As soon as Sasuke and Sakura heard that they needed to be prepared for death, they instantly became tense.
Both of their expressions were serious.
Having experienced death, Sasuke knew all too well what 'death' meant.
Naruto looked at Kakashi's departing figure with a hint of frustration.
If he hadn't seen the previous episodes of "Naruto," he might have actually believed this.
The old trick with the bells again...
All these antics.
If you're so capable, just let us fail the test. We'll all resign ourselves to it and wait for Madara's Moon's Eye Plan.
Being prepared for death...
Naruto thought Kakashi should be the one to come to terms with it first; otherwise, if he were to throw a punch, it wouldn't be a joke.
"Let's go home!"
Naruto casually opened a space gate to head back. The others glanced at him, unable to see any hint of nervousness on his face.
"Naruto... aren't you worried about tomorrow's mission?" Sakura's question made Sasuke nod, seeming interested in Naruto's plan.
Naruto responded nonchalantly.
"Doesn't matter. You just lie down. Sasuke and I will take care of things."
His words were somewhat discouraging, but Naruto spoke the truth.
Sasuke and Naruto were serious, and Kakashi might not necessarily be able to handle them.
As for Sakura...
She was just an extra.
Sakura's expression froze, and her mind began to rage.
'Damn Naruto!'
'How dare he underestimate me!'
'Tomorrow, I'll show him just how capable I am!'
Hearing Naruto's confidence, Sasuke's earlier anxiety vanished. He felt that the mission for tomorrow was now assured.
He had known Naruto for so long and had never seen him speak without confidence.
"You can go back on your own."
"No more training today; see you tomorrow."
"Alright."
With that, Naruto stepped through the light gate and vanished from view.
Sasuke, head down and hands in pockets, turned without a word to Sakura and walked away.
"Um..."
"Sasuke, are you really sure about tomorrow?"
Sakura seized the chance to run up to Sasuke, searching for a topic to discuss.
"Don't worry, Naruto and I are strong."
Sasuke spoke without turning back, his pace quickening as he left.
He still had to train at the eastern part of the village and didn't have time to indulge in Sakura's romantic games.
Sakura watched Sasuke's retreating figure, feeling a bit superfluous at the moment, especially after his recent comment...
———
Early the next morning, the three of them arrived at the training ground well ahead of time.
Sasuke and Sakura arrived especially early, before five o'clock, while Naruto only arrived at the training ground around five after opening a space gate.
As for why they arrived on time...
Naruto wasn't sure if Kakashi would be late.
After all, many things had changed since he came to this world.
Who knew if Kakashi would suddenly decide to be punctual.
The three of them stood around yawning. Naruto checked the time and realized it was almost six. It seemed like the white-haired teacher wouldn't arrive until noon.
Thinking this, Naruto took out some stones from his space and built a stone house on the spot, then set up a bed inside.
He glanced at Sasuke and added another bed, then lay down and fell asleep.
Sasuke was used to Naruto's behavior. Seeing the extra bed in the stone house, he didn't think twice before lying down to rest.
Sakura, on the other hand, was stunned to see Naruto produce strange objects and build a stone house in less than ten minutes. She then saw her two teammates calmly enter and start sleeping...
To be honest, she was completely stunned.
"What... How did this happen?"
"Why is there suddenly a stone house?!"
Sakura instinctively asked, but was met with the snoring of her two teammates.
She was completely at a loss.
Sakura's mind began to race...
'Who am I?'
'Where am I?'
'What am I supposed to do today?'
After a while, she realized that they were supposed to execute the mission Kakashi-sensei had mentioned...
But why was Kakashi-sensei still not here an hour past the scheduled time?
And her teammates not only conjured a stone house but also started sleeping on the spot...
What in the world is going on?
Kakashi, hidden in the shadows, was in a similar state of mind to Sakura's.
He slapped his forehead and sighed deeply.
'I knew it!'
'I knew something like this would happen!'
Kakashi, who had watched Naruto grow up, was very familiar with his strange abilities.
According to the usual examination process, he would warn the three not to eat breakfast and then test their unity by giving them two bento boxes.
But the problem was...
Naruto was like a moving food supply.
The previous process would be ineffective against him!
If he tried to give them two bento boxes, Kakashi had no doubt Naruto would produce a feast.
