Being a rogue ninja is worse than being Hokage.

Naruto's reaction was slightly better.

However, Kakashi felt that it was more accurate to describe Naruto's expression as one that he did not fully understand the current situation and therefore lacked a sense of crisis.

"I quite like your expressions right now. Now that you understand what I just said, then..."

Kakashi clipped the bell to his waist and said to the three of them—

—"The exercise begins!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Kakashi was left alone in the empty training ground.

Chapter 9 Exam Failure

Just as Kakashi had predicted, Naruto did not feel any sense of crisis regarding this exercise.

But the reason is not that they did not understand the current situation.

Naruto felt no sense of crisis precisely because he understood the true nature of this exercise.

"You three were surprisingly good at hiding them, I'll give you extra points!"

Kakashi said in a serious tone.

"But if we keep hiding, midnight might come sooner than expected."

Kakashi stood still, not moving. Although he said he would go all out, he had been holding back from the start.

If he's really determined to eliminate Naruto and his crew, he should just hide as well.

With his stealth skills, even guys who graduated from the Ninja Academy less than a week ago couldn't find him before noon, let alone go to great lengths to steal the bell after finding him.

"Um……"

They tried to provoke the three people by pressing them with time, but the three who were hiding still didn't make a move.

He was fairly composed.

Thinking this, Kakashi reached into the ninja tool pouch at his waist.

Sakura and Sasuke, who were hiding in the shadows, immediately focused their attention on Kakashi's movements, wary of what he was about to pull out.

"That...that is it!"

The moment Kakashi took his hand back out of his ninja tool bag, Sasuke activated his single-tomoe Sharingan and observed it closely.

"Is it a ninja tool? Or a ninjutsu scroll?"

Sakura was also wondering what methods Kakashi, a Jonin, would use to deal with the three of them.

Naruto yawned silently, showing no interest in the contents of Kakashi's ninja tool bag.

Just like the original...

A book suddenly appeared in Kakashi's hand.

The cover features a prominent sign prohibiting minors from reading, titled "Make-Out Paradise"!

Kakashi spread out "Icha Icha Paradise" with one hand.

And so I actually started reading.

It seems Kakashi doesn't take Naruto and the others seriously at all.

After about a minute, having finished reading the unfolded contents, Kakashi placed his other hand on the paper, ready to turn the page.

It's now!

Kakashi's hand movements were all observed by the Sharingan.

Sasuke seized the rare opportunity and launched several shuriken at high speed at Kakashi, all of which struck Kakashi's vital points.

The next moment, Kakashi, struck by the shuriken, turned into a log.

"The tactics are similar to those in the original work."

Having observed everything, Naruto made his own judgment and drew a conclusion.

Because the exercise has a clear time limit, if Kakashi deliberately exposes his weakness, he will definitely be "seized" by the opportunity.

Sasuke's judgment was correct; the longer the delay, the more disadvantageous it would be for the three of them.

Sasuke, as a genius, certainly has remarkable fighting talent, but combat experience cannot be compensated for by talent alone.

His opponent was Kakashi Hatake, who was also hailed as a genius, possessing both talent and experience in combat, and was already capable of standing alone.

Students fight against Jonin.

Actually, if you use your brain a little, you can figure out Kakashi's purpose for the test.

However, given the cruel nature of the ninja world, even the three members of Team 7 couldn't be sure that Kakashi's statement that "one of them must be eliminated" was entirely false.

Since Class 7 doesn't yet have any mutual ties, they simply can't give up their own interests to let the other two get the bell.

Naruto shifted his gaze from the log covered in kunai on the ground to Sakura, who leaped out of the bushes not far away.

Sasuke made a quick decision after the failed attack: to change his hiding place.

Sakura, fearing for Sasuke's safety and deeply worried about him, deliberately exposed herself to him.

After a moment's thought, Naruto, the only one who hadn't revealed his whereabouts, chose to follow Sakura.

He hid until noon, then shouted, "Rules are important, but partners are more important!"

This way, the exercise can be passed easily.

However, this behavior of hiding behind the scenes and not contributing is extremely inconsistent with the personality that Naruto has been pretending to have for the past two years.

"Sasuke, where are you?"

Sakura, frantically searching for Sasuke as she darted through the forest, was completely unaware that Naruto was following her at a close distance.

Suddenly, the leaves in the forest rose without any wind, enveloping Sakura.

Noticing Sakura's current condition, Naruto immediately rushed over!

"Danger! Sakura!"

Naruto shouted loudly to remind Sakura.

Before Sakura could react to Naruto's voice, Naruto knocked her out of the leaves.

Naruto, however, took her place and became surrounded by leaves.

The leaves that had suddenly fluttered down suddenly fell back to the ground.

Sakura noticed Naruto's dazed expression.

Sakura, who scored full marks in the theory section of the Ninja Academy, immediately realized that Naruto was under the influence of a genjutsu.

She rushed forward, ready to pull Naruto out of the genjutsu.

but……

"When a companion is under an illusion, it is correct to help them break free of the illusion as soon as possible, but you must also remember to be wary of enemies hiding in the shadows casting illusions."

Kakashi's voice suddenly came from behind Sakura.

Sakura turned her head in alarm to look behind her, and only managed to make out the outline of Kakashi's head before feeling a sharp pain on the side of her neck.

The next second, Sakura fainted.

Kakashi gently supported the unconscious Sakura with one hand and laid her flat on the ground.

He glanced again at Naruto, who was lying to the side, under the influence of a genjutsu.

"We're still missing one."

He formed the "release" hand seal, and smoke billowed from Kakashi's body.

The next moment, Kakashi's figure disappeared into the forest along with the smoke.

At the same time, it was only Kakashi's shadow clones that were dealing with Naruto and Sakura.

After confirming that Kakashi had dispelled the Shadow Clone Technique, Naruto, who should have been trapped in a hallucination, opened his eyes.

Naruto had previously condensed a small amount of Nine-Tails chakra within his body.

He was hit by Kakashi's genjutsu.

The Nine-Tails' chakra, which Naruto had been precisely controlling while he was conscious, suddenly dispersed, disrupting Naruto's chakra.

This allows Naruto to break the genjutsu on his own.

Standing up from the ground, Naruto glanced at the unconscious Sakura.

That's good; they saved their comrade and were able to participate in the exercise.

There's no need to shout "Don't underestimate our bond!" and get Naruto and the other two, who aren't cooperating at all, entangled with Kakashi, only to waste your own time.

Naruto's gaze was fixed on the exit of the forest.

Judging by the time, it will be almost noon by the time Kakashi finishes off Sasuke.

Let's "sleep" a little longer then.

Thinking this through, Naruto didn't rush to wake Sakura.

……

As soon as the alarm clock started ringing, Kakashi turned it off.

Instead of an alarm clock, the two bells around Kakashi's waist jingled crisply as they bumped against each other.

"All three of you are unqualified!"

Kakashi looked at the three people in front of him and announced the results of the exercise.

"Why don't you just stop going back to school? The three of you should just give up being ninjas and live your lives as ordinary people."

His tone was serious, filled with dissatisfaction and disappointment towards the three of them.

Sakura was the first to speak up in protest after being criticized so harshly by Kakashi:

"What... what do you mean by 'don't be a ninja'? We didn't manage to get the bell, but teacher... you don't have to criticize us so seriously, do you? After all, the three of us just graduated from the academy, we're no match for a Jonin at all..."