Three Super-Duper Idiots

The next day, the four of them arrived at the Training Ground early.

As expected, Sasuke and Sakura had skipped breakfast. Jimo, on the other hand, had dragged Naruto along to eat two bowls of ramen before they came.

They had arrived at six-thirty in the morning and had already been waiting for four hours, but Kakashi still hadn't shown up.

"Good morning, everyone!"

Kakashi finally arrived, fashionably late.

"You're late, you know!" the three kids complained in unison.

As usual, Kakashi ignored their complaints and pulled an alarm clock out of his ninja pouch.

"What you have to do is take the bells from me before noon!"

Only then did everyone notice the two bells dangling from Kakashi's hand.

"I'll tell you in advance: if you don't get the bells before the time runs out, you won't get lunch. You'll also be tied to that target over there and have to watch me eat my bento."

He'd expected a big reaction from them.

"Uh... I ate too much last night, so I'm still not hungry..." Sakura said, blushing and clutching her stomach. She'd eaten the most of the snacks and treats yesterday.

"Me too... Who knows how much high-calorie stuff Jimo put in the food yesterday..." Sasuke said, completely unconcerned.

Naruto was even cheering his good luck. Since Jimo had insisted on dragging him out to eat that morning, he could go hungry until evening and still be fine.

"Uh... What an unpredictable kid..." Kakashi sighed helplessly as he watched Jimo, who still hadn't thrown away the skewer of dango in his hand. He took his student even more seriously.

"I only have two bells here, which means two of you will be tied to those wooden posts. If you get tied up, I'll send you back to the Ninja Academy!"

That finally got everyone's attention.

"You can use anything you know, including Ninjutsu and Shuriken. You can even try to kill me. If you don't come at me with the resolve to kill, you won't get the bells."

Naruto was just about to mock him for getting hit by an eraser when Jimo stopped him.

Seeing that, Kakashi added, "You there, kid. Weren't you always going on about becoming Hokage? Or are you all talk? The less capable someone is, the more they like to fantasize about things that'll never happen." Then he turned to the other three. "Never mind this dead-last. Let's get started."

At the words "dead-last," Naruto immediately broke free of Jimo's grasp, pulled out a Kunai, and lunged at Kakashi.

Only when the blade of the Kunai pressed against the back of his own head did he realize Kakashi had already twisted his arm behind his back and was holding him in place with his own weapon. He hadn't even started running forward.

"Seriously? I couldn't see him move at all..." Sakura was so frightened she couldn't move.

Sasuke was sweating too.

Jimo was just as shocked. He couldn't see Kakashi's movements either, and this definitely wasn't Kakashi's maximum speed.

"Tch... Looks like I'm still nowhere near strong enough to match him."

"Couldn't you at least have waited until I said 'begin'? Are you really that eager to kill me? Looks like you've already accepted me as your teacher. I like that kind of initiative. I'm starting to like you kids."

Then Kakashi called, "Begin!" and everyone scattered out of his reach.

"For a ninja, hiding your presence and avoiding danger are the basics... Looks like everyone's doing well," Kakashi praised them aloud from the center of the Training Ground.

"Let's settle this one-on-one!"

"?!"

Naruto stood with his arms crossed over his chest, looking confidently at Kakashi, who seemed utterly exasperated.

"That super idiot..." Sasuke hid in a tree with his face in his hands, watching Naruto in disbelief.

"Hey, hey! We agreed I'd go first!" Jimo had appeared behind Kakashi too.

"Now there are two super idiots..." Sasuke couldn't figure out how Jimo thought he could win.

Naruto ignored Jimo and charged ahead on his own. After his punch hit nothing but air, he lost sight of Kakashi.

"Hey, hey, is it really a good idea to leave your back open to the enemy?"

When Sasuke and Sakura saw Kakashi form the Tiger Seal, they both shouted for Naruto to run.

Sasuke guessed the technique was probably Fire Release.

"Leaf Village Secret Taijutsu: One Thousand Years of Death!"

Kakashi thrust with all his might, and Naruto flew into the river, clutching his butt.

"C-Can that really count as a secret technique? Isn't that just... just poking..." Sakura blushed as she crouched in the grass, face full of embarrassment.

"Now there are three super idiots..." Sasuke had lost count of how many times he'd been speechless today.

Naruto climbed out of the river and spat out several little fish.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You think you can become Hokage like that?"

"I just let my guard down for a moment!"

Kakashi turned away. Judging by Naruto's condition, he probably didn't have the strength to do anything else.

"Better safe than sorry. Carelessness leads to disaster. Never heard that one?"

Before he could finish, seven Narutos jumped out of the river.

"Seven Shadow Clones? With your ability, you can only keep them up for a minute, right?" A hint of surprise appeared in Kakashi's eyes. The kid really did have an enviable amount of Chakra.

Just as Kakashi moved to act, one of the Shadow Clones quietly grabbed him from behind.

"Heh heh. Now you can't get away."

The other Shadow Clones rushed in and held Kakashi's arms and legs fast.

"Check out my new technique!"

A blue sphere of light slowly took shape in Naruto's hand.

"Heh heh. It's not as good as Jimo's, but it'll be more than enough to take you down!"

Kakashi actually sensed a trace of danger from the sphere.

"Chakra Jade!"

Naruto hurled the sphere at Kakashi. A tremendous boom rang out as the explosion sent up a cloud of dust.

When the dust cleared, all that remained was a crater and a wooden log blasted into pieces.

"That kind of power... Is that really Naruto's technique?" Sasuke stared at the crater in shock.

"Damn it! He used the Substitution Technique!" Naruto shouted in frustration.

"Get out of there! Jump into the river!" Jimo shouted at Naruto as his hands flashed through Hand Seals.

Naruto didn't know why Jimo was telling him to do that, but he obediently dove into the river.

"Fire Release: Fireball Jutsu!"

A huge ball of fire engulfed the spot where Naruto had just been standing, and a figure retreated at incredible speed.

"Hey, hey, what kind of monster is this kid...? How can his Fireball Jutsu be that powerful?!"

Cold sweat finally broke out on Kakashi's forehead. It seemed the Third Hokage's information had been wrong. This kid had not only incredible physical strength but a Chakra supply no smaller than that of an adult Genin.

A Fireball Jutsu with such a huge range required extremely precise control over the amount of Chakra channeled into it.

Sasuke and Sakura, who had been lying in wait nearby, were also astonished by the power of Jimo's Ninjutsu.

"Can that really be a Fireball Jutsu?" Uchiha Sasuke frowned. Unless he completely exhausted his Chakra, he could never release a Fireball Jutsu with a range that large.