Kakashi looked at the three youths and nodded inwardly.
That round of coordination had been rough, but it clearly showed the beginning of teamwork.
Especially Sakura—she had actually taken the initiative to use a flash bomb to create an opening. That hadn't happened in the original story.
It seemed his words yesterday had worked.
[System Prompt: Detected that the problem students have begun to change!]
Kakashi flicked his eyes over the system message, then continued observing the three.
After Sasuke got back on his feet, he didn't rush to attack again. Instead, he looked at Naruto and Sakura.
"Just now… why did you help me?"
"Huh?"
Naruto blinked in confusion. "What do you mean why? We're on the same team!"
"But there are only two bells," Sasuke said calmly.
"That makes us competitors."
"So what?" Naruto scratched his head.
"I can't just stand there and watch you get knocked away, can I?"
Sasuke fell silent.
Sakura stood up as well, brushing the dirt off her clothes.
"Sasuke-kun is right… we are in competition…"
"But—"
She looked toward Kakashi, biting her lip.
"If we fight separately, there's no way we can take the bells from Kakashi-sensei."
"Oh?" Kakashi turned his gaze to her, interested.
"Go on."
Sakura took a deep breath. Determination filled her eyes.
"Even though I'm the weakest in combat, my theoretical scores at the Ninja Academy were the best."
"Kakashi-sensei is an elite jōnin. His strength is far beyond ours. If we fight alone, we won't even get close to the bells."
"So…" She looked at Sasuke and Naruto.
"We have to cooperate."
"Cooperate?" Naruto's eyes lit up.
"That's right! Three people together are better than one, right?!"
Sasuke frowned.
"But there are only two bells."
"Then let's get the bells first!" Naruto said loudly.
"That's better than all three of us getting eliminated, isn't it?!"
Sasuke was quiet for several seconds.
He remembered Kakashi's words from yesterday.
If you want revenge, get stronger first.
If he failed here and was sent back to the academy, there would be no talk of getting stronger.
"…Fine."
Sasuke finally nodded. "But this is only temporary cooperation."
"No problem!" Naruto grinned.
Sakura smiled as well.
Kakashi stood to the side, watching the scene with satisfaction.
[Ding! Detected that the problem students have begun cooperating as a team!]
[Uchiha Sasuke: Favorability +10]
[Haruno Sakura: Confidence established, value demonstrated, Favorability +15]
[Uzumaki Naruto: Teamwork awareness awakened, Favorability +10]
"Not bad," Kakashi said.
"Then let me see how far your cooperation can go."
Sakura immediately began issuing instructions.
"Naruto, you have the most Shadow Clones. You'll handle frontal suppression.
Sasuke-kun, your Fire Release and shuriken skills are the strongest—you provide long-range support.
I…"
She clenched her fists.
"I'll observe Kakashi-sensei's movement patterns and find openings!"
"Got it!" Naruto replied excitedly.
Sasuke didn't object.
"Then—operation start!" Sakura declared.
Naruto formed hand seals.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
This time, even more clones appeared—over a hundred of them.
"Oh?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow.
"That chakra quantity really is astonishing."
The Shadow Clones surged in from all directions.
Kakashi countered immediately, his punches and kicks flowing like wind, dispersing clones one after another.
But unlike before, the clones didn't charge in blindly.
They attacked in waves—one group vanished, and the next immediately filled the gap, preventing Kakashi from breaking free.
At the same time, Sasuke formed hand seals in the distance.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Jutsu!"
Several small fireballs shot toward Kakashi from multiple angles.
Kakashi dealt with the clones while evading the flames.
"Good coordination."
But suddenly, several shuriken were hidden within the fireballs, masked by the flames.
"Hm?"
Kakashi shifted his body, narrowly avoiding them.
"Embedding shuriken within Fire Release… a classic Uchiha tactic. Has Sasuke already mastered this?"
Farther away, Sakura stared at Kakashi without blinking.
"Kakashi-sensei is extremely fast, but his movements have patterns…"
"When facing frontal attacks, he habitually dodges to the left…"
"When facing thrown weapons, he tends to block rather than evade…"
"That means—"
Her eyes lit up.
"Sasuke-kun! Throw the shuriken to Kakashi-sensei's right! Naruto, surround him from the left with Shadow Clones!"
"Roger!"
"Got it!"
Both responded at the same time.
Sasuke adjusted his aim, sending shuriken toward Kakashi's right side.
Naruto's Shadow Clones flooded in from the left.
Kakashi looked at their formation and smiled.
"So that's it—analyzing my habits and countering them directly. Sakura, you're sharper than I expected."
Instead of moving according to his habits, he leapt straight backward.
"Unfortunately, once I realize it, it won't work twice."
But just as Kakashi jumped—
"Now!" Sakura shouted.
A Shadow Clone suddenly burst out of the ground directly beneath Kakashi's landing spot.
"What?!" Kakashi was genuinely startled.
Among the earlier waves of clones, one had secretly burrowed underground and waited.
The clone reached out for the bells—just about to grab them.
Kakashi twisted his body midair and kicked it away.
Bang!
The clone vanished in smoke.
Kakashi landed smoothly—but then—
"Hm?"
One of the bells at his waist was gone.
He turned his head and saw Sasuke holding it, his expression cold.
"When did—?"
"When you were busy dealing with Naruto's Shadow Clones," Sakura said proudly.
"The clone that popped up from underground was a feint. The real move was Sasuke-kun's shuriken connected by wire!"
Kakashi looked down and finally noticed several hair-thin wires lying on the ground.
Earlier, his attention had been completely drawn to the Shadow Clones.
Sasuke had taken advantage of the moment Kakashi kicked the clone away, yanking the wire to slice the bell's cord.
"You kids…" Kakashi sighed.
"You really are something."
[Ding! Problem students achieved their objective through teamwork!]
[Uchiha Sasuke: Understood the importance of teamwork, Favorability +20]
[Haruno Sakura: Found self-worth (tactical analysis), Favorability +25]
[Uzumaki Naruto: Learned cooperation, Favorability +15]
[Uchiha Sasuke activation conditions met!]
[Haruno Sakura activation conditions met!]
Kakashi felt a surge of delight.
Finally activated.
"Very good," Kakashi said, clapping his hands.
"You've successfully obtained one bell."
All three showed expressions of joy.
But in the next instant, the atmosphere froze.
There was only one bell.
Three people. One bell.
Naruto stared at his empty hands.
"Eh… I didn't get one…"
Sakura's expression changed as well.
"There's only one bell… which means…"
Sasuke held the bell in silence.
The training ground fell into an eerie stillness.
The teamwork they had just built instantly became strained.
Kakashi watched the scene, a faint smile curling at the corner of his lips.
"So," he said slowly,
"the question is—who stays, and who leaves?"