Chapter 31 - The Battle Against Kakashi "Five-Five Split"

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At a certain training ground, Naruto and his teammates arrived at five in the morning.

Unlike the stereotypical tardiness often seen in novels, Kakashi's stealthy observation skills were far too advanced for Naruto to detect him, unless he had something like the Kagura Shin'gan—though of course, Naruto didn't.

Even if Naruto had unlocked the Snow Mountain Fat Fox's seal and learned to sense malice, it wouldn't help since Kakashi bore no ill will toward him.

The Snow Mountain Fat Fox was currently lying on its back, happily munching away. Anyone who has a friend weighing over 220 pounds would understand—it's uncomfortable to lie on your stomach with a big belly. Of course, sometimes Kurama (the Nine-Tails) sat up to eat, but those days of lounging casually on Naruto's arm were long gone.

As mentioned before, Kurama lived the best life in the shinobi world.

While others fought tooth and nail for their dreams, Kurama simply stood at the pinnacle without lifting a finger.

Kakashi still hadn't shown up.

Naruto wouldn't admit that he suspected Kakashi was late because he'd spent the morning helping an old lady cross the street—and then stayed to help her all the way home after being bombarded with "dog food" yesterday.

Seeing that their teacher wasn't coming anytime soon, Sasuke and Naruto began their own routine. They pulled out wooden sticks and started channeling chakra into them. Neither understood nature transformation yet; they were just practicing by feel.

Forget everything else—just pour chakra into it until you get the hang of it.

[This is… chakra nature transformation?! These two have already reached this stage?] A certain white-haired figure hiding nearby was utterly shocked.

Naruto, however, knew nothing about this. He could tell Kakashi was putting on a show—you invented your own jutsu at twelve, for heaven's sake!

Once their chakra reserves ran dry, Sasuke turned to Naruto to replenish his energy.

Sakura simply sat there watching Sasuke moon over her. Naruto understood—she was still a young girl, after all. When she eventually realized she couldn't keep up with the two of them, she'd start trying harder. Besides, how could you expect a girl from an ordinary family to match the pace of the top two powerhouses on the leaderboard? That would be like forcing someone into an impossible situation.

Naruto's fondness for Sasuke stemmed partly from the original story and partly because Sasuke, like him, was alone. There were plenty of things they could talk about without worrying about leaks. In Konoha, Naruto trusted only Sasuke completely—though he still knew which topics were safe to discuss and which weren't.

Even Hinata might accidentally spill secrets under pressure from her family, but Sasuke was different. Like Naruto, he had no one else to confide in.

By ten o'clock, Naruto stopped training and began recovering his stamina, preparing for the upcoming battle.

At 11:05, Kakashi finally appeared.

"Good morning, everyone," the perpetually lazy jonin greeted them with his dead-fish eyes.

The three ignored him, creating an awkward atmosphere…

"A black cat blocked my path earlier, so…" Kakashi offered with a sheepish smile.

[So what did you do to the poor cat?] Naruto quipped internally.

The trio glared at him suspiciously. Clearing his throat twice, Kakashi produced an alarm clock and said, "I've set the timer for noon."

He pressed the button on the clock, then held up two bells. "Your objective is simple: take these two bells from me before the alarm goes off. Whoever doesn't get a bell won't eat lunch."

"Why are there only two bells?" Sakura asked innocently.

[Good question—I thought none of you would speak.] Kakashi continued, "Because only two people can pass. The one who fails will be sent back to the academy."

"You're allowed to use weapons, by the way. If you don't come at me with the intent to kill, you won't stand a chance," Kakashi joked lightly, though his tone made everyone want to punch him.

At that moment, Kakashi noticed the expressions of the two boys shift.

Naruto intended to test his limits against Kakashi.

And so did Sasuke.

[They've got determination, these two brats.] Kakashi thought to himself.

"Alright, when I say 'start,' we begin." Kakashi extended his hand, ready to signal the start of the battle.

Before he could even lower his hand, Naruto and Sasuke whipped out shuriken and kunai, throwing them all in front of Sakura.

This was part of their pre-planned strategy. Knowing full well they couldn't defeat Kakashi outright, Naruto decided to maximize their combined abilities.

