Under the large tree, Naruto sat dejectedly at the base of the roots.
The shadows obscured his face, but his trembling body clearly spoke of the struggle within.
Above him, the sound of rustling leaves echoed as Kakashi landed lightly on a branch.
"Not going to keep fighting for the bells? You'll be sent back to the Academy, you know."
Kakashi flipped through the novel in his hand, casually provoking the dejected boy on the ground.
"Kakashi-sensei, we're comrades, right? Why... why do we have to fight?!"
Naruto's deep blue pupils trembled, his fists clenched tightly.
"Naruto, you... like Sakura, right?"
Kakashi dropped down from the tree, landing beside Naruto. He looked at the boy's flushed face and continued.
"If someone took Sakura hostage and threatened you to kill Sasuke, what would you do?"
"I..."
Naruto opened his mouth anxiously but didn't know how to respond.
"Look, this is the world of Ninja."
"Village, interests, missions, comrades... difficult choices will be placed before you."
"The Academy has taught us killing techniques since we were young. Are you prepared to face bloodshed?"
When he mentioned the word 'blood', Kakashi's own hand twitched slightly.
Naruto on the ground said nothing, only pushing himself up using the tree.
He took out a kunai from his tool pouch and held it in his hand, without any trembling or confusion.
"Sasuke, sensei... everyone keeps saying things I don't understand."
"But, I want everyone to acknowledge me! How can I stop moving forward here?!"
Naruto roared, charging out under Kakashi's approving gaze.
Bringing his hands together to form the Ram hand seal, with a massive supply of Chakra, Naruto created seven solid clones.
"Sakura!"
In the training ground, Sakura, who had been 'playing around' with Sasuke, heard someone call her name loudly.
She looked up and saw the boy charging towards her, along with his pure, clear fighting spirit.
"Starting to look like a man, Naruto!"
The will that burned like a flame made Sakura break into a genuine smile.
Punching Sasuke away, she adopted a defensive stance against the onslaught coming her way.
All seven clones threw simultaneously. A swarm of kunai shot forth, humming as they sliced through the air like raindrops towards Sakura.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Under Naruto's stunned gaze, the iron kunai colliding with Sakura's body actually produced metallic clanging sounds.
"Ninja Fighting Lesson No. 1: Taijutsu!"
Although Sakura was using Tekkai... well, don't dismiss out-of-world Taijutsu as not being Taijutsu.
Then, her sandal-clad feet rapidly stomped the ground, afterimages tearing through the air.
After smashing all the shadow clones, she suddenly appeared in front of Naruto's real body.
"Good spirit. But, who gave you the courage to underestimate me like this?"
Reaching out to grab Naruto by the collar, Sakura executed a shoulder throw, slamming him hard onto the ground.
"Cough!"
As if struck by lightning, Naruto's vision went black, and he coughed up a mouthful of saliva.
"You two, stop ignoring me!"
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Thanks to the time Naruto bought, Sasuke finally prepared his Fire Release.
Sasuke's chest swelled as a huge amount of Chakra roared, far exceeding what an ordinary Genin would possess.
An orange fireball burst suddenly from his mouth, incinerating everything in its path to ashes.
The massive fireball made the girl's figure appear incredibly small. The flames illuminated her emerald-green eyes.
Sakura seemed frozen in fear, standing motionless in place.
"Got her!"
Joy had just appeared on Sasuke's face, but it instantly froze there.
The Sakura hit by the fireball transformed into numerous blue butterflies scattering in all directions, leaving Sasuke momentarily without a target.
"Ninja Fighting Lesson No. 2: Genjutsu!"
The voice suddenly rang out behind Sasuke. He immediately stabbed backward with his kunai.
The blade cut the thing behind him in half at the waist, but there was no sensation of hitting anything solid.
All he saw were butterflies fluttering out from the wounds on Sakura's body.
"Damn it, reflect, reflect it!"
The tomoes in Sasuke's eyes spun, but they couldn't reflect even a bit of this Genjutsu that wasn't even targeting him.
Finally, more and more butterflies beat their wings, obscuring Sasuke's vision.
"Ninja Fighting Lesson No. 3: Ninjutsu!"
[Earth Release: Headhunter Technique]
The ground beneath Sasuke's feet suddenly burst open. Sakura's hands grabbed his ankles and planted him into the earth.
After finishing, Sakura nimbly dropped from the sky.
Thus, the two's assault ended in failure without even touching the bells.
"Alright, the exercise is over. You failed!"
Kakashi timely walked into the training ground and announced the result.
"Now, Sakura, it's time for you to decide their fate."
His words instantly silenced Sasuke and Naruto. Their hopeful gazes focused on the girl in black Ninja attire.
"The power to decide their future is in your hands now. Come on, make your decision~"
Kakashi, who loved stirring up trouble, continued to fan the flames, using his mature and cunning words to toy with the pure hearts of the two innocent boys.
Sure enough, Sasuke and Naruto on the side became even more like hungry chicks begging for food.
Even without specifically looking at them, Sakura could clearly sense their emotions through Observation Haki...
'Sakura-sama, I'm hungry, I want food!'
Although her two teammates were amusing in this state, she couldn't let Kakashi have his way so easily.
Coincidentally, as a pirate, one of the things Sakura was best at was ruining other people's plans!
"Is that so! Then I'll give both these bells to them."
A grinning Sakura pulled the two bells from her waist. She placed one in Naruto's hand and let the other dangle from the head of Sasuke, who was buried in the ground.
"Sakura..."
Naruto clenched the bell in his hand, moved to tears.
"Haruno Sakura, are you pitying me?!"
"Take it back! I said take the bell back! The Uchiha don't need to complete missions by relying on others' sacrifices! Don't look down on us Uchiha!"
With only his head exposed above the ground, Sasuke's face flushed bright red.
Unfortunately, being the tsundere he was, he still couldn't spit out anything nice in this situation, resorting to awkward words to save his reputation.
"Hey, you're the one in power. Is it really okay for you to slink back to the Academy like this?"
Kakashi was stunned by Sakura's choice, not even noticing that he was holding Icha-Icha Paradise upside down.
"Foolish argument! A person's dreams... never end! How could I be bound by something as insignificant as being a Ninja?!"
Black lightning faintly crackled in the void. The overwhelming spirit forged from the conqueror's exaggerated resolve and will shot into the sky.
Kakashi and the other two widened their eyes. At this moment, they truly sensed a clear boundary from the girl.
'A resolve that would not fear opposing the Ninja System, a steadfastness that would not waver even when going against the world's common sense… absolute stubbornness, a self that would not be influenced by any external changes!'
'Haruno Sakura is an outlier!'
What gave Kakashi even more of a headache was that this problematic girl now seemed to be... his student?!
'This is really... a huge challenge.'
Kakashi felt unprecedented pressure, but ultimately showed a kindly expression and said to the three.
"You guys…pass!"