As expected by Naruto, the moment Sakura lunged forward, Kakashi moved as if he had eyes in the back of his head, swaying slightly to easily catch her punch with his palm and using the recoil to leap rapidly backward.
Sakura chuckled softly, her gaze shifting as she instead dashed in the opposite direction, beginning to converge on Naruto's position.
Just then, their eyes met.
Sakura's expression was as calm as still water, completely concealing the sharpness in her eyes, and she met Kakashi's gaze without the slightest sign of yielding.
Kakashi looked at Sakura with growing amusement.
No blind stubbornness, no reckless hot-headedness, knowing when to quit while ahead.
It was like a pug jumping in your face in the brush to unload a combo, only to dive right back out without hesitation when it realized your health bar was still healthy.
Forbearance, restraint, and accumulating strength for a breakout.
A sudden thought occurred to Kakashi.
This might just turn out to be the most troublesome trio he had ever encountered.
Naruto was cunning, Sakura was calm, and paired with Sasuke, who had the strongest overall aptitude.
"Interesting. But I'm not going to pass you just yet," Kakashi thought to himself.
He had seen many people like this, possessing top-tier talent and strength.
But that didn't matter.
At that moment, Sakura sprinted over to Naruto's side. "Are you done messing around?"
Naruto stared straight at Kakashi. "Let's try one more move."
"You want to beat him that badly?"
"Not really," Naruto said with a grin. "If I wanted to beat him, I'd just turn on the Nine-Tails cheat mode and be done with it."
"I want to run an experiment to see just how far we, as people from Earth, can actually go."
Initially, Naruto's plan was simply to coast through the plot, pick up girls along the way, and build a harem.
But Sakura's words had made him realize the gravity of the situation.
This wasn't some classic shonen story about a chosen one transported into the world of Hokage; it was an isekai story where anyone could grow powerful.
Just imagine if someone had transmigrated into the bodies of opposing forces like Nagato, Obito, or Madara?
By then, it wouldn't be dancing on the battlefield; it would be everyone performing a group dance routine.
Therefore, Naruto wasn't just going to pluck the Nine-Tails' fox fur; he was going to explore every possible avenue and convert all that experience into his own nourishment.
"What you're saying sounds way too mystical. What on earth is this experiment?" Sakura asked, bewildered.
"You'll see," Naruto abandoned the attack entirely, looking at Kakashi with a half-smile. "Boss, keeping this up is pointless."
"Is that so?" Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "Rules are rules. If you fail to get the bells on time, I'm definitely sending you back to the Ninja Academy."
Sakura fell into deep thought. What kind of conversation was this going to lead to?
Naruto crossed his arms. "Boss, you're a Jonin. No matter how well the three of us coordinate, there's no way we can snatch them from you."
"The key to this mission is teamwork, and going solo definitely won't work, am I right?"
Kakashi nodded. "You don't look anything like a dropout."
Sasuke stared intently at Naruto, ripples of shock stirring in his heart.
"But I think there's another catch here, and that's the number of bells. There are only two, yet we're asked to cooperate as a team. Obviously, this is going to make us turn on each other."
Naruto fell silent, then suddenly blurted out, "This mission is meant to make one of us sacrifice ourselves, isn't it?"
The surroundings grew so quiet that only the wind could be heard.
Sasuke bit his lip hard, his chest heaving violently.
Naturally, he had noticed the number of bells, but he hadn't considered teamwork for a single second, nor had he ever thought about sacrifice.
His shock stemmed from the fact that it had taken Naruto only a moment to pierce through the very essence of this mission.
It was like everyone gathering to solve a riddle, and while everyone else was completely stumped, some slacker just strolled over, glanced at it, and casually blurted out the correct answer.
Did that make any sense? It made zero sense.
Kakashi looked at Naruto with an approving expression. "You're sharp. Sacrifice is indeed the essence of this mission. But why did you say this mission is meaningless just now?"
