Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 38 Survival Exercise (1)

As dawn broke, the three kids had already gathered at the training ground. Kakashi announced five o'clock, and the three of them knew he was definitely going to be late, but how late he would be was unpredictable, so they still arrived on time.

After exchanging good mornings, Naruto unhesitatingly spread a picnic blanket large enough for three people to lie down on the dew-covered grass, quickly setting out a simple but sufficient breakfast for three—a move clearly driven by rebellion. Sasuke sat down without hesitation, while Sakura hesitated for a second or two, but for the sake of her stomach, which hadn't eaten dinner, she overcame the ridiculous notion that "what the teacher says cannot be disobeyed" and picked up a rice ball. The three of them happily ate their meal, and then began to discuss what this so-called "survival exercise" actually meant.

"Speaking of which, Kakashi-sensei was once assigned to two classes of students," Naruto revealed an important piece of information.

Sakura, who hadn't yet experienced the brutality of the ninja world, asked rather innocently, "Then don't we also have senior brothers and sisters?"

"Wrong, those two classes were sent back." Sasuke added the finishing touch with a blank expression.

Now, Sakura was genuinely a little scared.

"Return...return?"

Naruto quickly reassured them, "They're just being sent back to school! I've vetted those six people. Some of them are completely unfit to be ninjas, some are too self-centered, and some have terrible personalities. It's normal for them to be sent back, isn't it?"

"Is this why you dragged me to skip class?"

"I was just curious!"

The three little ones chattered and discussed for a while, and finally concluded that they would definitely have to fight Kakashi later.

“Kakashi-sensei is incredibly strong, we need to come up with a tactic,” Naruto suggested. “Sasuke and I have fought him several times together, but we were no match for him. The physical gap can’t be bridged in a short time… But now we have Sakura, how about using a trap?”

Sakura was initially worried that she might not be able to help, but after hearing Naruto's words, she immediately perked up. "What kind of trap?"

"Simple traps can't hold Kakashi." Sasuke prefers direct confrontation, and even when forced to use mobility due to the difference in strength, he rarely uses traps.

Naruto disagreed, saying, "We've fought each other many times, so we know each other's tactics. In this situation, we naturally need an external force to break the deadlock. As long as we can create an opening, that's fine."

Sasuke frowned. "That requires close enough. He's very fast, and if we don't coordinate well, it won't just be Kakashi who exposes weaknesses."

The three racked their brains to devise a battle plan and exchanged information about their own abilities, though Naruto's version wasn't the complete one. Once the sun rose, they moved to the shade of a tree. Naruto fell asleep immediately, Sasuke, though disapproving, dutifully served as a pillow, while Sakura tidied the ninja tools handed to her, glancing somewhat uneasily towards the woods.

Time passed second by second, and the sky went from just dawn to midday sun before the figure of the unscrupulous teacher finally appeared in front of the three children.

"Hey everyone, good morning!"

"This time it will take six hours."

"Completely lacking a sense of time."

"Too slow!!!"

The three children's accusations had absolutely no effect on Kakashi, who continued shamelessly, "That's because a black cat stood in my way, causing me to lose my way on the path of life!"

Which one is the black cat? Is it the one that keeps appearing in the graveyard to steal offerings?

Naruto considered catching the peeping tom red-handed for the nth time, but tragically discovered that he didn't yet have the means to break through the Kamui dimension, so he had to give up.

"The time is set for 12 o'clock. Your task is to steal these two bells from me before noon." Kakashi was reliable when he got serious. He gently shook the bell in his hand and added, "Whoever fails to steal the bells will not get lunch and will be tied to that log and watch me eat my lunch."

Haha, thankfully Naruto insisted on making breakfast. So that's what happened.

"Wait, why are there only two bells?" Sakura noticed the key point.

Kakashi chuckled and replied, "Since there are only two of us, at least one of us will be tied to the log, and that person will be considered a failure. Those who fail will have to go back to school!"

"Alright, Kakashi-sensei, stop threatening the kid." Naruto now completely understood Kakashi's intentions, so he knew perfectly well how much of that slyness was hidden in his tone. Did he know perfectly well they would pass the exercise? Or was he testing whether he and Sasuke could quickly accept Sakura as a teammate? This was completely unnecessary worry!

"Shouldn't we start? You were already so late." Sasuke was a warmonger as always.

Seeing that the children weren't responding to him, Kakashi could only sigh inwardly that they were really unlovable, and then gave the signal to begin.

"Drill, begin!"

"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"

Naruto rarely names ninjutsu directly anymore; sometimes he even rattles off random names. He's long past the age of shouting out his moves, so the only reason he does this is to cover for someone else.

As the smoke dissipated, an astonishing number of Narutos appeared. At the same time, his two teammates had also disappeared, and it was possible that their main body was also missing.

Kakashi silently put the book away. This was a collector's edition; he'd be heartbroken if he damaged it. Besides, Naruto was a sensory-type; even if he tried to fool him with clones, it wouldn't work. If he lured this many "Narutos" into the forest, he couldn't even imagine how he'd be ambushed from any angle. He'd better just eliminate them here honestly. Was this some kind of stalling for time? Let's see what these kids are capable of.

When Kakashi gets serious, his destructive power doubles. Without the slightest underestimation of his opponent, he pulled up his headband, revealing his bright red eye. Naruto's clones charged fearlessly, but their speed was significantly slower, making it difficult to inflict effective damage on Kakashi. After losing several, he switched to a different ninjutsu.

Kakashi knew, of course, that Naruto's forte was Wind Release, and he could use other jutsu as well. Moreover, Naruto possessed an astonishing amount of chakra, capable of squandering it without regard for the lives of others. Considering the seal on Naruto's body, and how most of his chakra was being used to suppress the Nine-Tails, Kakashi could only feel ashamed. Why did he have such a pitiful amount of chakra, which he had to carefully manage?

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" Another loud announcement came from ahead.

However, Kakashi decisively created a wall of earth to encircle all four sides. Sure enough, the other directions were fine, but the side behind him was completely destroyed, bringing with it an intense heat.

Is that a combination of Great Fire Annihilation and Great Breakthrough? Sasuke really didn't leave. These two kids' tactics are getting dirtier and dirtier!