"Ready…"Hidden in the undergrowth a few hundred meters away, Naruto peered through the branches. Kakashi's silver hair was just visible in the clearing ahead, calm as ever, book in hand.
He turned slightly, glancing at his teammates crouched behind him. "We move on my signal."
Sasuke gave a curt nod. "Got it. "Sakura tightened her gloves. "No problem."
Naruto's lips curved into a sly grin. "Alright, just like we planned—me up front, Sasuke flanking, Sakura supporting. Class Seven… move out."
In a flash of golden light, he was gone.
Kakashi barely had time to blink before the ground exploded beside him. BOOM!
Chunks of earth flew into the air as a glowing fist cratered the ground where he had stood. Kakashi leapt back, dust rising around him.
"Still trying to dodge, sensei?" Naruto's voice carried over the shockwave. Chakra pulsed around his arm as he rushed forward, his next strike humming with compressed energy.
Kakashi's eye narrowed. "Persistent brat… Earth Style: Earth Wall!"
The ground heaved upward, forming a solid barrier.
Naruto didn't stop. His Bengquan—the collapsing fist—smashed into the wall, sending cracks spiderwebbing through the surface. The impact shook the entire clearing.
Kakashi's hands trembled slightly as the wall crumbled. "Even a Jōnin could be crushed by that raw taijutsu force," he muttered, masking the pain numbing his forearms.
Naruto tilted his head, golden sparks flickering in his hair. "Sensei, you keep dodging my Flying Thunder God like it's nothing. What gives?"
Kakashi gave a tired smile. "Pass this test, and I might tell you. It's not your technique that's flawed—it's your timing."
He flipped a kunai in his hand, and Naruto instantly noticed the faint marking seal on its edge. His own seal—the anchor for his teleportation.
"So you found it…" Naruto sighed, amused. "Guess I'll have to improvise."
Before Kakashi could answer, Naruto's hands blurred through seals. His chest swelled with air.
"Fire Style: Heroic Dragon Flame!"
Ten blazing dragons erupted from his mouth, spiraling and roaring through the clearing. The heat was suffocating, the light searing.
Kakashi's pupils shrank. That's my technique—he mastered it?
He dove aside, but the wide-range inferno chased him mercilessly. Flames licked his vest, heat blurring the edges of his vision.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"
A surge of water coiled behind him, taking shape into a roaring dragon that clashed midair with the oncoming inferno. Steam exploded across the field, blanketing everything in thick mist.
Kakashi exhaled, vanishing into the haze. But before he could move far—
"Fireball Jutsu!"
Sasuke's voice ripped through the steam. A fireball streaked upward, slamming into Kakashi mid-leap.
BOOM!
The blast sent him tumbling through the air, smoke curling from his singed vest. His body hit the dirt hard, rolling to a stop.
"…you've got to be kidding me," he groaned, coughing.
Naruto's laughter echoed faintly through the trees. "Teamwork, sensei. You said it yourself—ninjutsu's all about timing."
For the first time that day, Kakashi didn't have a comeback. Only the faint smell of smoke and the grudging realization that Team Seven had finally started to think like shinobi.