Early the next morning, three figures were already waiting in the small woods.
"Naruto, why hasn't Kei arrived yet? Didn't he say he'd be here at seven?"
Sasuke paced back and forth irritably, glancing up the path every so often.
But there...
Wasn't a single person in sight.
"Exactly! He can't even keep his own word! How can someone like that be our teacher?"
Sakura shot Sasuke an adoring look, then complained angrily.
Naruto wasn't surprised.
When Kei had said he'd arrive at seven the day before, Naruto had been surprised for a moment.
Knowing Kei, could he get up early?
No way. Not in this lifetime.
Even when he was on a mission, he slept until he woke naturally.
And now, of all times...
"If you don't want to wait, you can go back first."
Sasuke paused, thought it over, then sat down where he was.
He wasn't leaving.
Compared to getting stronger, what was a little wait?
"Sasuke, why don't we go first? We can grab something to eat. I'm so hungry."
Sakura looked unhappy and rubbed her growling stomach.
"No."
Sasuke closed his eyes slightly.
When Sasuke refused to pay her any attention, Sakura puffed up angrily.
That damned Uchiha Kei.
She turned to look at Naruto on the other side, and her anger only grew.
"Hey, go buy us something to eat."
Naruto froze and pointed at himself.
"Me?"
"Yes! Who else would I mean? Hurry up!"
Naruto looked at Sakura's pretty face, feeling miserable.
He sighed and turned toward the path.
That wasn't how he remembered Sakura being.
"What are you doing?"
A figure suddenly appeared in front of Naruto.
"Kei!"
Naruto looked up and saw a familiar face.
"Yeah. I asked you what you're doing."
Naruto glanced back at Sakura and thought for a moment.
"I'm hungry, so I was going to buy breakfast."
"Are you the one who's hungry?"
Uchiha Kei stared at him intently.
Naruto's heart tightened.
That look again...
Over the past three years, he'd faced that look countless times.
Every lie he'd told had been laid bare beneath it.
"Yes!"
Naruto answered through gritted teeth.
He knew.
Lying to Kei meant punishment.
But he was tough, and he'd gotten used to it over the years.
Sakura, on the other hand...
She wouldn't be able to take it, would she?
Uchiha Kei scoffed and turned his gaze to the other two.
Sasuke jumped, then hurried over to Uchiha Kei.
Sakura hesitated, but followed him too.
"Naruto just said he was hungry. Is that true?"
Uchiha Kei looked at them both.
Sasuke thought it over, glanced at Sakura, and decisively shook his head.
His brother had told him that no matter how badly he messed up in front of Kei, admitting it meant nothing serious would happen.
But if he lied...
"Yes! I told him not to go, but he insisted. He's such a pain."
Sakura immediately pinned the blame on Naruto.
Naruto looked at her, growing even more disappointed in her.
"Oh? Is that so? Then Naruto will have to be punished."
Naruto lowered his head.
"For the entrance test, I'd originally planned to have you simply try to snatch a bell. Just a formality."
"But now..."
Uchiha Kei smiled meaningfully.
"Whoosh!"
The three of them stared in shock at the three figures that had suddenly appeared.
Shadow Clone Technique!
Uchiha Kei could use it without hand seals!
"If you can defeat these three Shadow Clones, you'll pass the entrance test."
"What if we can't?"
Sakura stepped forward and looked Uchiha Kei straight in the eye.
"Can't?"
Uchiha Kei smiled brightly, leaned forward, and moved slightly closer to Sakura.
"You don't want to know."
He straightened up and looked at Naruto.
"What do you think, Naruto?"
Seeing Uchiha Kei like this, Naruto shuddered without thinking.
Scenes of the punishments he'd endured over the past three years flashed through his mind.
Watching Naruto, Sasuke felt a sense of unease rise within him.
"Are you ready?"
The three Shadow Clones vanished in an instant.
"Begin!"
