Kakashi observed the situation calmly, watching Naruto and his teammates with that ever-present laid-back demeanor.
A playful smile curled beneath his mask.
"So, Naruto—you've got both bells to yourself, and Sasuke and Sakura have none," he said lightly. "Looks like the two of them need to head back to the Academy for a refresher course~"
The words hung in the air like a verdict.
Sasuke and Sakura stiffened.
Their expressions were conflicted.
If they'd lost after a fair fight against Kakashi-sensei, maybe they could accept being disqualified. But this? They had frozen, too stunned by the sheer scale of Naruto's battle with Kakashi to even move. They'd forgotten the goal—to work together and claim a bell. And now they were paying the price.
Even if they understood what happened...
...it still stung.
At that moment, Naruto turned toward Kakashi with a grin.
"No, Kakashi-sensei. Team 7 passes together."
"Oh?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "And what exactly do you plan to do now?"
Sasuke and Sakura blinked, turning toward Naruto with surprise.
Even the Third Hokage, who had been silently observing, tilted his head with mild curiosity.
Then, under everyone's gaze—
Naruto held up the bells.
And crushed them in his fist.
The tiny bells vanished with a soft metallic chink, crumpling like paper.
Opening his hand to show the broken remains, Naruto smiled.
"Bells? What bells? I don't remember seeing any bells at all," he said casually. "Looks like you lost, Kakashi-sensei."
Sasuke and Sakura stared, stunned.
They hadn't expected that.
Naruto... had just turned the whole situation upside down with something so simple, so direct—and so completely absurd.
Would Kakashi-sensei actually let that fly?
Kakashi blinked, genuinely surprised by the move.
He felt a flicker of something stir inside.
Admiration? Amusement?
Maybe both.
Still, he wasn't ready to end things just yet.
Sure, Naruto's stunt was bold—even clever in its own way. But that wasn't the point of this exercise.
The real test wasn't over.
"Impressive, Naruto," Kakashi said honestly. "But that doesn't mean you pass."
He wagged his index finger back and forth.
Naruto didn't flinch.
His expression didn't change.
In fact, it deepened into something more serious—more resolute.
As if he had seen through everything.
"Kakashi-sensei," he said. "The real purpose of this test was never about the bells."
"It was always about teamwork."
At those words, Kakashi's visible eye widened slightly.
Naruto had seen through it all along.
Naruto stepped forward, voice steady.
"We've got three people… and only two bells. At first glance, it looks like one of us is guaranteed to be eliminated."
"But we were assigned to Team 7 together."
"That means none of us are meant to be left behind."
"We move forward together—or we fall together."
"A shinobi must be calm, focused, and make decisions with the mission as the top priority… and must see that mission through no matter what."
"But…"
Naruto's expression sharpened.
"If you abandon your comrades for the sake of the mission… you're worse than trash."
He let those words hang in the air for a moment, then scratched his head with a sheepish grin.
"That said, I got carried away earlier in the fight. I got too excited facing a real jōnin for the first time. I just really wanted to see how far I've come…"
"I acted on impulse. That was my mistake, Kakashi-sensei."
The confession caught both Sasuke and Sakura off guard.
They hadn't realized until now—
The whole point of this test was never the bells themselves.
It was a test of teamwork all along.
Kakashi's visible eye widened slightly at Naruto's clarity.
Naruto had seen through it from the very beginning.
And in that moment, Kakashi saw a flash—something almost nostalgic.
He saw the ghost of his old teacher—the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.
There was something in Naruto's confidence, in his conviction, that mirrored the Yellow Flash of Konoha.
It hit him hard.
He missed that time.
From his hidden perch, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, quietly watched the scene unfold through his crystal ball.
As he listened to Naruto's words—his understanding, his loyalty to his teammates—he couldn't help but smile warmly.
Yes… this boy had inherited the Will of Fire.
Naruto wasn't just some reckless jinchūriki anymore.
He was truly becoming a shinobi of Konoha.
Satisfied, Hiruzen set the crystal ball aside.
There was nothing more he needed to see.
Back on the training field, Kakashi sighed and shook his head, a faint smile behind his mask.
"Man… kids these days are sharp."
"You figured out the true purpose behind the test from the start, huh?"
"In that case..."
"I'll let you all pass."
Naruto beamed. "Thank you, Kakashi-sensei!"
Sakura cheered. "We did it!"
Sasuke crossed his arms, clearly frustrated. "Tch… I'm the one who held us back this time."
With the test now officially over, Naruto wasn't done.
He leaned forward eagerly.
"Since we passed, Kakashi-sensei… can you teach me that Shadow Clone Technique you used earlier?"
Kakashi blinked, caught off guard.
The Shadow Clone Jutsu?
He could teach it… but given Naruto's unique circumstances, he hesitated.
As a jōnin—and someone with the Sharingan—Kakashi knew full well the risks involved with Naruto's training.
Especially as the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki.
He needed to be careful.
Some things couldn't be decided on the spot.
