forehead.
“I’m not you, Naruto.
I don’t have enough chakra to waste it on every insignificant attack.”
Kakashi felt strangely miserable.
Communicating with someone who possessed such absurd chakra reserves was nearly impossible.
“Oh…”
Naruto nodded.
Then a faint smile appeared on his face.
He raised both hands and formed a cross-shaped seal.
“Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!”
Poof!
Poof!
Poof!
Poof!
Poof!
Clouds of white smoke erupted throughout the training ground.
Hundreds—
No, nearly a thousand golden Narutos appeared within the relatively small clearing.
They surrounded Kakashi in layer after layer, forming several enormous rings around him.
“Here we come, Kakashi-sensei!”
Nearly a thousand golden Narutos laughed at once.
Their voices overlapped so heavily that the entire training ground echoed.
Then they charged.
All at once.
Is he doing this on purpose?
Kakashi felt his spirit growing tired.
Just how much chakra did someone need to create this many shadow clones?
The amount was beyond imagination.
Kakashi caught one Naruto’s fist, then spun and kicked apart another clone approaching from behind.
For some reason, he could almost sense Naruto mocking him through the sheer absurdity of this technique.
Of course, Naruto had no intention of mocking Kakashi.
He merely wanted to use the overwhelming number of clones as cover while he prepared something else.
“Lightning Style: Ground Current!”
A serpentine current of lightning raced through the mass of shadow clones.
Crackle—!
Poof!
Poof!
Poof!
Poof!
A large number of Narutos disappeared in clouds of smoke.
Whenever one wave of clones vanished, an even larger wave rushed forward to replace it.
Kakashi drew the tantō strapped vertically across his back.
Combining the swordsmanship and taijutsu he had honed upon countless battlefields, he began eliminating Naruto’s shadow clones with ruthless efficiency.
Meanwhile, at the outermost edge of the crowd—
“Sasuke.
Hinata.”
The original Naruto quietly called the other two over.
“I have a plan.”
…
It took Kakashi less than five minutes to eliminate nearly a thousand shadow clones.
That was the greatest weakness of producing such an excessive number.
Not only was the chakra consumption enormous, but dividing one’s chakra into a thousand equal portions drastically weakened each individual clone.
Although part of a clone’s remaining chakra returned to the original when it dispersed, the overall cost was still horribly inefficient.
Only someone as outrageously blessed with chakra as Naruto in his golden cloak could afford to fight this way.
When the final clones disappeared and Kakashi’s vision cleared—
Only Sasuke remained before him.
“So you finished preparing your strategy?”
Kakashi stared at him with his usual dead-fish eye, though every nerve in his body had already grown tense.
“What a troublesome group…”
Naruto’s situation was far too unusual.
His combat ability was so absurd that it was difficult to believe he had only just graduated from the Academy.
An ordinary chūnin would probably last no more than a few minutes against him.
And Naruto had not even used the Rasenshuriken.
Then there was Sasuke.
After training alongside Naruto for six years, Sasuke’s strength also far exceeded that of the other students in their generation.
Kakashi had to remain constantly wary of Naruto’s overwhelming power while simultaneously watching for whatever Sasuke might attempt with his three-tomoe Sharingan.
In another few years, those two will leave me completely behind, won’t they?
“Kakashi.”
Sasuke spoke calmly.
“Once this exercise is over, I want you to tell me about your eye.”
“You should worry about passing first.”
“Hmph.”
The corner of Sasuke’s mouth rose slightly.
He thrust both hands into the two enormous ninja-tool pouches at the back of his waist.
Kakashi’s Mangekyō rotated faintly as he carefully observed the movement.
Were those two pouches there earlier?
The next instant—
Sasuke’s arms transformed into blurs.
Fwish-fwish-fwish-fwish-fwish!
Countless shuriken poured toward Kakashi like a torrential rainstorm.
Isn’t this a little excessive?!
So this is the Uchiha clan’s legendary shurikenjutsu?
Lightning chakra instantly surged through Kakashi’s entire body, stimulating his muscles and accelerating his movements.
He rapidly retreated to the side.
However, Sasuke’s three-tomoe Sharingan was also fully active.
His arms continually adjusted their angles, causing the torrent of shuriken to curve after Kakashi’s movements.
Realizing there was no path of escape, Kakashi had little choice.
He poured chakra into his left eye.
His Mangekyō spun.
