"Yata no Kagami!"
Naruto turned into light and moved away, returning to the forest's edge.
Inside the forest, the blocked view messed him up too much.
He didn't even know when Kakashi had trapped him in the illusion!
He really needed Observation Haki, Naruto thought to himself.
He glanced at the alarm clock sitting on a tree stump nearby. It was already 11:55.
That meant if no one grabbed the bells in five more minutes, they'd officially fail the test.
If he just waited here, nothing would change.
But if Kakashi didn't want to be found, then Naruto had no way to find him.
Kakashi, a veteran ninja, had just taught Naruto a lesson—what it meant to be an all-rounder and what it meant for a ninja to hide their presence.
"Don't tell me even a full-powered Glint-Glint Fruit can't handle one jonin?"
He didn't believe that the Yasakani no Magatama was the only way to deal with Kakashi.
Once awakened, the Glint-Glint Fruit had endless possibilities.
Right now, he was just stuck thinking in the same way Borsalino had used it. That's why he hadn't thought of anything new yet.
Naruto started thinking about other ways to use the Glint-Glint Fruit.
Light... what else could it do?
He played with the light in his hand and suddenly mumbled, "Light isn't just for lasers."
Then he shot a beam of light toward the surface of the lake.
The light bent and reflected in the air, forming a huge golden mirror—
Mirror of Distance!
This was a new skill Naruto had developed based on Yata no Kagami.
Using the mirror in the sky, he could see everything on the ground from above. The mirror reflected all the scenery below, and Naruto could instantly teleport to wherever the mirror was pointing.
"Now there's nowhere for you to hide, Kakashi!"
With the aerial view, Naruto quickly spotted Kakashi's hiding spot.
He was about ten meters behind him, up in a tree!
"Yata no Kagami!"
Naruto formed a Yata no Kagami in his hand, directing light toward the mirror in the sky and linking himself to it.
Then, using the beam of light as a tunnel, Naruto instantly appeared behind Kakashi and kicked him hard—only to find it was a shadow clone!
"Another shadow clone? But with your chakra levels, how many of those can you really make?" Naruto said flatly.
"Sky Mirror!"
Naruto activated the golden mirror in the sky and had it rotate again.
Within seconds, he found Kakashi's new location.
He quickly used Yata no Kagami again to open the light tunnel and teleport behind Kakashi, landing another powerful kick.
This time, Naruto had found the real Kakashi!
But since Kakashi had already received the memory from his clone, he had some idea of Naruto's new move. So the moment the mirror spotted him, he quickly used a substitution jutsu.
That's how he narrowly dodged Naruto's finishing blow. Still... he was just a little too slow.
Although he managed to escape, the bell at his waist got knocked off and landed on the ground.
Naruto picked it up, held it in his hand, and smiled at Kakashi in the distance. "Looks like I win, Kakashi."
A bitter smile flashed across Kakashi's face behind his mask, but he quickly smiled and said, "Congrats. You got the bell."
But he only said "congrats on getting the bell," not "congrats on passing the test." Clearly, there was more to his words.
Naruto understood Kakashi's hidden meaning, and the smile on his face faded. "Where are Sasuke and the others?"
Kakashi pointed toward a nearby bush.
"They both failed. One's asleep, the other can't move."
Naruto walked over, pulled back the bushes, and saw Sasuke buried in the dirt with just his head sticking out.
Sakura was passed out on the ground, her face still frozen in fear.
She must've been scared out of her mind.
A now-awake Sasuke looked at Naruto and couldn't help but ask, "Did you get the bell?"
If it were the old Naruto, Sasuke wouldn't have even bothered asking.
But now, Naruto's strength was unpredictable. He had to care.
Naruto held up the bell in one hand and used a laser beam with the other to open a hole in the dirt next to Sasuke.
"You idiots. I told you not to act alone." Naruto grabbed Sasuke and pulled him out.
Sasuke glanced at the bell in Naruto's hand with envy, then turned to leave without even saying thank you.
"Where are you going?"
"There's no time—I need to find Kakashi and take his bell!"
"Forget it. Time's already up."
Sasuke stopped in his tracks, shocked. "Time's up?"
"Yeah. I only got the bell in the last few minutes." Naruto said as he glanced at Sakura.
After hesitating for a moment, he walked over to wake her up.
*Smack smack!*
Two slaps landed on Sakura's face, and the pain brought her back to her senses.
"Ow!"
"Naruto? Sasuke?"
"What are you guys doing here? I remember... ow, why does my face hurt so much?"
Naruto didn't tell her he was the one who slapped her awake—otherwise, the crazy girl would definitely freak out again.
"The test's over. Let's go."
With that, Naruto ignored them and walked off alone toward the meeting spot.
Sakura was still confused. She looked at Sasuke and asked, "The test is over? What does that mean? Did we pass?"
Sasuke gave her a speechless look. Did she really not know her own level?
"We both failed. He's the only one who got the bell."
"No way…"
Sakura stared blankly at Naruto's back, finding it hard to believe.
Was this really the Naruto she knew?
"Hey... Sasuke, do you think it's possible this Naruto is fake? Maybe he's actually Kakashi-sensei in disguise?"
Sasuke frowned and looked at Naruto's back, clearly thinking about it.
Seeing him stay quiet, Sakura continued, "Come on, think about it—Naruto was always dead last in our class. How could he suddenly become so strong? Even Kakashi-sensei didn't dare fight him head-on!"
"So there's only one truth!"
"This Naruto has been Kakashi-sensei in disguise from the start, putting on a show for us!"
"..."
Sasuke couldn't figure out why Kakashi would do something like that, but it really was the only explanation that made sense for Naruto suddenly becoming so powerful.
And right away, Sakura came up with a reason to fill that gap.
"I think Kakashi-sensei did this to test our observation skills! As for Naruto, he probably got eliminated early because he was too weak!"
"And that also explains why there were only two bells!"
Sakura pointed to the sky as she spoke with confidence, and her tone actually convinced Sasuke.
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