What are your sizes?

With a crackle of thunder!

With a whoosh, Chidori Sharp Spear suddenly appeared, striking precisely toward Ishikawa Kazuo's chest.

Caught off guard by the sudden Chidori Sharp Spear, Ishikawa Kazuo was pierced through in an instant.

Thud!

His body pierced by Chidori Sharp Spear, Ishikawa Kazuo died on the spot.

Mirai dispersed Chidori Sharp Spear and slowly walked toward Ishikawa Kazuo's corpse.

After retrieving the mission target, Mirai left.

The moment Mirai left, the basement collapsed completely with a rumble.

"Sasuke!"

Naruto shouted at Sasuke.

"Fire Style—Great Fireball Jutsu!"

Sasuke understood what Naruto meant and immediately launched a Great Fireball at him.

With a boom, the fireball struck Naruto.

At the same time, it also struck a Kihara Village ninja behind Naruto.

With a poof, Naruto turned into white smoke after being hit by the fireball. Clearly, he had been a shadow clone.

As for the Kihara Village ninja behind him, he took the Great Fireball head-on.

He completely lost the ability to move and fell unconscious to the ground.

With one Kihara Village ninja taken down, the pressure on the three of them eased considerably.

"Lightning Style—Chidori!"

Seizing a brief opening, Kakashi gathered lightning in his hand, forming a blade-like palm.

With a whoosh, Kakashi suddenly burst forward and charged at Village Chief Xiong Jing.

"Damn Konoha! Why did you come here?!"

Seeing Kakashi right before him, Village Chief Xiong Jing went mad as well.

He frantically poured chakra into the longsword in his hand and swung it at Kakashi with all his strength.

Clang!

The moment Kakashi's kunai met Xiong Jing's longsword, it was cut cleanly in two.

Although the kunai weakened the force of the longsword, the blade continued downward.

The sharp longsword easily sliced into Kakashi's shoulder.

Squelch!

At the same time, Kakashi's Chidori-covered hand had already pierced through Xiong Jing's chest.

Powerful lightning spread through Xiong Jing's entire body, instantly dragging him into the abyss of death.

With a thud, Xiong Jing fell to the ground.

Gritting his teeth against the pain, Kakashi pulled the longsword from his shoulder, sweat covering his forehead.

He took out some hemostatic supplies from his ninja pouch and roughly treated the wound on his shoulder.

"Kakashi-sensei, are you okay?!"

Naruto arrived at Kakashi's side with Sasuke and Sakura, asking anxiously.

Only two Kihara Village ninjas remained, making them much easier for Naruto's group to deal with.

They quickly ended the battle and rushed over to Kakashi.

"Let's withdraw quickly. If we wait any longer, we probably won't be able to leave!"

Seeing that the three of them were unharmed, Kakashi felt much more relieved.

"Withdraw now. The ninjas from this village are already on their way. There should be thirty or forty of them."

Mirai suddenly appeared, carrying the half-human, half-ghost Ishikawa Kazuo in his hand.

"This is...?"

Kakashi asked in confusion as he looked at the person Mirai was holding.

"This is your mission target. But he injected himself with an experimental drug, and he ended up looking half-human, half-ghost!"

Seeing Kakashi's confusion and shock, Mirai explained.

"Move! They're almost here!"

Mirai took the lead, carrying Ishikawa Kazuo's corpse as he left.

It was not that Mirai feared those ninjas. It was mainly because there were too many people around him now, making many of his methods inconvenient to use.

To avoid any unforeseen complications, Mirai could only choose the safer retreat.

Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura hurried after Mirai.

After a series of twists and turns, they escaped Kihara Village!

"Let's get out of Kihara Village's range first. I'll treat my wounds, then we'll hurry back to Konoha and report what happened here to the Hokage!"

Mirai sealed Ishikawa Kazuo's corpse into a ninja scroll and handed it to Kakashi.

After that, Kakashi's group left.

Following their original plan, they hurried back to Konoha.

By the time they returned to Konoha, everyone looked exhausted.

Of course, Mirai was not exhausted. He was just bored.

After returning to Konoha, Kakashi went to the Hokage's office, while Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura went home to rest.

As for Mirai, he went to see what Hinata was doing and continued his plan to deepen their relationship.

The next afternoon, Team 7's meeting spot!

Kakashi's face was dark as he looked at everyone arriving only now. He did not look pleased at all.

Because Kakashi was habitually late, everyone knew him as the king of lateness.

So Team 7 had started showing up right on time for their meetings.

But they never expected Kakashi to arrive so early today.

"The Chunin Exams will be held in a few days! As long as you're genin, you have to participate!"

"Of course, you won't be the only genin taking the exam. Ninjas from other villages will also come to take the Chunin Exams!"

"So you need to perform well in the Chunin Exams and show off Konoha's spirit!"

Listening to Kakashi's impassioned speech, Naruto became completely fired up.

Sakura stared at Sasuke dreamily, as if she had not heard a word.

Sasuke merely gave a cold smile, as though he had thought of something.

Mirai shook his head speechlessly, thinking that these youngsters were far too easy to fool.

Kakashi's little motivational speech had gotten them all fired up.

Did they not have even the slightest idea of their own strength?

Although Mirai was speechless, he did not expose it or dampen their enthusiasm.

"Teacher Kakashi, don't be late during this time! I'm going to train hard—I'm going to defeat everyone in the Chunin Exams!"

For some reason, Naruto had suddenly become arrogant.

His face was full of smiles, as if he had already become the ultimate winner of the Chunin Exams.

"Idiot!"

Sasuke could not help saying it when he saw Naruto acting like that.

Though Kakashi did not say anything, he rather agreed.

"The champion will definitely be Sasuke. Naruto, you're thinking too much!"

Sakura could not help cheering Sasuke on first.

When Kakashi mentioned the Chunin Exams, he appeared to be speaking to Naruto and the others, but he was actually trying to speak to Mirai.

Seeing Mirai shaking his head helplessly, Kakashi was taken aback.

Could he know what I mean?

Impossible. If he understood what I meant, why would he shake his head?

A string of doubts swirled through Kakashi's mind, but it was not appropriate for him to ask directly.

With a sigh, he decided not to dwell on it.

Let nature take its course!

After everyone dispersed, only Naruto seemed as energized as if he had been injected with stimulants. The others were the same as usual.

But no one knew whether they would secretly train on their own.

After all, everything went without saying...