CHAPTER 2: THE BELL TEST (PART 1)


(Disclaimer: Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto. I do own my OC's, however)

"Talking / Jutsu"

'Thinking'

'Flashback'

"Flashback talk"

"Demonic voice"

Letter / Emphasis


"Let's go!" Naruto exclaimed as he threw a couple of shurikens at Kakashi, who ducked down and responded in kind. Naruto jumped high into the air, and when the silver-haired Jounin threw another set of shurikens at him, Naruto created a shadow clone that grabbed the Kyuubi Jinchuriki and got him out of the way.

'He used a shadow clone to avoid the incoming shurikens,' Shujinko thought as he opened his holster and grabbed a kunai, ready to strike at a moment's notice. 'It's good to know that Naruto has found other uses for the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. Shadow clones have always been his specialty, after all,'

Instead of jumping into the fight right away, Shujinko waited in his spot along with Sakura. He wanted to see some of the results of Naruto's training so he could take them into consideration the moment he began developing a plan to seize the bells from Kakashi. Unlike the last time, his sensei wasn't going to go easy on them, as proved by the fact that he was using his Sharingan. A sharp mind, combined with the Kekkei Genkai of the Uchiha clan and a plethora of jutsus at his disposal made the Copy Ninja a formidable opponent to go up against.

"Henge no Jutsu!" Clone Naruto said, transforming itself into a giant shuriken that was wielded by the original Naruto. However, before Naruto could throw the giant shuriken, Kakashi appeared behind his back and grabbed his student's wrist while holding a kunai close to his neck.

"Looks like someone is a little impatient. Didn't I ever taught you never to leave your back unprotected?" Kakashi asked.

POOF

"You sure did, Kakashi-sensei. Maybe you should follow your own advice instead," a grinning shadow clone of Naruto replied after 'poofing' into existence, standing right behind Kakashi. Thanks to his remarkable eyesight, Shujinko had managed to see the exact moment when Naruto created his second shadow clone. Of course, if he saw it, then Kakashi had to have seen it as well, but it was a nice move all the same.

"Well well, you have grown after all. Your timing with the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu has improved considerably…However, you still have a lot to learn," Kakashi said as he looked back at Clone Naruto, smiling faintly behind his mask. "Just like the last time, you began your attack before I had the chance to say 'start',"

The grin on Clone Naruto's face was replaced by a small smirk, keeping the tip of his kunai inches away from Kakashi's back. "In that case, just say start already. I'm itching to take those bells, believe it,"

"As you wish. Ready, and… start!"

POOF

"What the…" Both Naruto and his shadow clone were taken by surprise when Kakashi disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving a log of wood in his place through the use of the Kawarimi no Jutsu. "It can't be, he escaped! Damn it, I should've known he was going to do something like that!"

Both Sakura and Shujinko shook their heads. From what little they had seen, Naruto's abilities had indeed grown, but he was still lacking in the foresight department. Someone like Hatake Kakashi, a shinobi who appeared in the Bingo Book and who was known all throughout the shinobi world as the Copy Ninja and the Sharingan Warrior, would never allow himself to be cornered that easily and that fast. In any case, while their prime objective was to complete Kakashi's challenge, Shujinko also wanted to enjoy the challenge alongside his teammates, and it would've been a huge letdown had they caught the bells in less than a minute.

Naruto dispelled his shadow clones and turned to face his teammates. "We can't waste any more time. Let's go find Kakashi-sensei!"

"Calm down, Naruto. Before we find him, we need to at least have some sort of strategy ready. Don't forget this is Kakashi-sensei we're talking about," Shujinko replied, adopting a serious tone that demanded Naruto to pay attention to him. "There's a reason why Kakashi-sensei gave us twenty-four hours to snatch those bells from him. He wants us to use that time to come up with an effective plan of action, and not so that we chase after him like clueless bulls in a stampede,"

Sakura nodded in understanding. "You're right, Shujinko. We should come up with a strategy before we go after Kakashi-sensei. Do you have any ideas?"

