"Ahh~ Looks like that guy is late again..."
Naruto said this as he casually lay down on a rock, basking in the sunlight.
Sakura frowned, clearly annoyed, "Hey! You're the one who's late! Sasuke-kun and I have been here since before 5 a.m.! We haven't even had breakfast yet!"
Naruto laughed awkwardly. "Ahaha... it's not my fault! Even though he changed the meeting time to 8 a.m., he still hasn't shown up."
Sakura stopped scolding Naruto. "Well, that's true, but..."
Before Sakura could finish, Sasuke interrupted.
"He's here, and he's fast... get out of the way!"
Sasuke dropped his cool act and shouted to warn the other two.
"Huh? What's going on..."
Before the other two could figure it out, a flash of lightning streaked past them.
"Yo, your perception is pretty good."
The newcomer was Kakashi, who had just charged past them with his Raikiri.
Naruto wasn't fazed by the near-death experience. As soon as he caught his breath, he pointed at Kakashi and started yelling.
"Hey! Why'd you sneak attack us without warning? That's cheating! Cheating!"
Sasuke, realizing this was a test, knew that at that speed, Kakashi could have killed all three of them if he wanted to.
But he still snapped at Naruto.
"Idiot, as a Ninja you should always be alert for sneak attacks. That's basic."
"Hmm, well said. As expected of an Uchiha, though you're still a bit slower than Itachi at your age."
"Oh, don't get the wrong idea. I'm talking about Itachi when he was your age..."
"That doesn't seem to be right. In fact, by the time Itachi was your age, he had already joined the Anbu. He was way stronger than you are now. "
Kakashi's seemingly casual praise was laced with subtle mockery, which infuriated Sasuke.
As a Ninja, Sasuke was all too familiar with this kind of psychological warfare.
If a few words could throw the enemy off balance, it was a bargain!
"You bastard! Don't mention that man in front of me! I'll kill you!"
Sasuke, who had been trying to maintain his cool demeanor, suddenly looked furious. The killing intent in his eyes was unmistakable.
'How is this possible? It's peacetime, and he hasn't even become a Ninja yet. When would he have had the chance to kill someone?'
Then Kakashi remembered the Uchiha Massacre, 'Right, this kid was the last of the Uchiha Clan.'
Kakashi didn't know the full details of that night, but he knew that with Itachi's abilities, there was no way he could have wiped out the entire Uchiha Clan alone.
After all, the Uchiha Clan had many skilled Ninja, and in terms of overall strength, they were among the best in the Land of Fire... and possibly the entire Ninja World.
In a one-on-one fight, it was almost impossible to defeat an Uchiha of the same level.
Not to mention that Itachi was only thirteen years old at the time. There was no way he could have taken on the entire clan by himself…
But Kakashi didn't have the clearance to know the full story at the moment.
---
"Sasuke-kun, don't lose your temper! This is his way of provoking you! Stay calm!"
Sakura quickly tried to calm Sasuke down. As a girl, she often noticed the smaller details and could tell something was off with Sasuke.
However, Naruto was egging him on.
"That's right! Let's teach this late guy a lesson!"
Seeing her two teammates charging forward, Sakura was at a loss for what to do.
She had no choice but to grab a kunai from her Ninja Pouch and follow them.
Kakashi, watching the three of them blindly rushing at him, quickly deactivated his Raikiri. Even though the effects of the soldier pill were still active, and his Chakra was at its peak after using the Raikiri, he was still worried they might do something reckless like running straight at his Raikiri.
---
The three of them surrounded Kakashi from the left, right, and front.
Sasuke was the first to charge, launching shuriken at Kakashi as he closed the distance.
Sakura, who wasn't far from Kakashi to begin with, was now about the same distance as Sasuke, though she wasn't as fast.
As for Naruto, he immediately used his signature move, Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!
Kakashi turned his head and looked at the multiple shadow clones created by Naruto on the right with a look of surprise on his face.
'Even though I had seen it in the game, the sheer number and quality of the clones... truly, the Uzumaki Clan was something else.'
After casually dodging a few shuriken from the left, Kakashi waited for them to close in.
The shuriken Kakashi dodged had undoubtedly been thrown by Sasuke, who was on his left.
Meanwhile, Naruto, on the right, was having a rough time.
The clones at the front were being popped one after another, and a couple of shuriken, thrown with enough force, pierced through two or three clones without stopping.
"Hey! Are you on their side?! How can you attack your own teammate?!"
Naruto shouted, clearly unhappy with Sasuke's disregard for his teammates.
Sasuke, as arrogant as ever, replied, "Shut up, dead last. Get out of the way and don't interfere."
"You're the worst! After I deal with this late, masked guy, I'm coming for you!"
Seeing her two teammates bickering again, Sakura panicked but quickly steadied herself.
"Sasuke-kun, let me help you..."
---
Kakashi calmly observed the situation. To him, these three kids, who weren't even proper Ninja yet, were barely playing house.
'It seems like each of them has their own quirks...'
Kakashi thought to himself.
'Sasuke's Shurikenjutsu was impressive for a Genin… typical of an Uchiha.'
'Naruto's Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu is also very impressive. The fact that a Genin could use this Jutsu was already a miracle... typical of an Uzumaki.'
'As for Sakura...'
Kakashi watched as she charged at him.
He sidestepped to dodge Sasuke's thrust, took a step forward, and snatched the kunai from Sakura's hand. Without hesitation, he threw it toward the spot where Sasuke had landed after his failed attack.
The kunai perfectly intercepted the one Sasuke had thrown at Kakashi.
"Huh?"
"How… is this possible?"
The three of them were stunned. To them, this seemed like something out of a cheat code.
Then, taking advantage of Sakura's unstable footing after losing her kunai, Kakashi quickly reached into her Ninja Pouch.
He immediately felt something soft and paper-like inside.
'Just as I thought…'