Because of Kakashi's seemingly casual yet genuinely threatening words, the three returned ho carrying very different thoughts.
That night—
So people stayed awake the entire ti.
So quietly conserved their energy.
And so continued training in silence.
As dawn finally broke and the first rays of sunlight illuminated Konoha at five in the morning—
The new Team Seven had already fully assembled at the agreed location.
Compared to the ordinary public training grounds used by Konoha shinobi, the training field Kakashi selected was vastly larger.
The mont Naruto arrived, all three instinctively realized this was a private field reserved for veteran Jōnin.
It was roughly the sa scale as the training ground Guy previously gave Naruto.
Most likely—
This place belonged personally to Kakashi.
"Naruto-kun…"
Hinata looked slightly worried.
"About the danger Kakashi-sensei ntioned yesterday…"
"Don't worry, Hinata!"
Naruto imdiately flashed a huge grin and gave her a thumbs-up.
"No matter what happens, I'll definitely protect you!"
Then he turned toward Sasuke beside them and showed the sa bright smile.
"You too, Sasuke!"
"Hmph."
Sasuke ignored Naruto's nonsense while calmly adjusting his ninja pouch.
"Worry about yourself."
"And stop copying Lee's behavior. It makes you look even dumber."
After speaking, Sasuke leaned against the tree behind him and closed his eyes calmly.
Hinata froze slightly.
But seeing Naruto's confidence today overflowing more than ever before, she eventually nodded and stopped worrying aloud.
Ti slowly passed.
The sun that originally barely revealed itself above the horizon gradually climbed higher and higher overhead, becoming increasingly scorching.
anwhile, Naruto—who originally looked eager and fully prepared—had completely relaxed after his patience wore down.
Finding a cool patch of shade beneath a tree, he sat directly on the ground.
One mont he yawned endlessly from lack of sleep.
The next, he casually used shuriken to target falling leaves from the branches above.
Thunk thunk thunk.
After the final three shuriken pierced six falling leaves almost simultaneously before embedding themselves into the tree trunk—
Naruto finally lost all patience and shouted toward the sky.
"TOO SLOW!!!!!"
"What exactly is that Kakashi-sensei doing?!"
Hearing Naruto's endless complaints, even Sasuke—who had been pretending not to care while resting quietly—couldn't help frowning.
This really was too slow.
Only Hinata remained as calm and well-behaved as always.
Quietly, she opened the enormous thermos container she brought with her.
"Naruto-kun… Sasuke-kun…"
"Why don't we eat sothing first?"
"This morning I was too nervous to sleep well, so I woke up early and prepared extra breakfast…"
"Ohhh! As expected of Hinata!"
Naruto's eyes imdiately lit up.
"Now that you ntion it, I realized I've been starving this whole ti!"
"That teacher made miss breakfast completely!"
anwhile, Sasuke silently walked over as well.
After all, during the long period Hinata cooked while training together with Naruto, Sasuke occasionally ended up eating her food too.
By now, freeloading als had basically beco instinctive.
Just as the three prepared to finally eat—
A voice suddenly rang out.
Perfectly tid.
And extrely late.
"Yo, everyone! Good morning!"
Kakashi appeared before them with a cheerful smile.
"'Good morning'?!"
Naruto imdiately exploded.
"It's almost noon already, you chronically late teacher!"
"Well, you see…"
Kakashi awkwardly scratched his cheek.
"I got lost on the road of life…"
"And then a black cat crossed my path…"
Seeing the deeply suspicious stares from the three Genin, Kakashi coughed lightly in embarrassnt.
"... Anyway, back to today's business."
"Your topic switch was way too forced, teacher."
Naruto's dissatisfaction practically covered his entire face.
Yet Kakashi—battle-hardened veteran that he was—completely ignored Naruto's accusations without even blinking.
"As I ntioned before…"
"I already understand your strengths fairly well."
"Your foundational abilities are excellent."
"But compared to those Academy-trained skills…"
Kakashi's visible eye gradually sharpened.
"What I truly care about…"
"Is how you perform in real combat."
Real combat.
The mont those words appeared—
Sasuke's expression changed instantly.
His eyes turned serious.
anwhile, Hinata remained quietly standing beside Naruto as always.
Yet even her gaze beca focused and determined.
These two possess even greater shinobi talent than I expected.
If things proceed smoothly, they may soon advance dramatically on the path of a ninja.
Kakashi silently observed all three.
Not a single trace of fear toward "real combat" appeared anywhere on their faces.
And that genuinely satisfied him.
Then—
Kakashi's gaze finally stopped upon Naruto Uzumaki.
The excitent displayed across Naruto's face perfectly demonstrated the boy's terrifying acting ability.
This brat…
Kakashi unconsciously recalled the previous night.
He specifically waited until Sasuke and Hinata left Naruto's apartnt before finally visiting him.
"The lesson I ntioned tomorrow at the training ground…"
"Is actually going to be a real combat exercise."
"Real combat?! That sounds aweso!"
Naruto beca instantly excited.
Yet Kakashi quickly interrupted him.
"But Naruto, you're different."
"During this exercise, your role won't be fighting."
"It'll be acting."
"Eh?"
"Your strength has already been acknowledged by nearly every Jōnin in the village, myself included."
Kakashi carefully studied Naruto for a mont before continuing.
"Even I don't really think there's any need to test your combat abilities anymore."
"But…"
Kakashi's voice lowered.
"Hinata and Sasuke are different."
"Although their strength is also excellent…"
"They still possess one fatal flaw."
"And for shinobi…"
"That flaw is extrely dangerous."
"A flaw?"
Naruto froze briefly before imdiately asking:
"What kind of flaw is that serious?"
"Dependence."
Kakashi looked directly at Naruto and spoke each word clearly.
"For them right now…"
"Relying on you has already beco sothing natural."
"They don't even realize it themselves."
"And have you ever considered this possibility?"
Kakashi leaned slightly against the windowsill while moonlight drifted into Naruto's apartnt.
"During future missions…"
"You may not actually be beside them."
At that mont, Naruto fell silent.
"And this…"
Kakashi quietly looked toward him.
"Is not sothing you can correct for them yourself."
"So tomorrow's combat exercise…"
Kakashi's visible eye narrowed.
"I need you…"
"To lose."
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