"Don't you think that's a contradiction?"
Naruto laughed. "If the boss genuinely wanted to test us, there'd be no need to guard the bells so tightly, because the key to the mission is how the bells are distributed. Snatching them is just testing whether we have teamwork."
"We worked as a team, but you still refuse to let us succeed and move on to the next step. That goes against the original intent of the test."
Hearing this, Sakura understood.
So he was planning to use Talk No Justu on Kakashi, and he was going to do it by bypassing the original plot.
According to the plot, Team 7 was the first team Kakashi officially led, and everyone else was sent back to the Ninja Academy by Kakashi.
Kakashi firmly believed in Obito's philosophy: comrades are more important than the mission, and those who don't value their comrades are lower than trash.
Only by showing this tendency during the test would Kakashi give a passing grade.
Yet this contradicted the sacrifice demanded by the mission.
Ninjas, much like mercenaries from Earth, had the primary duty of completing their mission.
"Could it be because your teamwork still isn't good enough?" Kakashi shook his head dismissively. "If you ask me, your performance just now really makes you worse than useless as ninjas."
Naruto chuckled inwardly. You Jonin who play psychological warfare sure are dirty.
On the surface, he remained completely calm. "We all graduated from the Ninja Academy, which means our overall competence has already passed. There's no need for you to resort to reverse psychology."
"How about this: you give the bells to Sakura and Sasuke, and I'll go back to the Ninja Academy to retrain."
A chill ran through Kakashi's heart. "You're going to sacrifice yourself?"
Naruto said lightly, "Not only will I complete the mission, but I'll also ensure my teammates don't get sent back to the Ninja Academy."
"Are you satisfied now?"
Kakashi remained silent.
Beside him, a figure with one eye and short hair materialized and gently patted him on the shoulder. "Are you going to pass them?"
Kakashi turned his head to see a young Uchiha Obito smiling at him.
"He hasn't given me the answer yet."
Kakashi turned back to the three of them. "Do you think the ninja world is that simple? Naruto, I intend to pass you right now, and as for your two teammates, neither of you gets to be ninjas!"
Naruto tilted his head and didn't respond.
Hearing this, Sakura just wanted to yawn.
Sasuke looked at Naruto, then at Sakura, then back at Naruto, and then back at Sakura...
Why was he the only one who seemed to be panicking?
In truth, Sasuke was both shocked by Naruto's resolve and furious at Kakashi's words.
And as for Sakura, who had kept a blank expression the entire time, Sasuke decided he would look for a village doctor to cure her facial paralysis later.
Still, the hardest thing for him to accept was still Naruto.
Who gave you the right to act so cool?!
You're the only one allowed to make such a righteous sacrifice?
What makes a dropout like you act so arrogant?
Sasuke couldn't help but recall that bloody night, when he had eked out a meager existence under his brother's scythe, forced to shoulder the hatred and future of his entire clan all by himself.
Every day was spent either training or trapped in painful memories, and even though he was at the top of his class, he still had to endure endless gossip from passersby every single day.
Given all that, what did it matter if he wasn't a ninja? Could things possibly be any worse than his previous situation?
"Let me..." Sasuke began, his voice trembling slightly along with his body.
"I'll be the one to make the sacrifice."
Naruto turned his head in surprise. "Huh? You big-eyed kid, what are you sacrificing yourself for? Aren't you going to get your revenge?"
Sasuke glared fiercely at Naruto.
"Naruto, what are you trying to act all tough for in front of everyone?"
"You're obviously just a dropout, yet you're talking about sacrificing yourself. Do you even know what sacrifice means?"
"Kakashi, give the bells to those two idiots, I'm dropping out myself!"
Naruto felt a bit helpless. Did they really have to fight over who got to drop out?
Sakura glanced at the two of them. "I'll go back instead. I'm afraid these two morons are going to kill themselves in a fit of anger later."
Naruto and Sasuke: "..."
Kakashi fell silent once again.