As Long as You Don't Die, Keep Courting Death

The key was that the visual effects were excellent.

[Let go of that Kakashi and come at me!]

[I want to get squeezed between them]

[Wifey's tiny, fragrant feet, hehehehe]

[That was Sasuke just now, right?]

[Is Kakashi being completely targeted?]

[These are all psychological-trauma-level attacks, aren't they?]

[Kakashi: My post-traumatic stress is acting up]

[Now the one-track mind has become blocked at both ends]

[Isn't that bratty girl afraid of getting beaten to death?]

Kakashi was flung aside, but he immediately got back up and steadied himself.

But Sparkle gave him no time. A kunai severed the rope beside him, triggering the mechanism.

Countless fallen leaves rained down from above, physically obscuring his vision.

Amidst them, Sparkle appeared again, one hand reaching for the bells.

Kakashi could no longer afford to go easy on her. He kicked Sparkle away and prepared to break free from the leaves blocking his sight.

Yet the moment he kicked Sparkle away, another figure suddenly rushed in from the front. It was "Little Kakashi."

"Is that Naruto? That's fine, then."

Since both Sparkle and Sasuke had appeared, the last one had to be Naruto.

But Little Kakashi's movements had no openings at all, completely unlike Naruto's. This was not Naruto—it was Sasuke!

At first, Sasuke had transformed into "Obito," making him think that was Sasuke. But when the leaves began falling, Sasuke had already transformed again into "Little Kakashi"!

"Damn it!"

Seeing Little Kakashi rush over and nearly seize the bells, Kakashi Hatake's eyes sharpened.

This was no longer the time to hold back. He had to show his true skills.

"—!!!"

Yet in that instant, "Rin Nohara" suddenly appeared in front of Little Kakashi for some reason, blocking Little Kakashi's hand as it attacked Kakashi. Rin Nohara was pierced by Little Kakashi, and her warm blood splashed directly across Kakashi's face.

Kakashi froze.

Sparkle had not transformed just now, causing Kakashi to lower his guard. Then she suddenly turned into Rin and hit him with something huge.

At that moment, another "Obito" approached from the side.

Without question, this figure full of obvious flaws was Naruto Uzumaki.

However, this Obito Uchiha looked different from the unharmed one from before. This was Obito Uchiha with only one eye.

Without question, Obito Uchiha's other eye... was in Kakashi's eye socket.

In that very instant, "Obito" grabbed the bells.

"Rustle..."

All the fallen leaves had dropped away.

The forest returned to its original appearance.

Sparkle's "reality show" had also come to an end.

"We did it!"

Naruto held two bells in one hand and a mask in the other.

Beside him, Sasuke was also panting heavily, with a mask clutched in his hand.

Sparkle, meanwhile, sat smiling on a nearby rock. She wore a half-face fox mask, her lips curled in a smile, while her little feet in white stockings swung back and forth...

New Gundam information came out. I took a look and got some inspiration.

These characters looked like they had stepped straight out of Pokémon. If someone told me this was a Scarlet and Violet anime, I'd believe it.

Then I looked again—Hideaki Anno... huh?!

Wait, Gundam, Hideaki Anno.

Hmm???

Chapter 18: As Long as You Don't Die, Keep Courting Death

"Wonderful teamwork."

Even Kakashi had to admit that the trio's final coordination had been truly brilliant.

It was just that the scene had given Kakashi a bit of high blood pressure.

"We did it! Yahoo~"

Naruto was extremely excited over there, while Sasuke looked toward Sparkle.

Before the audience, a memory scene appeared.

Before they had begun circling around Kakashi, Sparkle had already created a Shadow Clone Jutsu. The Naruto and Sasuke hanging in the air had both been rescued by Sparkle.

"Damn it, that Jonin is hard to deal with." Sasuke's face was grim. He had a reason why he absolutely had to become a ninja.

"We have to show that guy what we're made of," Naruto said.

"You already had a way to deal with Kakashi, didn't you?" Sasuke came to his senses and looked at Sparkle again. "Why didn't you tell us?"

Kakashi had been lured away by Sparkle and had yet to appear, which meant he definitely could not get away right now.

"Of course. I investigated everything that could be investigated through both public and non-public channels. The battle began the moment the mission was issued," Sparkle said.

"Sparkle, why didn't you tell us earlier? We could've set traps to deal with that guy long ago!" Naruto had fallen into Kakashi's trap and now wanted to use traps against Kakashi as well.

"That wouldn't work. Kakashi only needs to provoke you a little, Naruto, and you'll take the bait," Sparkle said.

"Huh? If you'd told me in advance, Sparkle, I definitely wouldn't have fallen for it!" Naruto felt like he could still fight another three hundred rounds.

"Because you would definitely take the bait. Even if I explained it, you would still take the bait," Sparkle said with certainty.

"I'm not that dumb... right?" Naruto turned to Sasuke again, but Sasuke's expression plainly said, Are you stupid? Naruto immediately broke down.

"So even if I told you to hide, Naruto, would you listen?"

"This great me would never hide!"

"See? Just like that."

"Sure enough, this guy falls for it the second he gets provoked," Sasuke could not help but comment.

