Kakashi Was Out of Chakra

"It... it didn't look like Braised Pork Belly." Hinata looked at the finished dish and spoke timidly, her voice especially pleasant.

"This is called Fish-Flavored Eggplant. You need to study carefully from now on, understand?" Naruto reminded her.

"Mm-hmm, got it." Hinata nodded obediently, her little face turning serious.

[Experience Points +1]

"The second dish is Sweet and Sour Pork. Watch closely."

Naruto began teaching again, explaining every step in great detail while also having Hinata help out.

This teaching method worked quite well. Hinata had clearly improved, and she learned even more throughout the process that followed.

Naruto was quite happy with her progress. If they kept this pace up for a while, Hinata would definitely become a qualified little chef.

However, one thing concerned Naruto: the Experience Orbs around Hinata were getting smaller and smaller. Before long, they would disappear, and they could only recover partially when new events occurred.

Fortunately, they would be taking part in the Survival Exercise tomorrow. He could continue gaining Experience Points from Kakashi then.

Once he thought that through, Naruto stopped worrying and enjoyed a happy dinner with Hinata.

The next day, at the Survival Exercise site.

Before the sun had risen, while the sky was still dark, Sasuke and Sakura had arrived early and stood silently on the grass as they waited.

"Strange, why hasn't Naruto arrived yet? Don't tell me he overslept?" Sakura looked around.

"Don't know."

Sasuke shook his head. Though he was puzzled, he did not dwell on it. Instead, he waited for Kakashi-sensei to appear so they could finish the Survival Exercise as soon as possible.

What they had not expected was that they waited from the dark hours until morning, and then until it was nearly ten o'clock, yet their teacher Kakashi still had not appeared.

This left Sakura and Sasuke quite dissatisfied. Especially when they thought of Naruto sleeping soundly at home, they felt even more resentful.

"This is infuriating! It was supposed to be a Survival Exercise, yet neither of them showed up. Especially Naruto—he must be sleeping at home." Sakura complained indignantly.

"Keep waiting," Sasuke replied, coolly shoving his hands into his pockets.

Elsewhere.

A hundred meters from the Survival Exercise site, Kakashi strolled along leisurely, walking forward with two Bells in hand.

"Those three brats must be tired of waiting by now. That's exactly how I'll train their patience. And that Naruto kid must be getting impatient too. This is a good chance to teach him a lesson for saying I have weak kidneys."

Kakashi muttered lazily, feeling rather pleased with his method for handling the three brats. It would be a good way to knock down their arrogance.

"Time's about right. Going over now should be perfect. I'll think up an excuse along the way."

After saying that, Kakashi dashed toward the Survival Exercise site. His incredible speed brought him to his destination in no time.

"Kakashi-sensei, why are you so late?" Sakura asked unhappily.

"Ah-ha, I ran into a cat on the way. Hm? Where's Naruto?"

Kakashi had been about to make an excuse, but when he saw only Sasuke and Sakura before him, he grew depressed.

He had originally planned to use Naruto as the target of his lesson, yet Naruto had not even shown up. It was truly speechless.

"Naruto never came. He must be sleeping at home," Sakura tattled.

"Sleeping? That brat actually failed to arrive on time. He must be punished." Kakashi frowned.

"No need. I got here early."

A calm voice suddenly rang out. Then Naruto leaped down from a large tree and walked toward the center of the exercise grounds.

"Hm?"

Kakashi was slightly stunned as he watched Naruto approach from that direction. He had passed beneath that very tree when he arrived, so why had he not noticed Naruto?

Kakashi immediately became serious, sensing that something was off. But after thinking for a moment, he shook his head.

Naruto had only just graduated from the Ninja Academy. With that little strength, he was nothing in Kakashi's eyes, so Kakashi stopped taking it seriously and returned to his lazy demeanor.

"Since you arrived early, we'll begin the Survival Exercise. Let me explain the rules."

Kakashi took out the two Bells and began explaining the rules, going on and on for quite a while.

"All right, that's roughly how it works. Whoever gets a Bell before noon passes; otherwise, you fail. Remember, there are only two Bells, so one person won't get to eat a Box Lunch."

Kakashi pointed toward the Box Lunches beside the stone monument in the distance and spoke calmly.

"Got it!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Three sharp sounds cut through the air as Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto scattered to hide.

Only Kakashi remained where he stood. After a moment, when he felt enough time had passed, he turned his head.

"The foundation of a ninja is concealing their Qi. I wonder how well those three brats have done?" After saying that, Kakashi carefully observed his surroundings and quickly found Sasuke and Sakura.

"Not bad. Everyone hid well. Hm? Where's Naruto?"

Kakashi searched thoroughly, but even after nearly a minute, he could not find Naruto anywhere. That left him rather surprised.

"Where did that kid go? Why can't I find him?"

Kakashi was filled with doubts. Unable to figure out where Naruto was hiding, he could only focus on Sasuke and Sakura first, planning to defeat those two brats before anything else.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Kunai flashed rapidly around Kakashi, but he easily dodged them and charged toward Sasuke's position at great speed.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The battle continued, but faced with Kakashi's overwhelming strength, Sakura and Sasuke were destined to lose.

However.

After defeating Sasuke and Sakura, Kakashi frowned as he looked around. Naruto still had not appeared, leaving Kakashi confused and unsure what kind of scheme Naruto was plotting.

Unable to figure it out, Kakashi quickly entered the forest and searched continuously around the exercise site. Before long, he spotted a hidden figure in a cave three hundred meters away.

"Found you."

Kakashi smiled slightly and rushed toward the cave. His incredible speed allowed him to arrive with ease.

"Come out, Naruto. You're the only one left. Hiding is meaningless now."

"Is that so?"

A calm voice came from within the cave. Then a large group of Narutos walked out, gazing indifferently at Kakashi.

"Multi-Shadow Clone Technique?"

Kakashi paused in surprise, then said again, "It's useless. No matter how many cannon fodder there are, it won't matter."

"Is that so?!"

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud.

A dense mass of Shadow Clones emerged from the cave, while even more Shadow Clones rushed in from afar, looking at Kakashi with faint smiles.

Seeing such a vast number of Shadow Clones, Kakashi's expression turned solemn. Then he said, "Interesting, but still not enough."

"Then let's give it a try. Get him! Beat him up!"

Ha!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Shadow Clones flooded across the mountains and fields as they charged at Kakashi. They engaged him in a fierce battle before the cave, surrounding him and attacking like mad.

Meanwhile, three hundred meters away at the exercise site.

Beside the stone monument.

Naruto's real body was holding a Box Lunch and wolfing it down as he leisurely watched in Kakashi's direction. "Kakashi, you'd better hang in there. The game has only just begun."

After saying that, Naruto continued stuffing himself. He quickly finished both Box Lunches, then stretched and leaned against the stone monument to wait for Kakashi's battle to end.

But after waiting for five minutes, Naruto sat up again.

"Looks like there might be a few too many Shadow Clones. They're not actually going to beat Kakashi flat, are they? He's an Elite Jonin... Oh, right. He's out of Chakra."