The Bell Scramble!

"I never expected that guy Naruto to have a clever moment."

Seeing Naruto pin Kakashi down, Haruno Sakura's eyes filled with shock; clearly, she had never expected that the usually careless Naruto could actually pull this off.

"Kakashi-sensei, how could he be captured so easily?"

Without a shred of excitement, Sasuke, who was watching the battle, felt a sense of foreboding at this very moment.

"Hehe... Kakashi-sensei, I'm returning that punch from earlier!"

Just as Sasuke was worrying, the eyes of the real Naruto turned sharp. He stomped his foot against the ground, using the momentum to launch himself toward Kakashi, his five fingers clenched into a fist, striking directly at Kakashi's chest without any fancy tricks.

Watching Naruto fly toward him, Kakashi struggled, but helpless against the tight grip of the two Shadow Clones, he could only watch as the fist descended.

Under the gaze of Haruno Sakura and Sasuke, Naruto's fist landed on Kakashi's chest like a heavy stone, a powerful force erupting at that very moment.

Kakashi's body, along with the two Shadow Clones, flew backward, eventually crashing onto the ground not far away.

"Bang!"

Immediately after, Naruto's two Shadow Clones vanished into white mist, but the target of the attack, Kakashi, had eerily transformed into a piece of wood.

Swish!

The gazes of Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Sasuke all converged on the wood on the ground in an instant.

"Substitution Technique?"

Looking at the wood, Naruto and Haruno Sakura shouted in surprise simultaneously.

The Substitution Technique is one of the basic ninjutsu, allowing one to instantly swap places with an animal or plant to evade an attack.

Kakashi had just used this technique to escape Naruto's strike.

"Naruto, watch out!"

Just as Naruto was stunned into a daze, a distorted figure quietly appeared behind him. Fortunately, the observant Sasuke noticed it in time and shouted a warning.

Hearing Sasuke's reminder, Naruto quickly stomped his foot and leaped forward into the air.

"Heh... can you still run?"

Watching Naruto take flight, the reappearing Kakashi smiled slightly and prepared to strike.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

However, just as Kakashi prepared to move, a scorching fireball flew rapidly toward him.

"Whoosh!!"

The fireball tore through the air, emitting a whistling sound as it passed. One could imagine that if this fireball hit Kakashi, it would surely leave him severely injured.

"The Uchiha Clan's Fire Style ninjutsu, huh?"

Glancing at Sasuke, who had cast the technique, Kakashi muttered under his breath. He abandoned his attack on Naruto and controlled his body to retreat, staying as far away from the fireball's range as possible.

"Boom!"

Shortly after Kakashi retreated, the fireball slammed into the ground where he had been standing. The intense flames erupted instantly, and the incredibly hard ground was shattered into a cloud of debris, sending smoke billowing everywhere.

"Phew... good thing I dodged that quickly!"

As the smoke cleared, Kakashi looked at the deep crater where he had been standing, feeling a lingering sense of fear.

"Not good!"

His brow furrowed. Just as Kakashi let out a sigh of relief, his heart suddenly tightened. He pulled several shuriken from his pouch and threw them rapidly.

"Clink..."

With a faint sound of wind being cut, several shuriken shot out from Haruno Sakura's hand. Her timing for the sneak attack was excellent, but unfortunately, they were all intercepted by Kakashi's shuriken.

"Kakashi-sensei, it's not over yet!"

At that moment, Sasuke shouted loudly.

I don't know when, but a giant Fuma Shuriken had appeared in Sasuke's hand, and he threw it with practiced skill.

The Fuma Shuriken spun at high speed like a storm, vibrating the air and emitting a piercing, whistling sound.

Because of its immense speed, the Fuma Shuriken reached Kakashi in the blink of an eye.

"What? A follow-up attack?"

Kakashi had thought he was out of the woods, never expecting this Fuma Shuriken to be the real follow-up.

Because the Fuma Shuriken's attack was so sudden, Kakashi had no time to neutralize it. Relying on his years of combat experience, he lowered his head and body slightly, aiming to dodge the attack.

"Whoosh!"

Accompanied by the violent sound of air friction, the Fuma Shuriken grazed past the top of Kakashi's head.

"Phew..."

Feeling the Fuma Shuriken fly past his back, Kakashi let out another sigh of relief.

Being pushed to this point during a rookie trial, Kakashi felt a sudden sense of collapse; he felt as if he weren't facing three Genin-to-be, but an elite squad that had been coordinating for years.

"Wow, it worked!"

However, faced with the failed attack of the Fuma Shuriken, Haruno Sakura did not feel dejected; instead, she jumped up in excitement.

Haruno Sakura's abnormal behavior made Kakashi instantly sense that something was wrong, and he hurriedly turned his head to look at the Fuma Shuriken.

But Kakashi's realization came too late, as he saw the Fuma Shuriken that had just flown past his back miraculously transform into Naruto.

"Kakashi-sensei, the bells belong to us!"

Laughing loudly, Naruto steadied his body in mid-air and lunged directly toward the bells hanging at Kakashi's waist.

"Transformation Technique? How is this possible?"

Naruto's voice rang in his ears like a thunderclap, exploding violently in Kakashi's mind; Kakashi had never imagined that Naruto would use the Transformation Technique to turn into a Fuma Shuriken.

Just as Kakashi wondered when Naruto had transformed into the Fuma Shuriken, the Naruto beside Sasuke suddenly turned into white mist and vanished—it was clearly just a Shadow Clone.

Could it have been at that moment?

Seeing the Shadow Clone that he had mistaken for Naruto's true body disappear, Kakashi finally understood everything in an instant.

The explosion of the fireball had blocked Kakashi's line of sight, and it was during that moment that Naruto used the Shadow Clone Technique to summon a clone to replace his true body, while the true body transformed into the Fuma Shuriken and appeared in Lin Feng's hand, after which Haruno Sakura threw the shuriken...

The fact that the three of them graduated from the Ninja Academy in only three months is truly no coincidence; they are genuinely outstanding!

In a flash, Kakashi pieced everything together, and he couldn't help but marvel inwardly at the perfect offensive plan executed by Sasuke and the others.

However, even so, I will not admit defeat so easily...

Already feeling Naruto's hand reaching out, Kakashi gathered all the chakra in his body into the soles of his feet; he intended to use his speed advantage to turn the situation around.

Jingle~

The moment Naruto's right hand touched the bells, they emitted a pleasant ringing sound.

Just as Naruto prepared to grip the bells and tear them away, Kakashi instantly pulled himself away from Naruto.