"Naruto, you...!?"
Sasuke had just begun to question him when the jingling of bells reached his ears. He turned and looked, only to realize that the one restraining his neck was not Naruto at all—it was Kakashi.
Kakashi said lazily, "Can't your Sharingan even see through the Transformation Technique?"
"I... I was careless just now!"
Realizing he had been tricked, Sasuke's face was full of frustration.
There was no doubt that the Naruto from earlier had been Kakashi transformed with the Transformation Technique. Kakashi had then arranged for a Lightning Clone Technique to launch a surprise attack from underground, all to prevent him from having time to carefully distinguish whether Naruto was real or fake, forcing him into making the wrong judgment.
The reason he had fallen for it so easily was because he had naively believed that Kakashi, as the village's acting Hokage, would definitely face him in an open and honorable contest. He had never expected Kakashi to teach him a lesson through actual combat.
At that moment, Kakashi released Sasuke and said evenly, "In battle, carelessness often means defeat, and defeat is the same as death! Sasuke, you do have exceptional talent, but you still have much to learn!"
As he spoke, Kakashi walked into the bushes and dragged Naruto and Sakura, who had been tied up with ropes, out.
From the very beginning, he had not underestimated Naruto or Sasuke. He had first targeted the weakest, Sakura, luring Naruto into rashly taking the bait. Then he used Naruto as bait to make Sasuke commit an error, ultimately dealing with all three of them with ease.
Once the ropes were untied, Naruto immediately complained, "Kakashi-sensei, that was too underhanded! You actually ambushed me from the bushes! You're a Jonin!"
Sakura still looked shaken. She had thought she