"Then there's you, Sasuke. You're already used to acting alone. From the very beginning, you never considered cooperating. But as a ninja squad, not understanding teamwork is absolutely unacceptable," Sparkle said. "For a student like you, I believe you first need to understand the situation before you can calm down."

Without the two of you fighting together and getting extra scenes, how am I supposed to earn popularity?

"..." Sasuke fell silent as well. Yes, he had never intended to cooperate from the start.

"Then what should we do?!" Naruto scratched at his head anxiously.

"Very simple. Put these on first." Sparkle's Shadow Clone Jutsu removed her mask.

A Shadow Clone Jutsu could also "copy" the equipment on one's body. Sometimes, even animals on one's person could be copied along with it. Of course, once the Chakra ran out, they would disappear together.

After the memory scene ended, the audience finally understood.

[Got it. One hothead and one stubborn blockhead]

[Wifey is so smart. She let the two of them hit a wall first, and once they turned back, they knew to listen to her]

[What a scheming girl. She seized control of the team's leadership in one move]

"Truly remarkable Genjutsu." While the audience watched the memory, Kakashi looked at Sparkle. "Genjutsu that even I could not distinguish is truly astonishing."

"Ah, that?" Sparkle said with a smile. "Actually, there was no Genjutsu from beginning to end."

Kakashi froze.

The audience, whose view had just shifted away from the memory, all froze as well.

Countless question marks floated across the screen.

"There was only transformation. Of course you couldn't tell, Teacher Kakashi. From beginning to end, I was merely putting on a show in front of you."

Of course Kakashi could not tell.

Because there had never been any Genjutsu. Those people had all been Sparkle's transformations. It had been a "reality show" from start to finish.

"Then what about the phantoms? Those... weren't Genjutsu either?"

"Just refraction of light. I used a lens formed from Chakra to bend the path of light and alter my distance, so those phantoms would easily disperse as well," Sparkle said. "Chakra is amazing, isn't it?"

Even the initial phantoms had not been Genjutsu. They had actually been refractions created by forcibly bending light with ice crystals and Chakra. Of course, strictly speaking, this was still Genjutsu. Real-world Genjutsu was visual deception. So this should be considered "optical Genjutsu" rather than traditional Yin Release Genjutsu, and the Second Generation's Complete Ninjutsu Compendium also contained records of it.

Kakashi had been led from the beginning into believing that he had fallen for it, which was why he had been put on the defensive at every turn.

"When I said at the start that this was genjutsu from 'ninja insights,' it was to give you a preconceived impression, Teacher Kakashi, and make you think I was using genjutsu. But in reality, there was no genjutsu from beginning to end."

[Genjutsu without Genjutsu—how is that not a kind of Genjutsu?]

[Kakashi: I can't tell. I really can't tell!]

[What are you looking at? You're the red center too!]

[Ninja intelligence and counterintelligence, deception and counter-deception, the three great techniques—these chapters are freaking amazing]

"You are a Jonin, Teacher Kakashi, and an elite among Jonin, so there was absolutely no way we could defeat you head-on. But our goal was not to defeat you. It was to complete our mission. So long as we achieved our goal, that was enough. Before this, I collected information on you and your former teammates. As long as I could shake you mentally and make you slip up, that would be enough," Sparkle continued.

Kakashi could not help but sigh. "You're truly clever. But it's best to use this move less often. It makes it easy to get beaten up. Not everyone is as easy to talk to as I am. If you meet someone with a bad temper, you might really be killed."

"It's precisely because it's you, Teacher Kakashi, that I dared to use this move~"

Kakashi: "..."

[Let me translate that. Sparkle: I was targeting you specifically]

[Kakashi: Was that polite?!]

[Killing someone and stabbing them in the heart too]

[Shrimp, you're so heartless—shrimp, you're so heartless!]

[Waiting for the bratty girl to crash and burn]

[As expected of my wife]

"So when did your plan begin?" Since he had asked this much already, he might as well get to the bottom of it.

"When Naruto put down the blackboard eraser," Sparkle said.

"Huh?" Naruto pointed at himself. Though he did not quite understand, Naruto, who had merely been watching the drama, had not expected this to involve him too.

"By first misleading Naruto and Sasuke, creating the image of a sinister and vicious hypothetical enemy for them, and making them wary of you."

"Mislead?!" Sasuke could not hold it together either.

"Yes. If I had told you from the start that Teacher Kakashi was a lazy person, and that getting hit by a blackboard eraser probably meant he truly did not care about us brats' pranks, you would have easily become complacent too. But if, in your eyes, Teacher Kakashi became a vicious Jonin who would do anything to drive us back to the academy, pressure would force you to put aside your prejudices against each other."

What Sparkle said made quite a bit of sense.

But Naruto felt that something was off—was that really what Sparkle had been thinking about?

Naruto had known Sparkle since childhood. The Sparkle he knew did not seem like someone who would do something like that.

So Naruto instinctively asked, "Then what's the real reason?"

"Because teasing you guys... is fun."

"Huh?!" ×3.

All three of them completely lost it.

[Kakashi: Reputation damaged]