Seeing the excited smiles on the three little ones' faces, Sawara Kiri couldn't help but curve his lips.
The somewhat reserved emotional expressions of lords, in the end, couldn't touch the heart as much as the pure, joyful innocence of children.
After a short while, Sawara Kiri clapped his hands to signal for quiet and continued, "Generally speaking, before a Jonin accepts a squad, there should be an entrance exam, but since I'm not someone who likes to follow tradition, I won't bother with that extra step."
"In short, let's start with self-introductions."
"Name, age, what you're good at, what you like, and your dream."
"Hmm, let's start with this cute white-haired little student."
Hearing his tone, which sounded like he was coaxing a child, the Hatake student's face couldn't help but crumple, revealing a deadpan expression almost identical to his father's.
You, you come to eat with my dad every year, don't you?
However, the first lesson a Ninja learns is to obey the orders of their superiors. Therefore, even a willful person like Kakashi didn't refuse and began:
"Kakashi, twelve years old this year, good at Taijutsu and Ninjutsu, favorite food is salt-grilled saury."
"My dream is to become a Ninja even more amazing than my father!"
The boy's tone paused slightly, his gaze inadvertently glancing in Nohara Rin's direction. He saw her looking at him with sparkling eyes and inexplicably felt a little embarrassed saying such a dream.
So, as if wanting to explain something, he put his hands in his pockets and coolly said, "It's just that the dream is still very far away, and it will probably take some time to achieve."
Nohara Rin clapped lightly beside him and smiled, "After all, Sakumo-sensei is one of the few top-tier Jonin in the Village! It's already amazing just to catch up."
"Tch, at home he's just a rotten old man."
Kakashi turned his face away, his ears slightly red.
"Oh!"
"Sakumo-sensei will be sad if he hears that."
Sawara Kiri looked on, enjoying the show.
"Who cares about him." Kakashi pouted.
Obito's gaze swept over Rin and Kakashi several times, and he couldn't help but reveal a furious, gnashing-teeth expression.
As soon as Kakashi finished speaking, he immediately raised his hand and loudly and forcefully said, "My name is Uchiha Obito, I'm twelve years old this year, and I'm good at Ninjutsu! My favorite food is tempura, and helping old grandmas cross the street!"
"My dream is to defeat this arrogant guy and become Hokage!"
"That's not bad either!" Sawara Kiri nodded slightly, "Then you'll have to work hard from now on, Mr. Sixth Generation Hokage-in-training."
"Eh? Shouldn't it be the Fifth Generation after this?" Obito looked up at him in confusion.
Sawara Kiri said as a matter of course, "The Fifth Generation is my position, you're still far from it, kid."
That makes so much sense.
Uchiha Obito was stunned, as if he had suddenly grown a brain.
"Then the Sixth Generation is fine, right?"
"Pfft."
Kakashi scoffed from the side, squinting at him.
This overconfident guy.
"What are you doing! Do you want to fight, you bastard!" Student Obito flared up in anger.
"As if you've ever won against me in combat training." Kakashi still had his hands in his pockets, leisurely.
"Even if I can't win, I'll still punch you a couple of times and mess up your face, you hateful winner in life!"
Uchiha Obito let out a whimper like a defeated dog.
Sawara Kiri watched the scene before him with amusement.
Truth be told, only when he saw the changes appearing in these future 'protagonists' could he truly feel the changes he had brought to this world.
At least, Kakashi in this timeline shouldn't have to live a lonely life like in the original story, right?
The last to speak, of course, was the flower of the Hatake Squad.
"My name is Nohara Rin, twelve years old, good at Medical Ninjutsu and setting traps, my favorite food is strawberries, I dislike strongly simmered seafood, and my hobby is collecting seashells!"
The girl with purple bandages on both cheeks had her hands behind her back, frank and energetic, her smile exceptionally bright: "And my dream is to become a great Medical Ninja like Lady Tsunade! To save more lives!"
"And…"
Nohara Rin's peripheral vision glanced at Kakashi, and she gathered her courage: "I want to become a qualified bride!"
"Oh~!"
"Damn it!"
Sawara Kiri and Obito's voices came one after another.
Obito, who had been full of energy just moments ago, wanting to beat up Kakashi, now seemed to have turned completely gray, prostrate and unable to get up.
Clearly, he was not the groom in Rin's heart.
The Hatake student stood stiffly beside them, his gaze wandering aimlessly towards the sky, his whole body seeming a little uncomfortable, with a distinct sense of youthful awkwardness.
Noticing his appearance, Nohara Rin couldn't help but quietly withdraw her gaze.