So Kakashi had never planned to use the bento test for them.
Besides...
He wanted to leave them waiting for a few hours and see how they would react.
The result...
As expected, it was just as Kakashi predicted.
With Naruto around, there was no way to conduct a proper test.
Kakashi deeply regretted agreeing to train these three kids...
"Ah, forget it."
"Let's get started."
Seeing Naruto and Sasuke snoozing in the stone house, Kakashi felt a bit disheartened.
It was supposed to be a test for the three of them, but Naruto's antics had completely disrupted it.
Especially since he was crouching in the bushes, suffering from mosquito bites, Kakashi felt even more distressed.
Kakashi sighed and vanished from his hiding spot.
"Morning."
"Huh??"
Sakura, who was about to take a nap against the wall, saw Kakashi appear in front of her and greet her, startling her into jumping up and bowing repeatedly to apologize, completely oblivious to the nearly two-hour delay.
"Sorry, Kakashi-sensei! I didn't mean to fall asleep!"
Sakura's attitude brought Kakashi some comfort.
Indeed, this girl was the most normal one in his team.
Seeing Sakura's reaction and then looking at the other two...
"Wake them up."
"Alright..."
Sakura, drenched in sweat, was already panicking.
'It's over! It's over!'
Leaving a bad impression on Kakashi-sensei on the first mission...
'We definitely won't pass the test.'
'It's all Naruto's fault!'
Sakura dejectedly walked into the stone house and saw the two guys snoring on the beds, veins throbbing on her forehead.
"Sasuke, Naruto!"
"Kakashi-sensei is here!"
Though they were asleep, upon hearing the commotion, the two quickly jumped up and assumed a defensive posture.
Naruto rubbed his eyes and glanced at the time. It was still not 7 o'clock...
'Wait?'
'Did Kakashi make a mistake?'
'Why is he here so early.'
Naruto packed away the beds and yawned as he stepped outside, where he saw Kakashi looking up at the sky, seemingly pondering life.
"Good morning, Kakashi-sensei."
"Ha—"
Kakashi turned and looked Naruto up and down, almost at a loss for words.
'What's up with this kid!'
If he didn't know him, he would have definitely sent him back to the academy for re-training.
Kakashi sighed and took out the bells from his waist, placing them in front of the three.
"Your mission today..."
"Is to take these bells from me."
"Even touching them counts as passing the test..."
"If you don't touch them, you will be considered unqualified and will be sent back to the academy for a year."
"You have three minutes to prepare."
Sasuke and Sakura exchanged puzzled glances upon hearing this.
Weren't they supposed to be prepared for death?
And this is all?
Sasuke hadn't even considered failure. After all, he was no longer the weak child he was on the night of the massacre.
Now, he was strong!
Not to mention he had an exceptionally strong teammate.
"Naruto, Sasuke."
"Let's come up with a battle plan!"
Sakura was excited because this was her area of expertise.
Both of them turned to her, their eyes filled with question marks.
Battle plan?
What's that?
Naruto's approach had always been straightforward and reckless.
The phrase "battle plan" didn't even exist in his dictionary.
However, Sakura didn't notice her teammates' reactions and began analyzing on her own.
"Kakashi-sensei is a Jōnin, so defeating him head-on..."
"Is simply impossible for us."
"So..."
"Kakashi-sensei, let's start!"
"I haven't sparred with you in a long time!"
Naruto eagerly interrupted Sakura's analysis with excitement.
He had been waiting for this day for a long time.
Just thinking about getting revenge made Naruto tremble with excitement.
Sasuke fully agreed with Naruto's approach. He liked this straightforward method.
As for a battle plan...
As Naruto put it, it was just window dressing.
Kakashi's eyelids twitched.
His subordinates showed no signs of unity.
Having a reckless person in the team was already troublesome, and it seemed like Sasuke had been influenced by Naruto.
As for Sakura...
These two didn't even take her seriously.
Sakura, suddenly interrupted by her teammates, felt awkward and noticed their attitudes towards her...
'Damn it!'
"Let's begin."
Kakashi's usual lazy demeanor instantly vanished, replaced by a sharp, focused expression, fully prepared for battle.
He wasn't quite sure of Sasuke's current strength.
But when it came to Naruto, if he didn't take things seriously...
There was a real chance he might get completely outplayed by the kid.
﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌
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