I get half of both Naruto and Marvel Chapter 26 26: 26

Okay, maybe Gojo did have his own losses too..

The next day, the last class in the Academy took place. Iruka was in a bit of bandages, and only Rei and Naruto knew why he was all banged up, but none of the students bothered to ask. Being in bandages was a part and parcel of life here.

Especially for veterans. They would follow the sa route too. Iruka went on to explain how they would be assigned to three individual teams with their sensei, but of course he also ntioned how Naruto, Sasuke, Rei and Sakura were an exception.

Though this ti Naruto didn't end up kissing Sasuke which saved him future embarrassnts in front of the tailed beasts, but that didn't an Naruto liked it one bit that Sasuke was on the team.

They got into an intense staring session. Rei watching this could only sigh and think "the force of Asura/Indra was strong with these ones."

But that could be looked into later, as later that day Kakashi finally showed up. Of course, Naruto being the prankster that he was, decided to keep a duster on the top of the door and as expected it fell on the head of Kakashi as he ca in.

Naruto ended up laughing, Sakura asked for forgiveness but internally she was beyond elated and Sasuke wasn't sure of this guy, but Rei knew. He just gave a small smile.

Kakashi wasn't impressed and directly told them that he kind of hated them, and Naruto in return could only say that he didn't like him either. Rei wanted to say that this man was beyond legendary, but as silence is golden, and Rei loved gold ingots.

Soon they found themselves outside and Kakashi asked the classic question of what their dreams, hobbies and aspirations were.

The other three didn't veer off from the main course, while Rei replied.

"I want to survive and protect the people I love and care about, and be happy by the end of my choices with minimal regret. Oh yes, I want to die old."

The words of Rei seed boring to the trio as they thought this man didn't have any grand aspirations but Kakashi saw sothing else. How many had said that they had grand aspirations? And how many survived till the end?

Even Kakashi himself didn't know what his future was. He just wanted to live in peace and Rei sohow mirrored his own thoughts. Kakashi looked at the boy differently afterward.

Not because the answer itself was grand. Quite the opposite actually. It was too grounded.

Children usually dread loudly. Rei instead spoke like soone who already understood that survival itself wasn't guaranteed in this life.

Still, Kakashi didn't comnt on it outwardly. Instead he simply closed his orange book lazily afterward while looking across Team 7 and dished out the first instruction.

The next day, Team 7 finally arrived at the training grounds. Or more specifically, Naruto arrived loudly, Sakura arrived nervously, Sasuke arrived silently and Rei arrived one hour late. He had known enough of Kakashi to know what he would do, so why bother working yourself hard?

"Yo." Kakashi lazily waved while appearing near the training post. "You're all early."

Naruto imdiately exploded.

"YOU'RE THREE HOURS LATE!"

Kakashi scratched his cheek lazily afterward.

"A black cat crossed my path. Then I helped an old lady..."

"…That's not even believable," Sakura muttered.

Only Rei knew. This man had Obito's shadow all over him. Still, eventually Kakashi tied the three bells around his waist and explained the rules. Instead of two it was three, since he needed one to be out.

"Whoever takes the bells passes."

"…And the others?" Sasuke asked quietly.

Kakashi's visible eye curved slightly.

"They return to the Academy."

Naruto imdiately looked horrified. Then after a few more explanations, Kakashi finally smiled lazily afterward.

"Begin."

And instantly... Chaos.

Naruto charged first obviously because Naruto's entire existence revolved around charging first and regretting it later. Sakura imdiately moved separately toward hiding positions while Sasuke vanished silently into the trees. Rei quietly watched all three disappear in different directions afterward before sighing internally.

Ah yes.

Children. Designed to supplant them.. Sorry wrong universe.

And then instead of moving imdiately, Rei simply sat down on one of the nearby logs. Kakashi, who was pretending to casually read his orange book, visibly paused slightly seeing that.

"…You're not attacking?"

"No point," Rei replied calmly.

That answer imdiately made Kakashi glance toward him properly now.

"What do you an?"

Rei shrugged lightly.

"We already failed."

Not long afterward Naruto suddenly reappeared from the bushes nearby looking confused hearing that.

