VS Kakashi

The next day, Third Training Ground.

Naruto was gloriously late.

He had spent all last night in the [Duel Arena].

From challenging Sasuke to challenging thirty-two-year-old Sasuke.

Although he had won every match, battles on that scale were far too mentally draining. Naruto still felt a little dazed.

Even more speechless, this [Duel Arena] did not have recovery functions like the Training Space.

This trash game was probably trying to make him spend money on recovery items, wasn't it?

What a scam!

Fortunately, he had plenty of money. Fine, he would buy them.

But Old Xiong and the old man would have to work harder from now on.

He still had plenty of opponents he wanted to challenge.

There was also good news: after consecutively challenging the two main protagonists in the Duel Arena yesterday, Naruto had confirmed one thing—he was invincible!

But being invincible did not mean he was about to mount up and become "emperor."

Not to mention how exhausting it would be to become "emperor."

Other than Konoha, he was completely in the dark. Of the Five Great Nations, he only knew the names of a few powerful people and almost nothing else.

Social structure, economic structure, population composition, geographical layout.

Basically, ask him anything and he would have nothing to say.

If he became "emperor" now, the vast ninja world would probably become even more chaotic than before the "Ninja Village Era."

As for the details of governance, it would probably be a case of chaos when left alone and collapse when tightly controlled.

Naruto had come to join this world, not destroy it.

So he had to take things slowly.

At that moment, Naruto suddenly felt that he did not have enough clones. He really needed more of them to spread out his influence and begin learning about the ninja world.

For the first twelve years, his horizons had been limited to Konoha. He had never even left the village.

Since he had decided to start changing the ninja world at sixteen, he needed to begin preparing now, actively making contact with the ninja world and gathering intelligence.

Fortunately, he had already become a Genin. He would inevitably leave the village to carry out missions, and there would be plenty of opportunities in the future.

Besides, Old Daddy Fast Food needed to spread across the entire world.

That would also require a large number of people.

On top of that, Naruto had many other things he wanted to do, all of which required manpower.

Fortunately, Naruto had recently solved the problem of his clones being discovered. Now, every clone could be a real, tangible person, and even if one died, it would leave behind a corpse.

But there was another very unexpected problem.

Naruto's clones were quite extraordinary.

He did not know whether the game had mutated or his clones had mutated, but every one of Naruto's clones had thoughts of their own.

The old man, founder of Lao Gandie, was not an isolated case.

The newly arrived two-and-a-half-year trainee, the Divine Doctor Xiong Fengshan, was just as full of personality.

Xiong Fengshan firmly believed that he was the legendary physician at the foot of the Qin Mountains, an old master of traditional medicine with fifty years of experience. He also claimed to be an imperial physician and firmly believed in the old Xiong family remedies and the like.

Fortunately, these clones merely had diverse personalities. Aside from that, they had no other flaws and diligently completed every task he assigned.

Still, with all these clones being so unique and full of personality, he just hoped that if they caused trouble in the future, they would not sell out their master.

Back to the present.

The moment he looked up, Naruto discovered that Sasuke and Sakura had already arrived.

Both of them were watching him. Sasuke looked rather indifferent, while Sakura seemed somewhat impatient.

"Sorry, I'm late."

He apologized and joined the group.

"Is Kakashi-sensei not here yet?" Naruto knowingly asked, shifting the blame.

"King of being late!"

Naruto could hear the anger in Sakura's tone. It seemed she was upset precisely because of this.

Yesterday, he had been late because he was peeping.

Today, Kakashi was late because he was at the Monument of Remembrance, though Naruto did not know whom he was mourning.

Forget it. Why think so much?

Reining in his thoughts, Naruto looked Sasuke over with a scrutinizing gaze.

He was very curious. Sasuke was doing perfectly well in Konoha, so why had he betrayed it?

Was it for revenge?

A little strange. He would have to keep a closer eye on him in the future.

"Hm? What is it?"

Noticing Naruto's scrutiny, Sasuke asked in confusion.

"Have you eaten?" Naruto casually asked.

"I have. Don't tell me you haven't?"

That question stumped him. It seemed he really had not eaten.

"That isn't important."

Giving a random answer, Naruto lay on the ground and closed his eyes to rest for a moment under Sasuke's suspicious gaze.

Sasuke had defected in the original story, but this Sasuke should not defect in this life. He should obediently stay on the team and be Naruto's assistant. Once Naruto "donned the yellow robe," he would make Sasuke a general.