The Jounin remained silent for a while, thinking of all the sparring matches and the training lessons he had endured with Kakashi so far. They needed to exploit all the advantages they had at their disposal. More precisely, they had to make the most out of Shujinko's knowledge of Kakashi's abilities, Sakura's monstrous strength, and Naruto's virtually unlimited amount of chakra. They had the strength in numbers, and enough intel on their adversary to avoid unwanted surprises for the most part.

At the same time, Kakashi's experience outmatched theirs by a long shot. His list of jutsus was beyond extensive as well, and in the event that one of them tried to attack the silver-haired Jounin with a technique previously unknown to him, he could use his Sharingan to both anticipate and learn said technique in a matter of seconds. Not only that, but he had also trained Shujinko himself, which meant that there was nothing Shujinko could do to take the Sharingan Warrior by surprise… Well, almost nothing.

"For the time being, we should focus on wearing him out," Shujinko began to say. "Kakashi-sensei is using his Sharingan. This allows him to predict our moves for the most part, but it also drains his chakra faster. Going for the bells straight away would be a waste of time and energy, but if we prolong the fight long enough and force him to constantly use his Sharingan, he'll grow tired faster than we will, and that will give us the advantage that we need,"

"…So, you're basically telling us to ignore the bells and focus on fighting Kakashi-sensei for now?"

"That's about the gist of it, Naruto. However, it's not going to be an easy job. Over the past three years, Kakashi-sensei has increased his chakra reserves in order to use his Sharingan for extended periods of time. Back when we first fought Zabuza, Kakashi-sensei spent a lot of chakra thanks to his Sharingan and ended up collapsing in front of us. But that's no longer the case, so we better be ready,"

Sakura took a step forward and met Shujinko's gaze. "For how long can he use the Sharingan now?"

"I don't know for sure. At least a couple of hours, and for a guy like Kakashi-sensei, a couple of hours is more than enough time to beat someone. That's why I said we need to wear him out first, because if we don't, catching those bells is going to be a huge pain,"

"Wait a second, how come you know so much about Kakashi-sensei's Sharingan, Shujinko?" Naruto asked. "I mean, it's not like Kakashi-sensei goes around telling people how his Sharingan works, so what gives?"

The Ozuma blinked. "Didn't I tell you? When you left the village, I became Kakashi-sensei's only student, and I've been training with him ever since. I've seen him use his Sharingan in many occasions. Not only that, but I've also studied it as thoroughly as I could, so that when the time came, I'd be prepared to face him in battle,"

It was faint. Almost nonexistent, really. Still, when Shujinko uttered the word 'him', Sakura could've sworn there had been an underlying tone in his voice. It was as if, for some reason, her brown-haired teammate wasn't just referring to Kakashi, which didn't make a whole lot of sense to Sakura. "Is that why you've been studying the Sharingan all this time? So that you could one day take on Kakashi-sensei?" she asked. Her question seemed to be unnecessary given what Shujinko had just said, but the pink-haired kunoichi wanted to hear his answer regardless.

Unlike Naruto, who was giving Sakura a weird look, Shujinko's face remained undisturbed as he stared at the grove in front of them. "My goal is to surpass Kakashi-sensei one day. I swore to myself that I would. If I am to become a shinobi stronger than him, I can't ignore the fact that he wields the Kekkei Genkai of the Uchiha clan. I won't be satisfied until I know I can defeat Kakashi-sensei in a fair fight, with neither of us holding back… In any case, now that we've established what our plan is, we should get started. Naruto, Sakura, follow my lead. Kakashi-sensei can't be too far away from here,"

And just like that, Shujinko began to run and entered the grove. "O-Oi! Wait up, Shujinko!" Naruto shouted as he and Sakura followed him. Soon, the three members of Team 7 were moving in midair, hopping from one tree branch to another in a triangular formation with Shujinko at the front.

