Isn't Naruto's Ability Above Mine?

"Hmph." Tazuna said coldly, "What makes you say these two ninjas came to assassinate me?"

"We took on the mission to escort you." Naruto said loudly, "If these two ninjas weren't here to assassinate you, were they here to assassinate me?"

"That's hard to say." Tazuna said with a dark expression, "You ninjas have countless enemies to begin with. Maybe they really were here to assassinate you, and I nearly got dragged into it because of you."

"Don't regret this!" Naruto angrily pointed at Tazuna. "Don't blame me for not giving you a chance. You're the one who failed to take it."

"..." Tazuna said nothing. He did not understand what Naruto meant.

Just then, the two Hidden Mist ninjas subdued by Kakashi suddenly sprang up. Working together, they raised their chain saw and attacked Kakashi. Since it was a sneak attack, even Kakashi failed to react before the chain saw wrapped around him.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto cried out, his voice trembling.

Amid Naruto's shout, Kakashi was split in two by the sharp chain saw. Cut cleanly in half at the waist, Kakashi died on the spot.

Having succeeded in their ambush, the two Hidden Mist ninjas quickly charged at Tazuna after dealing with Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei! You died such a terrible death!" Naruto was still grieving, seemingly having forgotten the escort mission.

There was no helping it. Kakashi had already fallen, and Naruto was not acting normally. At this moment, only Sasuke stepped forward.

Facing two Chunin alone, Sasuke knew his chances of winning were slim. He could only focus on harassment, throwing kunai from a distance to disrupt them.

The two Hidden Mist ninjas easily dodged Sasuke's kunai. They changed tactics: one held Sasuke back while the other attacked Tazuna.

Sakura bravely stepped forward and stood in front of Tazuna. She held a kunai horizontally in her hand, warily watching the enemy rushing toward her.

The Hidden Mist ninja attacking Sakura showed no mercy. He drew a kunai as well and thrust it straight at Sakura, intending to kill her on the spot.

The kunai pierced flesh, and blood splattered everywhere. Sakura's kunai remained in her hand, while the Hidden Mist ninja's kunai had stabbed into Naruto's body.

Naruto gritted his teeth and stood in front of Sakura. He had used his own body to block the kunai strike for her. At that moment, the Hidden Mist ninja's kunai was lodged in Naruto's chest.

"Naruto!" Sakura cried out in alarm.

"Ah!" Sasuke's face showed the same shock. The battle situation was extremely unfavorable for them.

"Tazuna!" Blood trickled from the corner of Naruto's mouth as he said in a tragic tone, "I wasn't wrong, was I? These two ninjas really did come to assassinate you. What do you have to say now?!" He practically roared the final sentence.

"Because you deceived us and concealed information, we were ambushed by ninjas. Now Kakashi-sensei is dead, and I'm seriously wounded too. What do you have to say now?!" Naruto shouted, blaming Tazuna.

"It's my fault." Tazuna fell to his knees behind Naruto, begging for forgiveness. "I didn't have enough money. I couldn't afford to post a B-rank mission, so I lied and posted a C-rank mission. I was poor, so I got you all hurt."

"Hehe." Naruto revealed a smug smile and turned around. "You should've just told the truth."

"What?" Tazuna stared at him in disbelief. The situation before him had stunned him into helpless confusion.

Sakura and Sasuke were equally shocked, unable to make sense of the situation for a moment.

"Kakashi-sensei, you can come out now," Naruto shouted.

At that moment, Kakashi emerged from the bushes, holding a rope in his hand. The other end was tied to two Hidden Mist ninjas.

"What is going on?" Sakura was completely lost.

Sasuke scanned the surroundings. Kakashi was alive, and he also had two subdued Hidden Mist ninjas in hand. Meanwhile, there were two Hidden Mist ninjas here who could still move. That made four Hidden Mist ninjas in total.

Sasuke instantly understood. He threw a shuriken at one of the Hidden Mist ninjas. The ninja neither dodged nor blocked it and was struck directly. White smoke immediately burst from his entire body, and he vanished into thin air. It was the Shadow Clone Technique.

It turned out that Tazuna had refused to admit that the Hidden Mist ninjas had come to assassinate him, so Naruto and Kakashi had secretly put on a little show.

First, Naruto had stepped forward to accuse Tazuna, drawing everyone's attention, while Kakashi secretly hid away with the two Hidden Mist ninjas.

Then Naruto had quietly used the Shadow Clone Technique to create two clones. The two clones then used the Transformation Technique to take on the appearance of Hidden Mist ninjas.

And so, they staged this performance. The Hidden Mist ninja impersonated by Naruto's clone had taken out Kakashi, but the Kakashi who had been taken out was only a stand-in. The real Kakashi had already hidden in the bushes.

There had been two Hidden Mist ninjas impersonated by Naruto's clones. One was responsible for holding Sasuke back, while the other attacked Sakura. Then Naruto ran out to block a kunai strike, using a self-inflicted injury ploy to trick Tazuna into admitting everything.

Naruto explained it all with a smug look, then pointed at Tazuna and laughed loudly. "Old man, you were so scared just now that you dropped to your knees. I already told you, I gave you a chance, but you were useless. You insisted on being stubborn in front of me. Regretting it now, huh?"

"After all, I, Naruto Uzumaki, am going to become Hokage someday. I'm generous enough not to fuss over such a small amount of money." Naruto said arrogantly, "As long as you were sincere and told me honestly, I would've been willing to take a loss and escort you home. But now, I'm very disappointed in you."

Tazuna had lost his earlier domineering attitude. He had been completely won over by Naruto before him. He could not help admiring this shortest ninja, never expecting him to be so capable.

Sakura walked over and asked, "Naruto, why is there blood on you?"

"This isn't blood." Naruto pulled out a bottle of ketchup from his pocket. "It's just ketchup I prepared in advance. A little ketchup fooled all of you. Seeing how nervous you looked just now was so funny. Hahahaha."

Sakura was furious. She really had worried for Naruto just now, only to find out that it had all been a show he directed himself, making her worry for nothing. Sakura roared inwardly, Naruto! You're absolutely awful!

At this moment, Sasuke began deeply doubting himself. When had Naruto conspired with Kakashi to put on this act? Why did Naruto and Kakashi work together so well, while he was like an outsider, completely unaware of the truth?

Sasuke thought to himself, Naruto can coordinate with a Jonin so well. That proves Kakashi has already acknowledged Naruto. A Jonin may be strong, but he wouldn't team up with a useless person. If Kakashi can work with Naruto, doesn't that mean Naruto's ability is above mine...

Sasuke felt immense pressure. Just a few days ago, Naruto had been the dead-last failure of the class, yet now he could coordinate with a Jonin. Naruto's progress was simply too much to accept.

At that moment, Kakashi walked over and said, "Naruto, you really don't let up when you have the upper hand. No matter what, he's the client who gave us this mission. Can't you be a little more polite?"