บท 15: Chapter 15 Answers

"I haven't got the bell yet." Naruto muttered.

The three of them hid in a forest, using tall bushes as cover. The surroundings were silent, and Kakashi seemed to be waiting on that patch of grass for them.

"Kakashi-sensei is too strong. We are no match for him." Sakura sighed. The scene of Kakashi performing hand seals was still vivid in her mind.

'The speed at which he formed hand seals, almost leaving afterimages, was probably two hand seals per second, no, it should be three or four hand seals, right?'

"The speed at which he formed hand seals was so terrifying. It was simply not something a human could do."

Hearing this, Sasuke's face was full of solemnity, but Naruto remained calm. Kakashi's hand seal speed was of course fast, after all, the title of the Shinobi World's foremost master of Ninjutsu was not given without reason.

He was the first in Konoha, after Sandaime Hokage, to master all Chakra Nature Transformations and know thousands of Ninjutsu.

Although Kakashi is not as powerful as Sandaime, his genius was undeniably deserved.

"We have to cooperate, otherwise, we have no chance of winning." Sasuke said expressionlessly, "I'll handle the direct attacks, Sakura will create distractions, and Naruto will grab the bells."

"Wait, I..." Sakura was a little panicked, "I can't do it. My Genjutsu is not effective against Kakashi-sensei"

"This is our only chance." Sasuke said firmly.

"I…" Sakura lowered her head.

At this moment, Naruto patted Sakura on the shoulder and said comfortingly, "Sakura, we will buy you some time. You can use the opportunity to use Genjutsu on Kakashi-sensei. We'll leave our backs to you, so you have to believe in yourself."

After a moment's hesitation, Sakura gritted her teeth and nodded.

The World of Shinobi is cruel. If you could do it, you could, and if you couldn't, you couldn't. Naruto found that neither Sasuke nor Sakura had the same exaggerated personality as portrayed in the manga.

They are just normal people. Sakura wasn't that obsessed, and Sasuke wasn't that aloof. They are top talents of their generation, and overall, their character was decent.

Perhaps it is also related to the powerful strength displayed by Naruto. In short, for the time being, the three had formed a positive pressure between them.

Coupled with Naruto's previous information sharing and the tacit cooperation just now, even though Team 7 hadn't officially formed yet, they already had a good rapport.

No grudges, no arrogance, only the belief in mutual cooperation.

Under the scorching sun, on the grassy field.

Kakashi leaned leisurely against a wooden post, his eyes scanning Icha-Icha Paradise. It seemed he was completely unguarded against everything around him.

A wind rustled through the forest, and Kakashi stopped flipping through the book. Two sharp sounds of wind from the jungle broke the silence of the grassland.

Shuriken flew at Kakashi from the sun's reflection, flashing rapidly twice, aimed directly at Kakashi, who is next to the wooden post.

Thud, thud.

The shuriken missed, embedding themselves deeply into the wooden post. Kakashi had already jumped away, and before his feet touched the ground, Sasuke suddenly charged out from his flank.

'Wasn't the one who threw the shuriken Sasuke?' Kakashi wondered silently in his heart.

It can't be helped that Kakashi thought so. After all, in the information given by Sandaime, Sasuke's shurikenjutsu was the best among these three, which made Kakashi subconsciously think that those shurikens just now were thrown by Sasuke.

'The throwing force is immense, so it can't be Sakura, which means, it must be Naruto.' Kakashi muttered, "He's unexpectedly good."

While Kakashi was still in the air, Sasuke quickly formed hand seals the moment he rushed out. Kakashi also noticed Sasuke's surprise attack and stared at Sasuke's hands.

"Snake seal? Fire Release?"

Snake - Ram - Monkey - Boar - Horse - Tiger, six hand seals formed rapidly, and the Great Fireball Technique was activated. The raging flames immediately spread toward Kakashi, forcing him to dodge again.

But as he moved, Kakashi suddenly realized something was off. Though he had evaded, his movements seemed much slower.

'Genjutsu?'

He didn't dispel it right away, but looked in one direction and saw Sakura struggling to maintain the Genjutsu hand seal.

Suddenly, Kakashi seemed to understand something. But before he could lower his head, two bell chimes rang in his ear.

There was a bang and white smoke filled the air. A gust of wind blew past as his vision blurred. And the next moment, Kakashi felt a sense of emptiness around his waist. When the smoke cleared, the bells were already in Naruto's hand.

The other two members of the team breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Naruto succeeded and slowly approached.

Seeing this, Kakashi also stopped.

Even though he had held back a lot during this test, the fact remained that the bells were in their hands.

"Congratulations, you have successfully snatched the bells." Kakashi said with a narrow-eyed smile, "By the way, you are the best coordinated team of graduating Genin I have ever seen."

Hearing this, all three of them smiled. Sakura was even more relieved, and her worried expression looked somewhat better.

But at the next second, Kakashi's tone changed sharply, becoming instantly serious.

"You only have two bells, so only two of you can pass, or maybe just one."

As soon as the words fell, Sasuke and Sakura's gazes instantly focused on Naruto, who was holding two bells.

"You can give one of the bells to someone else, or you can choose not to. Hmm, if you're trained alone, you'll probably learn more from me."

"I am a Jonin after all. And apart from the time I am on missions, I don't have much time left to teach my students."

"Teaching two is not as effective as teaching one, and it would also be much easier for me."

Kakashi's words immediately made Sakura and Sasuke, who had no bells in their hands, nervous. They anxiously looked at Naruto.

Kakashi's words were too tempting. Both Sasuke and Sakura knew that Naruto was the strongest among them.

If Naruto chose to keep both bells for himself, they couldn't really argue.

Even though they would have complaints, Sakura felt utterly hopeless. Her heart seemed to plunge into an icy abyss.

'There were only two bells, and even if Naruto was willing to give up one, he probably wouldn't give it to me. Who would need a companion who couldn't help at all?'

"How is it?" Kakashi asked Naruto with a smile in his eye, arms crossed as he looked at Naruto, "Have you decided?"

"There's no need to think about this." Naruto raised the bell in his hand.

Hearing this, Sasuke and Sakura's expressions froze. They wondered if it is going to be like this. After all, receiving one-on-one training from a Jonin would indeed allow for faster improvement.

The smile in Kakashi's eye grew even brighter, and he uncrossed his arms. Just as he was about to speak, Naruto spoke again, "I'm so strong now, so I don't need guidance at all!"

"What?" Sasuke was slightly stunned.

Sakura held her breath and looked at Naruto with disbelief.

As he spoke, Naruto tossed the two bells backward. The bells seemed to have eyes, as they fluttered like leaves and landing gently in Sasuke's and Sakura's hands.

"Jonin's guidance or something…" Naruto dug his ears and flashed a brilliant smile in the sunlight, "I don't need it at all!"