Naruto would lead the offense, Sasuke would support, and as for Sakura… Well, Naruto had racked his brain trying to figure out what role she could play. In the end, he simply told her to toss weapons randomly as long as she didn't aim at either of them.

There was no other choice. While Sakura excelled in theory, her practical combat skills were virtually nonexistent as a fresh graduate. Her genjutsu, ninjutsu, and taijutsu were all subpar. Even setting traps wouldn't work—if a rookie like Sakura could create a trap that fooled Kakashi, it would mean he'd grown up in a pigsty instead of becoming a seasoned veteran who joined ANBU at such a young age.

Naruto and Sasuke's plan was straightforward: deplete Kakashi's stamina and chakra by exploiting their strengths where he was weakest. Everyone knew the principle of attacking an opponent's weak points with your own advantages.

Naruto planned to wear Kakashi down using his immense stamina and chakra reserves. After all, Kakashi may have been a genius, but Naruto was essentially a walking chakra battery.

Seeing the two boys standing side by side, exuding intense fighting spirit, along with the pile of weapons in front of Sakura, Kakashi quickly grasped their tactic: two attackers and one support. However, he didn't realize their true intention was to exhaust him.

Both Naruto (158 cm) and Sasuke (157 cm) were taller than their counterparts in the original timeline due to better nutrition and training. As they stood there, they radiated a surprising amount of presence.

"Very well, let's begin!" Kakashi dropped his hand, signaling the start of the battle.

Naruto pushed off forcefully with his left foot, shattering the ground beneath him as he shot forward like an arrow released from a bow.

Sasuke followed suit almost instantly, their movements nearly synchronized.

[Damn, they're fast!] Kakashi was taken aback. These kids were faster than he had been at their age.

After all, they were both "cheat-tier" prodigies.

Naruto led the charge, launching a side kick at Kakashi.

Kakashi blocked it with his arm, stumbling back two steps. [What a heavy roundhouse kick!] This reminded him of sparring sessions with Guy.

Of course, a leg trained under 600 pounds of weight would pack quite a punch.

But Naruto wasn't done yet. He retracted his leg, crouched low, and aimed a strike at Kakashi's lower body.

From behind, Sasuke leaped into the air, aiming a kick at Kakashi's head.

Their attacks flowed seamlessly, honed through countless hours of practice.

Kakashi retreated another step, dodging Naruto's leg sweep while extending his left hand to grab Sasuke's incoming kick.

Sasuke twisted his body, whipping his other leg toward Kakashi like a lash.

Naruto rose to his feet, aiming a kick at Kakashi's waist, attempting to cut off his "happiness."

Kakashi grabbed Sasuke's second leg with his free hand while raising his knee to block the blow. Tilting his head slightly backward, he dodged a kunai thrown by Sakura. Sasuke caught the kunai mid-air and slashed at Kakashi's face, but missed.

Naruto reached up, grabbing Sasuke's arm and pulling him out of Kakashi's grip, tossing him backward.

Then he resumed his assault on Kakashi.

Suddenly, Naruto ducked, narrowly avoiding a roaring fireball that whizzed past him.

Realizing he couldn't dodge, Kakashi rapidly formed hand seals. Even at such close range, Naruto couldn't see them clearly. "Earth Style: Earth Wall!"

A wall of earth rose to block the fireball, signaling the end of this initial wave of probing attacks.

Throughout the entire exchange, Sakura remained in a state of shock. Aside from tossing a single kunai during their fixed positions, she barely registered anything happening.

Naruto stood up, and Sasuke walked over to join him. Together, they stared at the earthen wall.

Having trained together for years, the two knew each other inside out. When Naruto tossed Sasuke into the air, he already knew what Sasuke intended to do—and Sasuke knew Naruto understood.

Based on Sasuke's seal-forming speed, Naruto estimated the timing and ducked, resulting in their perfectly synchronized counterattack moments ago.

Kakashi dispelled the earth wall, unscathed, and applauded. "I'm starting to admire you three."

Their previous attack had been flawless—perfect coordination. Naruto targeted the lower body, Sasuke the upper body, and Sakura contributed with her kunai and fireball.

