A direct hit.
Kakashi charged straight at the real Naruto.
During the earlier fight, Naruto had carefully observed and made precise judgments. Some of his clones had seemed to hide among the others, but had never joined the attack. Naruto was clever: he hadn't sent them all in, nor had he left just one standing still. Instead, he'd deliberately kept several clones out of the attack at the same time. That way, they could protect the real Naruto while making it difficult for Kakashi to tell which one he was. But Kakashi was still Kakashi. The truth showed in the details. The fact that a clone stood still didn't mean Kakashi couldn't tell them apart. The Hand Seals before the attack, and the subtle changes in emotion during the follow-up, were things only the real Naruto could do. In that last attack, Naruto's expression had barely changed, but Kakashi had caught that tiny shift. That was how he identified the figure in front of him as the real Naruto. Without hesitation, he unleashed Lightning Release Chakra to boost his speed.
He charged straight at the real Naruto.
"You'll have to watch your expression better from now on, Naruto."
Looking at the downcast Naruto in front of him,
Kakashi was about to lightly swing his right hand and knock Naruto unconscious with a stronger blow.
But Naruto suddenly lifted his head, a brilliant smile spreading across his face.
"Now let me tell you something, Kakashi-sensei: never underestimate a Genin!"
"What!?"
The words had barely left his mouth.
"Poof!"
In less than a tenth of a second,
the figure abruptly dissolved into a cloud of white smoke.
"Damn it!"
Before Kakashi could fully react,
"Got you!"
From behind him,
Sasuke and Naruto came in from both sides, using the white smoke from the Shadow Clone Naruto had deliberately dispelled moments ago to close in on him.
They leaped into the air.
Each held a razor-sharp Kunai in his right hand.
Their arms rose, power flowing through them.
Their bodies dipped forward.
Naruto and Sasuke took advantage of their angles,
surging in with the standard posture for a spear thrust, their blades flashing coldly.
The air whistled sharply as they cut through it.
They closed off every last avenue of escape for Kakashi.
To take the Bells, they had to fight at close range. That was the only conclusion Naruto had reached during the earlier battle.
A ranged exchange?
That would simply give Kakashi a chance to pick them off one by one.
This was exactly the opening they needed!
They'd used Sasuke's movements to distract Kakashi, then baited him with the clones' convincing performance. That had created this chance to attack!
Their last chance!
They had to take Kakashi down here!
Naruto charged straight at Kakashi. His eyes held an unwavering resolve, and his gaze grew even sharper. Sasuke, right beside him, wore the same look.
Faced with their fierce assault,
Kakashi only faltered for an instant at first—mostly because he couldn't believe Naruto had tricked him into misidentifying the real one.
Then he immediately recovered.
He didn't even try to dodge.
If his "adorable" students had chosen to fight him at close range,
then he, as their teacher, couldn't back down!
He lowered his center of gravity and took up a frontal stance that was half defensive, half offensive.
"Clang!"
The figures crossed paths.
Kakashi first swung his right arm, blocking Sasuke's fierce attack from the right.
Then he forced Sasuke's arm down, flipped his left hand, and drew a sharp Kunai, meeting Naruto's attack head-on.
"Clang!"
A heavy impact rang out.
Sparks burst in every direction.
"Hm!?"
With the strength of just one hand, Kakashi easily held off Naruto's attack.
Then he swung both arms, redirecting the force and knocking their attacks aside.
He didn't give Naruto or Sasuke a chance to react.
Just before the two of them could be sent flying,
he thrust out both hands and grabbed for them, one in each.
In an instant,
Naruto, off-balance in the air and unable to change his posture easily, flung out his right hand, sending his Kunai flying.
He seemed to be trying to force Kakashi back that way.
But Kakashi merely sidestepped, easily dodging the Kunai.
He clamped both arms shut,
effortlessly trapping Naruto and Sasuke beneath them.
"Heh. Naruto, Sasuke, that's—"
Kakashi's chuckle rang out again.
But!
Before he could finish,
something unexpected happened.
"Poof!"
Off to the side,
the Kunai that had just flown past
suddenly—
With a soft pop, white smoke appeared out of thin air.
The Kunai vanished.
A second Naruto appeared in its place.
"!?"
This time,
Kakashi finally couldn't react in time.
He had no chance to take any other effective action.
Naruto smiled faintly.
"Got you!"
He reached out with his right hand and seized the Bells. With a hard tug,
he propelled himself away, using the momentum to launch himself into the air again.
"Thud!"
He landed steadily, dust billowing around him.
"Poof!"
At the same time, the Naruto who had been trapped beneath Kakashi's left arm vanished in a cloud of white smoke. All the other Naruto clones on the field disappeared at that same moment.
Meanwhile, Naruto stood a short distance away. The real Naruto. He shook the Bells in his hand and looked at Kakashi with a confident smile.
"Kakashi-sensei, mission accomplished, right?"
Naruto's eyebrows arched, and he wore a rare, triumphant grin as he said this.
Seeing this, Kakashi had no choice but to let go of Sasuke, who was still tucked beneath his arm. He then formed Hand Seals, dispelling Sakura's genjutsu. After shrugging, he looked over at Naruto and asked in a tone that was both probing and certain,
"Was it the Multi Shadow Clone from the start? You used the smoke to turn yourself into a Kunai, didn't you?"
He hadn't understood it before.
But Kakashi was a Jonin, after all. The instant he saw the Kunai turn into Naruto,
he immediately connected it to the earlier battle.
He could easily work out Naruto's entire plan.
"Yeah! That was just my last resort. I used Sasuke to draw Kakashi-sensei's attention, and the clones to lead you on. Then Sasuke and I launched one final attack. I thought we could take your Bells, Kakashi-sensei, but you were way too strong. Luckily, I still had this last trick. Otherwise, we really wouldn't have been able to get the Bells."
Naruto nodded, sounding both a little pleased with himself and a little relieved.
Looking at Naruto, even the notoriously critical Kakashi had to admit he was impressed. They'd come up with a plan like that in such a short time, worked seamlessly with a teammate, and completed the objective. By Kakashi's standards, there was no doubt Team 7 had passed this test with flying colors.
Sakura's performance had been a blemish, of course.
But Sasuke and Naruto's teamwork had been more than good enough.
At the very least, based on Kakashi's past experience, he couldn't think of anyone who'd done better than the two of them.
Still, even though they'd completed the task he'd set them, Kakashi wanted to try one more little test.