Bell-Grabbing Test? I'll Sit Under the Tree and Watch You Fight for Them

"Isn't this pitfall trap of yours for burying people a little too basic?"

Sen's voice was soft, yet it struck Kakashi's heart like a heavy hammer.

"What a joke!"

Kakashi's expression changed as the chakra within him suddenly erupted.

He forcibly shattered the two reverse-growing wooden roots and leaped out of the earth in a bedraggled state.

He looked at the two red marks strangling his wrists, then at Sen, who stood where he was without even changing expression.

For the first time, an intense trace of shock flashed through his eyes.

"A Wood Release Substitution that can be activated instantly without hand signs?"

"And it can nullify attacks and take control in reverse?"

Kakashi felt like his brain was no longer enough.

The old man Third Hokage had only told him this kid was a monster. He hadn't told him the kid was such an unreasonably monstrous monster!

"Not bad reflexes, Kakashi-sensei."

Sen dusted off nonexistent dirt from his pant leg, and his wooden ankles silently returned to normal.

He even put on a show of rolling his ankles.

"Looks like your Earth Release is just a little better than your lateness skills."

Kakashi's eye twitched violently twice.

This kid was not only unfathomably strong, but his mouth was vicious too.

He was starting to regret taking on this hot potato.

"Hmph, that was merely a warm-up."

Kakashi forcibly salvaged his dignity and assumed a fighting stance again.

The Sharingan beneath his forehead protector had silently opened. Its three tomoe slowly turned as it locked tightly onto Sen.

However.

Faced with Kakashi's battle-ready posture.

Sen acted as if he had not seen it at all.

He strolled leisurely beneath the shade of a large tree nearby.

The sunlight was just right there, and the breeze was gentle.

It was simply a perfect spot for slacking off and sleeping.

He raised his right hand toward the open ground before him and gave it an extremely casual wave.

"Crack, crack, crack..."

A teeth-grating sound of wood growing rang out.

A thick wooden stake broke through the ground, then rapidly warped and extended at a speed visible to the naked eye.

In less than three seconds.

It became an outrageously flashy, luxurious wooden recliner with a curved backrest!

And that was not all.

Sen snapped his fingers again.

Beside the recliner, another, thinner wooden stake sprang from the ground, rapidly branching and spreading.

Like a blooming flower, it opened into a huge wooden parasol over his head, perfectly blocking the sunlight!

After finishing all that, Sen pulled a bottle of chilled fruit juice from his ninja tool pouch and opened it with a pop.

Then he comfortably lay back in that custom-made recliner.

With one leg crossed over the other and sunglasses on.

He looked exactly like a retired old man vacationing by the sea.

"Glug, glug..."

Sen took two gulps of the cold juice and let out a satisfied breath.

Through the gap beneath his sunglasses, he looked at Kakashi, who had completely turned to stone, as well as Sasuke and Sakura, who were staring dumbly from the distant bushes.

He raised the juice bottle in his hand and gave it a shake.

"Um... Kakashi-sensei."

Sen's tone was lazy to the extreme.

"It's too hot today, and I just ate. I really don't feel like moving."

"I won't be taking part in something as hot-blooded as grabbing bells."

"You three can take your time fighting over them. I'll just watch the show from here and cheer you on."

"Pfft—"

Naruto, hanging upside down from a distant tree, nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Big bro! What the hell are you doing?! If you don't grab a bell, how are we supposed to pass?!"

Kakashi's face was already darker than the bottom of a pot.

He could feel his blood pressure skyrocketing.

This kid was way too arrogant!

Making furniture on the spot, drinking juice, and watching the fun right in front of him, an elite jonin?

Was that something a genin should be doing?!

This was clearly rubbing the face of him, the examiner, back and forth against the ground!

"Very good. Excellent."

Kakashi squeezed the words through gritted teeth. An extremely dangerous light flickered in those dead-fish eyes of his.

"Since you enjoy watching the fun so much, then watch carefully."

Kakashi decided to temporarily ignore this stubborn thorn who refused to yield to either soft or hard tactics.

He would first use thunderous means to deal with the other two brats.

He would let them understand the chasm-like gap between a jonin and a genin!

He would make that kid lying in the chair watching the show understand.

The importance of teamwork!

Whoosh!

Kakashi vanished from where he stood.

When he appeared again, he had silently circled behind Sakura.

"Little girl, behind you is very dangerous."

Kakashi's voice, like a demon's whisper, sounded beside Sakura's ear.

Sakura trembled all over and abruptly turned around.

But all she saw were Kakashi's scarlet Sharingan spinning rapidly.

"Genjutsu: Hell Viewing Technique!"

"Aah—!"

Sakura's vision went black, and she instantly saw a horrifying illusion of herself being hacked to death by Sasuke.

Her mind suffered a massive shock. Her eyes rolled back, and she directly foamed at the mouth before fainting.

"First one."

Kakashi did not even glance at the fallen Sakura. His gaze turned toward the bushes where Sasuke was hiding.

"Uchiha brat, you're next."

Seeing Sakura get taken down in an instant, Sasuke knew he could not keep hiding.

He leaped out of the bushes and formed hand signs.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

A massive fireball roared toward Kakashi.

"The same trick doesn't work on me."

Kakashi could not even be bothered to dodge as his figure vanished again.

"Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu!"

Sasuke felt his feet tighten, and a tremendous force instantly dragged him underground, leaving only his head exposed.

"Second one."

Kakashi emerged behind Sasuke and patted the dirt from his hands.

From beginning to end, he had not even put away the little orange book in his pocket.

In less than a minute.

Naruto was hanging from a tree, Sasuke was buried in the ground, and Sakura had fainted under genjutsu.

The three genin had been completely wiped out.

Only Sen Senju remained, having lain in the recliner from beginning to end without even changing positions.

Kakashi walked over to the three wooden stakes, untied the still-struggling Naruto, and tightly bound him to the middle stake.

Then he slowly walked beneath the shade of the tree.

Sen still had his eyes closed, one leg crossed over the other, as if he had already fallen asleep.

Kakashi stood before him, his massive shadow completely covering him.

He untied the two jingling bells from his waist and tossed them in his hand.

The crisp ringing sounded especially piercing in the silent training ground.

Kakashi looked at the outrageously relaxed youth before him, his dead-fish eyes slowly narrowing.

His tone turned icy and bone-chilling, devoid of emotion.

"You're the only one left."

He paused, his voice like a cold current from Siberia.

"If you don't plan to make a move..."

"Then that means Team 7..."

"Will be eliminated in its entirety!"