Chapter 16: Light vs. Copy Ninja
"Aren't you going to hide? Concealing your presence is a basic skill for any ninja," Kakashi said, looking at Naruto.
"If you don't have the strength, no matter how well you hide, it's still just a game of cat and mouse," Naruto replied calmly.
"Hmm…."
Kakashi thought for a moment, then nodded. "You're right."
He actually agreed!!!
Hidden in the bushes, both Sakura and Sasuke's eyes widened in shock.
They couldn't understand why Kakashi would agree with Naruto. Were all the things they learned at the academy wrong?
Or did Kakashi think Naruto was stronger than them?
But how was that possible? Naruto was just a dead last!
Seeing Kakashi's expression turn serious, Naruto guessed that he already had some information about his abilities.
Otherwise, Kakashi would never have agreed with him so easily.
But knowing about it didn't mean he could defend against it.
"Aren't you going to lift your forehead protector? If you don't go all out now, you might not get another chance later."
Naruto also wanted to see the strength of Kakashi with the Sharingan.
However, Kakashi didn't seem to have any intention of using it here.
"Ah, looks like you know quite a bit about me," Kakashi scratched his head, looking somewhat troubled. "But this is just an exercise. Using that wouldn't be appropriate."
"Not appropriate?"
"Yeah. I'm afraid I might accidentally kill you."
Kakashi's tone suddenly became serious. The oppressive aura of a jonin made Sakura and Sasuke, who were hiding nearby, tense up.
Naruto, however, remained completely unfazed.
"Is that supposed to be a bad joke?"
Naruto spoke indifferently and slightly raised his leg.
"Kakashi, have you ever been kicked at the speed of light?"
A flash of golden light shot forward. Kakashi didn't even have time to respond before Naruto's kick connected.
But Naruto felt that his leg hadn't struck flesh.
He looked closely and saw that the Kakashi he had kicked had turned into a wooden log.
"You used Substitution Jutsu in advance?"
Naruto didn't believe Kakashi could have used Substitution the instant he attacked.
Yet Kakashi had still dodged it. That meant he had predicted Naruto's move beforehand and reacted accordingly.
"Not bad reaction speed."
Naruto glanced at the shattered log and said calmly, "But can you dodge a second time?"
Kakashi couldn't predict the exact timing of every attack.
And Substitution Jutsu wasn't invincible.
At that moment, Kakashi stood on a tree branch not far from Naruto, his expression grave.
What Naruto had said earlier was correct.
If he hadn't secretly observed Naruto's abilities that morning and prepared in advance, that kick would have seriously injured him.
And if they fought head-on, it would be extremely difficult to dodge that kind of speed a second time.
Relying on battle experience and information advantage to predict attacks wouldn't always work.
Especially against attacks of this speed.
"Hmm… this is troublesome. Luckily, Naruto's reconnaissance ability and combat experience are still lacking. Otherwise, I wouldn't have any chance at all."
"Still… it's pretty embarrassing to be pushed this far by a Genin~"
While Kakashi was worrying about how to deal with Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke were once again stunned by his strength.
They couldn't believe that the dead-last Naruto had such terrifying speed.
And what was that strange golden technique?
Was this really Naruto?
"Kakashi, are you planning to keep hiding?"
Naruto's reconnaissance ability and combat experience were indeed weak. If Kakashi truly wanted to hide, it would be difficult for him to find him.
Of course, he had ways.
If he used Yasakani no Magatama to sweep the area, he could force Kakashi out even if he hid underground.
But… he couldn't use that move.
The power of Yasakani no Magatama was simply too great. He was afraid he might accidentally kill Kakashi and the others.
Turning the exercise into a funeral would be quite interesting — but not in a good way.
"Reconnaissance ability is also a basic skill for ninjas, isn't it?"
Kakashi's voice suddenly came from the direction of the river.
Naruto turned his head and saw Kakashi standing on the surface of the water.
"Trying to restrict me with water? Unfortunately, that won't work."
As he spoke, Naruto pointed a finger at Kakashi.
A laser beam shot out instantly!
Kakashi didn't even have time to react before a hole was pierced through the hem of his jacket.
Looking at the clean hole in his clothing, Kakashi's expression grew even more serious.
"Looks like I still underestimated you, Naruto."
With those words, Kakashi turned into smoke and disappeared.
It was clearly just a Shadow Clone, specifically sent to test Naruto's weaknesses.
"Tch!"
Naruto didn't like playing hide-and-seek.
If only I had max-level Observation Haki…
'Little Ai, when are you going to give me a task that rewards max-level Observation Haki?'
[Ding!] [Please complete the current task first~]
"..."
Asking was pointless.
But Little Ai's reminder brought Naruto back to reality.
The real goal of this test wasn't to defeat Kakashi or steal the bells — it was teamwork.
He walked toward the forest and called out, "Sakura, Sasuke, come out. Do you really want to play hide-and-seek with Kakashi and get picked off one by one?"
A few birds flew out of the forest, but no one emerged.
Given the situation, either Kakashi had already quietly dealt with them, or the two were being foolish and trying to be clever on their own.
With no other choice, Naruto ventured deeper into the forest to look for Kakashi or the other two.
Not long after entering the woods, a bloody figure suddenly appeared in front of him.
"Naruto… save… save me~"
"Sakura?"
Naruto raised an eyebrow.
Although he was quite pleased to see Sakura in such a miserable state, he knew this couldn't possibly be the real her.
There was no way Kakashi would beat Sakura this badly.
The person in front of him was either Kakashi himself or an illusion created by him.
And since Kakashi was extremely cautious, he wouldn't expose his real body before figuring out Naruto's weaknesses. So this was most likely not the real Kakashi.
In other words… he was under a genjutsu?
Naruto realized he still had quite a few weaknesses.
Weak reconnaissance, insufficient combat experience, inability to swim, and now genjutsu…
"Why does it feel like Kakashi came here specifically to find my flaws?"
Naruto muttered, then fired a laser beam that exploded near the fake Sakura.
Seeing that the "Sakura" didn't react at all to the explosion, Naruto confirmed he was indeed trapped in a genjutsu.
Unfortunately, he didn't have a good way to break out of it.
Genjutsu worked by disturbing the target's five senses and chakra flow.
The victim could disrupt their own chakra or injure themselves to break free.
Naruto didn't want to harm himself, and he had no idea how to mess with his own chakra flow.
He couldn't even control the chakra inside his body properly.
For the moment, he had no effective solution.