Hearing that, Sakura immediately looked at Naruto and Sasuke with some hesitation.
There was no doubt that Sasuke was her idol, and she naturally couldn't bear to watch him go hungry.
As for Naruto, although she found him annoying sometimes, today he had shown great strength and joined forces with Sasuke to force Kakashi back. The two of them might even pass this Survival Exercise without her having to do anything.
Looking at it that way, Naruto was definitely qualified to eat this bento too...
"Sakura, actually, I... mmph..."
Naruto saw Sakura's dilemma at a glance. After a brief silence, he was about to speak when Kakashi directly covered his mouth.
Sakura finally raised her head to look at Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei, I choose to share the bento with Naruto and Sasuke."
Naruto immediately smiled when he heard Sakura's words. With a grin, he said, "No need, no need. I'm not hungry. You and Sasuke can have the bento."
"I'm not hungry." Sasuke raised his chin and said smugly.
Watching this scene, a hint of a smile finally appeared in Kakashi's indifferent eyes.
He took out a copy of Icha Icha Paradise from his vest, reading it as he headed off into the distance.
At the same time, he waved at the three of them. "There are only two bentos, so work it out yourselves. Oh, and... don't go back to the village. There's something else later."
Once Kakashi had vanished from sight, the three of them fell silent as they looked at the two bentos.
"How about... the three of us share?" Naruto suggested after hesitating for a moment.
Sakura and Sasuke's eyes lit up at the suggestion. Now that Kakashi was gone, who cared about the rules anymore?
Up in a large tree, Kakashi watched the three of them gather to eat the bentos. After nodding, he headed toward the Hokage Building.
"So you just left the three of them here? That's so like Kakashi."
Yamei's figure slowly appeared. Looking at Naruto and the other two, who had been abandoned here, he shook his head.
They probably didn't know that after the Survival Exercise, they had nothing else to do today. They would be waiting here half the day for that irresponsible teacher!
Yamei had arrived before Kakashi did, and he was quite satisfied with the scene of Sasuke and Naruto working together against Kakashi.
Kakashi still had room to grow and had yet to reach his peak, but he was still at the level of an elite Jonin!
The two of them had managed to force Kakashi into such a sorry state. Dealing with ordinary Chunin would be no problem for them now.
"When the Chunin Exams come around, Orochimaru should be in for quite a shock."
Yamei chuckled, then thought of the Heavenly Curse Mark.
"Trash. It's trash made by imitating a cheap knockoff Sage Mode—just bargain-bin senjutsu."
"With me around, what do they need the Heavenly Curse Mark for? Orochimaru, I'm not handing Sasuke over to you."
As Sasuke and Naruto's values gradually took shape, Yamei had spent plenty of time explaining things to them.
At the very least, Naruto was no longer as reckless as before, nor did he go around talking about becoming Hokage every day.
Sasuke had also lost his former gloominess.
Thinking of molding the two of them into his own shape in the future, then having them conquer the world for him!
Hehehe... why was that so inexplicably exciting?
At the Hokage Building, Kakashi, Asuma, and Kurenai stood before Hiruzen Sarutobi and reported on their classes.
"I didn't expect Naruto and Sasuke to have grown to this extent already," Hiruzen Sarutobi murmured, lowering his eyes as if deep in thought.
"I remember those two children have always been following Hyakawa Yamei around. Since they've already become this strong..."
As he spoke, he raised his eyes toward Yūhi Kurenai. "Yūhi Kurenai, what do you think of Yamei's performance?"
Kakashi and Asuma both looked toward Yūhi Kurenai.
Yūhi Kurenai still wore a calm expression. "He's performed very well. He has inherited most of my genjutsu teachings! He's no weaker than a Chunin, and his taijutsu and ninjutsu are quite good as well."
Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned slightly. He already knew all of that—perhaps even more than Yūhi Kurenai did!
"And he cares deeply for his classmates and greatly reveres the Will of Fire."
"During the introduction to the Survival Exercise... he told me that his dream was to become a hero like you, Third Hokage."
As soon as those words were spoken, a faint smile immediately appeared on Hiruzen Sarutobi's face. He nodded in satisfaction.
"Good. It seems that Konoha's fresh young saplings have begun to grow. In the future, they will become towering trees and shelter the next generation as they grow."
"Kurenai, you are a ninja I think very highly of! Yamei is a rare genius, and he is also very close to you, so I hope you can teach him well."
Yūhi Kurenai hurriedly replied, "Please rest assured, Third Hokage. I will certainly teach Yamei properly and let him shine for the village!"
"Shine for the village? That's a fine choice of words!" Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded, feeling quite pleased.
After Yūhi Kurenai and the other two left, Hiruzen took a puff from his pipe. "Yamei... a genius no weaker than Kakashi, with a clean background... the perfect inheritor of the Will of Fire."
After the three left the Hokage Building, Asuma impatiently looked toward Yūhi Kurenai. "Kurenai..."
"Kakashi-senpai, I have something to do, so I'll be leaving first." Yūhi Kurenai directly turned to Kakashi, said that, and left.
Asuma stood there with his mouth open, staring blankly at the scene. He reached out and scratched at the air... then finally let his hand fall weakly.
Seeing this, Kakashi stepped forward and patted his shoulder.
"Kakashi, do you think Kurenai has some misunderstanding about me... It's already been several years."
"At first, she would still talk to me... but these past two years, she hasn't even been willing to look at me."
"Uh..." Kakashi scratched his head. Don't ask me.
If you wanted to talk about Icha Icha Paradise, I could chat with you for a while. But you're asking me about relationships? What nonsense was this?
"I don't really understand this relationship stuff either... Do you think you did something somewhere that made her unhappy?"
Hearing Kakashi's words, Asuma couldn't help falling into his memories... Then a shattered memory surged into his mind.
"Yamei... I remember now! It was a misunderstanding... it was all a misunderstanding!"
"Yamei?" Kakashi froze. How did this get connected to Yamei again?
But Asuma gave him no chance to explain. He strode after her, shouting as he ran.
"Kurenai, what happened back then really was a misunderstanding! Listen to me explain it properly!"
Watching Asuma's departing figure, Kakashi shook his head helplessly.
That afternoon, Yamei lay on Yūhi Kurenai's lap as he listened to her talk about what had happened in the Hokage's office.
After learning Hiruzen Sarutobi's attitude, Yamei knew that old man probably wouldn't make a move against him.
But the Third Hokage at this point was different, which was normal... He was old... and his mindset had changed greatly.
If it had been Hiruzen Sarutobi from three or four years ago, he might have chosen to keep Yamei firmly under his control.
"Tomorrow, I'll take you all out on a mission. Are you ready?"
"B-rank? Or A-rank?"
Yūhi Kurenai rolled her eyes at Yamei. "You're overthinking it. D-rank..."
"Boring." Yamei shrugged, suddenly thinking of something.
The Land of Waves had already been changed by him... so that C-rank mission to protect Tazuna was probably gone!
In that case, what would Naruto and Sasuke's first C-rank mission become?
Before you continue