Kakashi Is Shocked: Shinki, How Did You Do That?
Although Kakashi appeared to be reading, his attention had been on the kids nearby the whole time.
He wanted to see whether these kids, who had only just formed a team, would cooperate when faced with danger.
Or perhaps one of them would unleash a pleasantly surprising power.
Meanwhile, as Shinki pondered how to pass the test, he came up with a good idea.
He formed hand seals.
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—"
Over a hundred Shadow Clones appeared on the training ground.
Kakashi, holding his book: (꒪⌓꒪)
It was one thing for Naruto to have made dozens of clones earlier, but this kid had suddenly made hundreds!
Did all young people have this much chakra nowadays?!
Obito Uchiha's Sharingan had been transplanted into Kakashi's left eye, and maintaining it required a great deal of chakra.
As a result, Kakashi was perpetually low on chakra, and he often ran short after using just a few Ninjutsu in battle.
Now he saw that the young people in his class all possessed such enormous amounts of chakra.
He couldn't begin to describe how envious he was!
Seeing Shinki use the same stupid method he had, Naruto warned him, "Shinki, the Shadow Clone Technique won't work on Kakashi-sensei. He's so physically strong that he can scatter a Shadow Clone with a casual kick."
"It's fine. I'll give it a try."
Shinki smiled as he spoke.
Just then, a breeze swept across the training ground.
It lifted Shinki's red hair and the ties of the Forehead Protector fastened around his forehead.
Shinki smiled in the sunlight.
Kakashi looked up and happened to see it.
He froze.
It was a strange feeling.
The boy was clearly not yet thirteen, but to Kakashi, he seemed like a star!
A little sun!
This year's students might not disappoint.
The thought came to Kakashi for no particular reason.
During that brief moment of distraction, Shinki's voice rang out nearby. "Sensei, you shouldn't let your mind wander at a time like this."
Hundreds of Shinkis spoke at once, making such a commotion that Kakashi's ears rang a little.
The next moment.
Shinki gave the order.
Hundreds of clones charged at Kakashi together!
"Here we go!"
Looking at Shinki's clones rushing toward him like a tidal wave, Kakashi silently formed a hand seal.
Before he could finish, he suddenly felt something touch the bells hanging at his waist.
He looked down and saw a Shinki clone trying to steal them amid the chaos!
"Just like Naruto, he wants to use his clones to distract me while the real one steals the bells in the confusion?
"Still too young!"
Kakashi immediately came to a conclusion.
He abruptly turned to the side.
"Jingle!"
Kakashi immediately pulled the bells Shinki had just gotten his hands on away from him!
The next moment, Kakashi finished forming his hand seals!
"Whoosh!"
He vanished from where he stood!
In his place was a piece of dead wood.
This was the Substitution Technique, a supplementary Ninjutsu that ninjas used to escape emergencies.
After using the Substitution Technique, Kakashi appeared in a large tree beside the training ground.
His thinking was simple.
Although the Shadow Clone Technique could create countless physical clones, each one had an independent mind just like the original.
Their independent minds and great numbers meant that conflicts could arise among the clones.
Kakashi had taken advantage of that to get away from Shinki, and he also wanted to aggravate the conflicts among Shinki's clones.
But the red-haired kid's clones were strange.
After seeing him disappear, the clones neither communicated with one another nor did anything else. They all just stood there blankly.
Like robots that had completed their task.
"What's going on?"
Kakashi muttered to himself.
Just then.
"Swish!!"
Shinki suddenly appeared behind him!
While still in midair, Shinki snatched the bells from Kakashi's waist and landed steadily on the ground!
Kakashi: (°Д°≡°Д°)
Wait!
What just happened?!
Why did this kid suddenly appear behind me?!
Naruto, watching nearby, was dumbstruck too.
They had both started with the Clone Technique, so why was there such a huge difference?!
Sasuke, off to the side, froze.
After Kakashi announced the start of the test, he had found a secluded grove and hidden there.
He had intended to wait for an opportunity to win with a single strike.
But now it seemed his tactics were far less convenient than Shinki's direct attack!
Moreover, Sasuke didn't even know what Ninjutsu Shinki had used to appear so eerily behind Kakashi!!
"Sensei, does this mean I've passed the test?"
Shinki asked modestly.
He had the experience of last time, when his arrogance had driven Yamato-sensei away. (Or so Shinki believed.)
Since then, Shinki had been utterly respectful and humble toward his teachers!
Hearing him, Kakashi didn't answer immediately. Instead, he carefully examined the bells in Shinki's hand.
With years of experience carrying out missions in the Hokage's Anbu, Kakashi had an eye for detail, and he quickly noticed something unusual.
There was a tiny tree-shaped mark on the surface of a bell in Shinki's hand!
A familiar space-time fluctuation emanated from it!
Kakashi couldn't have been more familiar with that fluctuation!
Because.
This was the Ninjutsu his teacher, the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze, had excelled at most—the Flying Thunder God Technique!
The Flying Thunder God Technique had been developed by the Second Hokage and passed down to the Fourth Hokage, who had further developed it.
It was an immensely powerful Ninjutsu.
It was precisely because of the uncanny Flying Thunder God Technique that enemy village ninjas had given the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze the title of "Yellow Flash"! His very name struck fear into them!
The problem was, the requirements for mastering the Flying Thunder God Technique were extremely stringent, and it was exceptionally difficult to learn. It was one of the rare S-rank Ninjutsu!
Where had this kid Shinki learned it?!!
◝₍ᴑ̑O͝₎◞
Did the Third Hokage teach him?!
Even with a teacher, the key was that someone without enough comprehension wouldn't be able to master it, no matter how hard they tried.
Even Kakashi himself, a genius who had become a Konoha Jonin at twelve, had never mastered this Ninjutsu!
Kakashi finally understood a little why the Third Hokage had warned him not to be too shocked when he came here.
He had been preparing him for this!
Shinki had mastered an S-rank Ninjutsu at twelve and possessed a terrifying amount of chakra!
He was only a little lacking in combat experience.
But the kid was smart!
A little genius like this had probably already caught up to Kakashi at the same age!
No, he should be a little better than Kakashi had been back then!
"Sensei, if you think the way I got the bells was improper, I can snatch them again."
Seeing that Kakashi had been silent for so long, Shinki thought his teacher was blaming him for using underhanded tricks to steal the bells, so he spoke nervously.
"Snatch them again?"
Kakashi mulled over Shinki's words.
He actually did have that idea.
But it wasn't because he thought Shinki's victory had been dishonorable.
Rather, he wanted to see.
What other surprises could this kid Shinki bring him?!