Kakashi's Shock, Bells Secured

Indeed, that genin named Ling Xuan had vanished since the start of the exercise. His method of concealment was peculiar; there was no residual chakra, as if he had merged completely with the environment.

Hatake Kakashi searched all around, evaluating him in his mind, but in the split second his focus wavered, he suddenly sensed a threat and instinctively tilted his head to the left.

A lock of silver hair drifted down silently.

Hatake Kakashi's single eye constricted, his gaze turning sharp.

The attack just now had been silent, formless, and devoid of chakra fluctuations. If the target had been his carotid artery...

He retreated rapidly, widening the distance, and scanned his surroundings vigilantly. The bushes, the canopy, the shadows... there was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Sasuke, Naruto." Hatake Kakashi's voice turned grave. "Your teammate is quite troublesome."

Ling Xuan, hidden in the distance, watched all of this.

[Target: Hatake Kakashi. Status: Vigilant. Neural response, muscle mobilization, and evasion habits during sudden miniature attacks have been acquired.]

[Attack Method: Miniature Wind Blade (Optimized Version).]

The previous move was merely a probe, and the data was now in hand. The data model of Hatake Kakashi in Ling Xuan's mind was further refined, and he initiated the second phase of his plan.

A calm voice, transmitted through a sophisticated chakra technique, reached the ears of Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke simultaneously.

"I am Ling Xuan. Fighting alone is foolish. Follow my lead."

"Ling Xuan? Where are you?" Naruto Uzumaki shouted. "How are you talking to me? Teach me that too."

Sasuke snorted, but did not refute him. That elusive strike from earlier made it impossible for him to ignore this teammate.

"I can see things you cannot." Ling Xuan's voice was devoid of emotion. "Sasuke, your Great Fireball Technique—from the moment you form the seals to the release, Hatake Kakashi has already completed his evasion by the time you finish the first seal. Your attack is ineffective."

"Naruto, your linear charge has too many openings. Hatake Kakashi has a hundred ways to make you trip over yourself."

This analysis left Sasuke's face ashen and rendered Naruto Uzumaki speechless with anger.

"This is the only effective way to achieve victory." Ling Xuan's tone was beyond question. "If you want to be losers, you can continue as you are."

"What do you want to do?" Sasuke was the first to speak. He needed power; if Ling Xuan's method was effective, he was willing to try.

"A plan, three steps." Ling Xuan's voice was calm and clear.

"Step one, Naruto. Use the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, the more the better. Your mission is not to attack, but to create chaos and fill the entire training ground."

"Create chaos, huh!" Naruto Uzumaki grew excited; this was his specialty. "Alright, watch me!"

"Step two, Sasuke." Ling Xuan continued. "I have observed that Hatake Kakashi's combat style relies on his left eye. When he uses high-level techniques or high-speed movement, the chakra consumption of his left eye increases sharply. That is his trump card, but also his weakness."

"Your task is to use Fire Style and shurikenjutsu to launch a saturation attack under the cover of Naruto's chaos. There is only one goal: force him to continuously use his left eye's ability to accelerate his depletion."

Sasuke felt a tremor in his heart. Could an analysis as precise as chakra consumption levels really be made by a genin?

"Fine." Sasuke agreed.

"What about me?" asked Sakura Haruno, who had just been awakened by Ling Xuan's shadow clone using the "Release" technique.

"Sakura Haruno. Stay away from the battlefield and hide. When you see Hatake Kakashi's left hand make a specific gesture to prepare a seal, shout 'Cherry Blossom' immediately. The timing must be precise."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

"Then, step three." Ling Xuan said. "Leave it to me."

Hatake Kakashi watched the group gather together without interfering. He wanted to see what kind of performance these genin could put on.

The next second, the laziness on his face vanished.

"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!!!"

Hundreds of Naruto Uzumaki appeared, rushing toward Hatake Kakashi from all directions.

"So many?!" Hatake Kakashi's eyes sharpened; he flickered, weaving through the attacks of countless Naruto Uzumaki.

"Fire Style!"

Sasuke's attack arrived, several fireballs shooting toward Hatake Kakashi's evasion path from different angles. At the same time, dozens of shuriken sealed off the space above him.

Hatake Kakashi used the Substitution Technique to dodge. But the moment he reappeared, another Great Fireball was already heading his way.

Naruto Uzumaki's shadow clones were fearless, and Sasuke's long-range attacks were precise and ruthless. One close, one far, one attacking, one supporting—they actually forced Hatake Kakashi into a flurry of activity.

"This kind of coordination..." Hatake Kakashi realized that all of this was under Ling Xuan's command.

He could no longer hold back his strength.

Hatake Kakashi retreated, his left hand making a subtle sealing gesture, preparing to use an Earth Style ninjutsu to clear the shadow clones.

In the distance, Sakura Haruno saw this movement and immediately screamed with all her might: "Cherry—Blossom—!!!"

This was the signal.

In the split second Hatake Kakashi was distracted by the scream, a shadow emerged behind him.

It was Ling Xuan, who had snuck to within half a meter of Hatake Kakashi's back. He pressed his fingers together like a sword, his fingertips wreathed in a swirling, cyan-and-red miniature cyclone: the Wind-Flame Spiral.

The target: the bells at Hatake Kakashi's waist.

The timing, the angle, the speed, the power—everything had been calculated.

Kakashi felt a surge of intense danger; his body could not outpace Ling Xuan's speed, and there was no time to weave the hand signs for a Substitution Technique.

"Earth Style: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique!"

Kakashi instantly merged into the ground beneath his feet, and Ling Xuan's attack struck empty air.

Below?

Ling Xuan leaped upward.

But a hand shot out from the earth like lightning, seizing his ankle.

"Got you," Kakashi's voice echoed from beneath the soil.

A massive pulling force surged, dragging Ling Xuan toward the ground.

However, the moment before he was pulled into the earth, the corners of his mouth twitched, and the "Ling Xuan" being held vanished into a puff of white smoke with a poof.

It was a Shadow Clone.

"What?!" Kakashi, still underground, felt a jolt of shock.

The real Ling Xuan, the moment Kakashi had initiated his Earth Style, had used an instantaneous substitution maneuver to swap places with a Shadow Clone hidden nearby.

At this moment, Ling Xuan's true body was standing exactly where Kakashi had just submerged into the ground.

In his hand, he held the three silver bells.

As it turned out, his Wind-Flame Spiral attack had been a feint; the true killing blow was using the cover of the assault to snatch the bells with movements too fast to track.

The one Kakashi had grabbed was merely a Shadow Clone carrying bells, left behind specifically to draw his attention.

The entire training ground fell into a deathly silence. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all stared blankly at the scene.

Kakashi slowly rose from the ground, brushed the dust off his body, and looked at his empty waist before glancing at the bells in Ling Xuan's hand, his eyes filled with an indescribable, complex expression.

Shock, admiration, and a hint of frustration.

The alarm clock on the training ground let out a "beep-beep-beep" sound at that exact moment.

Twelve o'clock noon.

The exercise was over.

The alarm clock on the training ground emitted a harsh ringing, signaling the end of the exercise.

Silence.