As they continued to move forward, Shujinko was thinking about the answer he had just given to Sakura. Each and every one of his words had been true. He hadn't told a single lie… However, there was another reason as to why he had studied the Sharingan with so much attention, a reason he hadn't told anyone, including his own sensei. The Sharingan was a powerful weapon in and of itself, especially when wielded by the likes of Kakashi. But Kakashi wasn't the only one who possessed the visual prowess that gave the Uchiha clan a legendary reputation. Both Sasuke and Itachi were still out there, and after three years, Shujinko could only imagine how much stronger those two individuals had gotten.

The Ozuma remembered when he became a Jounin not too long ago. Kakashi gave him a copy of a Bingo Book as a gift, and the first profile Shujinko searched for was Itachi's. To put it simply, Itachi wasn't just a prodigy, but a prodigy amongst prodigies. That guy had not only graduated from the Ninja Academy in less than a year, but by the time he was eleven, he was already a member of the ANBU and even became an ANBU captain just two years later. Shujinko couldn't believe how preposterously talented Itachi was, and he finally understood why Sasuke was so fixated on acquiring power at any cost, for killing someone like that sounded next to impossible. Now that he had a general idea of what was Sasuke's brother capable of, Shujinko often berated his younger-self for even attempting to confront Itachi head on three years ago, when he encountered him and Kisame in Shukuba Town.

As for Sasuke, there was no telling how much stronger he had grown under Orochimaru's tutelage, but it was more than obvious that he was far more dangerous than he ever was before. Since he was to become the next vessel of the Snake Sannin, Sasuke had probably been taught a myriad of techniques and abilities, and his mastery over the Sharingan could have only reached new levels. However, what worried Shujinko the most was not knowing how twisted and vile his former teammate had become after spending three years with a twisted and vile shinobi such as Orochimaru. After all, students not only learned Ninjutsu from their masters, but more often than not, they also adopted their way of thinking and their mentality.

At any rate, both Sasuke and Itachi were bad news. In the event that he ran into either of them, no matter what the circumstances were, Shujinko had to prepare himself for one hell of a fight. Learning how to counter the Sharingan was not only crucial to his goal of surpassing his sensei; he had to do it if he wanted to stand a chance against the Uchiha siblings whenever he came across them again.

Shujinko wasn't exactly sure why, but he had a feeling that he was going to encounter the two of them sooner rather than later. He narrowed his eyes and stepped up the pace, telling himself that the only thing he should be focused on right now was the challenge at hand. "Naruto, Sakura, listen carefully. Once we find Kakashi-sensei, this is what we're gonna do…"


"Tomorrow… When I wake up… I'm not going to see you sleeping next to me. That's the truth, isn't it Iture? You'll be gone by the time the sun sets,"

Iture lifted his eyes and stared longingly at the woman sitting on his bed. Instead of her fancy kimono, she was wearing a nightgown so thin it was almost transparent, inviting his gaze to stay fixated on her alluring body. Her hair, black as the night the two of them had first met, was undone, and her curls adorned her generous bosom. For a brief moment, Iture remained silent, like a traveler admiring the scenery of a beautiful landscape no man had ever explored before, but he soon came back to his senses as he finished the last bottle of sake he had left. "That's right. This is your father's land, and we both know what will happen if he finds out I'm here with you. It's a risk neither of us can take,"

"But… You saved me, Iture. You rescued me from those bandits and brought me home safe and sound. Once he knows the truth, my father will-"

"Your father won't listen to you, Muruki. He'll most certainly not listen to me, the man he has sworn to kill. You know that as well as I do,"

Like shooting stars in the blue sky, Iture saw how the light in Muruki's eyes faded away, becoming little more than a pair of empty sapphires. It was like witnessing an angel losing its wings, and it pained him more than what he cared to admit. Iture was a man who was destined to never settle down, to never develop everlasting attachments, for such bonds would never last. Not with the lifestyle that he carried. He was a rascal.

A rascal with a heart, but a rascal all the same.

