Kakashi's Darkening Face, Chapter Two

"Huh?"

Naruto looked at the sudden +2 Experience Points notification and was greatly surprised.

All this time, he had never been sure what caused Experience Points to increase. Important plot characters like Sasuke, Sakura, and Hinata only gave +1 Experience Point.

Although the Experience Orbs around them were larger and contained more Experience Points, he had to interact with them for a long time to collect them all.

The Experience Orbs from the Nine-Tails, however, were only slightly smaller than Sasuke's and the others', yet they gave +3 Experience Points. That allowed Naruto to gain a large amount of Experience Points in a short time.

He liked that method of gaining Experience Points too, but he had no idea how to make Sasuke and the others give +3 as well.

Now, Kakashi's appearance gave +2, and the Experience Orbs around him were about the same as the Nine-Tails'. That was rather strange.

"Could it be because he's an adult? Or do you get more the longer you've lived? Or perhaps it has something to do with strength?" Naruto muttered to himself as he carefully observed Kakashi, hoping to figure it out.

"Why aren't you saying anything?"

Kakashi broke the silence and asked in confusion.

"Nothing. We just forgot to put an eraser over the door, so it didn't hit you," Naruto muttered.

"Hit me?"

Kakashi was speechless. This was the first time he had encountered someone who spoke like that.

[Experience Points +2]

"You three, come with me." Kakashi left those words behind and turned to walk outside.

Naruto shrugged and followed. Sasuke and Sakura exchanged a glance, then looked uncertainly at Naruto's back.

Sasuke and Sakura were both a little dazed. They could not understand how Naruto had guessed it, and it all felt somewhat unreal.

"Could Naruto have just guessed? He was obviously dead last before," Sakura said, still unconvinced.

"I don't know. We need to confirm it carefully. If he wasn't guessing, then that bald-headed training method he mentioned earlier might be real too," Sasuke said seriously.

"This... Sasuke, are you planning to train that way?" Sakura asked incredulously, the image of a bald Sasuke appearing in her mind.

"If that training method is real, what does being bald matter? As long as I gain strength, as long as I can take revenge, everything will be worth it." Sasuke spoke with a cold face, his voice firm and forceful.

"I... I think we should first confirm whether Naruto was guessing. What if he was? Then you'll get tricked," Sakura hurriedly advised.

"I know. I'll test whether he was lying as soon as possible." After saying that, Sasuke walked out of the classroom with a solemn expression.

Sakura trailed behind, walking slowly. The image of bald Sasuke kept surfacing in her mind, making her feel as though her worldview had been shattered.

Outside the academy, atop a rooftop platform.

Kakashi sat on the railing and looked at the three brats before him. His gaze lingered on Naruto for a few seconds before shifting to Sasuke.

He still paid close attention to this Uchiha survivor. Sasuke's strength as the top student was also something that caught his eye.

He had even decided to take this opportunity to properly test Sasuke's abilities.

As for Naruto and Sakura, Kakashi did not think much of their strength.

They were simply too weak for Kakashi to take any interest in them.

As for why he had looked at Naruto a few extra times, it was naturally because of the Nine-Tails, and that was also one of the reasons he had become Team 7's instructor.

"All right, introduce yourselves. What you like, what you dislike, your dreams for the future, and so on. Forget it, I'll go first."

Kakashi paused before continuing, "My name is Hatake Kakashi. I don't feel like telling you what I like or dislike. As for my hobbies, I have many."

[Experience Points +2]

"That's it?" Sakura asked in confusion.

"That's right. Your turn." Kakashi nodded decisively.

"This..."

Sakura and Sasuke were speechless. After all that introduction, they had only learned their teacher's name.

"Next, I'll introduce myself."

Naruto desperately wanted to earn Kakashi's Experience Points, so he was the first to raise his hand.

"All right, you go first."

Kakashi nodded, lazily slipping a hand into his pocket, preparing to take out Make-Out Paradise and read it.

Naruto easily noticed Kakashi's movement. Suddenly thinking of something, he smiled and said, "My name is Uzumaki Naruto. The person I like is Hinata, and my dream is to marry her. I hate people who read Make-Out Paradise. I heard those people are always peeping on others while they bathe, and they don't even spare little girls."

"Peeping on others while they bathe? Not even sparing little girls?" Kakashi's hand froze in his pocket, and he stood there dumbfounded.

[Experience Points +2]

"Naruto, is that true? There are really perverts like that?" Sakura cursed indignantly, clearly hating such people.

"Of course it's true. Anyone who reads that kind of book is not a good person. It also harms your physical and mental health. There's something called kidney deficiency. You might not know what kidney deficiency is, so let me explain."

Naruto quickly launched into a lengthy explanation, thoroughly educating them about kidney deficiency.

"They deserve kidney deficiency! Peeping on people bathing is disgusting! If I ever see someone like that, I'll beat him up hard and call him a pervert in front of everyone."

Sakura rebuked them furiously, completely failing to notice Kakashi's face growing darker and darker beside her.

[Experience Points +1]

[Experience Points +1]

[Experience Points +2]

"Kakashi-sensei, what's wrong? Why does your complexion look off?" Sakura happened to notice Kakashi's expression as she spoke and asked in confusion.

"Oh, it's nothing. Nothing. I'm feeling a little unwell," Kakashi explained.

"Could it be kidney deficiency?" Naruto quickly asked.

Creak!

The scene fell silent. Sasuke and Sakura looked at Kakashi strangely, and the atmosphere became somewhat eerie as a faint cold wind seemed to blow through.

[Experience Points +2]

"All right, continue introducing yourselves. Tomorrow, there will be an extremely difficult survival exercise. If you fail, all of you will have to return to the Ninja Academy for further study. Becoming ninjas again after that will be difficult."

Kakashi stared at Naruto and deliberately put on a vicious expression.

Naruto was simply too infuriating. He had actually accused Kakashi of kidney deficiency. Kakashi had to scare him a little and let him know how serious the consequences of offending him were.

However.

After hearing that, Naruto merely smiled and deliberately showed off.

"If I can't become a ninja, I'll just go find Hinata. She's the rich young lady of her family, and she'll support me. She even paid when we bought groceries yesterday. She treats me really well."

"What?"

Kakashi was speechless, feeling as if his attempt at intimidation had been completely wasted.

This Naruto was even more mischievous than he had imagined. The key was that what Naruto said actually made a little sense, but why was it so irritating to hear?

Depressed, Kakashi decided to ignore Naruto and instead continued with Sasuke and Sakura's introductions.

[Experience Points +2]

But Naruto would not let go of a chance to earn Experience Points, so he spoke again.