But alas… it had all been neutralized.

"Kakashi-senpai is truly strong," Naruto remarked. Their perfect teamwork had been effortlessly countered.

Indeed, he was an elite.

"So…" Naruto rolled up his pant leg and removed his weighted ankle weights, slamming them onto the ground with a thunderous boom.

Sasuke activated his Sharingan, four tomoe appearing in each eye.

[These two brats…] Kakashi glanced at the craters left by Naruto's weights and then at Sasuke's eyes.

Lifting his forehead protector, Kakashi revealed his own three-tomoe Sharingan. He couldn't afford to underestimate them anymore. Judging by those weights, Naruto would undoubtedly be much faster now, and Sasuke's Sharingan would enhance him in various ways. If this dragged on any longer, Kakashi would lose.

"How do you have the Sharingan?!" Sasuke blurted out, momentarily halting his Lightning Activation technique.

"Oh, this? It was a gift from a good friend," Kakashi replied, touching the corner of his eye.

"Sasuke, we'll talk about it later!" Naruto shouted. Kakashi was playing mind games again, and frankly, it felt a bit despicable. Wasn't this bullying children?

The battle resumed in full force.

Naruto pushed his speed to the absolute limit, moving so fast that even he struggled to track his movements. Fortunately, his body's reflexes were inherited from the Fourth Hokage.

Sasuke unleashed a torrent of chakra, activating his Lightning-enhanced cells. Though not as fast as Naruto, he could still see clearly. However, his control over the technique wasn't perfected yet, causing excess chakra to leak out.

[This speed… it's insane!] Kakashi sidestepped, narrowly avoiding Naruto's grab for the bells. Naruto was deliberately misleading Kakashi, making him think their goal was to snatch the bells. But in truth, neither of them cared about the bells—they just wanted to fight.

Dodging Naruto's hand, Kakashi seized his wrist and yanked him backward. Naruto stumbled, nearly falling—but Sasuke, grabbing hold of his leg, pulled him back upright. Using the momentum, Naruto launched another attack at Kakashi.

Seizing the opportunity, Sakura hurled a kunai. Even if her timing was off, it would at least distract Kakashi.

Ten minutes later, Kakashi was breathing heavily. Sasuke's Lightning Activation had drained too much chakra, leaving him gasping for air. Meanwhile, Naruto showed no signs of fatigue whatsoever.

It couldn't be helped—his body was simply monstrous.

Spotting an opening, Naruto created five Shadow Clones to briefly restrain Kakashi. Extending his arm, he transferred chakra to Sasuke.

Three seconds later, the clones dispersed. Just as Kakashi prepared to charge at them, a barrage of shuriken and kunai blocked his path.

Sakura watched as Kakashi decimated the remaining clones. With only one kunai left for self-defense, she hoped her weapons would buy some time.

Naruto charged forward once more, while Sasuke adjusted his breathing.

Seven seconds later, his chakra restored, Sasuke rejoined the fray.

The ten-second window for replenishing chakra left Kakashi with almost no time to recover.

Wave after wave of relentless attacks gave Kakashi no breathing room.

As the clock approached noon, Kakashi caught a kunai thrown by Sakura and deflected it back at her.

Naruto and Sasuke each kicked a stone. Naruto's missed, but Sasuke's hit its mark. Such precision-based attacks relied heavily on luck for him.

The alarm rang.

Kakashi looked at the three students—the kunai Sakura had thrown for self-defense, and the defensive stances Naruto and Sasuke had adopted after kicking stones.

Chuckling, he declared, "All of you pass!"

Everyone understood the outcome. The moment they shifted from offense to defense, the battle was effectively over—even though Kakashi hadn't used his full strength.

Naruto didn't know what Sasuke thought, but personally, he viewed this as preparation for the future. After all, Sakura would someday become the mother of Sarada—a girl Naruto quite liked.

At twelve years old, Naruto was already planning for the future.

Kakashi, still catching his breath, reflected on the fact that these three would now officially be his team. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined becoming a squad leader.

Glancing one last time at Naruto, whose only sign of exertion was slight panting, Kakashi felt a pang of frustration.

[What the hell is this guy…?!]