Kakashi thought for a moment, then added,
"You have twelve hours. If you haven't gotten them within that time, you'll be considered out."
With that, he led the four of them to an open clearing.
Naruto struck first. He pulled a kunai from beside his foot and charged at Kakashi.
Kakashi dodged Naruto's attack with a single leap.
The three of them were stunned. They couldn't hope to match that speed. Josuke was no exception; he cried out inwardly, So fast!
Once he had put some distance between himself and the four, Kakashi took a book from his pocket and started reading.
Naruto was instantly furious. He shouted,
"Damn it! How dare you underestimate me!!"
With that, Naruto charged again and kicked at Kakashi, but Kakashi easily blocked him. Naruto did a backflip to regain his balance.
Then Naruto thrust a kunai at Kakashi. Just as it looked like he was about to hit him, there was a pop.
Kakashi had already appeared behind him.
Kakashi formed hand seals.
"The secret Leaf Village art of Taijutsu!"
Chakra gathered at his fingertips, and he thrust them toward Naruto's butt.
"Thousand Years of Death!"
Naruto let out a pained scream and was sent flying.
Josuke covered his mouth, trying to keep from laughing. It was an iconic anime scene—the Thousand Years of Death!
Jokes aside, the battle was still underway.
Sakura and Sasuke had disappeared somewhere. Maybe they were watching from the nearby woods, but Josuke didn't care.
A Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique came flying at Kakashi. He turned to look, surprised. Is this the Uchiha prodigy? He's learned the Great Fireball Technique at such a young age.
But Kakashi smiled to himself. He's still too young.
He dodged with a simple sidestep, but Josuke had already anticipated that. He immediately activated the Eight Inner Gates and charged at Kakashi.
He opened the first three gates and gave his teacher Kakashi a Front Lotus.
Kakashi's eyes widened. The Eight Inner Gates? So he's the second student Guy mentioned. That's a surprise. Josuke's flying kick came at him.
Kakashi grabbed Josuke's right leg and hurled him away. Josuke hit the ground flat on his back.
Josuke winced in pain. Damn it, so this is the strength of an elite jōnin? He can take out a little nobody like me with brute force alone.
"Not bad. You even know the Eight Inner Gates."
While Kakashi was teasing him, Naruto unleashed his Multiple Shadow Clone Technique. Seeing that, Josuke immediately activated his Sharingan. Although it couldn't copy techniques yet, by watching Naruto's hand seals and sensing his Chakra with the Sharingan, he was sure he could figure out how to use the technique.
(This was the trick Josuke, that sly fox, had come up with: use the Sharingan's properties to slow down the hand seals, so he could sense how Naruto was actually using the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.
You're asking how the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique could only need one or two seals? Huh? No idea.)
Naruto's twenty-some clones swarmed Kakashi.
Kakashi simply leapt and vanished. Naruto's clones ended up fighting one another instead.
There was a succession of thuds.
Naruto's clones all dispelled.
Josuke wasn't idle either. He used two Ninjutsu techniques at once: Earth Release: Earth Collapse Technique. Cracks of various sizes immediately appeared in the ground.
The earth beneath Kakashi's feet began to tremble. Then Josuke used Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Technique!
Kakashi was more and more surprised by Josuke's performance, but this level of attack was nothing to him.
He formed hand seals. "Earth Release: Earth Wall!"
A dirt wall shaped like a dog's head rose from the ground, easily blocking the Phoenix Flower Technique.
Josuke was astonished. It was the first time he'd been bested like this. He activated his Sharingan and prepared to engage Kakashi in close combat, but Kakashi gave him no chance.
In an instant, Kakashi was right in front of Josuke.
He followed up with Taijutsu and slammed Josuke into the ground. But instead of the pained cry Kakashi expected, there was a pop, and Josuke vanished in a cloud of smoke.
A Clone Technique? That was beyond Kakashi's expectations. Three kunai flew toward him from behind.
Kakashi dodged them with ease.
Josuke threw three shuriken as well, but Kakashi dodged those just as easily.
Out of options, Josuke could only sneak into the woods.
Kakashi looked a little surprised. Oh? He's running already?
Watching from a distance, Sasuke struggled to calm himself. Josuke is so strong. Has he really improved to a level I can't reach? Damn it!!!
Josuke had no idea what the others were thinking. All he wanted was to get somewhere else as quickly as possible.
Back with Naruto, even though his Multiple Shadow Clone Technique couldn't beat Kakashi, he wasn't discouraged.
He glanced at a tree nearby and spotted a bell!
Naruto was thrilled. He figured he must have knocked it loose by accident during the fight.
Heh heh.
I'm coming, Genin! He happily went to grab the bell, but it couldn't possibly be that easy.
In the blink of an eye,
before Naruto could reach the bell, Kakashi's trap had him tied up.
Only then did Kakashi stroll out.
He picked up the bell from the ground.
"Hey, you rotten cheater! You can't do that!"
Naruto protested, loudly demanding another three hundred rounds against Kakashi.
Hidden nearby, Sasuke saw that Kakashi had his back turned toward him.
At last, he couldn't hold back. He used Ninjutsu to send more than a dozen kunai and shuriken flying.
Kakashi seemed to be riddled with them, but then there was a pop.
It was a Substitution Technique!
Sasuke was startled. Realizing his position had been exposed, he immediately got up and moved elsewhere.
Sakura ran too. With her small frame, she was no match for Kakashi. He caught her in no time. Just as Sakura thought she was done for,
Kakashi suddenly disappeared.
Sakura was instantly delighted, thinking she had shaken him off.
Then she began searching for Sasuke, setting up another iconic scene. Sakura pushed aside some trees and saw Sasuke leaning against one, covered in blood and pierced with kunai.
"AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!"
Sakura fainted from fright.
Now the only ones in Team 7 who could fight were the two Uchiha brothers.
So Sasuke stopped hiding and walked out from a thicket.
He had already decided what to do.
Without wasting time or hesitating, Sasuke opened with five shuriken. Kakashi dodged them all the way to a trap Sasuke had set beforehand.
But even when the trap was triggered, it was useless—Kakashi dodged it with ease.
Sasuke knew that approach wouldn't work, of course, so he used the Body Flicker Technique and went straight into a Taijutsu exchange with Kakashi.
He threw a combo of punches, but they did nothing. Still, that had been part of Sasuke's plan. Now he stared intently at the bell in front of him...
Now's my chance!
Before you continue