Kakashi’s entire body entered Kamui’s intangible state.
Every shuriken passed harmlessly through him and buried itself in the ground behind him.
With my current chakra reserves, I doubt I could maintain this state for the full five-minute limit.
Kakashi continued moving while analyzing the situation.
Still, Sasuke shouldn’t be able to maintain that high-speed barrage for very long either.
The rain of shuriken finally stopped.
“Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!”
Sasuke rapidly formed hand seals and exhaled.
Six burning shuriken shot toward Kakashi.
There’s more?!
Just before the flaming projectiles reached him—
Poof!
Poof!
Two shuriken embedded among the countless weapons beneath Kakashi’s feet transformed into two Narutos.
One attacked with a fist.
The other swept out a kick.
Their attacks arrived alongside the Phoenix Flower flames.
So that’s what they were planning…
The fire and both Narutos passed straight through Kakashi’s intangible body.
This is bad.
My Mangekyō is already approaching its limit…
The instant the attacks passed through him, Kakashi counterattacked.
His leg swept toward the faces of the two shadow clones.
But at that exact moment—
A gigantic Fūma shuriken came spinning toward him. This story is hosted at g.com.
They really aren’t giving me a single moment to breathe…
Kakashi had no choice but to force Kamui to its limit once more.
The Fūma shuriken struck one Naruto clone and dispersed it.
Poof!
It then passed through Kakashi’s body.
At the same time, because Kakashi was intangible, his sweeping kick also passed harmlessly through the second Naruto.
The Fūma shuriken completely cleared Kakashi’s back.
Then—
Poof!
The spinning weapon transformed into Hinata.
Her Byakugan was active.
She drove her palm toward the chakra network in Kakashi’s back.
Damn it!
Gentle Fist!
If that attack connects, this really will be over!
The interval between the attacks was almost nonexistent.
Fortunately, Kakashi’s reflexes were exceptional.
He activated Kamui again just in time.
Hinata’s palm passed through his body.
She struck nothing.
Then—
Kakashi’s body stiffened.
The chakra flowing throughout him suddenly stopped.
Every current within his chakra network froze in place.
Slowly, Kakashi looked down.
A Gentle Fist palm was pressed firmly against his chest.
The remaining “Naruto” standing in front of him had actually been Hinata using the Transformation Jutsu.
Behind him, the first “Hinata” disappeared in a cloud of smoke—
Revealing Naruto.
At the same moment, a short sword came to rest against Kakashi’s throat.
Sasuke stood beside him with an emotionless face.
The arm holding the blade trembled slightly.
His extreme high-speed shuriken barrage had placed an enormous burden upon his muscles.
Even so, Sasuke’s eyes never left Kakashi’s left eye, which had already reverted to an ordinary three-tomoe Sharingan.
“Ah…”
Surrounded on all sides by the three genin, with the chakra pathways inside his body sealed, Kakashi could do nothing but surrender.
He pulled his forehead protector down over his left eye.
Then he dropped heavily onto the ground.
“What kind of genin are you three…?”
Naruto was also thoroughly exhausted.
The golden chakra surrounding his body faded away as he sat down beside Kakashi.
He reached out and removed the bells from Kakashi’s waist.
“Don’t be so discouraged, Kakashi-sensei.”
Naruto smiled happily.
“You only lost because you still haven’t adapted to the strain of the Mangekyō Sharingan.”
He paused.
“And because you have way less chakra than I do.”
Kakashi helplessly covered his face with one hand.
After a moment, he turned toward Sasuke and Hinata, his visible eye curving slightly.
“Then how will you divide the bells?”
“Sasuke?
Hinata?”
Sasuke lowered his sword.
Hinata remained standing nervously, glancing between Naruto and Sasuke.
Naruto said nothing.
He understood the true meaning of the exercise.
And he knew Kakashi was aware that he understood.
The question was not meant for him.
It was meant to test Sasuke and Hinata.
Sasuke broke the silence.
“Give them to Naruto and Hinata.”
His voice was calm.
“As long as I can continue becoming stronger, I don’t care whether I become a genin.”
Hinata stared at him in surprise.
“That isn’t right, Sasuke-kun!”
She glanced back at Naruto, reluctance visible in her pale eyes.
“I… I…”
After hesitating, Hinata finally gathered her courage.
“I should be the one who returns to the Academy.”
Kakashi and Naruto exchanged glances.
Then—
Both of them smiled.