But very quickly, she heard Kakashi whisper:
"Good luck."
Nohara Rin was startled at first, then suddenly looked up, her eyes seeming to re-ignite with light, and she nodded heavily:
"Mm!"
The grayness on Student Obito deepened even further.
"How pitiful, Student Obito."
Sawara Kiri patted his shoulder, sighing as he comforted him, "As compensation, and today's Ninja Academy graduation gift, here, it's for you."
Saying this, he placed a pair of goggles in his hand.
Student Obito, who was completely gray, was startled at first, then the mottled marks on his body quickly fell off, and he stood up again, excitedly saying:
"Really!?"
"Thank you, Sawara-sensei!"
"Try them on?" Sawara Kiri smiled and gestured.
Obito immediately removed his original goggles and put the new ones on his head.
He first felt them to be slightly heavy, and then he noticed that there was something different about these goggles. He pressed his fingertip on the strap at his temple.
"Ding."
Soon, on the surface of the goggles' lenses, figures faintly emitting fiery light were reflected.
"Oh!!!"
"Sawara-sensei, what is this?!"
Hearing this, Kakashi and Rin's gazes were also drawn to the gift, and they looked at him curiously.
"Not bad, right?"
Sawara Kiri smiled proudly, "These are newly developed single-unit radar glasses from the Research Department. They can detect all Chakra reactions within a thousand-meter radius, with a 360-degree field of vision without blind spots."
"They're still experimental products right now and haven't been widely deployed to units yet."
"Thank you so much, Sawara-sensei."
Student Obito clutched his hand tightly, tears almost welling up.
This was simply the best news he had heard all day.
"Lord Kiri, what about us?"
Perhaps because he was very familiar with him, Kakashi, looking as if it were a matter of course, pointed to himself and Rin.
"Of course you have them too."
Sawara Kiri's pocket seemed like a four-dimensional space, and he quickly took out a short sword and a belt.
"Scientific Ninja Tool: Red Fang, and a Chakra Storage Belt!"
"These are all new products, so cherish them well."
"Yes! x2"
Seeing that everyone had something, Student Obito's touched expression immediately stiffened, and he whispered, "Eh, I thought only I had one!"
"Favoritism is a teacher's dereliction of duty!"
Sawara Kiri earnestly taught, "From now on, whether it's receiving bounty money or getting beaten, everyone is equal. You can rest assured on this point."
"Getting beaten?"
The three little ones didn't react to the first part, but after catching a key phrase, they immediately pricked up their ears.
"That's right."
Sawara Kiri's face slowly revealed a smile, and he looked at the three little ones menacingly: "Since you've received my things, you need to put in the corresponding effort! Everyone should be able to understand this, right?"
Now? Here?!
The three little ones immediately felt that the gifts in their hands seemed to be getting hot.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
The next moment, a puff of white smoke burst open beside Sawara Kiri.
Sawara Kiri said leisurely, "Although you graduated as the top squad in your class, I hope everyone understands one thing—the achievements you made in school are nothing on the battlefield."
"Therefore, I need to conduct a comprehensive baseline assessment of you."
"The assessment starts now."
The Shadow Clone that emerged from the white smoke stood in place, sweeping its deep blue eyes over the three little ones present, and calmly asked:
"Understood?"
In those profound, deep blue pupils, a vague yet dazzling light seemed to flicker, as if it could draw one's gaze in.
"Yes!"
The Hatake Squad trio immediately got into position, drawing their weapons.
However, that Shadow Clone merely walked slowly towards the three of them, not even bothering to draw the Ninja Blade at its waist, and leisurely asked, "The Six Forms of Konoha, you should have learned them in the Ninja Academy, right?"
"Then let's start with a Taijutsu assessment."
"Is anyone confident in their own strength?"
The moment the words fell, the three little ones exchanged glances.
The next moment, they rushed simultaneously from three directions towards the Shadow Clone without any sense of martial ethics, their speed astonishing.
Although the rooftop was already quite spacious, under this explosive speed, they still swept past in an instant. With the whistling of the wind, they had already charged in front of the Shadow Clone in the blink of an eye.
"Shave?"
"Not bad."
The Shadow Clone still stood in place, unmoving.
Even at such high speed, Kakashi's brain was still working rapidly. As the captain of this squad, he had an undeniable command mission.
'Lord Kiri's speed must be faster than ours. If we want to break through head-on, he will definitely choose the weakest among us.'
