Giving Kakashi a Show of Force, Revealing a Little

Too slow!

Why did he get here so fast?

Ah... yeah...

The three of them represented three complete extremes.

White Hair put away the Little Royal Uncle in his hand, revealing the mask covering his face.

Along with that absurdly crooked forehead protector, which exposed only one dead-fish eye that seemed utterly devoid of fighting spirit.

Though he apologized aloud, there was not the slightest hint of sincerity in his eyes.

"Hmph."

Uchiha Sasuke gave his usual cold snort.

At the same time, Naruto slowly opened his eyes and emerged from his meditative state.

He rose to his feet and walked toward Kakashi.

Pink Hair, who had originally planned to complain a little and pretend she was tired of waiting too, hurriedly scampered after him.

Uchiha Sasuke did not waste any words either, following behind with a gloomy expression.

Kakashi raised a hand, seemingly about to say something.

Naruto walked straight past him.

Pink Hair hesitated for a moment before following.

As for Uchiha Sasuke, he did not even spare Kakashi a glance.

"Where are you planning to go?"

Three troublemakers... no, two troublemakers and one tagalong.

What a pain.

"Somewhere suitable for gathering. The rooftop is nice."

Kakashi walked out of the classroom as well.

"It seems... I'm the Lead Jonin here. Shouldn't I be the one giving orders?"

Naruto smiled.

He stopped walking at once.

When he stopped, Uchiha Sasuke and Pink Hair stopped as well.

Kakashi thought they were giving him face. Only after he had walked some distance and turned around did he realize the three of them were still standing where they were.

"This is how we are. If you don't like it, you can go talk to Grandpa Hokage. Of course, if you won't, then shut up and follow us."

"If you keep this attitude up, then I think I can ask Grandpa Hokage to assign us another Lead Jonin."

"You were late, and even your apology lacked sincerity. I don't think you can teach us anything. I'm a man who'll become the Fifth Hokage. You'll only hold me back."

Uchiha Sasuke's whole body jolted, and the way he looked at Naruto changed.

Pink Hair's face instantly drained of color.

Giving their Lead Jonin a show of force right from the start?

Th-That was way too reckless, wasn't it?

But... why did she think it was so domineering and cool?!

The dead-fish eye that had remained unchanged for ages finally showed a flicker of emotion.

Kakashi looked deeply at Naruto.

"Brat, don't you know that your Lead Jonin has the authority to send you back to the Ninja Academy, or even strip you of the right to ever become a ninja?"

That icy gaze, coupled with his low voice, did not sound like a bluff.

Naruto spread his hands. "Do whatever you want."

"I'll just take the exam again."

"As for whether Grandpa Hokage will agree, I have no idea."

With that, Naruto simply went back into the classroom to stay there.

Why had he picked this fight with Kakashi?

No reason other than that he was unhappy with him.

And besides, this guy really was not much of a person.

In truth, the final straw that crushed White Fang was that even his own son believed he had been wrong.

And this guy had truly never come to see him even once.

Not even secretly.

Naruto was certain that Sarutobi Hiruzen had taken Kakashi to his home before he came here.

Kakashi's mission was to monitor and watch over him, with Naruto as his primary responsibility.

Uchiha Sasuke was merely incidental.

As the only Uchiha Sasuke left in Konoha.

Why had the Konoha Higher-ups not taken measures such as surveillance or brainwashing against him?

Naturally, it was because Uchiha Sasuke did not need any of that.

Itachi had already done a fine job before leaving.

If Obito had not intercepted him later and led him astray, causing Uchiha Sasuke to develop hatred toward Konoha...

The ending might have been very different.

So Kakashi's duty was obvious.

As for helping Naruto improve, that was not part of his job.

The Rasengan, the Summoning Technique, and things like that—Kakashi could not teach them?

Come on, that would be tactless. Those were Jiraiya's job.

And who was Jiraiya?

Sarutobi Hiruzen's personal disciple, and one of the Sannin who knew Konoha's darkness yet still deeply loved Konoha.

Besides, Naruto had another purpose in provoking him.

It was only for the sake of his future plans.

Uchiha Sasuke followed Naruto without hesitation.

Naruto had voiced what was in his heart.

Rather than waste time following a Jonin with no future, he might as well wait another year.

With Naruto around, he would not lack opponents.

"You... Teacher... wait for me!"

Kakashi stood there, stunned.

Whoosh—

"Ah, sorry, sorry. It won't happen again."

Without hesitation, Kakashi used the Body Flicker Technique to block the doorway.

"I guarantee it!"

Seeing that the three of them clearly did not believe him, he hurriedly raised his hand.

Uchiha Sasuke had already noticed that something was off.

The difference in Kakashi's attitude before and after was far too great.

"Anyway, let's head to the rooftop first."

"Let's go. Someone has already made a promise."

If Naruto did not move, those two certainly would not either.

So Kakashi took the lead.

After walking for a while, Naruto slowed down.

Kakashi was walking slowly too.

"I'm not like him. I'm not Little Sun."

Boom—

The words exploded in Kakashi's mind like a thunderclap.

What did that mean?

He knew Teacher Minato?

N-No, that was impossible, right?

"Kakashi-sensei, you're not going to be late getting to the rooftop too, are you?"

"Exactly! Naruto-kun is right!"

Pink Hair tried to make her presence known.

"Huh? Naruto-kun, how do you know the teacher's name?"

