Secret Technique: Thousand Years of Death!

Around eleven-thirty, outside the Training Ground.

The three members of Team Seven arrived on time.

After waiting about twenty minutes, Kakashi finally showed up, holding Icha Icha Paradise.

Seeing that none of the three looked impatient or dispirited,

he knew his little trick seemed to have been seen through.

"Yo, good afternoon!"

He greeted them with a smile.

Sakura rolled her eyes.

This White Hair uncle looked pretty unreliable.

Kakashi waved a hand. "All right, enough small talk. Today's test is very simple."

As he spoke, he took out two bells from his pocket. "You'll pass if you can take these two bells from me within an hour."

"Wait a minute, Kakashi-sensei. There are three of us, but you only prepared two bells?"

Sakura raised a question.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "Do you see the three wooden posts behind you?"

"Since this is a test, there will naturally be punishment. Whoever fails to get a bell will be tied there and made to watch us eat lunch."

"Getting one bell means you pass, but there are only two. So among the three of you, one person is bound to fail to get one. Not only will that person have no lunch, they'll be eliminated and sent back to the Ninja Academy to become a ninja again."

Unfortunately, the internal collapse he had imagined did not happen.

The three did not even look surprised.

Sakura secretly glanced at Naruto beside her.

Her eyes shone.

Sakura-bro appeared in her mind at just the right moment. Damn it, Ino has been eating this Fine Bran all these years! Ah!

Naruto smiled instead.

This kind of exercise really suited Konoha's way of doing things.

If they said they would throw up after eating it, then no one would eat.

Only one bell was needed to pass, but there were only two here.

So one person was bound to be tied to a wooden post.

Moreover, failing to get a bell was considered a failed mission—in other words, a failing grade.

This traditional training exercise was both vicious and disgusting.

Three people fighting over two bells was a trap meant to provoke internal conflict and make one of the three sacrifice themselves.

That really was the Konoha Higher-ups' usual style.

Konoha, the Pyramid Scheme Leader—what graduate ninja did not know the Will of Fire?

In other words, they had already subconsciously accepted the rule that such sacrifices were necessary and unavoidable.

Fresh graduates fighting a Jonin?

What a joke.

The final result would inevitably be total failure.

Then came the Talk no Jutsu, blaming them for lacking teamwork.

The conclusion—collective interests outweighed individual interests.

Kakashi was even more interesting. He had added a Bento test of his own.

Not a single person had passed it so far.

This was entirely a test of human nature.

Just put yourself in their shoes. Who would sacrifice their future for someone they had only just been assigned to a team with and barely knew?

That was right, this was White Fang's son.

In the original story, they had passed because Uchiha Sasuke had finally realized what the problem was.

At that time, Naruto and Sasuke had both looked down on each other.

Then suddenly giving Naruto food?

When Kakashi finally announced that they had passed, Uchiha Sasuke's smile had looked like a gambler's smile.

Then after passing, everyone left. Who cared that Naruto was still tied up?

Some things depended on the person. The previous teams had failed mainly because they were not worthy of being led by Kakashi.

After all, grades might not change, but the passing line could keep changing.

"Hmph!"

Uchiha Sasuke snorted coldly.

Clearly, under Naruto's guidance, he had also seen through this test.

Kakashi felt helpless. Seeing that the three vaguely regarded Naruto as their leader,

he could only sigh inwardly. As expected of Teacher Minato's child. This insight surpasses every ninja of his generation.

Suddenly, he noticed that Naruto had an extra Ninja Tool Bag tied to his leg.

"Such thorough preparation?"

"Did you make a battle plan in advance?"

"Then let me see just how outstanding Teacher Minato and Kushina's child is!"

Kakashi had already begun considering snatching away Jiraiya's future disciple.

"All right, get ready to begin. From here on, you may use Shuriken if you wish. Unless you come at me with the intent to kill, you will never be able to take the bells from me."

Isn't that too dangerous? Sakura was slightly startled. It was only a test—did it really need to be this intense?

"Don't worry. It means you use every method at your disposal, not that I do. There isn't any danger for you."

When speaking to Sakura, Kakashi's dead-fish eyes returned.

Sakura, who had been warned by Naruto, immediately noticed that detail.

She felt a little upset, but when she noticed that Uchiha Sasuke was treated the same way, she inexplicably felt balanced again.

"Can we start already? You talk too much." Uchiha Sasuke questioned coldly.

Kakashi merely glanced at him before raising a hand.

"Then, Naruto, Sakura, are you ready?"

"Ready!" Sakura raised her fist. I'm different now. With Naruto's reminder, I've deeply realized my mistake.

I'll definitely make use of my strengths!

Kakashi-sensei, just watch. I'm not much less useful than those two!

"The mission begins. Scatter!"

Whoosh!

The instant his words fell, Kakashi's raised hand dropped as well.

Almost instantly, all four vanished from where they stood.

But soon, Kakashi reappeared.

He appeared in the middle of the wide-open field.

"Not bad. As ninjas, concealing your presence and hiding yourselves are the most basic things."

"Spreading out is also the right choice. Otherwise, I could wipe you all out in one go."

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were secretly communicating at that moment.

The Ninja Academy had taught many things.

It had also taught methods of improvised communication during battle.

They had even learned to tap "Morse code" with thin wires as tough as steel wire.

But the simplest method was to know each other's locations, expose their lips from fixed positions,

and communicate through lip-reading.

"Can we really do it?"

"Don't worry. That level of attack is nothing to him."

"Then I'll provide cover."

