Snatching the Bell

"We ran into a black cat blocking the road, so we kindly sent it home," Naruto Uzumaki said, casually making up an excuse.

"You bastard, do you really think I'd believe that?"

Sasuke felt even more enraged, convinced he was being played for a fool.

"The teacher hasn't even arrived yet, what's the rush?"

Naruto Uzumaki was speechless.

Seeing that Kakashi hadn't arrived yet either, Hinata let out a sigh of relief.

"This brat is suspicious." In the distance, Kakashi was slowly walking over.

"Kakashi, why are you only showing up now?"

There was a hint of resentment in Sasuke's tone.

"Haha, I helped an old lady cross the road on the way here," Kakashi replied, the lie rolling right off his tongue.

Sasuke was speechless, feeling like a complete idiot.

"Alright, let's not dwell on such trivial matters."

Kakashi checked the time.

"We have some time before noon. Your task is to snatch these two bells from me before then. Those who succeed stay, and those who fail will be sent back to the academy."

Kakashi held up two bells.

Naruto Uzumaki narrowed his eyes.

"Only two bells?"

Sasuke frowned.

"That's right. Out of the three of you, only two can pass."

Kakashi's voice was flat.

He looked at the three of them; Naruto Uzumaki's expression was calm, Sasuke was frowning in worry, and Hinata's gaze was resolute.

What a boring trick.

Naruto Uzumaki only believed in power now.

I have to stay. I'm sorry, Sasuke.

Hinata's small face was determined. She had finally been placed on the same team as Naruto Uzumaki, and she absolutely refused to go back.

"Alright, begin. And Naruto Uzumaki, this is just a test, so don't use that power."

Kakashi seemed to remember something and added a reminder.

"Don't worry."

Even if he hadn't said anything, Naruto Uzumaki wouldn't have used it.

Sasuke quickly retreated to hide.

Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata assumed their combat stances.

Both were taijutsu specialists.

"Hmm. I suppose you two are worth watching."

Looking at the brats in front of him, Kakashi couldn't muster any interest and reached his right hand into his ninja tool pouch.

"Are you going to draw a weapon?"

Sasuke and the others immediately became vigilant.

Only Naruto Uzumaki remained completely unconcerned.

They watched as Kakashi pulled a small orange book from his pouch.

The atmosphere fell into a sudden silence.

"You really are looking down on us."

Naruto Uzumaki was speechless.

He thought for a moment, then drew two kunai from behind his back.

Kakashi's pupils constricted.

"That is..."

The shock in his eyes was impossible to hide.

Naruto Uzumaki threw the kunai and quickly formed hand seals.

[Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique]

Hundreds of kunai rained down.

Kakashi dodged, his eyes still filled with disbelief.

"Flying Thunder God?"

His body vanished in an instant.

He threw a punch, fully charged with power.

Kakashi performed a backflip and landed in the distance.

"How do you know this ninjutsu?"

Naruto Uzumaki, however, paid it no mind.

"As expected, it's still a bit of a stretch to use in combat."

Unlike Minato, although Naruto Uzumaki could execute it, he lacked that seamless fluidity.

"What kind of ninjutsu is this? It's so fast." Sasuke watched from the corner, his face full of shock.

Naruto Uzumaki continued his assault; this ninjutsu had already been registered with the Hokage, so there was no need to worry about using it now.

Furthermore, since he could fight openly this time, Naruto Uzumaki had no intention of holding back.

Alas, Naruto Uzumaki's combat experience was truly poor.

Combining taijutsu with the Flying Thunder God, he couldn't keep up with the pace of the attacks.

"Whew, you really gave me a scare." Kakashi soon discovered Naruto Uzumaki's weakness.

Minato could connect attacks seamlessly the moment he appeared, whereas Naruto Uzumaki would pause for a second or two after appearing before striking.

For an ordinary ninja, this would already be enough to crush them, but against a veteran like Kakashi, it was a massive opening.

"A bit of a stretch, indeed."

Naruto Uzumaki sighed helplessly and stopped using taijutsu.

"Giving up?" Kakashi was surprised.

Naruto Uzumaki began to weave hand signs, though the way he did it made all three of them shake their heads.

Hand signs were fundamental; almost every ninja could perform several per second, but with Naruto Uzumaki, it was the other way around.

Naruto Uzumaki had never practiced hand signs since he was a child—or rather, he no longer needed them, though it wasn't the right time to reveal that yet.

Wind Style: Vacuum Sphere

Naruto Uzumaki spat transparent air from his mouth.

Kakashi's expression shifted, and he dodged quickly.

What is going on? How does he know such a dangerous ninjutsu?

Kakashi was shocked; this was a high-level Wind Style technique.

After firing dozens of shots without hitting Kakashi, Naruto Uzumaki gave up immediately.

By now, the two people in the distance were already stunned.

"I'm out of ideas. Hinata, why don't you go up and give it a try?"

Naruto Uzumaki shrugged, looking helpless.

"Uh, alright."

Hinata finally snapped out of it. Although she had long known Naruto Uzumaki was strong, she hadn't expected him to be this strong.

Her gaze turned serious, and she assumed her stance and rushed forward.

A smile appeared on the corner of Naruto Uzumaki's mouth.

Kakashi was just preparing to use taijutsu when he suddenly saw Naruto Uzumaki's smile and instinctively grew wary, though he was wary of the wrong person.

Hinata struck out with a palm.

Kakashi raised his arm to block.

A surge of chakra flowed along the arm that made contact and entered Kakashi's body.

It instantly began to ravage the meridians in Kakashi's arm.

Kakashi's expression changed, and he retreated instantly.

He unleashed his chakra, causing it to erupt within his body.

The chakra in his arm was dispersed, but Kakashi now looked at the cute young girl standing not far away with wariness.

"What is this? It's not the Eight Trigrams Palms."

Although Hinata didn't quite understand, she rushed forward again.

Kakashi dared not make contact with Hinata this time; he had no desire to experience that sensation a second time.

Only Naruto Uzumaki knew exactly what had happened.

"Martial arts. The Hyuga Clan is quite unique. The ability they use is pressure point striking, injecting their own chakra into the enemy's body to seal the flow of chakra within the meridians, which is fatal to a ninja. Their other method, the Eight Trigrams Palms, involves striking chakra into the enemy's body to destroy their internal organs."

This ability was very similar to martial arts; the essence of martial arts was destruction, but even more lethal was the internal energy injected into the body.

And Naruto Uzumaki possessed many such methods.

All of them could be considered a form of martial arts.

That was why he taught this technique to Hinata.

For ordinary martial artists, this method is quite elementary because their internal energy automatically protects them during combat.

Ninjas, however, are different; their offensive capabilities rely entirely on jutsu, leaving their physical bodies quite fragile.

Consequently, when faced with such an attack, their only option is to evade.

If Kakashi hadn't reacted quickly just now, his arm would have been crippled.

As for Hinata, she has only ever sparred with Naruto Uzumaki, so she has no idea just how powerful she truly is.

Facing Hinata, Kakashi naturally cannot use ninjutsu.

Kakashi dodged left and right, not daring to use taijutsu to block anymore, and was forced to draw a kunai from his ninja tool pouch.

"Hey, hey, Kakashi-sensei, using weapons against a genin? Aren't you being a bit excessive?"

Naruto Uzumaki was speechless.

"Damn it, why are these two so strong?"

In the distance, Sasuke looked grim.