"Hey, white head, what do you an we failed?" Naruto was angry now. He didn't even get to try. He demanded an answer from Rei too, since he blurted that out.

"It was supposed to be a team exercise, not who is cooler and who is louder. You three think we can take down a jonin, that too individually against a world-class jonin? Soone who is legendary and feared across nations? This man here was one of the heroes of the Third Great Ninja War, and you three think we can take him?" Rei spoke all of this in one breath.

"You researched about ?" Kakashi was slightly amused being complinted in such a way.

"I read history, because as they say, those who don't know about history are dood to repeat it."

"Hey.. hey.. What is a Third Great Ninja War?" Naruto had different questions while Sakura and Sasuke were dumbstruck hearing that from Rei. They thought that this man was just another jonin. They never expected him to be a legendary figure.

And also felt ashad that both of them did no such research. Their initial impression of this fish-eyed man was so low, that they didn't even bother. But Rei had gathered information. It also made Sasuke a bit irritated. If this guy was so aweso why didn't he show himself in that way and instead acted like a dead man?

Was it cool to act like a bottom feeder?

anwhile, Rei gave a brief explanation of what the Great Ninja Wars were. And Naruto was flabbergasted and then looked at Kakashi. He now had awe written all over his face. Sasuke anwhile asked.

"Why didn't you inform us before?"

"Because shinobi are supposed to gather information," Kakashi replied lazily. "While he is right that it's a team mission, that doesn't an each one of you won't do your part. Rei did, but you three didn't think of anything and just charged. Just on this alone I should fail you three and make only Rei pass."

"Hey.. Hey.. No.. We didn't even start the assault.. Give us a chance.. We will show you proper team tactics." Sakura was terrified now. She thought she was better than Rei since her combat scores were better, she didn't expect that she was just like another Naruto.

That was an insult. Academy scores ant nothing here.

"Yes.. Yes.. Sakura-chan is right. Give us a chance."

Kakashi sighed. He wanted to do the classic scene of tying maybe Sakura or Naruto to the post and then make them pass but it seed having a fourth person ca with changes. That was fine too. It ant he didn't have to waste more ti here.

"Fine, let see if you can take my bells. The one who fails is the one who is expelled."

"Alright," Naruto cracked his knuckles dramatically afterward. "Now we beat him together!"

"…Please don't shout our strategy out loud," Rei sighed tiredly.

And then the actual teamwork started. Or at least… attempted teamwork.

Naruto used shadow clones recklessly to create openings while Sakura supported through distraction attempts. Sasuke coordinated surprisingly well once he accepted the logic behind teamwork itself.

And Rei? Rei quietly handled battlefield control instead.

Hand signs ford quickly afterward.

"Earth Release: Mud Wall."

The ground rose suddenly near Kakashi's blind side, forcing the jonin to shift movent unexpectedly while Sasuke imdiately launched kunai toward the opening.

Kakashi's visible eye widened slightly afterward.

Earth Release? That definitely wasn't inside the Academy reports. Still, before he could fully process it, Rei ford another sequence quickly.

"Earth Release: Headhunter Technique."

The ground beneath Kakashi suddenly shifted. Not enough to fully trap him obviously because this was Kakashi. But enough to disrupt his positioning briefly.

Naruto imdiately scread triumphantly afterward.

"WE GOT HIM!"

"…No we didn't," Rei replied instantly.

And sure enough, Kakashi vanished in a blur imdiately afterward.

Substitution.

The jonin reappeared several ters away while looking genuinely more interested now. Still… despite the teamwork improving considerably afterward, the result itself never truly changed.

Because at the end of the day, Kakashi Hatake was still Kakashi Hatake.

And Team 7 were still fresh graduates. No matter how coordinated they beca, Kakashi ultimately controlled the pace of the battle completely.

Naruto got tied up eventually. Sakura got genjutsu trapped. Sasuke exhausted himself trying to pressure Kakashi directly.

And Rei?

Rei quietly realized sothing halfway through the battle. Even if he revealed more… they still probably wouldn't win.

So eventually, when the tir finally rang out across the training ground, Team 7 ultimately failed anyway.

They couldn't get any of the bells.