But the anger quickly faded, and Sasuke noticed something strange about Kakashi's eye...
A blood-red pupil with black patterns swirling within.
'That's...' Sasuke's panic and confusion were instantly replaced by overwhelming fear.
He had seen eyes like these before... on that night.
Sasuke was so terrified he nearly stopped breathing. But then, Naruto suddenly lunged for the bell.
Kakashi didn't turn around. Instead, he used his right hand, still charged with the Raikiri, to strike again, or perhaps he had never deactivated it, as he hadn't had time to form hand seals.
The sharp Raikiri effortlessly sliced through the clone, which disappeared with a poof.
Clearly, it had been a shadow clone.
"Hehe... you fell for it!"
Naruto laughed brightly.
To Sasuke, that laughter sounded like a blessing from heaven, pulling him slightly out of his fear.
Naruto's real body swung a punch at Kakashi from behind.
Kakashi, unable to keep holding Sasuke, flung him aside with his left hand and sidestepped to dodge Naruto's sneak attack.
Out of the corner of his eye, Kakashi noticed another Naruto's clone approaching the second bell...
Kakashi couldn't help but feel impressed.
'Truly... clever. Just like you, Minato-sensei.'
However, after dodging Naruto's punch, Kakashi found himself behind Naruto.
He formed the Tiger seal with his hands, raising only his index and middle fingers, and said to Naruto's back, "A Ninja should never leave their back exposed, idiot."
Sakura, who was watching from the side, quickly realized what was happening.
'That hand seal... the Tiger seal?! How is that possible? Isn't it too much to use such advanced Ninjutsu against Naruto?'
Meanwhile, Sasuke, who had been thrown aside, gasped for air. Though his body was still numb from fear, he could still see what was happening.
'That hand seal... it looked like a Fire Release Ninjutsu!'
With a burst of strength he didn't know he had, Sasuke shouted, "Naruto, run! Or you'll die!"
He wasn't sure why he had the strength to shout, or why he even cared...
Maybe it was Kakashi's ruthless efficiency, or maybe... the memory of those eyes from that night.
Sakura was panicked. She really wanted to help, to push Kakashi away and save Naruto.
But it was too late...
Kakashi activated his ultimate technique and said, "Ultimate Secret Finger Technique of Konoha: One Thousand Years of Death!!!"
"Aaaahhhh!!!!!"
"Huh?"
"Uh…"
Sakura, who was closest to the 'crime scene,' immediately stood frozen, staring in disbelief at the bizarre scene.
Sasuke, whose body was still aching, was equally stunned.
'One moment, this man had nearly killed me, and now he was playing a childish prank on Naruto?'
"Damn it..."
Naruto, flung backward, landed in an awkward position, clutching his backside. The clone near the other bell also dispelled...
He didn't seem seriously injured, but...
The combination of physical and emotional trauma was too much, even for someone as resilient as Naruto.
Kakashi pulled out his phone again and casually said, "You have three minutes to recover. Then we continue."
The three of them fell silent. Just moments ago, they had been fighting each other...
But it was clear that none of them could get the bell on their own.
Sasuke, feeling a bit embarrassed, spoke up.
"Sorry... I attacked you guys to get the bell."
"I shouldn't have used my clones to interfere. My bad..."
Naruto also apologized, though the lingering pain forced him to keep one hand covering his backside.
Even though it didn't help much, he was terrified of suffering a second blow.
Sakura opened her mouth to speak but realized she was the only one who had been attacked by both of them...
At this moment, a flash of anger crossed her face, and for once, she didn't defend Sasuke.
"It's both of your faults... but anyway, if we want to get the bells, at least one of us needs to distract sensei."
This tactic was very simple, and they had all thought of it. But who would distract Kakashi?
The three of them fell silent again.
However, the three-minute break wouldn't last long. At this time, Sakura sighed and said, "I'll distract him…"
"Although I'm not the strongest, but if I can buy some time, the two of you can split up. At least one of us can get a bell."
"Moreover, right now, I'm in the best condition out of the three of us."
Sakura's reasoning wasn't wrong. But it wasn't that she was being selfless... it was more of a desperate move.
Whether it was Sasuke or the 'dead last' Naruto, Sakura had clearly seen the gap between herself and them.
She didn't have Sasuke's skill with shuriken or Naruto's powerful clone jutsu.
She was just a girl from an ordinary family, with slightly better grades on exams...
Sakura wasn't sure why she had made this decision. Her mind felt blank, and the words had just come out.
Maybe she really wanted to be someone who sacrificed herself for others, or maybe... after witnessing the brutality of a Ninja Battle, fear had taken hold.
Hearing Sakura say this, Naruto and Sasuke felt even more guilty.
Naruto, ignoring the pain in his backside, stood up and shouted, "No way! If anyone's going to be the decoy, it should be me! After all... I'm the dead last of the class!"
Sasuke and Sakura, sitting on the ground, looked up at Naruto, his determined expression illuminated by the sunlight... They had never seen Naruto look so serious before.
"Tch... you idiots just wanted to show-off. I don't trust either of you to handle this. I'll be the one to distract him."
"Remember, even though I'll keep him busy, if you don't give it your all to get the bells, I might just take them myself…"
Sasuke also stood up. His injuries weren't severe, mostly just the pain from being thrown to the ground.
But more than that, his wrist hurt the most.
"Hey! You jerk! Who do you think you're looking down on? I'll deal with you later!"
Naruto had somehow rejuvenated from who knows when and started shouting again as soon as Sasuke questioned his abilities.
Sasuke ignored him and said without looking back, "I'm going. Follow me…"