'As long as I intercept him during this process…'
He thought to himself, simultaneously observing the movements of his two teammates, drawing a Ninja Blade with one hand, while the other hand had already secretly reached for his Ninja tool pouch.
Then, Sawara Kiri spoke, "However, the target is too obvious."
"Hm?!"
Kakashi suddenly looked in the direction of the voice, only to find the spot where the Shadow Clone had stood was now empty.
'So fast!'
'And, how come there wasn't even a sound?'
Almost instinctively, his hand, which was on his Ninjutsu bag, immediately shot several Kunai towards Nohara Rin's front, while his Ninjutsu blade spun in mid-air, protecting his upper body and the back of his right shoulder with a chopping motion.
But then, a loud shout came from the other side:
"Six Forms: Iron Body!"
Kakashi's thoughts suddenly froze.
Out of the corner of his eye, he immediately glimpsed a tall figure appearing in front of Obito with a leisurely stride.
'Why would he choose Obito as the breakthrough point?'
'And why didn't I see his movements?'
Kakashi's mind was filled with one question after another, but countless experiences from team battles had already awakened his body's instincts, causing the third Kunai he was about to throw to twist its direction and fly towards the figure.
However, it was already too late.
Hearing Obito's shout, and the highly tensed muscles of his entire body compressed by Chakra, the Shadow Clone's face couldn't help but reveal a subtle smile.
Maintaining his forward stride, with his left foot as a pivot, his long right leg suddenly lifted.
What seemed like an ordinary knee strike erupted with an air-rending scream, like a giant axe being swung.
"Boom—!"
It directly struck Obito's chest and abdomen.
It was seemingly an ordinary strike, but Obito, who had temporarily switched to the Iron Body stance during the charge, instantly seemed to be hanging from his knee. Under the knee strike, his sternum and abdomen simultaneously emitted crisp sounds of bone breaking and internal organs rupturing. An uncontrollable hot current surged up his esophagus, directly gushing out from his mouth.
"Pfft cough!"
He spat out a large mouthful of crimson blood.
"Don't treat my assessment as a Ninja game, Obito-kun."
Sawara Kiri's voice was calm, yet inadvertently revealed the arrogance unique to the strongest individuals: "Using Iron Body, the strongest Genjutsu, in front of a Ninja stronger than you? Are you in a hurry to reincarnate?"
"Obito!!"
Seeing this scene, Kakashi's eyes suddenly narrowed, almost converging into a single point.
This heavy blow would likely have killed him if it had been just a little bit more severe.
Why would Sawara-sama go all out in a strength assessment against a Genin?!
No, that's not right.
The moment this thought arose in his mind, Kakashi suddenly realized something.
Could the gap in their strength already be so vast that even if Sawara-sama suppressed his abilities to the absolute minimum, he could still completely overwhelm them?
This thought sent a chill down his spine.
But the next moment, he immediately snapped back to reality.
"Rin! Cover me!"
"Okay."
Rin's voice came from behind him, and the whistling sound of Kunai flying through the air became incredibly clear in his ears.
Kakashi held the White Fang short sword in reverse, his entire body faintly covered by the sound of thunder, his nerves and muscles simultaneously activated at this moment.
His speed suddenly doubled compared to before.
"Lightning Release: White Light Blade!"
A sharp white blade light cut a semicircle through the air.
In Kakashi's gradually slowing vision, the tip of the blade got closer and closer to Sawara Kiri Shadow Clone's torso.
The next moment.
"Clap."
His sword-wielding hand was grasped by a hand three times faster, and the descending blade suddenly stopped in mid-air, still several centimeters away from the Shadow Clone's torso.
Before Kakashi could react, his sword-wielding hand distorted with Sawara Kiri's movement, and with a 'ding', it knocked away the Kunai shot from mid-air.
Sawara Kiri's voice was cold: "Where is your cooperation with your teammates?"
Kakashi's figure paused, and a hint of sweat could be seen on his brow.
But very quickly, he sensed the synchronized, whistling front kick.
He immediately dropped his Ninjutsu blade without hesitation, forcefully dislocating his wrist to pull it free from the other's hand, and retreated several meters.
Behind him, more than a dozen Kunai continued to be shot at Sawara Kiri's body in a steady rhythm.
However, the Shadow Clone merely raised his hand to catch the short sword in the air and effortlessly performed a few blade flourishes, deflecting all the Kunai and Shuriken shot from the air.
Taking advantage of this brief moment, Kakashi, who had retreated some distance, quickly reset his wrist.
He clearly realized that this Sawara Kiri in front of him was no longer the young man who used to chat and laugh with him and his father at home, but a powerful Ninja whom they had no way of resisting.