"I'll need to ask the Third Hokage first," Kakashi said at last, rubbing the back of his head.
"I can't give you an answer right now."
"I'll let you know in a few days."
Naruto nodded. He understood.
As long as it involved the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki, every decision had to be approved by the elders—and especially the Third Hokage.
When Sasuke saw Naruto asking Kakashi to teach him ninjutsu, he didn't think much of it.
After all, as a member of the Uchiha clan, he had inherited plenty of jutsu already.
What the higher-ups didn't realize—or pretended not to—is that under the pretense of Sasuke being "too young," the village had quietly seized most of the Uchiha clan's property.
Scrolls, secret techniques, even the clan's heritage had been taken and sealed away.
Even so, Sasuke had managed to find a few jutsu scrolls that had been quietly sent back to him.
Sakura, meanwhile, came from a civilian family and didn't have any inherited techniques or family scrolls to rely on.
She also wanted to ask Kakashi-sensei to teach her, but after remembering her own mediocre performance in the test—and comparing it to Naruto's surprisingly sharp insight—she felt too embarrassed to speak up.
After the bell test was over, Kakashi told Team 7 to disband for the day.
They were granted a half-day break.
Kakashi, however, made his way alone to the Hokage's Office at the top of the Hokage Tower.
He needed to report everything to the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Unbeknownst to him, Hiruzen had already been watching through his crystal ball and was more than familiar with what had happened on the training field.
Still, when Kakashi brought up Naruto's request—
"Naruto wants to learn the Shadow Clone Jutsu?"
The old Hokage muttered, puffing thoughtfully on his pipe as a thin ribbon of smoke curled into the air.
He paused.
Given Naruto's unique situation—being the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki and a member of the Uzumaki clan with naturally vast chakra reserves—
"…Let him learn the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu," Hiruzen said at last, nodding.
Kakashi's visible eye widened. "The Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu?"
That was a forbidden technique, sealed in the Scroll of Seals!
Was it really okay to let Naruto learn something so dangerous?
But then he remembered: Naruto's body, strengthened by the Uzumaki bloodline… the massive chakra of the Nine-Tails sealed inside him…
Unlike an ordinary genin, Naruto could survive techniques that would cripple—or kill—others.
The reason the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu was forbidden wasn't because it was evil.
It was because it demanded a tremendous amount of chakra. A normal shinobi would collapse from exhaustion—or worse—if they tried to use it.
But for Naruto…
It was practically made for him.
"…I understand," Kakashi said quietly.
In the days that followed, Kakashi began leading Team 7 through their first missions.
But as expected for rookie genin, every assignment was a D-rank mission.
Cleaning an old lady's backyard.
Unclogging drains.
Catching the feudal lord's wife's cat… again.
Menial. Repetitive. Exhausting.
Both Sasuke and Sakura quickly grew frustrated.
This wasn't what they had imagined when they became shinobi.
"Is this really the life of a ninja?" Sakura muttered while chasing a muddy cat through a field.
"Picking up trash and chasing cats?"
Naruto, however, wasn't bothered.
These chores were simple. He got them done. No complaints.
But in the back of his mind, only one thought circled:
When is that old geezer going to give the green light?
One evening, after another long day of missions, just before disbanding, Kakashi called Naruto over.
He reached into his pouch and pulled out a sealed scroll.
"Here," Kakashi said, handing it to him.
"This is the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu. The Third Hokage approved it specially for you."
Naruto blinked, stunned.
That old geezer actually came through? Did he hit his head or something?
But he didn't question it.
"Read it here, memorize it now, and destroy the scroll immediately," Kakashi instructed.
Naruto grinned wide, eyes gleaming.
This was just the beginning.
Even if the Third Hokage hadn't granted him permission, Naruto was confident:
He could have reverse-engineered the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu from the basic Shadow Clone Technique on his own.
But now that he had the official scroll in hand, there was no need to.
Naruto sat down on the spot and began studying the technique immediately.
Sasuke and Sakura stood nearby. Although clearly curious, they both knew better than to peek.
This was a personal permission granted by the Hokage—interfering would've been inappropriate.
Just a few minutes later…
Naruto closed the scroll and looked up. His expression was calm.
He handed it back to Kakashi.
"Kakashi-sensei. I've memorized everything."
Kakashi blinked. "Already? Are you sure?"
He glanced at the scroll in his hand. "If I destroy this now and you didn't get it all, we'll have to go through the Hokage again. That's… not easy."
Naruto nodded firmly.
Because—
You've thoroughly learned the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!
You've had an epiphany!
You've mastered the technique at a perfect level!
✔ Perfected Multiple Shadow Clone Technique
– Chakra cost drastically reduced
– Clone creation efficiency greatly enhanced
– Complex hand seals simplified
Naruto's gift for understanding was exceptional.
In just a short moment, he hadn't merely learned the technique—he refined it.
