"Exactly the same?"
Kakashi's gaze flicked between the three of them before landing on Naruto.
"Big Brother of Anbu," he said with an inward sigh,
"You're notorious in Konoha for being late all the time."
As soon as Kakashi mentioned it, Sakura's expression crumbled.
This was what I feared most!
Naruto hadn't told Sakura about anything! The worst part, though, was Kakashi had confirmed that Naruto had once been trained by Danzo… and Danzo had spoken to the Third Hokage about it.
That meant Naruto really had been Danzo's student—for a while.
Kakashi had been part of Root himself. He knew more than anyone how dark Root's teachings could go.
Great… my image is ruined, Sakura lamented internally.
What she didn't realize was that Sasuke couldn't care less.
"Here's your mission," Kakashi said, pulling two bells and a small timer from his pocket.
"If you don't grab both bells by 12:00 noon, you won't get lunch—and whoever fails will be tied to that wooden post over there."
"Only two bells, so one of you will be left out."
"In other words, one of you will be eliminated."
Kakashi tried to set a tense atmosphere, but only Sakura was rattled—Naruto and Sasuke remained utterly unfazed.
"Bell-snatching… feels nostalgic."
"That one time they tied Obito to a wooden post—like it was yesterday," Kakashi thought, remembering his old student.
He continued:
"You can even use shuriken, but unless you're intent on killing me, you won't catch the bells."
Naruto glanced at him.
Are you serious? You sure you can handle one punch?
Kakashi, unaware of Naruto's hidden thoughts, pressed the button on the timer:
"Ready? Then, let the exercise—begin!"
---
Sakura dashed into the surrounding woods immediately.
Naruto and Sasuke merely stood in place.
Kakashi's eyebrow quirked. He fished a magazine from his pouch and lazily began reading, though every muscle was tensed.
He can't let his guard down.
The Third Hokage had warned: Root is as transparent to Danzo as Danzo is to Third—the information always flows up. Every secret, everything Danzo had tried to hide, Third knew.
Kakashi's curious—what surprises "his son" has in store.
Suddenly, Naruto formed hand seals.
Kakashi's attention snapped back.
As Konoha's top copy-ninja, Kakashi could do four seals a second. Itachi was at six. Naruto's current pace? One seal every two seconds —already much faster than canon Naruto's eight-seals per technique.
Kakashi recognized it immediately:
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
A C-rank wind ninjutsu: a gust to repel enemies—not lethal, but handy for distraction. One of Naruto's few techniques trained under Danzo—slow to learn, true, but not useless. He wasn't a sealing jutsu dropout after all.
Still, pretty basic among wind techniques.
Kakashi thought: He's probably planning a diversion… then follow up.
But next moment, he regretted thinking that.
Wind Style: Great Breakthrough scales with the user's chakra.
Naruto unleashed a ferocious gale. Leaves and debris whirled violently. Branches snapped; even the training field's stone barricade tilted then lifted into the air.
Kakashi's eyes widened. He instantly vanished using Shunshin no Jutsu, barely escaping the blast radius.
He slapped the earth, forming a wall with Earth Style: Mud Wall, but ten seconds later it disintegrated in the powerful wind.
He transitioned into Earth Style: Core Wall, shifting terrain under him and ducking into a shallow pit.
The technique stretched on for a full minute before Naruto's wind jutsu finally subsided.
When Kakashi emerged, he was speechless.
The entire training ground lay decimated—dug up and tumbled. Standing tree roots exposed. Stone columns tossed around.
This is Wind Style: Typhoon Breakthrough, not the basic variant.
A C-rank jutsu just hit A-rank levels in power.
Kakashi—Root-trained, Anbu-trained—could only think:
If I'd been caught unprepared... I'd be dead.
He recalled Third's words again, silently praising the Hokage's foresight.
---
Hidden in the shadow, Sakura reeled.
Where am I? What's happening? Are these really my teammates?
---
"Naruto," Sasuke called.
"You promised Sakura she'd go first."
"What if you accidentally kill him?"
The previous night, the two boys had agreed to have Kakashi test Sasuke's growth.
"Sorry, Sasuke—just got itchy fingers." Naruto scratched his head sheepishly.
"Wanted to try the jutsu—it's taken ages to learn."
"Kakashi-sensei's fine."
"Your turn now, 'Sasu-Sasu'!"
"Stop calling me that weird nickname!"
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