The plan was simple.

As soon as the three finished communicating, Uchiha Sasuke took the lead, just like Naruto in the original story, and confronted Kakashi head-on.

"There!" Kakashi instantly spotted Uchiha Sasuke.

But then he froze for a moment.

This... this was an Uchiha?

No, not every Uchiha was necessarily an elite. For example, a certain someone.

After calming himself, he charged straight at Uchiha Sasuke.

He's coming!

Uchiha Sasuke's heart tightened. He pulled several Kunai from his Ninja Tool Bag and threw them out.

Seeing the Kunai shoot toward him, Kakashi grew even more disappointed.

If this was all he could do, Sasuke would never surpass that man in his lifetime.

Before he could think any further, the Kunai had arrived.

He merely tilted his head and dodged the utterly ordinary Kunai attack.

Could Kunai even kill someone?

Hiss, hiss, hiss—

Hmm???

No!

You said to go all out—you're really going all out?

Boom—!!!

The Explosive Tags detonated.

Kakashi was right at the center of the explosion.

"Now, Sasuke! I'm coming to help you!"

At that moment, Sakura suddenly appeared in the open field, not far from Kakashi's position.

"Idiot!"

"That was the Substitution Technique!"

Uchiha Sasuke shouted.

"Huh?"

Sakura froze where she stood.

"Phew."

"That was close."

"Well then, you can sleep for a while first."

Kakashi formed a hand seal with one hand. By the time Sakura heard movement behind her and turned around to throw a punch,

Kakashi's Genjutsu had already activated.

Sakura's expression immediately became blank, and she fell toward Kakashi.

Kakashi reached out, intending to catch her.

But as his hand was about to touch Sakura, it passed straight through "Sakura's" body.

"Huh?"

For a moment, Kakashi could not understand what had happened.

But when "Sakura"

passed directly through his body, he finally realized.

"The Clone Technique?"

"Heh, so this is a Jonin?"

Uchiha Sasuke had already started putting on airs.

But inwardly, he was utterly shocked by Naruto.

What a powerful Clone Technique!

He really had learned Brother Shisui's fighting style!

When Kakashi raised his head again, he was stunned as well.

At some point, Naruto's Clone Technique had already surrounded him.

"Not bad. Sakura's role isn't as a combatant, so you had her hide immediately and wait for an opportunity in the shadows."

"You used Sasuke's identity to deliberately expose him, making me experience an emotional fluctuation, then took the chance to relocate your hiding positions."

"I have to say, your plan is rather convincing."

Seeing Uchiha Sasuke start showing off, Kakashi also took out his copy of Icha Icha Paradise.

"But you don't think this is enough to defeat me, do you?"

"In the face of absolute strength, charging headlong won't work. If you changed your final attack method, perhaps your chances of success would be higher."

"Shut up!"

Uchiha Sasuke formed hand seals with both hands and created two Clones.

In an instant, the three of them formed a triangular assault and threw Kunai at Kakashi.

"If they're only Explosive Tags... the same move won't work on me."

Kakashi flicked several Shuriken casually, altering the Kunai's trajectories.

Noticing that there were no Explosive Tags on them, Kakashi did not bother dodging.

He even turned a page.

Sure enough, they had underestimated them.

The Three Sasukes formed hand seals at the same time.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

"A ninjutsu? Not bad, but who could an attack like that possibly hit?"

Kakashi did not even look at Sasuke again. From this distance, the Great Fireball Technique's chance of dealing damage was basically zero.

"Do you think Naruto's many clones alone can stop me?"

Crack—!!!

At that moment, the three Sasukes clenched their teeth simultaneously, producing a crisp sound.

Hoo—!!!

Flames immediately rushed out along the steel wire.

It was not the Great Fireball Technique, but Fire Style: Dragon Fire Technique!

"Not bad. You have already mastered ninjutsu to this level."

"Since that is the case, I will get a little more serious too."

"Naruto, I'm about to break through."

Kakashi put away Little Royal Uncle.

Using the Body Flicker Technique, he instantly appeared in front of the foremost Naruto.

He threw a punch, but it did not hit a solid body.

Meanwhile, Naruto's fist shot straight toward his face.

"If it is the Clone Technique, no matter how many there are, they are useless. I thought you were using Shadow Clones."

"Looks like this Clone Technique is only a feint."

Kakashi suddenly found himself looking forward to it.

In such a short time, from the beginning until now, he had seen an extraordinarily powerful team.

Their individual strength stood out, they had teamwork, and they had a core member.

A squad like this would not take long to grow to an astonishing level.

"Ugh!"

Then Kakashi clutched his stomach and curled up on the ground.

"I forgot... Phantom Body Flicker, Body Flicker Shisui's fighting style."

It was not Kakashi's fault for being careless. He knew his own strength too well.

If he got serious against Naruto and the other two, it would be easy for him to lose control of his strength.

The main purpose was to assess the three of them's team combat ability, so it was normal to overlook some uncommon things.

"This is not good. So many clones... truly surprising."

Rumble—

Uchiha Sasuke's Fire Style: Dragon Fire Technique arrived as well.

Kakashi retreated again and again, dodging countless Naruto clones.

No, the experienced Kakashi quickly realized that many Shadow Clones were hidden among them!

It was also at this moment.

Kakashi let out a miserable cry.

The "Pink Hair" lying on the ground had somehow reached behind him.

Mayfly Technique, absolute concealment.

She crouched down and formed hand seals.

Secret Technique: Thousand Years of Death!