"Oh, I looked up some records. The previous Team Seven had his name and photo in them."

"Naruto-kun, you're amazing~!"

Kakashi's breathing grew rapid.

His emotions were incomparably complicated.

He... knew.

Heh, if he had known this would happen, why had he done it in the first place?

Kakashi gave a bitter smile as the guilt in his heart erupted.

This child... had suffered even more than he had imagined these past years.

What Will of Fire?

It was all a lie.

Teacher Minato... he really is so much like you. He's even more outstanding than you.

Did someone like me truly have the right to be his Lead Jonin?

He resents me... no, perhaps he wanted to say something?

No!

Kakashi's entire body trembled as Sarutobi Hiruzen's assessment of Naruto surfaced in his mind.

Combined with Naruto's current attitude.

"He's setting up a scheme... a scheme against Konoha! No, it should be said that it's aimed at the Higher-ups."

"He checked the records, learned his own identity, earned the Third Hokage's trust, built good relationships with the heirs of the great Ninja Clans, and deliberately revealed some information to his father's former subordinate..."

Kakashi felt a chill run down his back.

But when he saw Naruto's nonchalant expression, he knew Naruto was sending him a signal.

Do not make a fuss yet. Just do what you are supposed to do.

Was provoking him just now... a warning for him?

Help him? Or expose him?

Kakashi was amused by his own thoughts.

He would stand in the middle. If things went wrong, he would make the child stop in time.

After composing himself, Kakashi began going through the motions.

"Well, although some unpleasant things happened."

"There's still a chance to start over."

Those words were naturally for Naruto—one meaning on the surface, another beneath it.

"Then, let's introduce ourselves first."

"My name is Kakashi Hatake. What I like and dislike... confidential for now. My dream... also confidential for now. As for my hobbies... still confidential."

The three of them: "..."

"So all we learned was your name."

Pink Hair was speechless.

"Now, it's your turn."

Kakashi maintained his smile.

"Hmph!"

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I have nothing I like or dislike, only ambition. My ambition is to kill that man."

As he said this, Uchiha Sasuke's face was filled with intense killing intent.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes slightly.

No wonder the Third Hokage had made it sound more like he wanted me to keep an eye on this child as an afterthought.

So this was the situation.

Having experienced so much, Kakashi could see many things clearly.

"Alright, next."

"M-My name is Haruno Sakura. Things I like... I don't know what to say either."

Pink Hair stammered, unable to squeeze out more than a few words. In the end, she simply covered her face and screamed.

Please, your face did not even turn red. It was impossible to tell whether you were acting embarrassed or shy.

Kakashi rolled his eyes before finally looking at Naruto.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I like Blood Red Pepper, hate carrying rice, and dream of becoming Hokage."

"Your dream is to become Hokage?" Kakashi looked at Naruto, who seemed to have added it casually, and was utterly speechless.

Brother, I get it. I get everything. Stop saying it.

You don't need to keep hinting at it. I'm just a miserable wage slave too.

"That concludes the introductions, right?"

"Let me tell you about tomorrow's mission."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes and said seriously,

"Field Survival Exercise."

"This isn't an ordinary Field Survival Exercise."

"It's... hehehe. Anyway, be mentally prepared."

"Also, don't eat breakfast, or you'll throw up!"

After saying that, Kakashi let out a strange laugh.

Pink Hair got goosebumps all over.

"Here's the detailed information. One copy each."

"Th-That elimination rate is so high?!"

Pink Hair cried out in shock after just one glance.

Kakashi had been planning to secretly look into information about Naruto from recent years after leaving.

Then he suddenly remembered the promise he had made not long ago...

"Well, there's one more thing."

"The information sheet says to gather at the Training Ground at six tomorrow morning, but the exercise will actually begin at noon."

"You can choose to arrive at six and carefully observe the Training Ground's terrain."

"Or you can arrive at noon... Remember, don't eat breakfast under any circumstances."

"Ja ne~"

Kakashi waved. Before his figure vanished, he glanced at Naruto.

"Um... I think we should discuss how to cooperate during tomorrow's Field Survival Exercise."

"Not interested. I'm leaving first."

"Hmph."

Watching the two figures leave in opposite directions,

Pink Hair stood there blankly.

After a while, she ran in Naruto's direction.

Following Naruto would definitely lead her to Ino, or... Ino would find Naruto herself.

Pink Hair, whose mind wasn't completely filled with Uchiha Sasuke, still knew she needed to gather intelligence.

The result naturally disappointed her.

In the blink of an eye, Naruto had vanished without a trace.

Elsewhere.

Kakashi looked at the information in his hand, his heart filled with shock.

"The same scores... He was controlling his score. Full marks in Will of Fire... He was putting on an act for others."

"In his second year, he fought genius Uchiha Sasuke using Body Flicker Shisui's Phantom Body Flicker fighting style, comprehending it on his own..."

After a long while, Kakashi closed his eyes and said in a low voice,

"This talent and wisdom far surpass Teacher Minato's from back then."

"He believes the timing still isn't right... So should I just keep doing what I was supposed to do?"

Kakashi suddenly felt an overwhelming headache.

He could see it now. Naruto was deliberately trying to disgust him.

And he had no way to deal with it, no grounds to get angry.

"Sigh... Forget it. Whatever happens, happens..."

Kakashi returned to his dead-fish-eyed expression and pulled out Icha Icha Paradise.

"I'm feeling a little worked up right now!"