Kakashi vs. Little Sasuke

Sakura blinked, seeming to understand a little of what Duanmu meant. "You mean... we pretend to act separately, but we're actually working together?"

"More or less." Duanmu nodded. "But this requires extremely smooth coordination, and Teacher Kakashi can't notice it. Sakura, you're good at theoretical analysis. Your job is to watch the surroundings, analyze where Teacher Kakashi might appear, and when one of us gets hurt, provide support immediately—of course, make it look like you just 'happen' to be nearby."

"I understand!" Sakura's eyes lit up. Though she wasn't strong in actual combat, analysis and medicine were exactly her strengths. "Then what should I do?"

"Find a concealed spot and hide first. Use your observational skills to carefully watch everything around you. Teacher Kakashi may be good at hiding, but he'll always leave some traces behind. Once you find signs of him, don't act rashly. Think of a way to notify us with signals or some other inconspicuous method," Duanmu said. "As for signals... let's use the basic hand gestures we learned at the Ninja Academy. They're simple and hard to notice."

"Okay!" Sakura nodded firmly. She immediately found a dense tree, climbed it with practiced ease, hid among the branches and leaves, and began to watch the surroundings vigilantly.

After dealing with Sakura's role, Duanmu turned to Naruto. "Naruto, your task is the most important. Your Clone Technique still isn't very polished, but you can create a lot of clones, which makes it perfect for disrupting Teacher Kakashi's line of sight. You can make a large number of clones move around the training ground and draw his attention. But remember, your real body has to stay well hidden. Don't expose yourself easily."

"Leave it to me!" Naruto patted his chest, a confident smile appearing on his face. "Watch my Multi Shadow Clone Technique!"

"Wait!" Duanmu hurriedly stopped him. "Don't use it here! Are you trying to lure Teacher Kakashi straight over? Find somewhere hidden and release your clones in small batches. Have them scatter from different directions."

"Oh, right!" Naruto stuck out his tongue and grinned. "Almost forgot. Then I'll go over there!" With that, he crouched low and ran toward a patch of bushes at the edge of the training ground.

Seeing Naruto and Sakura both take action, Duanmu let out a breath of relief. Now, only he was left. His task was to find Kakashi, and then find a way to "casually" get Naruto and Sasuke involved too, ultimately guiding them into making the choice that matched Kakashi's expectations.

However, on the other side, Sasuke had already found Kakashi, who was reading Icha Icha Paradise.

Sasuke's gaze sharpened. Is this really a jonin? Relaxing so casually at a time like this?

Sasuke didn't hesitate in the slightest. Chakra erupted beneath his feet, and his figure shot toward Kakashi like an arrow loosed from the string.

He was extremely fast, stirring up a gust of wind. The kunai in his hand was already clenched tight, aimed straight at the Icha Icha Paradise in Kakashi's hand—in his view, disturbing the opponent's attention was the best way to launch a surprise attack.

"Too slow." Kakashi didn't even raise his head. He casually lifted his left hand, and two fingers caught the kunai Sasuke thrust at him with pinpoint precision. The book still lay open on his knee, and his lazy gaze swept across Sasuke's tense face. "You can't even suppress your killing intent. An attack like that is useless against me."

Sasuke's expression darkened. He put strength into his wrist, trying to pull the kunai back, only to find that Kakashi's fingers were as unmoving as iron pincers. His other hand quickly formed seals. "Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!" A massive fireball carrying scorching heat blasted straight toward Kakashi's face.

"Oh my, using such a big move right from the start?" Kakashi finally put down the book. His body drifted backward as if weightless, easily avoiding the Great Fireball, and with a flick of his fingers, the kunai in Sasuke's hand flew free. "Unfortunately, you're still too green."

Sasuke landed, his eyes growing even sharper. He knew the gap between him and Kakashi was huge, but that only stirred an even stronger fighting spirit in him. He formed seals again, and several shuriken mixed with a kunai shot toward Kakashi in a fan shape. At the same time, his figure left several afterimages where he stood as he launched attacks from different directions.

