Just as Naruto expected, the moment Sakura charged in, Kakashi seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. He turned slightly, easily caught her punch with one hand, and used the recoil to retreat at lightning speed.
Sakura let out a light laugh, her eyes shifting. Instead, she dashed in the opposite direction and began closing in on Naruto.
Just then, their eyes met.
Sakura's gaze was as calm as water, every trace of sharpness concealed within it. She met Kakashi's eyes head-on without the slightest hint of retreat.
Kakashi studied Sakura with interest.
She wasn't bullheaded or carried away, and she knew when to stop after gaining an advantage.
Like a poodle leaping out of the grass to smack you in the face, then crawling right back in without hesitation after realizing your health bar was still full.
Patient, restrained, and biding her time.
Kakashi suddenly had a thought.
This might be the most troublesome trio he had ever encountered.
Naruto was devious, Sakura was calm, and Sasuke had the strongest overall abilities.
Interesting. But I won't pass you just yet, Kakashi thought.
He had seen many people like this, with excellent talent and strength.
But that wasn't important.
At that moment, Sakura sprinted over beside Naruto. "Had enough fooling around?"
Naruto stared straight at Kakashi. "Let's try one more move."
"You want to defeat him that badly?"
"Not really," Naruto said with a grin. "If I wanted to beat him, I could just activate the Nine-Tails cheat and be done with it."
"I want to run an experiment and see just how far we, as people from Earth, can actually go."
At first, Naruto had only planned to casually follow the plot, pick up a girl along the way, and build himself a harem.
But Sakura's words had made him realize how serious the problem was.
This wasn't a conventional hot-blooded story about a chosen one transmigrating into the Hokage World. It was a mass-transmigration story where everyone could become powerful.
What if someone transmigrated into the body of an enemy, such as Nagato, Obito, or Madara?
By then, they wouldn't just be dancing across the battlefield—they might as well put on a synchronized dance for everyone.
So Naruto had to pluck the Nine-Tails' fur, but he also had to explore every possibility beyond it and turn those experiences into nourishment for himself.
"That's way too abstract. What kind of experiment are you talking about?" Sakura asked, puzzled.
"You'll know when you see it." Naruto directly abandoned his attack and looked at Kakashi with a half-smile. "Boss, there's no point in continuing like this."
"Is that so?" Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "Rules are rules. If you don't seize the bells within the allotted time, I will definitely send you back to the Ninja Academy."
Sakura pondered this. What could they possibly talk their way into by chatting like this?
Naruto crossed his arms. "Boss, you're a jonin. No matter how well the three of us coordinate, there's no way we can take the bells from you."
"The key to this mission is teamwork. There's no chance of succeeding through individual effort alone, right?"
Kakashi nodded. "You don't look anything like a dead last."
Sasuke stared straight at Naruto, waves stirring in his heart.
"But I think there's another trick here, and that's the number of bells. There are only two, yet we're required to work as a team. Obviously, we're supposed to turn on each other."
Naruto fell silent, then suddenly said, "This mission is meant to have one of us sacrifice themselves, isn't it?"
The surroundings grew so quiet that only the sound of the wind could be heard.
Sasuke pressed his lips tightly together as a violent pounding echoed through his chest.
He had naturally noticed the number of bells, but he had never even considered teamwork, much less sacrifice.
What shocked him was that Naruto had revealed the true nature of the mission after only a moment's thought.
It was like everyone gathering to play a riddle game, completely stumped, when some carefree person wandered over, glanced at it, and casually gave the correct answer.
Was that reasonable? Not in the slightest.
Kakashi looked at Naruto with an approving expression. "You're sharp. Sacrifice is indeed the essence of this mission. But why did you say just now that this mission was meaningless?"
"Don't you think that's contradictory?"
Naruto smiled. "If you genuinely wanted to test us, Boss, there'd be no need to guard against us so fiercely, because the key to the mission is how we distribute the bells. Seizing the bells only tests whether we can work as a team."
"We worked together, but you still refuse to let us succeed in taking them and move on to the next step. That goes against the original purpose of the test."
After hearing this, Sakura understood.
So he intended to talk Kakashi down, and he was doing it without following the plot.
According to the plot, Team 7 was the first team Kakashi officially led. Everyone else had been sent back to the Ninja Academy by Kakashi.
Kakashi believed in Obito's view: comrades were more important than the mission, and anyone who didn't value their comrades was worse than trash.
Only by showing that tendency during the test would Kakashi pass them.
But that contradicted the sacrifice demanded by the mission.
Ninja were just like mercenaries from Earth. Their duty was to complete the mission.
"Could it be that your teamwork simply wasn't good enough?" Kakashi shook his head disdainfully. "If you ask me, your performance just now was so bad you might as well not become ninja at all."
Naruto laughed inwardly. These jonin who play psychological games really have rotten hearts.
On the surface, he remained expressionless. "We all graduated from the Ninja Academy, which proves our overall abilities are up to standard. You don't need to provoke us."
"How about this? Give the bells to Sakura and Sasuke, and I'll go back to the academy and start over."
Kakashi's heart tightened. "You're going to sacrifice yourself?"
Naruto said casually, "Not only do I want to complete the mission, I also want to make sure my teammates don't get sent back to the Ninja Academy."
"Are you satisfied now?"
Kakashi fell silent.
A figure with one eye and short hair appeared beside him and gently patted his shoulder. "Are you going to pass them?"
Kakashi turned his head. The young Obito was looking at him with a smile.
"He hasn't given me the answer yet."
Kakashi turned toward the three of them. "Do you think the ninja world is really that simple? Naruto, I've decided to pass you now. As for your two teammates, they can forget about becoming ninja!"
Naruto tilted his head but did not respond.
After hearing this, Sakura only felt like yawning.
Sasuke looked at Naruto, then Sakura, then Naruto again, then Sakura again...
Why am I the only one who looks nervous?
In truth, Sasuke was shocked by Naruto's decisiveness and furious at Kakashi's words.
As for Sakura, who had remained expressionless the entire time, Sasuke decided he would find a doctor in the village to treat her facial paralysis later.
But the thing he found hardest to accept was still Naruto.
Who told you that you could show off like this?!
How dare you sacrifice yourself so righteously?
You're a dead last—what gives you the right to act so smug?
Sasuke couldn't help recalling that blood-soaked night. Back then, he had survived beneath his brother's scythe, yet he had been forced to shoulder both his clan's hatred and its future alone.
Every day, he was either training or endlessly circling through painful memories. Even though he ranked first, he still had to endure the bystanders' ceaseless gossip every day.
Things were already like this. So what if he didn't become a ninja? Could it really be worse than his previous situation?
"Let me..." Sasuke began shakily, his voice trembling faintly along with his body.
"I'll be the one to sacrifice myself."
"Huh?" Naruto turned around in surprise. What are you sacrificing yourself for, you thick-browed kid? Aren't you going to take revenge anymore?
Sasuke glared fiercely at Naruto.
"Naruto, what are you showing off for in front of everyone?"
"You're obviously a dead last, yet you're talking about sacrificing yourself. Do you even understand what sacrifice means?"
"Kakashi, give the bells to those two. I'll withdraw on my own!"
Naruto felt somewhat helpless. There's no need to compete over who gets to withdraw first, is there?
Sakura glanced at the two of them. "I'll go back instead. I'm worried these two idiots will kill themselves in a fit of rage later."
Naruto and Sasuke: "..."
Kakashi fell silent once more.
Before you continue