Strange, Why Was There a Weird Smell?

Sasuke was completely dumbfounded.

Naruto was way too strong, wasn't he?

He'd taken out two Chunin who were no pushovers in the blink of an eye!

After seeing how much Naruto's strength had changed over the past few days,

Sasuke had felt an enormous sense of inadequacy, so he'd begged Kakashi

to teach him a more powerful jutsu!

That was Chidori.

But even though it was a jutsu Kakashi had created himself, it wasn't easy to learn.

It would take more than a day or two of practice.

If your talent wasn't up to par, you could botch it halfway through.

That was perfectly normal.

But Sasuke still had a few trump cards up his sleeve, like shuriken and Fire Style: Great Fireball.

Although he was only a Genin, some of his techniques were every bit as strong as a Chunin's.

And with his Kekkei Genkai, the Sharingan,

he could at least protect himself against the Demon Brothers, even if he couldn't kill them!

But Naruto?

Naruto had taken out two Chunin right there on the spot!

Was this the difference between him and a true powerhouse?

The enormous gap left Sasuke feeling deeply unsettled.

He slammed a fist into the trunk of a nearby tree.

"Damn it! Is this really the same Naruto I used to know? How many trump cards is he still hiding?"

"How strong has he gotten now?"

Sakura Haruno's lips trembled as she looked at Naruto.

At that moment, Naruto seemed to have become her pillar of support, the one she could rely on!

She didn't want to admit it out loud, but in her heart, she'd clearly accepted Naruto's place in it.

It was Sakura Haruno's first time seeing someone die. Her voice carried a hint of a sob.

"Naruto... Naruto-kun, don't you think you went a little too far?"

Naruto looked at Sakura Haruno as if she were an idiot.

What a bleeding heart.

Were women's minds always this strange?

Someone had tried to kill her, and she was still worried about the enemy?

Naruto didn't answer Sakura Haruno. That question was simply too stupid.

He really couldn't imagine what was going on in her head.

Although Naruto didn't answer,

Kakashi, who had just dropped down from the treetops,

answered Sakura Haruno's question.

"Naruto did well. Once you're out in the world, you can't show mercy when you run into professional killer-nin."

"Either they die, or you do. Only one side can survive."

"Sakura, you still have a lot to learn from Naruto in that regard."

When Naruto saw Kakashi, he wasn't particularly surprised.

The body over there that had looked like Kakashi's

had somehow turned into a substitution log.

So the Kakashi who'd been killed earlier was nothing but a stand-in.

Give me a break.

If an elite Konoha High Shinobi died at the hands of two nobody, cannon-fodder ninjas,

the author could just put down his pen and stop drawing.

Sasuke seemed to have expected as much. When he saw Kakashi walk over unharmed,

only a flicker of surprise crossed his face.

He soon returned to normal.

Sitting on the ground, Sakura Haruno stared wide-eyed, her pretty face full of shock and confusion.

"Kakashi-sensei, you're okay?"

After a pause, she burst into tears of joy, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Waaah... I thought you were already dead."

Kakashi instinctively rubbed his nose.

He'd left just now and hidden nearby to watch, wanting to see how the three of them would react

when faced with an unexpected danger.

After all, when people were confronted with life-or-death situations,

they might do things they'd never have done otherwise, even at the cost of their lives!

Like abandoning a teammate and fleeing alone,

or staying to fight alongside them.

And then there was the even more despicable option: betraying your teammate in the middle of a fight.

Fortunately, all three seemed to have decent character.

Kakashi was quite pleased. He'd also wanted to assess the team's combat ability.

But who could've guessed that Naruto would take out two capable Chunin as soon as he stepped in?

Good grief!

That was just like me back in my Anbu days, out on a mission!

Kakashi smiled, walked over to Sakura Haruno, and gently ruffled her hair.

"This was my fault. I'm sorry I worried you!"

Look how badly the poor girl had been scared.

Kakashi hadn't said "you all,"

because did Naruto and Sasuke look scared to him?

Not in the slightest!

As for the danger, Kakashi had been watching from the sidelines, ready to kill the Demon Brothers at any moment

and ensure everyone on Team 7 stayed safe.

All in all, they'd escaped by the skin of their teeth.

Kakashi quickly withdrew his hand and cleared his throat twice to ease the awkwardness.

Just then, Naruto frowned.

"Strange. Why is there a weird smell?"

His five senses were now far sharper than those of anyone his age!

Even some elite High Shinobi with exceptional senses of smell

couldn't compare to Naruto.

"Hm? Is there?"

Kakashi couldn't smell anything through his mask.

Sasuke and Tazuna certainly couldn't either.

Tazuna reeked of alcohol.

Sasuke's sense of smell wasn't as sharp as Naruto's.

Sakura Haruno's face flushed bright red, and she clamped her legs together.

The tears on her face stopped.

She was mortified!

Fortunately, only Naruto had noticed that something was wrong with her.

The others hadn't realized a thing.

Otherwise, she'd never have been able to show her face again.

Kakashi glanced at Naruto, a thought stirring in his mind.

"As expected of the teacher's son. He stayed calm in the face of danger, and he can even use two Rasengan in a row."

"Most ninjas his age shouldn't have such a vast amount of chakra. Could it be because of the Nine-Tails?"

For now, Naruto's situation wasn't the most important thing.

The important question was why an ordinary C-rank escort mission

had been interrupted by a killer-nin from Kirigakure.

The Forehead Protector on the corpse belonged to Kirigakure!

There was definitely something wrong with Tazuna.

He'd concealed something and hadn't explained the full story when they accepted the mission.

Kakashi walked over to him.

He fixed Tazuna with a cold stare from his uncovered eye and spoke in a chilly tone.

"There's something wrong with the mission you hired us for. I don't need to spell it out—you know that yourself."

"If you don't tell us the truth from now on, we can refuse your mission midway through. You can go back to the Land of Waves on your own."

Most of the alcohol had worn off, and Tazuna looked at Kakashi's scrutinizing gaze.

He knew that if he kept hiding the truth,

the man in front of him would follow through on his threat!

So Tazuna took a deep breath.

"Here's what happened..."

He didn't dare hide anything else.

He told them the entire story, from beginning to end.

He explained every detail to them.