Surprise

After listening to the three's self-introductions, Kakashi remained silent for a moment before continuing, "Alright, that's enough with the introductions. We'll meet at Training Ground 3 tomorrow morning at five o'clock for a drill. It's a survival exercise in the wilderness!"

"An exercise? We've done plenty of those at the Ninja Academy. Shouldn't we be taking on missions first?"

Sasuke frowned slightly, his tone clearly showing annoyance and impatience.

How long will it take for me to truly become strong if I'm always doing these basic training exercises? he thought to himself. I might as well train with Naruto directly.

Kakashi covered half of his face with his black mask and deliberately put on a scary expression, lowering his voice as he said, "Hmph, this exercise isn't ordinary. It's a traditional drill passed down in Konoha, and the pass rate is only one-third. If you don't pass, you'll have to go back to the Ninja Academy and repeat the year!"

Sakura was stunned upon hearing this, her face filled with nervousness and unease.

She secretly glanced at Sasuke, then at Naruto, her heart filled with apprehension.

Although Sasuke maintained his composure outwardly, he was actually a little shaken inside.

Even though his strength had improved under Naruto's guidance these past few days, Kakashi sounded so serious that it probably wouldn't be that simple.

Only Naruto remained unfazed, as if he hadn't taken the matter to heart at all.

As expected of the teacher's child, not so easily fooled. Kakashi glanced at Naruto, muttering inwardly. Seeing that the atmosphere was right, he added coldly, "Remember, don't eat breakfast. You'll throw up!"

With that, Kakashi turned and quickly left the classroom without waiting for their reactions.

As soon as Kakashi left, Sakura immediately leaned over to Sasuke and whispered, "Sasuke-kun, what should we do tomorrow..."

Sasuke didn't look at her but instead looked directly at Naruto.

Naruto, still maintaining his calm demeanor, spoke, "You don't need to listen to Teacher Kakashi. Just be there at ten o'clock sharp tomorrow, and you can eat breakfast."

"Really?"

Sakura's expression was doubtful, clearly not fully believing Naruto's words.

She was still questioning whether Naruto was truly as reliable as he had recently appeared.

Naruto knew that explaining further to Sakura now would be useless.

Only when the exercise began tomorrow and facts spoke for themselves could he completely dispel her doubts.

So, he didn't say any more, just gave a faint smile.

"You can't go wrong listening to Naruto," Sasuke declared.

After training and interacting with Naruto for these past few days, his trust in Naruto far surpassed that of ordinary people.

"Then... alright."

Although Sakura was still half-believing, seeing that Sasuke had said so, she could only suppress her unease for the time being.

In fact, Kakashi hadn't gone far.

He was hiding around the corner of the corridor outside the classroom, secretly observing the three's reactions.

Making them skip breakfast and gather at five in the morning was a test he had deliberately set.

Kakashi wanted to see how they would behave when faced with a rigorous test under extreme physical and psychological pressure, and whether they would make rational ninja-like decisions.

The result was that Naruto's single sentence had shattered this plan, which left Kakashi feeling a bit uneasy.

He felt both surprised and vaguely uncomfortable, as if he had been seen through.

This brat is indeed not simple... Kakashi thought silently. In the end, he did not reveal himself to reiterate the strictness of his rules.

He decided to continue observing to see what "surprises" Naruto could bring.

Meanwhile, Naruto and Sasuke walked out of the classroom side-by-side.

Sakura followed behind them, watching their tacit understanding, and couldn't help but wonder, When did Sasuke and Naruto's relationship become so good?

Seeing that it was still early, Sasuke turned to Naruto and asked, "There's still some time this afternoon. Do you want to train again?"

Naruto, however, waved his hand and said, "You should review what I taught you yesterday. You're not proficient enough with those basics yet. As for me... I need to think about how to get through tomorrow's test."

"Alright then."

Sasuke was a little disappointed, but upon careful consideration, the things he learned yesterday indeed required another day or two of consolidation.

In fact, Naruto had already sensed that Teacher Kakashi hadn't left and seemed to want to speak with him privately, which was why he deliberately sent Sasuke away.

Naruto had experienced the wilderness survival exercise too many times.

In the past, he would either defeat Kakashi directly or direct Sasuke and Sakura to cooperate in grabbing the bells, and various forms of bell-grabbing.

Ultimately, as long as "teamwork" was demonstrated, they would pass.

However, this time, inspired by Orochimaru's reminder and the Mizuki incident, Naruto began to ponder a deeper question.

Why must it be teamwork to gain Teacher Kakashi's approval?

Or rather, isn't this practice itself wrong?

It wasn't that Naruto was deliberately looking for trouble; rather, he gained inspiration from the Mizuki incident and discovered deeper contradictions.

Naruto thought as he walked to his doorstep.

Just then, a figure suddenly appeared before him. It was Kakashi.

"Why? I clearly said we'd gather at five in the morning, yet you had them arrive at ten?" Kakashi asked in a low voice.

His tone was questioning, but not critical.

Naruto wasn't surprised by Kakashi's appearance and calmly replied, "There's no 'why.' Because the intel I gathered indicated that Teacher Kakashi is someone who is often late, so I guessed you definitely wouldn't arrive on time. Wasting everyone's time, mentally and physically, would be for nothing."

Kakashi pressed further, "What if I said this was also part of the test?"

Naruto retorted, "Then, can this be considered another way of solving the problem?"

"This..."

Kakashi was momentarily speechless.

He had to admit, Naruto had a point.

In ninja combat, gathering intelligence and analyzing the opponent were crucial elements.

Naruto's ability to figure out his habits in advance and make corresponding adjustments was, in itself, a skill.

However, Kakashi's original intention was to test the willpower and teamwork of the three under extreme conditions, not their intelligence-gathering abilities.

This made Kakashi feel a bit conflicted.

He admired Naruto's quick wit, but also felt a slight dissatisfaction that his plan had been disrupted.

Finally, Kakashi said faintly, "Alright, alright, I can't win an argument with you. In that case, I'm looking forward to your performance tomorrow..."

After speaking, Kakashi couldn't help but picture his sensei's wife, Kushina, in his mind. Her talent for lecturing was exactly the same.

But Naruto also possessed a composure and mysteriousness beyond his years, which was partly similar to his teacher, Minato Namikaze, yet completely different.

"See you tomorrow." Naruto smiled and pushed open his front door. As he was about to go in, he turned back and added, "I've prepared an even bigger surprise for you tomorrow."

Kakashi froze for a moment, then couldn't help but ask the question in his heart, "This morning, those two cups of warm water at your home, who were they for?"

Naruto paused his steps, turned his head, a faint smile on his face, and said, "Perhaps I anticipated that two guests would visit this morning, and I happened to be absent, so I prepared them in advance. Who knows?"

With that, Naruto walked straight into the house and closed the door.

Kakashi stood there, not leaving for a long time.

This is quite a surprise already.

Naruto definitely knows something, but what he says is still so cryptic...

It's really annoying.

This point is nothing like his sensei's wife or Teacher Minato.