Then Shikamaru could be the scheming military adviser, while Choji would be in charge of logistics.

Wait, Choji had better not eat all the supplies.

While Naruto was indulging in his pointless fantasies, Kakashi finally arrived late.

Amid Sakura's complaints, Kakashi sincerely apologized.

"Sorry. A black cat crossed my path on the way here, and I lost my direction in life."

Sakura was truly grateful for that excuse. She had already heard it twice yesterday. Did he really think she would believe it?

She listlessly complained, "Sensei, you've already used that excuse. Come up with a new one."

Huh? He had used it before?

Kakashi glanced at the culprit and found Naruto casually picking his nose, looking as though he wanted nothing to do with this.

He stiffly changed the subject. "Ahem. That's enough. We'll begin combat training now."

Pulling two bells from his pocket, Kakashi said, "Your mission is to snatch these two bells. If you fail to get them, you will—"

Without the threat of sending them back to the Ninja Academy, Kakashi suddenly did not know how to make them give it their all.

"Well, anyway, you need to fight with everything you have to take them."

Naruto even stopped picking his nose, his eyes narrowing slightly.

Everything he had?

Was Kakashi sure?

He looked at Kakashi with innocent eyes. "Sensei, you really won't get hurt?"

"No problem. Come at me with the resolve to kill me."

Naruto nodded to show that he understood.

He did not plan to go all out. That would leave nothing to enjoy.

Besides, the ninja world was very closed off. Any increase in strength would have its cause traced back, so Naruto planned to reveal his talent and strength bit by bit.

Today would be the first step.

"Sasuke!"

Naruto shouted and made the first move.

He threw six shuriken first, then charged at Kakashi with a kunai in hand.

It was their first time working together, so he did not know whether Sasuke would understand what he meant.

This guy!

Sasuke could not understand why Naruto, a Genin, dared to charge directly at a Jonin.

But remembering Naruto's eyes yesterday, he decided to take a gamble.

Throwing three shuriken, he charged at Kakashi as well.

Thud, thud, thud—

The shuriken flew at high speed, but Kakashi-sensei, who had been hit, turned into a wooden stump. It was the Substitution Technique.

Here!

Naruto spun around and thrust forward.

This!

The moment Kakashi appeared behind him for a sneak attack, he was pierced through, as though he had run into the strike himself.

Bang—

The clone turned into smoke, its eyes filled with shock before it vanished.

Not enough!

Naruto began forming hand seals on the spot, controlling his speed to avoid moving so fast that he frightened the others.

However, he had not formed hand seals in years, so he was somewhat unaccustomed to it.

Kakashi, who had been hiding in a tree, watched silently.

The sensations transmitted by the clone had been exceptionally real. Thinking of how he had been discovered yesterday, it seemed Naruto possessed some kind of sensory ability.

Then there was this ninjutsu. He knew a thousand techniques, yet he had never seen this sequence of hand seals.

Although he did not know what ninjutsu it was, his vast experience told him it was some kind of Fire Release.

Naruto, who had been forming hand seals while facing sideways, suddenly turned and stared at the tree where Kakashi was hiding.

Fire Style: Firefly Cannon!

More than a dozen fluorescent orbs the size of ping-pong balls shot toward him, far faster than shuriken.

Sensing the terrifying Fire Release Chakra contained within those light spheres.

Kakashi inwardly cursed: Damn!

Boom, boom, boom—

The violent explosions and scorching heat nearly sent Sakura flying even from more than ten meters away.

Sasuke also lowered himself to steady his footing, while Naruto stood firmly by using Chakra. The raging shockwave still made the corners of his clothes flutter wildly.

Cough, cough—

A coughing sound came from the smoke as Kakashi walked out.

Part of his white hair had been burned off and was still smoking. He looked miserable, with numerous holes in his clothes.

Naruto knew that Kakashi-sensei had used Earth Release to escape disaster.

"Kakashi-sensei, I reminded you yesterday that I'm a sensory ninja. Underestimating us comes at a price." Naruto smiled, exceptionally modestly.

Kakashi nodded seriously at that.

Sensory ninjas really were a little troublesome. Also, had this brat really just graduated from the Ninja Academy?

The Third Hokage had lied to him.

But then again, this was Minato-sensei's child.

A genius? Only natural.

Seeing that blond hair, Kakashi thought of the man who had made people feel warm.

Though he looked miserable, thinking of Minato-sensei unexpectedly filled him with comfort.

"Now I'm going to get serious!"

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