Teacher Kakashi, You Don't Want To

"Did you talk to him?"

"I did. Comrade Nine-Tails expressed a profound awareness of the work's importance and urgency, and stated he will earnestly fulfill his duties, strengthen coordination, and form a joint work force..."

"Stop. Speak human."

"Sorry, I used to write speeches for the higher-ups all the time, it's muscle memory now... Anyway, I managed to bluff him, but squeezing his Chakra out of him will take some finesse."

"So we're sticking to the script today?"

"No rush. Let's mess with him a bit."

Konoha, Training Ground.

Sakura and Naruto were chatting away, completely ignoring Sasuke as he stood alone in the wind, which made his gaze at the two of them grow increasingly strange.

"You're that eager to play around?" Sakura looked at Naruto, her brow slightly furrowed.

"In my past life, I never even killed an ant. To survive in the brutal Hokage World, I naturally need to seize every chance to train."

"There's no rush to farm the EXP pinata. Kakashi is an important NPC; deviating from the plot might cause trouble."

"...I've actually wanted to ask for a while now. Do you really like playing Soul Games in your free time?"

"What about it?"

"You're always spouting gaming jargon."

"...Heh."

Off to the side, Sasuke grew more and more confused.

Soul Game? Jargon? NPC?

What the hell were they talking about?

But his pride made him hold back his curiosity. He simply turned his head away, calculating when Kakashi would finally show up.

Soon, accompanied by a puff of white smoke, Kakashi arrived late.

"Yo, morning everyone." Kakashi greeted them lazily.

He had expected the three to angrily demand why he was so late.

Instead, Naruto stepped forward and said, "As expected of the boss. You gave us a vivid lesson on the very first day."

Sakura: "What lesson?"

"Slacking off! The boss took his Jonin Position and smoothly wasted half the day without batting an eye. We should learn from that."

As he spoke, Naruto even winked at Kakashi, throwing the latter off his rhythm.

"Ahem, I ran into an old lady on the way here..."

"Yeah, yeah, that's the one!" Naruto said with a grin. "Next time, just tell me which street. I'll go help her across too."

Kakashi was instantly speechless.

He rubbed his eyebrow somewhat helplessly, then began explaining the rules to the three.

"...In short, if you don't have the resolve to kill me, you won't get the bells."

With that, Kakashi swept his gaze across the three.

Sasuke's expression was tense, looking the most normal.

Naruto and Sakura's expressions were deliberate, but there was no trace of fear in their eyes.

Especially the former—the excitement in his eyes was unmistakable.

"An interesting fellow," Kakashi thought to himself. "Let's see what you're really capable of."

"Then, the exercise... begins!"

The moment he finished, Sakura and Sasuke leaped back, but Naruto did the opposite—he shot forward like an arrow, moving like thunder!

He pulled a kunai from his tool pouch and aimed a stab straight at Kakashi's throat. Kakashi's eyes narrowed slightly as he swiftly caught Naruto's lightning-fast strike, grabbing his wrist.

Naruto wasn't fazed. He twisted his body and kicked toward Kakashi's waist, which was blocked by the latter's elbow. Naruto then shot a glance at Sakura. She understood immediately, concentrated Chakra into her fist, and slammed it hard into the ground.

"Boom!"

A dull thud rang out from the earth, followed by a dense volley of kunai flying out from the nearby forest, stabbing fiercely toward Kakashi.

The entire sequence took less than five seconds.

The captured Naruto flashed a sly grin, completely ignoring the incoming kunai. Instead, he flexed his muscles, trying to pin Kakashi in place.

The high-speed kunai arrived, piercing both of them with countless holes... or rather, Kakashi's Substitution Log and Naruto's Shadow Clone.

Naruto's real body slowly emerged from behind Sakura.

He looked at Kakashi, whose expression had shifted subtly, and praised him, "As expected of the boss."

From the very start, Naruto's real body had been hidden in the forest. He had split off two Shadow Clones—one as bait, and the other sent ahead to Sakura's house to coordinate the operation with her.

This was the battle plan Naruto had hastily drafted the night before.

He didn't expect to succeed on the first try—he just wanted to adapt to a ninja's combat rhythm through the exchange.

As for the feedback, he could clearly feel his own lack of combat skill, with most of the transitions between close-quarters moves relying heavily on instinct.

Kakashi nodded slightly. "Not a bad attempt. Looks like you took my words to heart."

With that, he rummaged through his ninja tool pouch and pulled out Icha Icha Paradise without a shred of shame.

Here it comes.

Naruto smirked inwardly.

If there was one major difference between him and the original Naruto, it was that he knew the plot and had life experience—so there was no way he'd fall for Kakashi's tricks.

Still, Icha Icha Paradise could also be Kakashi's weak point.

"Chief, that wouldn't happen to be the super-hot Icha Icha Paradise, would it?"

Naruto strode over.

"Huh?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Minors shouldn't be reading books like this, right?"

"I haven't read it," Naruto shrugged. "But a few days ago, I ran into the author—long hair down to his waist, like an immortal. He even told me about the later plot."

Naruto grinned slyly. "Teacher Kakashi, you wouldn't want me to spoil the rest of the story, would you?"

Kakashi's Dead Fish Eyes finally lost their calm. "Wait, how did you just happen to run into the author..."

"Well then, I'll say it—the grand finale of Icha Icha Paradise..."

"Hold on!" Kakashi flinched, instinctively covering his ears.

From the bushes nearby, Sakura stifled a laugh, immediately catching on to Naruto's plan.

On the other side, Sasuke watched the scene and tensed up.

"Perfect chance!"

He quickly pulled out a handful of Shuriken and hurled them straight at Kakashi!

At the same time, Sakura quietly circled behind Kakashi, waiting for an opening.

The three had pulled off an unspoken coordination.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!" The Shuriken struck precisely toward Kakashi, but he seemed to have eyes in the back of his head, ducking low to dodge the attack. The Shuriken sailed past him and flew toward Naruto.

"Haha, you could've given me a heads-up!" Naruto shot a glance at Sasuke's direction, then lunged sideways, barely dodging the Shuriken. Meanwhile, Sakura closed in on Kakashi, reaching straight for the bells at his waist!

At that moment, Kakashi, hands still over his ears, let out a soft laugh.

"One of a ninja's tactical fundamentals: taijutsu."

Naruto's scalp tingled, and he shouted instinctively, "Sakura, dodge!"

At the same time, his mind raced.

On purpose. This guy did it on purpose!

First, he deliberately showed a weakness, waited for Sasuke and Sakura to make their move, instantly locked onto their positions, and then countered.

In just a few seconds, he'd neutralized the attack and seized control of the fight.

Back and forth like this, Naruto had truly tasted Kakashi's reputation.

Even with memories of his past life, with his current strength, going head-to-head with Kakashi was like trying to put out a blazing fire with a cup of water.

But forcing a cooperation with the Nine-Tails wasn't Naruto's intention either—he didn't want to fight Kakashi to the death.

Maybe it was time to switch tactics.