Naruto was the quickest to react. Several Shuriken appeared in his hands at once.
With a leap, Naruto landed in a tree, keeping a wary eye on his surroundings.
Sasuke was quick too. As Naruto leaped into a tree, he found another and jumped up into it.
On the lush green grass, Sakura was left standing alone, staring blankly.
"What are you... doing?"
As soon as she spoke, a figure had already appeared behind her.
"Look out!"
Naruto shouted.
He shot toward Sakura like lightning, flinging a Shuriken at the figure.
"Clang."
A crisp metallic clash rang out.
Naruto grabbed Sakura and was about to dart off to the side.
"What are you doing? Let go of me!"
Sakura was startled and flailed, hitting Naruto.
Naruto furrowed his brow, and his speed immediately slowed.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. I really wonder how you managed to graduate from the Ninja Academy."
The voice came from beside Sakura's ear.
At the same time, a slender hand struck Naruto in the chest.
"And you—did everything I taught you go in one ear and out the other?"
The voice was icy, like a thousand-year-old glacier.
"Ugh!"
Blood trickled from the corner of Naruto's mouth as he was sent flying backward at even greater speed.
Sakura seemed stunned. She stood frozen in place, staring as Naruto flew away.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
In the tree, Sasuke seized his chance. His hands flashed through the seals, then he pressed them to his mouth.
A thin line of fiery red flame shot from his lips, swelling abruptly as it neared the Shadow Clone!
"Boom!"
A crater about half a meter deep appeared in the ground, its edges charred black.
Sasuke looked up and suddenly felt a chill down his back. Without thinking, he leaped down from the tree.
A similarly slender figure appeared where he'd been.
"Quick reflexes."
The Shadow Clone smiled, then melted away like water before Sasuke's horrified eyes.
Th-this was a Shadow Clone?
It could melt?
"Cough, cough."
Naruto leaned against a tree, struggling with the suffocating pressure in his chest.
Kei really didn't hold back...
The thought had barely crossed his mind when Naruto leaped up and swung a punch behind him.
"Smack."
A hand caught his fist.
"Not bad reflexes, but..."
The Shadow Clone shook his head in disappointment.
Naruto's pupils contracted.
He felt it...
A fierce rush of wind came from behind him!
"Rasengan!"
A mass of sky-blue chakra gathered in his hand.
"Not bad, just a little slow."
The Shadow Clone behind him praised him, then quickly struck Naruto in the back with its palm.
"Thud!"
As the palm hit his back, Naruto turned into a log.
"You fell for it, Kei!"
The real Naruto appeared behind the Shadow Clone, wearing a delighted grin.
The Rasengan in his hand gradually became oval, with white wind swirling around it.
"Wind Release: Rasengan!"
The Shadow Clone turned back impassively and watched as Naruto's Rasengan came at him.
"Not bad. You've improved."
The Shadow Clone smiled happily.
"But... you still lack experience."
"I'm not..."
"Alone!"
The Shadow Clone that had originally grabbed Naruto's hand suddenly appeared right in front of him.
It raised a leg, lifted its knee, and kicked!
Naruto felt as if he'd taken a heavy blow to the chest. The Rasengan in his hand vanished, and he flew away like a cannonball.
"We're not alone either!"
Sasuke dropped from above, hurling a shuriken at the Shadow Clone with deadly accuracy.
The Shadow Clone shook his head, and a black shuriken appeared in his hand.
"Even your brother wouldn't dare pull that in front of me."
His wrist flicked, and the black shuriken vanished in an instant.
"Clang!"
The two shuriken collided in midair.
The difference was that Sasuke's shuriken was knocked flying and embedded in a nearby tree.
The Shadow Clone's, meanwhile, had its trajectory altered only slightly by the collision.
It continued flying toward Sasuke as he fell.
Sasuke's face filled with terror.
Up in the air, he...
Couldn't dodge the shuriken!
Before you continue