"Can we get out of class early if we grab the bells?"
Naruto grinned as he asked.
Controlling ten Puppet Shadow Clones while splitting his attention was about his limit.
It wasn't too exhausting.
But staying in this high-intensity time-management-master mode for too long wasn't good.
Was it?
No, it wasn't...
The important thing was to wrap things up with Kakashi as quickly as possible.
"Oh? So confident?"
"Don't think you can act high and mighty just because you're the Fourth Hokage's son."
Kakashi raised an eyebrow.
He didn't mention that he and Minato Namikaze had once been teacher and student.
He didn't think Naruto needed to know.
Did Naruto expect him to go easy on him during training just because his father had once taught Kakashi?
Not a chance.
Going easy on them during training
would only get them killed in a real fight.
Aside from that,
it would also bring back unpleasant memories for Kakashi.
Memories of losing his teammate Rin, and of Obito's anguish.
"Eh??? Naruto's the Fourth Hokage's son???"
Sakura Haruno gaped in disbelief.
Her words came out a little haltingly.
The news was too shocking!
The Hokage of Konoha was an exalted figure.
The goal that shinobi from countless villages aspired to reach.
The Hokage represented not only the Will of Fire but also hope for the future.
Since the village was founded,
there had only been four Hokage.
Konoha had once been home to countless talented and outstanding shinobi.
Yet there had only ever been one Hokage at a time.
And Naruto's father had been one of them!
She had thought Naruto came from an ordinary family.
An orphan who had lost his parents in the Nine-Tails disaster.
She had never imagined that Naruto was a hero's son!
The way Sakura looked at Naruto now
had changed completely.
No wonder Naruto had become so strong in such a short time.
That explained a lot.
Sasuke was stunned for a moment.
He had trouble accepting it.
"Kakashi, is what you said true? Naruto's the Fourth Hokage's son?"
It had nothing to do with his goal of revenge.
But then again,
the Rasengan Naruto had used yesterday
might have been passed down to him by the Fourth Hokage.
That was a way to get stronger!
He could get stronger by sticking close to Naruto!
As long as it made him stronger,
getting close to anyone was no big deal.
He'd even accept it if Naruto made him do that!
It was just cross-dressing, right?
Though he couldn't imagine any shinobi making such a weird request...
Kakashi shrugged, neither confirming nor denying it.
"The news spread through the village yesterday."
"You're just a little late hearing about it."
"Enough talk. Come and try to grab the bells."
Naruto did a warm-up stretch. "If we grab them, we can get out of class early, right?"
"That's right. As a shinobi, confidence alone isn't nearly enough..."
Before Kakashi could finish,
Naruto calmly charged at him.
Oh?
A frontal attack?
What a rusty brain.
And he was running so slowly, too.
How boring.
Kakashi chuckled to himself. Was that all?
While he was distracted,
a crack quickly appeared in the ground near his left foot.
The ground burst open!
A figure shot out from underneath.
It was another Naruto, a Puppet Shadow Clone.
Naruto had known what Kakashi was planning,
so he had sent two Puppet Shadow Clones here ahead of time.
Controlling two at once.
One to feint, the other to attack.
Combining the real and the false
was the key to victory.
"Yikes... that was fast!"
Kakashi's eyelid twitched.
It had all happened so quickly.
So suddenly.
Kakashi hadn't even noticed when Naruto had made the Shadow Clone!
It was as if Naruto had planned this from the start.
As if he had known today's lesson in advance.
He had Kakashi trapped with no opening to escape.
Every detail had been handled perfectly.
That was right!
Kakashi had underestimated him.
At first, he hadn't taken this seriously at all.
He'd been completely casual.
He had planned to see how strong Naruto and the others were
before deciding how to respond.
After all, he had plenty of tricks up his sleeve.
Beating three inexperienced little Genin
should have been easy, right?
But... he realized now that he'd been overconfident.
Good grief, he was the one who'd made a fool of himself!
"Sharingan!"
Kakashi was no ordinary old hand in the Shinobi World.
His reflexes were incredibly quick.
To keep Naruto from grabbing the bells so easily
and save his dignity as a teacher,
Kakashi rapidly formed Hand Seals, moving so fast
that only afterimages could be seen.
Then a Shadow Clone appeared in front of him.
The clone planted a foot behind itself and shoved hard, while Kakashi crossed his arms over his chest.
Using that powerful backward momentum, he put some distance between himself and Naruto!
"That was close. That was close. At least I've saved my dignity as a teacher."
"But this is strange! When did Naruto make the Shadow Clone, and when did he have it burrow into the ground?"
"I never told them about today's lesson ahead of time."
"When did he start planning all this?"
Kakashi's face was full of bewilderment.
(⊙o⊙)...
Well, the black mask covered the lower half of his face,
so no one could tell what expression he was making.
"Why does Kakashi have our Uchiha Clan's Sharingan?"
"He's not a member of our clan."
"But when did Naruto use the Shadow Clone?"
"Did he predict what Kakashi would make us do in today's survival exercise?"
"This is weird! The whole thing is just too weird!"
Sasuke was dumbfounded.
Kakashi was one thing.
But Naruto—
he understood less and less.
Sakura Haruno's reaction was about the same.
She looked completely bewildered.
Was this really the Naruto she knew?
He was like a completely different person!
"Kakashi-sensei, you're cheating. That's not very nice, is it?"
Naruto said with a knowing smile.
Obito's Sharingan was already out.
That was clearly cheating...
How could the Hatake Clan have the Sharingan?!
Wasn't that just picking on an honest person?
Still, forcing Kakashi to use his Kekkei Genkai right at the start of the fight
was impressive.
Before you continue