As Naruto expected, the instant Sakura went in, Kakashi shifted like he had eyes on his back, caught her punch easily, and retreated using the recoil.
Sakura laughed lightly and dashed the other way, regrouping with Naruto.
Their eyes met.
Sakura's gaze was calm, all sharpness hidden. She faced Kakashi's eyes head-on without the slightest retreat.
Kakashi studied her with interest.
Not stubborn, not hot-headed, she disengaged the moment she sensed the gap.
Like a lion-dog in the grass—leaps out, mauls your face for a combo, sees your HP bar still healthy, then vanishes back into cover.
Patient. Controlled. Waiting to explode later.
Kakashi suddenly thought:
This might become the most troublesome trio he'd ever taught.
Naruto, crafty. Sakura, steady. And Sasuke, the strongest overall.
"Interesting. But I still won't let them pass." Kakashi decided.
He'd seen plenty of talented kids.
That wasn't the point.
Sakura reached Naruto. "Had enough playing?"
Naruto stared straight at Kakashi. "One more try."
"You really want to beat him?"
"Not really." Naruto grinned. "If I wanted to beat him, I'd just flip the Nine-Tails toggle."
"I'm running an experiment. I want to see how far Earth-born people like us can go."
At first Naruto planned to coast through the canon, maybe flirt a bit, build a harem.
But Sakura's warning made him realize the stakes.
This wasn't some chosen-one power fantasy.
If it's a mass transmigration, anyone could've landed in any role.
What if someone took over Nagato, Obito, or Madara?
Then the whole world becomes a death-dance stage.
So Naruto needed not just Kurama's power, but every possible clue he could test and turn into advantage.
Sakura blinked. "You're making this sound way too dramatic. What experiment?"
"Watch." Naruto stopped attacking and smiled at Kakashi. "Boss, fighting like this is pointless."
"Is it?" Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "Rules are rules. If you don't get the bells on time, I'm sending you back to the Academy."
Sakura wondered: what is he going to say?
Naruto folded his arms. "Boss, you're a jōnin. No matter how well we coordinate, three genin can't take bells from you."
"The key to this test is teamwork, not soloing. Right?"
Kakashi nodded. "You don't look like a dead-last at all."
Sasuke stared at Naruto, waves crashing in his head.
"But I think there's another twist: the number of bells. Two bells, but you want teamwork. Obviously we're supposed to fight each other."
Naruto paused, then said quietly:
"This test wants one of us to be sacrificed, doesn't it?"
Silence. Only the wind breathed.
Sasuke's chest pounded.
He'd noticed the bell count, but he never once considered teamwork—let alone sacrifice.
What shocked him was how Naruto pierced the test's core in an instant.
Like everyone's stuck on a riddle, and some laid-back guy strolls over and casually drops the right answer.
It made no sense.
Kakashi looked pleased. "Sharp. Sacrifice is the essence of this test. But why did you say it's meaningless?"
Naruto smiled. "Because it's self-contradictory."
"If you genuinely wanted to test us, you wouldn't need to guard the bells so tightly. The real exam is how we distribute them."
"Stealing the bells only checks if we can coordinate. We did coordinate—"
"But you didn't let us succeed and move to the next stage. That goes against the spirit of the test."
Sakura understood immediately.
He's going to talk-no-jutsu Kakashi, but by not following canon.
In canon, Team Seven was the first squad Kakashi ever passed. Everyone else got sent back.
Kakashi believed Obito's principle: comrades matter more than missions. Anyone who ignores comrades is worse than trash.
Only by showing that tendency does Kakashi pass you.
Yet the test also demands sacrifice.
That contradiction is the trap.
"Well maybe your coordination still wasn't good enough." Kakashi shook his head contemptuously. "Honestly, you're better off not being ninja at all."
Naruto laughed inside. Dirty psychological warfare, typical jōnin.
He kept his face straight. "We graduated from the Academy. Our fundamentals are fine. You don't need to provoke us."
"How about this: give the bells to Sakura and Sasuke. I'll go back to the Academy."
Kakashi's heart jumped. "You're sacrificing yourself?"
Naruto shrugged easily. "I'll complete the mission and make sure my teammates don't get sent back."
"Happy now?"
Kakashi fell silent.
A one-eyed boy appeared beside him, short hair, smiling, a hand on his shoulder.
"Are you going to let them pass?"
Kakashi turned. Young Uchiha Obito was looking at him warmly.
"He still hasn't told me the answer."
Kakashi faced the trio. "You think the ninja world is that simple? Naruto, fine—I'll pass you. Your two teammates are done as ninja!"
Naruto tilted his head, saying nothing.
Sakura just wanted to yawn.
Sasuke looked at Naruto, then Sakura, then Naruto, then Sakura again…
Why do I feel like I'm the only one panicking?
But truthfully, Sasuke was shocked by Naruto's decisiveness and furious at Kakashi's words.
And Sakura's poker face didn't help. Sasuke was already planning a doctor visit for her "paralysis."
Still, what he couldn't accept most… was Naruto.
Who gave you permission to be that cool?!
You get to sacrifice yourself in front of everyone?
You, of all people—dead-last—why are you acting so big?
Sasuke remembered that blood-soaked night, the way he'd survived under his brother's blade, forced to carry both his clan's hatred and future alone.
Every day was training or drowning in trauma, first place in class yet still endlessly whispered about.
Even if he couldn't be a ninja—so what? Could things really get worse?
"Let me…" Sasuke's voice trembled. His body shook with it.
"I'll be the one who sacrifices."
"Huh?" Naruto turned, stunned. You're the brooding revenge guy—what are you sacrificing for? Revenge over?
Sasuke glared at Naruto.
"Naruto! Don't you dare act heroic in front of everyone!"
"You're dead-last—talking about sacrificing yourself. Do you even know what sacrifice is?"
"Kakashi! Give the bells to those two. I'll quit!"
Naruto sighed. Since when did "quitting" become a competition?
Sakura glanced at them. "I'll go back. I'm worried these two idiots might rage-quit and kill themselves."
Naruto & Sasuke: "…"
Kakashi fell silent again.
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