Chapter 15: The Bell Test
Looking at the pitiful, teary-eyed Haruno Sakura, a flash of disgust crossed Naruto's eyes.
"You can hit me whenever you want, curse at me whenever you want, but the moment I talk back or fight back, you act all wronged?"
Although he didn't have the original Naruto's twelve years of memories, Sakura's arrogant and unrestrained attitude told him enough. As a transmigrator, he didn't need to guess what kind of terrible things she had done to the original Naruto.
Hearing his words, Sakura's face showed a brief moment of confusion.
Was I really going too far?
But… should Naruto hate me?Should he talk to me like that?
She wanted to argue, but Naruto had no interest in continuing the conversation. He had already walked away while she was still lost in thought.
...
The next morning at 4:30 AM, Naruto rubbed his sleepy eyes and climbed out of bed.
He knew Kakashi would be late today, but he had no intention of arriving late himself.
What if Kakashi was deliberately testing them and had actually arrived early?
Naruto didn't want to fail the test over something so trivial.
For the sake of a little money, he was willing to suffer a bit.
Fortunately, he had gone to bed early the night before, so he wasn't too tired.
After brushing his teeth and washing his face, he glanced at the instant ramen in the corner.
He hesitated for a moment but decided against making any.
He had freeloaded another meal at Konohamaru's house yesterday. Skipping one bowl of ramen wouldn't kill him.
"Yata Mirror!"
There wasn't much light in Konoha this early in the morning. The sun hadn't risen yet, and the villagers were still asleep.
But Naruto didn't need much light for long-distance movement — any reflective surface would do.
Glass windows, morning dew, even shiny roof tiles were enough.
A golden beam of light shot out from his house, and Naruto vanished instantly.
The moment he disappeared as light, Kakashi stepped out from behind the house.
"Golden Flash?"
"Did that kid inherit the Fourth Hokage's technique?"
"That speed is going to be troublesome…"
Kakashi scratched his head, already feeling a headache about the survival exercise a few hours from now.
If Naruto used that kind of power, it would be very difficult to protect the bells.
And it would be pretty embarrassing for a jonin instructor to be defeated by a Genin in one move.
Naruto had no idea that Kakashi had come to observe him secretly before dawn, nor did he know that Kakashi was already thinking of ways to counter his abilities.
Shortly after,
Naruto arrived at the training ground.
Sasuke and Sakura arrived almost at the same time.
"Good morning, everyone~"
Sakura walked over with half-closed eyes, looking like she was sleepwalking.
Sasuke and Naruto both looked energetic.
The two boys glanced at each other and, as if by silent agreement, neither responded to Sakura.
Faced with such cold treatment, Sakura woke up a lot more.
She looked at Sasuke, then at Naruto, opened her mouth but said nothing, and finally closed it with a sullen expression.
Talking to Sasuke got her ignored. Talking to Naruto got her snapped at.
She might as well stay quiet!
Time passed slowly.
The sky gradually changed from dark to a clear blue.
The sun was already high in the sky when Kakashi finally showed up, fashionably late.
"Yo, good morning everyone!" Kakashi greeted them with a squinty-eyed smile.
"You're way too late, Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura complained, pointing at him.
"Sorry, sorry. There was a black cat that crossed my path and blocked my way…"
"Who would believe such a lame excuse?!"
Sakura felt like Kakashi was treating them like idiots, but Kakashi was very good at playing dumb.
Seeing that they didn't buy it, he didn't bother explaining further. He simply took out an alarm clock and changed the subject.
Kakashi placed the alarm clock on top of a nearby wooden post and pressed the button.
"Your task today is to take these two bells from me before noon."
"Oh, right. Those who don't get a bell won't get any lunch."
"Not only that — you'll be tied to a post and forced to watch me eat my bento~"
"No way!"
Sakura's face collapsed in despair.
Sasuke looked equally resentful.
So that's why he told us not to eat breakfast!
That's too much!
Kakashi smiled, very satisfied with Sakura and Sasuke's reactions.
But when he looked at Naruto, he was slightly surprised.
Is there really nothing except pink-haired fangirls that can affect his emotions?
"Kakashi-sensei, why are there only two bells?" Sakura asked, holding up two fingers.
"Because at least one of you will have to be tied to the post."
Kakashi smiled with narrowed eyes. "And that person will fail the test and be disqualified."
"At least one of you — possibly all three — will be sent back to the academy for retraining."
Naruto didn't fully believe the part about being disqualified.
After all, their ninja records had already been filed by the Third Hokage. What was the point of recording them if they could just be disqualified?
Moreover, if Konoha only produced nine new ninjas every year, how could they possibly replace all the shinobi who died on missions?
Where did Konoha's ten-thousand-plus ninjas come from?
After thinking it over, Naruto concluded that Kakashi was mostly bluffing.
However, not everything he said was a lie.
If they failed, they might really be sent back to the academy, but they would likely still become ninjas the following year.
They would simply lose the opportunity to train under a jonin instructor.
After all, Konoha had a limited number of jonin. Not every Genin got the chance to learn under one for a year or more.
"You can use shuriken and kunai. Remember — you must come at me with the intent to kill, or you won't be able to take the bells," Kakashi said with a smile, looking at the nervous Sakura and Sasuke.
"But wouldn't that be dangerous?" Sakura asked innocently.
"Being a ninja is always dangerous. If you're not prepared to kill or be killed, you should go back to the academy right now."
Kakashi's words struck Sakura hard. "In real missions, enemy ninjas won't wait for you to be ready before they kill you. So you'd better steel your resolve now!"
Sakura's previously cheerful expression froze. A sense of grievance welled up inside her.
Why does nothing go right after graduation?
Sasuke, the class idol, ignores me.
The former simp Naruto doesn't like me anymore.
Even our jonin instructor seems to dislike me.
Kakashi didn't give Sakura time to process her emotions. After explaining all the rules, he immediately announced:
"The test begins now!"
Sasuke quickly found a hiding spot.
Sakura, despite her bad mood, was only half a beat slower before she also hid herself.
Only Naruto… remained completely still!
Sakura and Sasuke saw him standing there motionless and inwardly cursed him for being an idiot who didn't even know basic ninja knowledge.
Sakura was secretly delighted.
Once Naruto gets eliminated, Sasuke and I can each take one bell.
However, neither of them noticed the serious look in Kakashi's eyes.