During the Exercise

At ten in the morning, at the Konoha Training Ground, Kakashi arrived late and deliberately acted as if he didn't have a care in the world. "Yo~ Good morning."

But the three standing before him reacted very differently from what he'd expected. He'd thought that after his greeting, the three kids would at least complain loudly, even if they didn't blow up on the spot. Instead, their expressions were remarkably calm, without a trace of impatience.

"You seem to be better than I expected."

Kakashi didn't hold back on the praise. Dropping his laid-back attitude, he took an alarm clock from his backpack and set it on a nearby tree stump. "I set the alarm to ring at exactly twelve."

Then he fished two little bells out of his pocket and held them up for the three to see. "Your mission is to take these two bells before noon. Anyone who fails to get a bell within the time limit will have failed the mission and be sent back to the Ninja Academy to repeat a year."

"Kakashi-sensei,"

Naruto raised his hand. "If I'm seeing right, there are only two bells in your hand."

"That's right. Only two."

As he spoke, Kakashi hung the bells from his waist. He wasn't joking at all. "To be honest, I think having three students is a real hassle, so I'm going to send one of you back to school."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure it's okay to say that?"

"Of course."

Kakashi looked completely calm. "Lord Hokage gave the jōnin leading a team the authority to do so."

Sakura looked like she wanted to complain, but Naruto stopped her. "Let's figure out how to get the bells first."

"Very decisive."

Kakashi took another look at Naruto. "You and Sasuke are both pretty good. Maybe I should just send Sakura back to school."

"Save that for after we fail."

Naruto rolled his shoulders, his gaze fixed on Kakashi. "Anything else to say? If not, can we get started?"

Kakashi nodded and announced, "Then—the exercise begins!"

Naruto swiftly formed Hand Seals. "Multi Shadow Clone Technique!"

Hundreds of Narutos surrounded Kakashi in layer upon layer.

"That's incredible. He can make so many Shadow Clones. His chakra reserves must be several times mine... No wonder he's his sensei's son!"

Kakashi's gaze swept across the crowd. His expression didn't change, but his thoughts grew serious. Maybe I won't be able to read in peace after all.

Two kunai and two shuriken suddenly shot out through a gap in the "Naruto crowd."

Kakashi swayed, dodging them all without moving his feet.

But when the kunai and shuriken flew behind him, they suddenly transformed into Narutos, reaching for the bells at Kakashi's waist.

"Combining Shadow Clones with the Transformation Technique—you're really good at that!"

Kakashi spun around quickly and used his hands and feet to dispel all four Naruto Shadow Clones, but his own body was left briefly suspended in the air.

Sasuke, hiding among the Naruto clones, didn't let such a great opportunity pass. He formed Hand Seals at the fastest speed of his life, drew in a breath, and exhaled. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

Kakashi's eyes widened slightly. It was impressive for a freshly graduated Genin to use the Great Fireball Technique, but compared with Naruto making hundreds of Shadow Clones in one go, it seemed a little ordinary.

Naruto didn't just watch Sasuke attack. As Sasuke formed his Hand Seals, a Shadow Clone standing behind him used Sasuke's body for cover and secretly formed Hand Seals too. Matching Sasuke's speed, he performed a jutsu at the same time. "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

The flames Sasuke exhaled merged with the whirlwind Naruto unleashed, forming a mighty fire tornado whose speed and power surged.

"Wind Release and Fire Release working together?!"

Kakashi almost pulled up his Forehead Protector. He swiftly formed Hand Seals and used Earth Release to burrow underground.

Naruto seemed to have predicted Kakashi would hide underground. He directed the Wind Release downward, making the fire tornado sweep as much of the ground as possible. But Sasuke hadn't realized what he was doing and couldn't coordinate with him. In the end, the fire tornado only scraped off a layer of earth and didn't hurt Kakashi.

"Tch, what a shame."

Naruto thought ruefully, then warned Sasuke, "Kakashi-sensei used Earth Release. Watch underground."

Sasuke promptly activated his Sharingan and looked toward the ground. At the last possible moment, he leaped into the air, dodging a hand that sprang up from below.

Though the hand missed, Kakashi still had to emerge from underground. The Earth Release was about to wear off, and he couldn't move freely beneath the ground.

Seizing the opening while Kakashi was still partly underground, Sakura, who had been watching for a while, finally launched her first attack. From a blind spot behind him, she threw a kunai straight at Kakashi's neck.

And, of course, Kakashi caught it with one hand.

The instant he grasped the kunai, Kakashi's expression changed. It had already turned into Sakura, who grabbed him with both hands. A nearly burned-out Explosive Tag was stuck to her chest.

Kakashi's pupils suddenly widened. Before he could say anything, a powerful explosion swallowed him.

"Sakura, you brought an Explosive Tag too? I remember those are pretty expensive."

"Can't be helped. I don't have much chakra, and I don't know any jutsu with enough killing power, so I have to rely on these things."

"Sasuke, can you see what's going on?"

"No. My Sharingan only has one tomoe, and the smoke from the explosion is too thick to see through."

"I can't sense Kakashi-sensei nearby for now... Could Sakura's Explosive Tag have killed him?"

"How could it? Kakashi-sensei is a jōnin. He wouldn't get killed by a single Explosive Tag."

When the smoke from the explosion cleared, there was nothing on the ground but a crater. But the Explosive Tag hadn't been powerful enough to leave no trace of a body.

Naruto: "The Kakashi-sensei just now was a Shadow Clone, right?"

Sasuke: "I kept my Sharingan on him. When did he switch to a Shadow Clone?"

Sakura: "It must have been when he used Earth Release to hide underground."

"Here's the question: where is Kakashi-sensei now?"

Naruto looked around, then fixed his gaze on the trees surrounding the training ground. "No wonder he's a jōnin. He's really good at hiding."

Sasuke said reluctantly, "If only my Sharingan could evolve to two tomoe..."

"What should we do?"

Sakura glanced at the alarm clock. "There's less than an hour left."

"Though this is earlier than I planned, let's put our teamwork on hold for now."

Naruto turned to Sasuke and Sakura. "You might not be able to join the fight from here on. I don't want to waste extra energy looking after you two."

Sasuke had never seen Naruto fight at full strength, but he understood the gap between them. He nodded and led Sakura a little farther back. "Then be careful."

At that moment, Kakashi was watching the three of them from the nearby woods. "Even Sakura, the weakest of them, is stronger than the other freshly graduated Genin. Sasuke is only a little short of Chunin, experience-wise. But Naruto is the strangest of all. So far, he's only used Wind Release and Shadow Clones, but he's definitely still holding something back."

Then Kakashi saw more than ten Naruto Shadow Clones line up side by side and use Wind Release: Great Breakthrough at the same time. The attack was absurdly powerful, lifting the entire stretch of woods where he was hiding straight into the air...