What Kind of Thing Is a Battle Plan?

Sasuke and Sakura tensed up the instant they heard they needed to prepare for death.

Both of their expressions turned grave.

Having experienced death himself, Sasuke naturally understood the meaning of the word "death."

Naruto, however, looked speechless as he watched Kakashi leave.

If he hadn't watched Naruto, he might actually have believed him.

The ancestral bell-grabbing test...

Why make up all this nonsense?

If you've got the guts, then fail us. We can all slack off together and wait for Madara's Tsukuyomi.

Prepare for death, my ass...

Naruto felt that Kakashi ought to prepare himself first. Otherwise, if Naruto threw a punch, he really wouldn't be joking around with Kakashi.

"Going home!"

Naruto casually threw out a Space Gate, intending to head back. The other two glanced at him, unable to see even the slightest hint of nervousness on his face.

"Naruto... aren't you worried about tomorrow's mission?"

Sakura's words made Sasuke nod, as though he wanted to know what Naruto had planned.

Naruto replied nonchalantly.

"Doesn't matter. Just lie down and relax. Sasuke and I will carry you."

That was rather insulting, but Naruto was telling the truth.

If he and Sasuke got serious, Kakashi might not actually be able to beat them.

As for Sakura...

She was just an optional accessory.

Sakura's expression froze, while inwardly, she was already going berserk.

Damn Naruto!

How dare he look down on me!

Tomorrow, I'll show you what I can do!

Hearing Naruto speak with such confidence, Sasuke immediately lost his earlier nervousness. He felt that tomorrow's mission was suddenly in the bag.

He had known Naruto for so long, yet had never seen him claim confidence in something he wasn't sure of.

"You head back on your own."

"We're not training today. See you tomorrow."

"Okay."

With that, Naruto stepped into the Light Gate and vanished before their eyes.

Sasuke lowered his head, shoved his hands into his pockets, and turned to leave without even saying goodbye to Sakura.

"Um..."

"Sasuke, will tomorrow really be okay?"

Taking the opportunity, Sakura ran in front of Sasuke to strike up a conversation.

"Don't worry. Naruto and I are strong."

Sasuke said it without looking back, quickening his pace as he left.

He was in a hurry to train at East of the Village Head. He had no time to play romance games with this pink-haired girl.

Sakura watched Sasuke's departing figure, then recalled what he had just said. For a moment, she actually felt like an unnecessary extra...

Early the next morning, the three of them arrived at the Training Grounds to wait.

Sasuke and Sakura arrived especially early, getting there before five. Naruto, on the other hand, only opened a Space Gate to the Training Grounds when it was nearly five.

As for why he had arrived on time...

Naruto honestly wasn't sure whether Kakashi would be late.

After all, many things had changed since he came to this world.

Who knew whether Kakashi might suddenly decide to arrive on time?

The three stood around, yawning constantly. Naruto checked the time and saw that it was nearly six. That white-haired Zhong Deng probably wouldn't show up until noon.

With that in mind, Naruto simply pulled out some stones from his space and built a stone house on the spot. Then he took out a bed and placed it inside.

He turned to look at Sasuke, casually added another bed, then lay down and immediately fell asleep.

Sasuke was already used to Naruto doing things like this. Seeing the extra bed in the stone house, he didn't think twice before lying down to rest.

Sakura watched Naruto take out strange things, then watched a stone house appear before her in less than ten minutes. Then she watched her two teammates casually walk inside and go to sleep...

To be honest, she was completely petrified.

"H-How did he do that?!"

"Why did a stone house suddenly appear?!!"

Sakura instinctively asked, but the only response she received was her two teammates' snoring.

That completely threw her off.

Sakura's mind began to race...

Who am I?

Where am I?

What was I supposed to do today again?

It took her quite a while to remember that today was the day they were supposed to carry out Kakashi Sensei's mission...

But why was Kakashi Sensei already an hour late and still not here?!

And her teammates had not only conjured up a stone house, but had started sleeping right there on the spot...

What the hell was going on?!

Hidden in the shadows, Kakashi was in roughly the same state as Sakura.

He slapped his forehead and let out a deep sigh.

I knew it!!

I knew something like this would happen!

Kakashi had watched Naruto grow up, so he knew quite a bit about the strange Kekkei Genkai Naruto possessed.

According to the usual test procedure, he was supposed to first tell the three of them not to eat breakfast, then give them two lunch boxes to test whether they could work together.

But the problem was...

That kid was practically a mobile cafeteria.

The old routine simply wouldn't work on him!

If he told the three of them to share two lunch boxes, Kakashi had no doubt that kid could whip up all kinds of feasts on the spot.

That was why Kakashi had never planned to test the three of them with the lunch boxes from the beginning.

Besides...

He had intended to leave the three of them waiting there for several hours and see how they reacted.

As for the result...

All he could say was that it was exactly as Kakashi had expected.

With Naruto around, there was no way he could conduct this test properly.