Kakashi stood where he was, not even using the Sharingan, relying on taijutsu alone to dodge every attack with ease.

He watched Sasuke's leopard-like, swift figure, the smile at the corner of his mouth unchanged, while he silently assessed him. Not bad talent. His speed and strength far surpass an ordinary genin, and his battle awareness is strong too. But... he's too impatient. And his eyes only hold the enemy, not his comrades.

Just as Sasuke's fist was about to touch Kakashi, Kakashi's figure suddenly blurred.

In that same instant, Kakashi appeared in the ground beneath Sasuke's feet. "Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu!"

As the earth churned, Sasuke only felt the ground beneath his feet go empty. His body instantly lost balance, and his lower half was yanked underground by a tremendous force, leaving only the part above his chest exposed.

Caught off guard, Sasuke was firmly trapped by this sudden move. No matter how he struggled, the surrounding earth remained completely still, as if poured from steel.

"Damn it!" he snarled through gritted teeth, his face full of unwillingness and humiliation.

Kakashi emerged from the earth, patted the dust off his body, picked up the fallen Icha Icha Paradise from nearby, and opened it again. His tone was flat as he said, "First one eliminated. Sasuke, your speed and technique are both quite good, but you're too fixated on individual heroics. And you seem to have forgotten that this is a team test."

After saying that, he ignored Sasuke and turned his gaze toward another direction of the training ground, where dozens of shadow clones were surging over, making quite a commotion.

"Oh? Looks like the other little guy couldn't hold back either. Still, I'm looking forward to Duanmu's performance even more." A playful smile tugged at the corner of Kakashi's mouth.

Those were naturally Naruto's clones.

Although Naruto had tried hard to control the way his clones appeared, once there were many of them, it was still hard to avoid making a lot of noise.

Dozens of Narutos charged toward Kakashi's position from all directions, yelling at the tops of their lungs. They waved kunai and shuriken in their hands, and their momentum was rather impressive.

Kakashi looked at the Naruto clones surging over like a tide, still calm enough to turn a page of Icha Icha Paradise.

He didn't even stand up. He merely raised his right hand casually, three kunai held between his fingers, and flung them forward without even looking.

Poof! Poof! Poof!

With three soft sounds, the three Naruto clones at the very front instantly turned into white smoke and dispersed.

Immediately afterward, Kakashi's figure left a string of afterimages where he had been, weaving through the dense swarm of clones as if strolling through a garden. His movements seemed slow, yet he always managed to avoid the clones' attacks at the last possible moment, while using the simplest motions to destroy clone after clone.

"Damn it! What the hell is this guy doing?!" Hidden in the bushes, Naruto's real body watched his clones get easily taken down one by one, so anxious he scratched his ears and cheeks. He had clearly worked so hard to control the clones and make them attack from different directions, but in front of Kakashi, these clones were as fragile as paper.

"Naruto, don't be reckless. Stick to the plan!" Hidden up in the tree, Sakura grew extremely anxious at the sight. She hurriedly used the hand signals they had agreed on beforehand to signal Naruto, telling him not to show himself rashly.

Naruto saw Sakura's hand signals. Though he was still unwilling, he forced himself to calm down.

Meanwhile, Duanmu was using the surrounding trees and rocks as cover, silently sneaking toward where Kakashi and Sasuke were.

He wasn't in a hurry to get close. Instead, he observed the battle from a distance. When he saw Sasuke trapped by Kakashi's "Headhunter Jutsu," he wasn't surprised. This was somewhat similar to the plot in his memory; he just hadn't expected Sasuke to lose so quickly.

Sure enough, with individual strength alone, there's no way to be Kakashi's opponent, Duanmu thought to himself. Now it depends on whether Naruto's clones can tie up Teacher Kakashi's attention even a little.