End-of-volume afterword (2): Team 7: The music ends, and everyone parts ways

"Drill?" Naruto felt like the term was familiar, so he scratched his chin and tried hard to remember.

"Kakashi-sensei... you're not doing some kind of practice where you take on all three of us by yourself, are you?" Sakura looked at Kakashi with a suspicious gaze.

It was as if he was pondering how long his meager frame could withstand an attack from three people.

No... she actually thought about it seriously and felt that if they went all out, the three of them should have no problem defeating Kakashi.

"Hmph, if you think you can deal with us as easily as you did right after graduation, you're sorely mistaken!" Sasuke smiled faintly. "If we were still fighting with the determination to kill you, you might really be dead!"

"Oh, Sasuke, why are you so serious? Kakashi-sensei isn't stupid, of course he wouldn't make such a request!" Sakura patted Sasuke's shoulder with a grin, her words carrying a hint of sarcasm.

No, no, no, what this girl is implying is that Kakashi is an idiot...

"Yeah! Sasuke's right, Kakashi-sensei, let's not do the drill anymore, it's too dangerous for you!" Naruto didn't mean anything by it, but the unintentional truth from the idiot is often the most disheartening.

Kakashi's smile froze as his disciples teased him, and he felt like he was being watched, leaving him both amused and exasperated.

"Hey, hey, hey, your teacher is an elite among Jonin, I'm very strong!" Kakashi chuckled and scratched the back of his head.

However, he thought about it carefully.

Hmm, it's been two months since I last saw them. I really have no idea what level their three disciples have reached now.

"... Fine! Since you all feel this way, let's skip the drill today... I want to test your recent training progress one by one!"

Boom! The white-haired youth created three Shadow Clones on the training field.

"I infused my clones with a lot of Chakra, so they're all very strong. Now," Kakashi glanced at his three subordinates, "One for each of you. Who wants to go first?"

Sasuke stepped forward. "I'll go first, but forget about the clones, I want to challenge the real one directly!"

Naruto immediately panicked upon hearing this. "What? You Sasuke, you're trying to steal my opponent again! You took the Kazahana Dōtō last time, now it's my turn!"

"Hmph, who told you to be too slow!" Sasuke sneered, ignoring Naruto's protest. "Anyway, I was first!"

"Damn Sasuke! I came up with it first! I was the one who came up with it first! Ahhh, don't go! I challenge you to a duel!"

"Tch, a duel? Who's afraid of who? We're 116 to 74!"

"..." Kakashi watched speechlessly as the two of them started fighting amongst themselves, then turned to the last member of Team 7, "So... Sakura, you're not going to challenge the real body too, are you?"

"I'll pass, I probably still can't win." The pink-haired girl's answer made Kakashi breathe a huge sigh of relief—finally, someone obedient and willing to follow orders.

"Then let's all three clones come at me at once, I'm in a hurry!" Sakura Haruno said, arms crossed. "Come on, I'm going to take on ten of them!"

Sure enough, none of them were easy to deal with... Kakashi felt another bead of cold sweat appear on his face.

Around noon.

Naruto and Sasuke, their faces bruised and swollen, were casually tossed onto the grass by Kakashi like trash.

"Damn Biri Biri! If your last move hadn't electrocuted me too, I would have already defeated Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto was covered in bumps from Kakashi's beating, lay on the ground, still speaking with great energy.

"You idiot," Sasuke, panting heavily, giving him a sidelong glance. "I hadn't even mastered that technique with you yet, and I told you to be careful not to get caught in the blast, and you still went and ran right into it! You're just too stupid!"

--That's right, Kakashi, whose clones were unsurprisingly all destroyed by the pink-haired girl, finally decided to go in with his real body to face the duo of Naruto and Sasuke at the same time.

As Sakura had predicted, Naruto and Sasuke were badly beaten.

However, Sakura also noticed that Kakashi's steps were a bit unsteady when he returned, and his mask was slightly damp with sweat, indicating that he hadn't had an easy fight.

"You two!" Kakashi, sitting on the wooden stake with a hostile expression.

"They're doomed!" Sakura's heart skipped a beat when she heard that tone. These two were really doomed!

These two idiots broke the rules and insisted on challenging Kakashi himself; they're going to get a good beating and a good scolding!

Then she heard--

"Well done!"

Kakashi's abrupt change in tone nearly made Sakura choke on her own saliva.

The white-haired youth's face changed from a gloomy expression to a beaming smile in the blink of an eye. This incredible ability to change his expression left Sakura in awe.

The two people sitting on the grass were also completely bewildered. Kakashi-sensei, who had initially seemed ready to reprimand someone, had suddenly turned into someone praising them?

Kakashi was clearly pleased with the expressions on his students' faces. He smiled and explained, "Naruto, Sasuke, you've both made tremendous progress lately! And it's not just in terms of strength; I'm even more pleased that you've developed your own ideas and understanding regarding your training philosophies and your own Ninja Way!"

"Naruto, your Taijutsu has improved significantly! You've corrected many of your old bad habits and are much less impulsive! This is the kind of Taijutsu you should use in battle. I didn't expect you to realize this during training; your teacher is very impressed with you!"

"Hehe~" Hearing Kakashi's rare praise, Naruto beamed and scratched the back of his head with joy.

"And your Shadow Clone technique is getting better and better. It's so deceptive, it's hard to tell the difference between the real and the fake. Even I was fooled by you. Amazing!"

Kakashi, unusually, uttered words of praise—usually, when he compliments someone, he would just say "Well done" and that would be it.

"After practicing Tree Climbing and Water Walking, your Chakra manipulation, your weakness as a ninja, is now adequate. But I must remind you, Chakra manipulation training is endless! Although your Chakra reserves are enormous and can be wasted, that's not a reason to refuse Chakra manipulation training. Remember your dream of becoming Hokage? No Hokage has ever lacked solid fundamental abilities! A man who wants to become Hokage cannot give up just because he finds this kind of training difficult and tedious!"

Kakashi said solemnly, his eyes fixed intently on Naruto.

He rarely spoke so solemnly, and Sakura found it strange.

And why does the atmosphere feel a bit heavy?

It seems something has happened.

"Uh, Kakashi-sensei, what's wrong with you today? Did something happen?" Sakura asked cautiously, unsure of the situation.

"Ah... actually, it's nothing serious." Kakashi's words carried a hint of melancholy. But judging from his tone, it didn't seem like nothing was a big deal.

He calmly glanced at the three students of Team 7: Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno.

A hint of reluctance lingered deep in her eyes.

"This is probably our Team 7's farewell party."

Kakashi wrote calmly.

"Team 7 will be disbanding from now on."

A seemingly ordinary remark sent shockwaves through Team 7!

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