Heartbroken Uchiha Sasuke

Naruto suddenly thought of Kakashi's greatest weakness. If Kakashi's Chakra reached his level, his combat power would definitely skyrocket.

Unlike now, when he had to carefully conserve every bit of it. Still, Kakashi had earned the formidable reputation of the Copy Ninja in the Ninja World despite lacking Chakra, which was quite impressive.

And sure enough.

Facing attacks from so many Shadow Clones, Kakashi fought for only a short while before, under the clones' watchful eyes, easily using the Substitution Technique to hide in a large tree.

"Just as expected of Kakashi."

Sitting atop a stone monument, Naruto sensed the scene unfold. He stood and headed toward the area where Kakashi was hiding.

Near the cave.

Atop a large tree.

Watching the Shadow Clones below descend into chaos, Kakashi decided to enjoy the show as they searched everywhere for him.

He even leisurely took out Make-Out Paradise, intending to read it. But halfway through, he suddenly remembered the explanation of "kidney deficiency" and gloomily put it away again.

"Naruto's Shadow Clones really are impressive. Such a massive amount of Chakra is enviable. Unfortunately, against me, you're still lacking. Combat isn't determined by Chakra alone."

Kakashi muttered to himself. He had fought the Shadow Clones for five minutes without finding Naruto's real body, so he planned to wait until the clones dispersed.

After all, at Naruto's age, he definitely could not sustain so many Shadow Clones for long.

During that time, he only needed to hide and wait. Those Shadow Clones would never find him.

That was why he sat so leisurely in the tree, ready to watch the show.

However.

He had only watched for a short while when something unexpected happened.

"He's over there!"

A shout came from among the Shadow Clones. Then every one of them turned to look in Kakashi's direction, leaving him completely baffled.

"How? I was clearly hiding perfectly."

Kakashi was puzzled. Not wanting to waste Chakra dealing with the Shadow Clones, he vanished again with a bang.

"This is a good place to hide."

Inside the pitch-black cave, Kakashi hid in a corner and waited, intending to go out and deal with Naruto once Naruto dismissed the Shadow Clones.

"He's in the cave!"

"Charge!"

Thud, thud, thud!

A huge number of Shadow Clones rushed into the cave and, without another word, swung their fists straight at Kakashi's head without the slightest restraint.

"Damn it, what's going on? How did they find me?"

Kakashi's expression turned serious. He knew there was no point in continuing to hide, so he prepared to fight.

"I can't waste Chakra recklessly, but taijutsu is enough to deal with these weak Shadow Clones."

Kakashi rolled his neck and suddenly charged into the countless Shadow Clones.

Bang, bang, bang, bang!

White mist spread through the air as Kakashi's figure flashed repeatedly like a streak of light.

His formidable strength was fully displayed at that moment, and under his attacks, the Shadow Clones rapidly dispersed.

Yet as the battle continued, he discovered that these Shadow Clones were not as lacking in combat skill as he had expected.

On the contrary, their fighting techniques were quite decent, with many points worth learning from.

Sometimes, the techniques used by the Shadow Clones even surprised him slightly.

"It seems Naruto has put quite a bit of effort into taijutsu as well. There are some commendable aspects, but it's still not enough against me."

Kakashi analyzed the situation as he fought, while also searching for Naruto's hidden real body.

[Experience Points +2]

[Experience Points +2]

At the outer edge of the countless Shadow Clones, Naruto quietly listened as his Experience Points increased while absorbing the combat knowledge fed back by the clones.

Every time so many Shadow Clones returned, they brought back combat experience. Even if each clone fought only briefly, every little bit counted.

Besides, with such a terrifying number of Shadow Clones, the knowledge they accumulated was already incredibly valuable.

"This feeling of gaining something is really great. Experience Points and combat techniques are both excellent rewards. In that case, let's do another wave. I have plenty of Chakra anyway."

Feeling the vast Chakra within him, Naruto raised his hands and formed seals again.

Multi-Shadow Clone Technique!

Bang, bang, bang, bang!

A dense mass of Shadow Clones appeared once more and charged toward Kakashi with even greater combat power.

Kakashi was still fighting. Relying on his formidable combat methods, he eliminated many Shadow Clones, but as time passed, he found them increasingly difficult to deal with.

They had clearly not been hard to handle before, but after some time, the Shadow Clones had somehow grown much stronger. It left Kakashi incredibly frustrated.

"Looks like I'll need to use ninjutsu."

Kakashi flashed to the top of the cave and swiftly formed hand seals.

"Water Release: Water Shock Wave!"

A waterfall-like torrent surged toward the Shadow Clones, instantly engulfing a large area.

Amid the crowd of Shadow Clones, a gleam flashed in Naruto's eyes. This was exactly the moment he had been waiting for. As long as he acted now, then...

"Hm?"

Naruto suddenly turned to look into the distance. He sensed unknown people approaching, heading this way for some reason.

"Forget it. Next time."

Naruto did not continue. Instead, he turned and headed toward home.

However, as he passed the site of the Survival Exercise, Naruto happened to see Sasuke and Sakura waking up from their unconsciousness.

"Naruto, Sasuke fought the teacher for more than ten seconds just now. He was so cool! Unlike me, I was defeated by the teacher in an instant."

As Sakura spoke, she looked at Sasuke with starry-eyed admiration.

"Not bad. Uchiha Sasuke has improved," Naruto teased.

[Experience Points +1]

"Naruto, don't call me Uchiha Sasuke," Sasuke said, glaring at Naruto unhappily.

"That's right, Naruto. Sasuke was incredibly outstanding. He did far better than either of us, so you shouldn't say that about him," Sakura added in his defense.

"More than ten seconds counts as incredibly outstanding?" Naruto thought of the Shadow Clones still fighting Kakashi and spoke with an odd expression.

"Of course. The teacher is a powerful Jonin. Very few Genin can fight him for more than ten seconds," Sakura explained proudly.

"Think whatever you want. I'm going home." Naruto shrugged and lazily walked toward his house.

[Experience Points +1]

"Don't go! We haven't passed the exercise yet," Sakura hurriedly said.

"Don't worry. Kakashi will let me pass." Naruto waved without looking back and left.

Sasuke and Sakura were left standing there, both confused. They could not understand why Naruto had left.

"Could Naruto have given up? He never came out to fight earlier. Could he be afraid of Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked.

"Probably not. He's very strong," Sasuke said, recalling their arm-wrestling match.

"What good is strength? You need to know how to fight."

"This... Forget it. Let's wait for the teacher to return."

"Alright."

Sasuke and Sakura waited silently. A few minutes later, a disheveled figure rushed toward them.

Whoosh!

Kakashi appeared before Sasuke and Sakura, dust covering his clothes as he looked around.

"Sensei, why are you covered in dust? Did something happen?" Sakura asked in confusion.

"Nothing. I just got a little dusty."

Kakashi explained somewhat irritably, then asked, "By the way, have you seen Naruto?"

"Naruto? He went home. Maybe he thought he was too weak and gave up," Sakura said.

"Too weak and gave up? Impossible. That kid is strong. He used Shadow Clones to fight me for ten minutes just now," Kakashi said gloomily.

"What? Ten minutes? Naruto's Shadow Clones fought you for ten minutes?" Sasuke asked urgently.

"Yes, ten minutes in total," Kakashi confirmed with a nod.

"So he fought for ten minutes. I only lasted more than ten seconds. The gap is actually this huge." Sasuke felt his heart sink.

Earlier, hearing Sakura praise him had made him feel rather pleased. But now it suddenly sounded especially grating, and his face even burned hot with embarrassment.