Without a moment's hesitation, Uchiha Sasuke sprang from the shadows, his body darting forward like a panther closing in on its prey, every movement brimming with lethal intent.
His kunai shot forward in a feint, cutting off Kakashi's path of retreat. In the same breath, a flurry of shuriken followed, spinning through the air to bind Kakashi's arms.
With his escape routes sealed, the bells were practically in Sasuke's grasp.
Narrowing his eyes, Sasuke reached out his right hand, fingertips brushing against the cool surface of one of the dangling bells.
But just as he was about to close his hand around it, Kakashi suddenly shifted backward with an uncanny movement. His arm snapped out, seizing the very kunai that had been blocking his retreat. With a deft twist of his wrist, he swept it around, knocking Sasuke's shuriken harmlessly aside.
"…Using Naruto as bait, are you?" Kakashi muttered to himself with a hint of distaste.
He disliked this way of treating a comrade—as nothing more than a disposable distraction. Yet even he had to admit: Sasuke's timing, his precision, his instincts—everything was sharp, refined, deadly.
Against an ordinary jōnin, Sasuke might have already succeeded.
But precisely because of that, Kakashi felt all the more certain: Sasuke had no right to be called a genin.
From one perspective, his actions were even worse than Naruto's.
Naruto's flaw was simple ignorance—failing to understand that this test required teamwork.
But Sasuke… in his heart, he didn't even acknowledge Naruto or Sakura as comrades at all.
Just like Kakashi himself, back then—when he had used Obito and Rin.
The memory stung.
With a grim decision, Kakashi flung away the kunai in his hand and lunged forward. His palm clamped around Sasuke's arm. With a sudden downward press of his weight, he not only stripped Sasuke's strength but also destroyed his balance entirely.
Thud!
Sasuke crashed face-first into the dirt. Kakashi followed through, pinning him flat against the ground, straddling his back. Twisting Sasuke's arm sharply, he forced it against his waist, immobilizing him completely.
"Your timing was good," Kakashi said evenly, his breath steady, "but unfortunately… you were just a fraction short."
He glanced around—Naruto bound beneath the earth by his Earth Release jutsu, Sasuke trapped beneath him.
"That only leaves Sakura. If she sees Naruto and Sasuke as true teammates, she'll try to rescue them both…"
Kakashi analyzed silently.
But based on her earlier behavior, the only person Sakura seemed to care about was Sasuke.
Speaking of Sasuke…
His talent still falls short of Itachi's.
Kakashi knew well enough that Sasuke was one of the genin Senju Haruto valued most. But compared to his brother Uchiha Itachi, Sasuke's gifts were lacking by far.
"…Hm?"
Lost in thought, Kakashi suddenly felt the ground beneath him tremble. His instincts screamed—something was wrong. He quickly looked up, searching for the source.
What he saw next made his eye widen in shock.
The soil binding Naruto split apart, cracks spiderwebbing outward until they reached Kakashi's own feet.
Naruto, who had kept his eyes closed and body still, suddenly snapped his gaze open—his pupils transformed, his entire aura shifting.
In an instant, he had entered Sage Mode.
A mere Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Jutsu was nothing to him now.
"…Naruto?!"
Even Sasuke, pinned beneath Kakashi, stared with disbelief.
Those eyes—round and strange, like the eyes of a frog—were unlike anything he had seen before.
In Sasuke's understanding, only two clans in Konoha possessed dōjutsu.
One was the Hyūga clan, bearers of the Byakugan. His classmate, Hyūga Hinata, was proof of that.
The other was, of course, the Uchiha with their Sharingan.
No one understood the Sharingan better than Sasuke himself.
But Naruto's transformation… it was neither.
And more than his eyes—what truly shocked Sasuke was Naruto's raw strength.
Being buried underground carried crushing pressure; even moving an arm was normally impossible, let alone escaping.
Yet Naruto had torn himself free with sheer force alone.
"…Naruto…" Sasuke whispered, shaken.
Even Kakashi, crouched above him, couldn't hide his astonishment.
"This chakra… it's overwhelming."
He murmured almost unconsciously, instinctively springing backward to create distance, to reassess.
But Kakashi underestimated the change.
Not only had Naruto's power skyrocketed—his speed had, too.
Before Kakashi's heels even touched the ground, Naruto had already closed the distance.
"Kakashi-sensei! You'd better be careful!" Naruto shouted, thrusting his hand out toward the bells.
In Sage Mode, his body was immensely strengthened. A fall from dozens of meters wouldn't even scratch him. Catching a kunai with his bare palm would break the weapon, not his hand.
But Kakashi was still a veteran jōnin. Even while shocked, his body adjusted mid-air, twisting aside to evade Naruto's grab.
"…Naruto?"
Yet Kakashi frowned as he noticed something strange. Naruto had just missed the bells—but instead of frustration, a sly grin tugged at his lips.
Boom!
A thunderous impact exploded between them, blasting Kakashi off his feet.
It was the Frog Kata—a taijutsu technique Naruto had mastered while training at Mount Myōboku.
By channeling natural energy, his strikes extended beyond his fists, hitting with invisible force at a greater range.
Even if an opponent predicted his movement, they couldn't predict the true reach of his attack.
Of course, since this was a training exercise, Naruto had pulled his punch, aiming only at Kakashi's abdomen to send him flying.
Still, the sight left both Sakura and Sasuke frozen in place.
Naruto—dead last, the so-called failure of the class—had just overpowered a jōnin.
And they hadn't even understood how.
"…Wait. Didn't Naruto miss that punch just now?"
Sasuke's throat tightened. Even without activating his Sharingan, he had seen it clearly: Kakashi had adjusted in mid-air, dodging the strike.
So how… how had Naruto still connected?
"…Sakura."
But Naruto didn't bother explaining. He cast only the briefest glance at her before racing after the tumbling Kakashi.
Now, taking the bells would be easy. If he worked with Sakura, the two of them would secure victory.
"…Naruto. Just what kind of training did you undergo at Mount Myōboku?"
Kakashi gritted his teeth, clutching his stomach.
Even holding back, Naruto's strike had rattled him to the core.
The truth was undeniable: a genin had just forced an elite jōnin onto the back foot.
"…I never imagined… I'd be pushed this far by Naruto."
Exhaling sharply, Kakashi lifted his gaze.
And with no other choice left, his hand moved to his forehead protector.
He slid it up, baring the scarred eye beneath—the crimson glow of the Sharingan.