The Uzumaki team members were too preoccupied with documenting the effects of the food they had consumed, each feeling varying levels of discomfort. None of them noticed Kakashi sneaking in to swipe a bite.
Kakashi stared at the ever-shifting, multicolored steak in his hand.
The way the light changed seven times per second across its surface made him feel, for just a brief moment, like he was in a certain kind of shop with neon signs.
He instinctively swallowed a bit of saliva.
The aroma was tantalizing.
It smelled better than anything he had eaten in his entire life.
But... something about this didn't feel quite right.
Suddenly, Kakashi remembered the potion Naruto had given him before, which also had a strange appearance.
Could this be... another special item?
Without thinking too much, Kakashi decided to go for it. After all, nothing bad had happened after drinking that potion before. On the contrary, it had healed all his injuries.
Besides... what could a piece of meat possibly do to him?
He glanced at the clones happily munching away nearby. They seemed fine.
Taking a big bite of the steak, Kakashi's taste buds exploded with flavor. It was the most delicious thing he had ever tasted.
But then...
Kakashi suddenly felt dizzy...
Feeling unwell, Kakashi stood up, hoping to walk it off.
Thud—
The moment he rose, his body went stiff, then collapsed sideways as if struck by lightning, his limbs twitching uncontrollably.
His fish-like eyes rolled back, foam bubbled up from beneath his mask, and it looked like he was moments away from kicking the bucket.
Naruto, who had been discussing the Immortality Totem with Uzumaki Stark, noticed Kakashi's spasming body on the ground. He then glanced at the brightly flashing steak in Kakashi's hand...
Naruto vaguely saw the word "death" flashing in red above Kakashi's head.
"What the hell?!"
"Why didn't any of you stop him?!"
Naruto angrily yelled at his clones standing nearby. But before he could say much more, the clones, who were also struggling with what they had eaten, disappeared in a series of poofs.
Naruto was suddenly flooded with the memories of his clones' recklessness.
These clones had been utterly fearless, each consuming six or seven servings without a care in the world...
They didn't consider how this would affect the original body at all!
Naruto glanced at the Immortality Totem, then back at Kakashi, who was on the verge of death. Without hesitation, he grabbed the Immortality Totem, took a javelin-throw stance, and hurled it at Kakashi with all his might.
Thud—
The Immortality Totem, roughly the same size as Naruto, struck Kakashi directly, leaving a small crater in the ground.
Judging by the force of the throw...
It was clear how much Uzumaki Naruto cared about his sensei.
The Immortality Totem landed perfectly on Kakashi's stomach.
However...
Naruto noticed something odd—Kakashi had stopped twitching.
"Boss..."
"I think... you might have actually killed him."
Naruto immediately jumped to his feet, face red with embarrassment, and shot back at Stark.
"That's impossible!"
"The Immortality Totem doesn't kill people, it saves them."
"Come on, admit it, that throw probably saved his life!"
Uzumaki Stark remained silent.
He was pretty sure Kakashi could've been saved earlier...
The man still had some life left in him, and with a potion from the system, they could've revived him.
But after Naruto's... intervention...
Stark was certain that whatever breath of life Kakashi had left was snuffed out by that hit.
"Kakashi-sensei!"
Sasuke and Sakura, who had been training nearby, rushed over when they saw what had happened. They looked at Naruto, eyes full of questions about what had just transpired.
"Is he... dead?"
Sasuke stared at Kakashi's lifeless body, stunned.
Judging by the scene, it wasn't hard to deduce that the murder weapon was the large golden statue resting on Kakashi's stomach.
For a moment, Sasuke couldn't process it.
He respected Kakashi's strength, and based on the power levels in Xianxia novels...
Sasuke figured Kakashi-sensei had to be at least Dou Ling level, right?
So how could Naruto have killed him with just a statue?
Sasuke placed his fingers on Kakashi's neck to check for a pulse, then shook his head stiffly and sighed, turning to Sakura and Naruto.
"He's gone."
"He's dead."
Both Sakura and Sasuke were overwhelmed by how absurd this all was.
Their sensei, on his very first mission leading them out of the village, had died... just like that.
And it wasn't even during a fight with an enemy. He had died at the hands of his own teammate...
Sasuke was even starting to consider how he could join Naruto in defecting from the village.
After all, killing Kakashi technically made Naruto a rogue ninja now.
"Aaah!"
"What... what do we do?!"
"Naruto... this has to be a joke, right?"
"You're playing a prank on us with Kakashi-sensei, aren't you?"
Sakura was completely at a loss. She stood frozen, clutching her head one minute, then grabbing Kakashi's hand and shaking it, shouting his name the next. She had no idea how to react.
"It's nothing."
"Kakashi-sensei's just taking a nap. Don't worry..."
"He'll wake up in no time."
Naruto's confident words only shocked Sakura further.
What did he just say?!
Did he mean 'come back to life'?!
So Kakashi-sensei really is dead!
Oh no, oh no!
I don't want to become a rogue ninja!
Naruto flashed a reassuring smile, patting both of his teammates on the shoulder.
He carefully repositioned Kakashi's body to make it look more comfortable and adjusted the Immortality Totem to ensure maximum contact with Kakashi's body.
Looking at it now, Kakashi and the totem were nearly merged together.
Sakura's face turned even paler as she watched.
Images of Zabuza and Haku's tragic end suddenly flashed through her mind...
Sasuke, however, nodded after hearing Naruto's explanation, showing no doubt.
Although Naruto's methods were always a bit... unconventional, the results were usually reliable in the end...
"Kakashi!"
"Kakashi—"
Hearing his name called out, Kakashi slowly opened his eyes and was startled to find himself sitting in front of a campfire.
Opposite him sat a familiar white-haired man, tending to the fire.
"Father!"
"What are you doing here?"
Kakashi instinctively shouted, but his expression quickly became puzzled.
Wait!
What was he doing here?
He clearly remembered eating something Naruto gave him!
And why was he seeing his father?
Could he be... dead?
No, that couldn't be right...
Sakumo Hatake glanced up at his son, his expression serious.
"Kakashi, you don't belong here."
"You need to go back."
"What?!"
Kakashi's mind was still foggy, unable to fully comprehend his father's words.
"Wait, Father..."
Just as he was about to say something more, the world around him began to spin, and he heard faint voices calling his name.
A moment later, he found himself regaining consciousness, opening his eyes to see the worried faces of his three young students hovering over him.
"Kakashi-sensei, you're awake?"
"Ah! Kakashi-sensei, you finally woke up!"
"I'm going back to training."
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