Naruto's failure made Sasuke understand even more clearly just how strong Kakashi really was.
But the pride of the Uchiha clan would never allow him to keep hiding in the shadows.
"Hmph. Don't look down on me!"
With a low shout, Sasuke shot out from behind the tree where he had been hiding!
Still airborne, his hands blurred into afterimages. Several shuriken flew out in a triangular spread, sealing off the directions Kakashi might evade toward.
At the same time, he reversed his grip on a kunai and used the momentum of his charge to stab straight at Kakashi's right hand—the one holding the bells.
"Oh? So you finally decided to come out? Your movements are much cleaner than Naruto's."
Kakashi offered that bit of praise, then casually shifted his body and avoided every single shuriken. At the same time, he raised his left hand and caught the tip of Sasuke's incoming kunai between two fingers, preventing it from moving even an inch farther.
The instant the strike failed, Sasuke retreated to widen the distance and rapidly formed hand seals.
Snake—Ram—Monkey—Boar—Horse—Tiger.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Sasuke's chest swelled, and a blazing mass of fire burst from his mouth.
"A Great Fireball, huh? Decent power," Kakashi said as he watched the fireball roar toward him, a trace of remembrance flashing through his eye. "But against an experienced jōnin, a frontal attack like this makes your intentions too obvious."
Right before the Great Fireball was about to swallow him, Kakashi's figure vanished.
"What?!" Sasuke's dynamic vision was far above normal, yet even he could not catch so much as an afterimage. "That fast?!"
Boom!
With its target gone, the fireball exploded across the open ground and threw up a cloud of smoke and dust.
Did it work? Sakura wondered from another hiding place.
No—!
Sasuke had only just turned around when Kakashi's fist slammed into his stomach.
"Ghh—!"
The punch sent Sasuke flying backward. He crashed hard against one of the round wooden posts at the edge of the training ground.
The impact was so fierce that he could not move for a moment. He could only brace himself against the post and gasp for breath.
Kakashi walked toward him at an unhurried pace, then calmly drew a kunai from his pouch.
"All right. Time to end the game."
As he spoke, Kakashi raised the kunai and made as if to drive it straight into Sasuke.
Though the movement looked unhurried, the sharp killing pressure behind it left no doubt about the threat of the blow.
"Stop!"
Sakura's cry finally burst out.
The moment she saw Kakashi "really" about to hurt Sasuke, her mind went blank. Tests, rules—everything was thrown aside. All that remained was the instinct to protect the person she liked.
She charged out from behind the tree and ran toward Sasuke without a second thought.
Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Kakashi was just about to stop and end the farce.
Then, at that very moment, a figure dropped down from the branches of a nearby tree—
It was Naruto, the same Naruto Kakashi had slammed to the ground earlier.
The place where he fell was unbelievably precise.
He landed right in the path between Kakashi's thrust and Sasuke.
Naruto's eyes were resolute. He spread both arms wide, clearly intending to take that "blow" with his own body.
For a split second, time seemed to slow.
Naruto's silhouette overlapped perfectly with a scene that flashed through Kakashi's mind.
"Rin?!"
That trauma carved into the deepest part of his soul triggered a reflexive response in Kakashi's body.
The kunai in his hand veered aside, slicing past Naruto's clothes instead of through him, and the abrupt attempt to stop his own force left Kakashi momentarily stiff.
"Now, Sasuke!" Naruto shouted.
Sasuke, who had been stunned by the sudden turn of events, snapped back to himself at Naruto's yell.
He lunged to his feet and rushed at Kakashi, one hand shooting toward the bells swinging at Kakashi's waist.
A cold metallic touch met his fingertips—
Got it!
A burst of joy rose in Sasuke's chest as he yanked hard.
But his hand came away empty.
The "bells" he had grabbed—and even the "Kakashi" right in front of him—burst into smoke the instant he touched them.
"A shadow clone?!" Sasuke and Sakura, who had just rushed over, cried out at the same time.
"Your reactions and decisiveness deserve praise," came a calm voice from behind them. "But it seems the two of you forgot the very first thing taught at the Ninja Academy."
The real Kakashi stood there, looking at them coolly.
"From the very beginning, the one fighting you was only one of my shadow clones."
Disappointment colored his voice.
"And for that, the three of you exhausted everything you had. You were even willing to gamble your lives for a false opportunity."
Sasuke and Sakura opened their mouths, wanting to say something, only to realize they had no words.
The next second, Kakashi moved.
All three of them felt a sharp pain at the backs of their necks—
and lost consciousness.
Nobody knew how much time had passed before the shrill ringing of the alarm clock woke the three of them from their blackout.
Kakashi gave them no time to recover or speak.
Pointing at one of the round wooden posts nearby, he ordered, "Haruno Sakura. Go over there and sit with your back against the post."
Sakura's face was pale, but she obeyed.
Kakashi took out a coil of rope and bound her hands behind the post, wrapping them tight enough that she could not break free on her own.
Through the entire process, Sakura did not struggle.
Her body only trembled slightly from fear.
"Kakashi-sensei! What are you doing?! Let Sakura go!" Naruto shouted loudly, his face full of "anger."
Kakashi ignored him.
After tying Sakura up, he turned to face Naruto and Sasuke, who were now standing side by side.
"Now for the evaluation."
His voice was completely emotionless.
"Uzumaki Naruto. Your tactical thinking was acceptable. You understand how to use your own conditions to create openings. But you're too willing to throw yourself into danger. You gamble too much. That is not the mindset a ninja should have."
A look of "frustration" appeared on Naruto's face, but he only pressed his lips together and stayed silent.
Kakashi's gaze shifted to Sasuke.
"Uchiha Sasuke."
Sasuke instinctively straightened his back and met Kakashi's eyes.
"Your individual ability really is excellent for a new graduate. Your taijutsu and ninjutsu are both at a solid level."
At those words, Sasuke's expression eased slightly—
but Kakashi's next sentence dropped him straight into an icy abyss.
"But you completely lack the most basic sense of teamwork!"
Sasuke lowered his head.
"In your mind, there's only me—how I perform, how I take the bells, how I prove I'm better than everyone else!"
Sasuke's head dipped even lower.
"If Naruto hadn't drawn me head-on at the start, and if he hadn't created that final opening for you, then you would probably have kept running around like a headless fool, searching for a 'victory' you could never achieve by yourself."
Sasuke lowered his head further still.
"Did you think even once about how to work with your teammates? Did you consider their abilities? Their situation?"
Every word Kakashi spoke cut straight into him.
And Sasuke could not refute a single one.
At last, Kakashi's gaze landed on Sakura, still tied to the post. His tone turned even harsher.
"Haruno Sakura!"
Sakura's body trembled.
"You performed the worst out of the three. Hesitant. Cowardly. Too easily controlled by personal feelings! The moment you saw Sasuke in danger, you completely lost your head. From beginning to end, other than hiding and shouting that one useless warning at the end, did you make any contribution to the team at all?"
Sakura's eyes reddened almost instantly.
Every word Kakashi said landed like a whip.
"So," Kakashi declared, passing down the punishment, "according to this morning's rules, Haruno Sakura—who performed the worst—gets no lunch and will remain tied here, watching the others eat."
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