Naruto was right.
Kakashi admitted he'd broken the rules, too.
Rules were dead things.
People were alive.
Trying to bind a perfectly healthy, living person with dead rules?
You'd have to be out of your mind!
You're just making things difficult for me, Fifty-Fifty!
Kakashi pulled his Konoha Forehead Protector back down, hiding the Sharingan in his left eye.
"Naruto, tell me, did you know from the start that I was going to have you try to take the bells today?"
Kakashi looked calm on the surface, but inside, he was a little flustered.
He hurriedly changed the subject.
If Naruto took the bells in less than a minute,
where would that leave the Copy Ninja, the famous elite High Shinobi of Konoha, Kakashi Hatake?
Naruto shrugged. "How would I know if you didn't tell me?"
Only a fool would admit it.
"...I..." Kakashi was momentarily speechless.
That was right!!!
He hadn't announced it.
So how could Naruto know what he was thinking?
There wasn't mind-reading in the Shinobi World, was there?
Even if he wanted to learn it, he could only fantasize about it while reading Jiraiya's books.
After all, mind-reading came from the contents of Jiraiya's novels.
Boys could casually learn what girls were thinking.
Then they could cater to their every desire.
And build a harem of three thousand beauties!
Coach, that sounds great!
I want to learn!
"Let's keep going."
Naruto's eyes narrowed.
He grew serious.
Two Puppet Shadow Clones shot toward Kakashi with blinding speed.
They were moving so fast
that they were every bit as fast as an elite High Shinobi running at full speed.
In the past, Naruto's enormous reserves of chakra
had all gone toward maintaining the energy needed for the seal.
That was why the Shadow Clone Technique he'd performed before graduating had been weak and feeble.
It fell apart at the slightest touch.
But that was no longer the case.
Even if the seal were torn off,
Kurama wouldn't dare come out on his own without Naruto's permission, throwing his weight around
or fleeing to some little forest to live in seclusion.
Run? How laughable. Where would he go?
He wanted to escape so badly, but he couldn't~
The waters outside Konoha ran even deeper than these.
The Nine-Tails Demon Fox, Kurama, couldn't handle it!
Making a scene as he charged out would definitely attract attention.
And if he got caught again and shoved into a new Jinchūriki,
he'd be in for a world of suffering!
He'd have to live by a strict daily schedule,
and might even have to go jogging in the morning.
What fox would put up with this kind of prison life?
Anyway, things were pretty good here with Naruto.
There wasn't much to do every day, and he'd discovered he could rely on Naruto's vast chakra
to keep training inside him.
In short,
if anyone wanted Kurama to come out, they'd have to beat him to death first. He wasn't doing something that stupid!
What was so great about the outside world?
Clinging to Naruto was the right choice.
He hadn't had a choice before, but now all he wanted was to lie back and be a little fox who just shouted, "666"~
Anyway, back to the present...
"Trying that trick again?"
"Looks like I'll have to show you some real strength."
Kakashi focused completely, putting aside his lazy attitude.
"Go, Pika-Naruto!"
Naruto grabbed the other Puppet Shadow Clone with one hand.
Then he hurled it toward Kakashi with all his might!
The clone shot forward like a cannonball.
Bull's-eye!
It spun three hundred and sixty degrees in midair, then planted a foot right in Kakashi's face.
But Kakashi reacted quickly and blocked it with his elbow.
Kakashi grimaced slightly from the pain.
Damn!
That kick was on par with his good friend Might Guy.
Maybe even stronger!
"Naruto, have you considered learning Taijutsu?"
"I have a friend who's a High Shinobi and teaches it."
Kakashi spoke as he defended himself.
From that one kick alone,
Kakashi could tell that Naruto was definitely a great prospect for Taijutsu.
Besides, this troublesome matter
would be better left to Might Guy.
He'd have someone to carry on his legacy.
And he'd be happy to teach Naruto.
"...Thank you for the offer, Kakashi-sensei, but I still find training in Ninjutsu more interesting than Taijutsu."
The other Puppet Shadow Clone caught up.
It slid in low,
as Master Uzumaki tried to take him out at the knees.
Kakashi scoffed. This was the kind of attack little kids used when they played in the mud.
What good would it do?
He'd deal with one of the Shadow Clones first!
So annoying.
He threw a punch at the Shadow Clone,
trying to knock it apart in one blow.
But the clone stopped it cold.
"Are you kidding me? Is the Shadow Clone as strong as the original?"
Kakashi was stunned.
The Shadow Clone Technique was this useful?
That didn't make sense.
Wasn't it a useless technique?
Before he could think it through,
the ground beneath him
suddenly cracked, and a pair of hands shot out to grab him, seizing Kakashi's feet tightly.
What the heck?!!
How many Shadow Clones had Naruto hidden underground?
And their presence had been so well concealed.
Even a shinobi as keenly aware of the battlefield as him hadn't noticed them.
He tried to pull his feet free!
But Naruto was too strong.
Naruto had God-Level Taijutsu now.
Of course he was strong.
Blue lightning crackled around Kakashi's hand.
But the sparks soon vanished.
He let Naruto take the bells.
The whole thing had taken less than five minutes!
Kakashi had wanted to use Chidori to fight.
But then he thought better of it.
Using his Sharingan really would count as cheating.
And what if he hurt Naruto with Chidori?
They'd only just become Genin.
That would be going much too far.
There was no guarantee Chidori wouldn't draw blood.
His Ninjutsu was meant for enemies, not his own people in Konoha.
"Kakashi-sensei, can I go home now?" Naruto asked, grinning as he swung the pair of little bells in his hand.
Kakashi looked helpless, but nodded anyway.
"You can go home for today..."
Poof—
Kakashi had barely finished speaking
when a cloud of white smoke appeared.
Naruto vanished in an instant.
Huh???
That wasn't Naruto's real body?
It was his Shadow Clone?!!
Everyone there was stunned.
Especially Kakashi.
He was frozen on the spot!
Was the Shadow Clone Technique really that powerful?
Had every version I learned before been a fake Shadow Clone Technique?!
"Naruto, get back here! Sending a Shadow Clone to class is unethical!"
"Young people have no ninja decorum!"
Naruto had stunned Kakashi yet again.
Kakashi's usually impassive face changed dramatically.
He was a High Shinobi!
An elite High Shinobi of Konoha, no less.
And he'd been beaten by a Genin's Shadow Clone!
That was so freaking embarrassing!
Sakura Haruno's pretty face was filled with confusion and disbelief.
Her red lips parted slightly.
She murmured to herself,
"I never imagined Naruto would be so powerful..."
"A boy that strong and handsome once chased after me with all his heart."
"And I was so arrogant that I turned him down..."
"Heh... I was the biggest fool of all."
"Now Naruto's become the Fourth Hokage, the son of a hero, while what about me?"
The more Sakura Haruno thought about it, the more she felt she'd missed out.
A sense of helplessness, deep regret, and pent-up frustration
rose from within her.
Sasuke slammed his fist into a tree.
"Damn it!! Why... why, why did he become so powerful?!"
We'd both gone through the same nine years of compulsory education.
So why were you so outstanding?
Consumed by his desire for revenge, Sasuke had seen his usually unremarkable classmate Naruto—the dead-last—
pull a "play the pig to eat the tiger" act.
It infuriated him!
So you'd been hiding your strength all along.
Before you continue