Upon realizing this, he immediately began to form hand seals, finally pressing his palm to the ground.
After all, it was just a Shadow Clone.
Therefore, even if he used that Ninjutsu to kill him, it wouldn't matter at all!
As for the fact that the Ninjutsu he had developed was still deemed immature by his father, Kakashi at this moment completely disregarded it.
"Lightning Release: Purple Lightning!"
"Zzzzz—"
Accompanying his low growl, deep purple electrical currents, demonstrating a highly mature nature transformation, surged continuously from the center of the young man's palm, as if all his Chakra had been ignited by this single technique.
Simultaneously with this powerful Lightning Release, there was the immense burden on his body.
This was the Ninjutsu he had created with his father's guidance over the years, the one most suited for him!
Kakashi suddenly raised his head, his foot slamming hard into the ground, leaving a deep indentation, while his body, propelled by this enormous recoil, shot out like a streak of light.
His target was directly the Shadow Clone in front of him.
At this moment, all the scenery around him transformed into countless dense, streaming lines, blocked by his brain, completely unclear. Only the target not far in front of him grew closer and closer!
"Boom!"
In that final moment, even Kakashi himself couldn't see his own movements.
Only the sensation of his hand making contact with an object was incredibly distinct.
A triumphant smile couldn't help but appear on the young man's face, hidden beneath his mask.
'Hit.'
The triumphant expression on his face suddenly froze.
What flew out from in front of him were countless fine wooden splinters.
The substitute log, broken into two, danced in mid-air, while a large cloud of smoke also erupted.
At this moment, Kakashi seemed to suddenly think of something, and he abruptly turned around to look behind him.
Then, he saw the unconscious Nohara Rin being held by Sawara Kiri.
The young man's eyes widened, and he instinctively shouted:
"Rin—!"
"Thump."
Immediately after, a gentle hand chop landed on his neck.
At the same time, Sawara Kiri's voice rang out:
"Still too young."
Kakashi's vision plunged into boundless darkness.
But soon, a soft sound echoed.
"Thump."
Kakashi's somewhat muddled consciousness first paused, then he suddenly opened his eyes.
After that, he saw Sawara standing in front of him, gently tapping his forehead with a hand chop.
"Whoosh—!"
Kakashi instinctively retreated several steps, sliding several meters across the rooftop.
"Hahaha!" Obito's loud laughter immediately rang out, "I told you, this guy would definitely be startled by Sawara too!"
Kakashi heard the voice, his expression suddenly astonished, and he instinctively looked towards him.
Then, he saw Uchiha Obito, completely unharmed, sitting in a corner of the rooftop, also far away from Sawara Kiri.
"Obito! Aren't we the same!" Nohara Rin grumbled with some dissatisfaction, then, as if embarrassed, glanced at Sawara Kiri, "Kakashi, are you okay?"
"Me?"
It was then that Kakashi finally reacted, scanning the flat rooftop of the school building, then looking at the two unharmed people around him, as if he suddenly understood something, and looked at Sawara Kiri:
"Was all that Genjutsu?"
"Isn't that obvious?" Sawara Kiri said with a matter-of-fact expression, "Were you really planning to fight me?"
"Such an honor, to survive and escape a fight with your teacher, is something only a few in the entire Ninja World can claim. You're dreaming quite big."
Upon hearing this, Kakashi was immediately somewhat startled.
Genjutsu? When?
He recalled, suddenly remembering Sawara's gaze when he looked at them.
"The assessment, it began then?"
Suddenly, a sense of inexplicable defeat arose in Kakashi's heart. Even losing to his father hadn't felt this complete.
He was completely played with, wasn't he!
However, thinking that the person opposite was Sawara Kiri, everything seemed to fall into place.
"The distance to the peak of the Ninja World is truly far..."
Hatake-kun gained a deep shadow from this encounter.
"Alright!"
Obito was happy to see Kakashi frustrated, even forgetting the little conflict from earlier. He walked over casually, put his arm around his shoulder, and laughed loudly: "Sawara-sensei said he's treating us to dinner! Let's go to Akimichi Barbecue Restaurant!"
"Order the most expensive things!"
Upon hearing this, Kakashi immediately shook off his previous sense of defeat. He first glanced at Sawara Kiri's slightly stiff expression, then, uncharacteristically, reached a consensus with Obito, nodding deeply:
"Okay!"
"Hey, you two brats!"
"Kakashi, I'll cover you! Go grab a seat! I want lamb and venison!"
"Whoosh—"
Kakashi ran incredibly fast.