While most shinobi needed to expend at least 10% of their chakra to create just one Shadow Clone…
Naruto, thanks to both his genius comprehension and vast chakra reserves, could do the same for 1%—or even less.
And with his immense reserves—bolstered by both the Uzumaki bloodline and the Nine-Tails sealed inside him—his potential number of clones was practically limitless.
But he didn't stop there.
He sensed a flaw.
Yes, the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu was powerful—but clones were fragile.
A single hit, even a glancing blow, would dispel them instantly.
That wouldn't do.
Naruto closed his eyes.
He began deducing, innovating—transforming.
You've used your mastery over the Shadow Clone Jutsu and your accumulated insight…
You've had a second epiphany!
You've created a new technique: Mystic Clone!
✦ Mystic Clone Technique ✦
– Clone has a physical form
– Retains memory synchronization
– Only disappears if fatally damaged
– Durable against minor hits and stray attacks
Naruto opened his eyes, a subtle grin forming.
This was it.
Unlike normal shadow clones, which popped from even minor attacks, the Mystic Clone could withstand real combat. It wouldn't vanish unless struck with deadly force.
That changed everything.
Sending a clone on a long-distance mission was no longer a gamble.
No more worrying about it being erased by a lucky kunai or a random trap halfway there.
No more constantly recreating and re-sending clones.
Now, the clone could fight, survive, and persist.
Even if its strength was only a fraction of Naruto's own, it could defend itself, escape danger, or finish its mission.
This was no ordinary ninjutsu.
It was a tactical breakthrough—born not from trial and error, but from Naruto's instinctive understanding and relentless will.
He clenched his fist.
For the first time, he realized:
He wasn't just chasing after the legacy of the Fourth Hokage.
He was starting to build something entirely his own.
...
But in the very next moment—
Under the watchful gaze of Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura,
Naruto calmly refined his chakra and began forming hand seals—rapidly and precisely—just as described in the technique.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
He didn't intend to show everything just yet. The Mystic Clone Technique he had developed?
Better to keep that hidden for now.
He simply wanted to test the base version—see how effective it had become under his control.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
In an instant, the air was filled with rapid-fire explosions of white smoke.
Dozens. Hundreds. Thousands.
When the smoke cleared, what remained on the training ground left all three spectators frozen in shock.
There stood an army of Naruto Uzumakis.
Each identical—golden hair, jet-black ninja gear, and eyes as bright and piercing as the morning sky.
Between their brows, an unwavering confidence shimmered—so intense, it was almost blinding.
Sakura gasped, her voice rising in disbelief.
"Naruto?! S-So many Narutos?!"
She couldn't believe what she was seeing.
Sasuke's eyes widened.
He stared blankly, his normally composed expression slipping as he took in the seemingly endless tide of Narutos before him.
In his mind, he couldn't help but imagine:
If I were fighting Naruto right now… against this many… how could I possibly win?
Even if each one only threw a single punch—
That would be enough to bury him.
But more importantly—
Sasuke knew the truth.
The Shadow Clone Jutsu was powerful—but also chakra-intensive. Creating this many clones wasn't just skill.
It required an absolutely massive chakra reserve.
His fists tightened slightly.
Just how much chakra does Naruto really have...?
That thought alone sent a chill down his spine.
Kakashi's reaction wasn't any calmer.
Even with his trademark mask covering the lower half of his face, his stunned expression was unmistakable.
Naruto had not only learned a high-level forbidden jutsu in minutes—he had perfected it.
But now, to see this—
So many clones that it overwhelmed the senses.
Kakashi's lips moved slowly, muttering almost involuntarily:
"Too many… it's like an ocean."
They stood on the edge of one of Konoha's largest training grounds, a field easily capable of hosting a thousand ninja.
Yet now—
Everywhere Kakashi looked…
The ground.
The trees.
The rooftops in the distance.
All he could see was Naruto.
Hundreds? No.
Thousands?
"One thousand? Two? Three? No… it has to be over five, maybe six thousand…" Kakashi estimated aloud, but the truth was—
There were simply too many to count.
And unlike the Naruto of the past, these clones weren't clumsy or chaotic.
None of them accidentally struck each other.
None of them moved without purpose.
None of them were wasted.
Because this Naruto…
This Naruto was different.
His mind was clear. His will was steady.
And his spirit was strong enough to control thousands, maybe even twice that number of clones—simultaneously.
The countless Narutos all looked around, exchanging glances with one another.
And in each pair of sky-blue eyes—
A cold, razor-sharp light flickered.
Because now—
He didn't just have the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
He had the Mystic Clone Technique, too.
Tools to do what was once impossible.
Infiltration. Training. Surveillance. Investigation. Sabotage. Shadow work.
Things that even a fully trained jōnin would hesitate to attempt—
Now well within reach.
Naruto's lips curled into a subtle, knowing smile.
This wasn't just a flashy display.
This was the foundation of something bigger.
Something only he could build.
And in that moment, as the sun dipped behind the treetops and the training ground glowed with twilight—
The plan began.
...
TN:
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