"I… I understand," she whispered. "If that's the case, then…" Slowly but firmly, Muruki stood up and took off her obi belt, allowing her nightgown to slip down her body, revealing every single inch of her naked flesh. Iture's mouth went dry, even more so when he heard Muruki's voice. "We began this journey as enemies. Let's end it… as lovers,"

"Muruki…"

'Jiraiya-sama has truly outdone himself this time by writing this masterpiece,' Kakashi said to himself, savoring every paragraph written in his recently acquired erotic novel. 'The pace, the atmosphere, the characters, everything is excellent. I shouldn't be reading this while those three are out to get me, but it's just so-'

His thoughts were interrupted by the approaching sound of metal cutting through the air. With his shinobi instincts kicking in, Kakashi immediately jumped out of the way, closing his book and placing it inside his back pouch just in time to see a kunai getting embedded into a tree. Attached to the weapon was an explosive tag already on fire, but instead of producing an explosion, the tag simply burned and turned into ashes.

Kakashi's eyes widened. 'It's a distraction!'

When he turned around, his Sharingan allowed him to react to a punch from Shujinko. He then grabbed his wrist and placed his other hand under his armpit to throw him to the side, using Shujinko's momentum against him. Shujinko twirled around in midair and quickly landed on his feet before his back could touch the tree behind him. "Not too shabby, Kakashi-sensei," Shujinko said. "Looks like I'm gonna need to put more effort into distracting you, even if you can't help but read that garbage novel of yours,"

"Garbage novel, you say?" Kakashi replied. "Why, I will have you know that this is Jiraiya-sama's finest work so far. But I suppose I can't blame you for not being able to recognize greatness when it's written. I may have taught you how to be a ninja, but I never took the time to teach you how to appreciate good literature,"

Shujinko scoffed. "Sure, whatever you say. Anyways, I'm not interested in that filthy book, I just want to take those bells from you and get this over with. You better be ready, Kakashi-sensei, because here I come,"

And with that said, student and teacher began to exchange blows. Shujinko attacked the silver-haired Jounin with relentless kicks and punches, but Kakashi dodged them with relative ease thanks to his Sharingan. 'Something isn't right,' Kakashi thought as he ducked down to avoid a right hook. 'Shujinko is acting a little too confident for his own good. He's aware that he can't take me on by himself, and yet here he is. Besides, his Taijutsu feels off. His movements are different from what I'm used to seeing. His voice feels slightly forced as well. Could it be that…'

"Haaaaa!" Shujinko looked like he was going to attempt a punch, but instead tried to make a grab for the bells. Kakashi grabbed Shujinko's wrist before his fingertips could get close to his objective and did the same thing to his other wrist when the Ozuma tried his luck a second time. "Darn it… I was so close…"

"Is that so?" Kakashi sounded amused as he restrained his student. "Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu," Shujinko suddenly felt something grabbing his ankles and pulling him downwards. In a matter of seconds, his body got buried beneath the ground between several layers of hard soil, leaving only his head above the surface. Once this happened, a shadow clone of Kakashi erupted from the ground. "You know, the Henge no Jutsu is a very versatile technique, but it won't do you any favors if you can't portray individuals in an accurate manner. How about you drop the act and reveal who you really are?"

The Jounin said nothing at first, but after a short while, his body released a cloud of smoke. By undoing the Henge no Jutsu, 'Shujinko' had been replaced by the Kyuubi Jinchuriki, who was giving Kakashi an awkward smile. "Alright, you got me, sensei. I know this is supposed to be a teamwork exercise and all that, but I couldn't resist myself and I had to see if you were as strong as I remember. It was just a tiny whim, believe it,"

"Well, this tiny whim has sure cost you dearly," Kakashi said as his shadow clone disappeared. "You're now unable to move your body except for your head. What happens now?"

"Heh, I'm glad you asked that, Kakashi-sensei. Now the real fight begins!"

POOF

Kakashi's eyes widened when 'Naruto', who in reality had been a shadow clone using the Henge no Jutsu, disappeared in a cloud of smoke. 'Another distraction?'

SWOOSH

Out of nowhere, Shujinko appeared in a blur and almost managed to land a punch on Kakashi. His fist nearly grazed the Copy Ninja's cheek, but Kakashi was fast enough to react in time and moved to the side. 'Such speed… I nearly couldn't sense him coming,' Kakashi thought alarmed.

Now that Shujinko had moved past him, Kakashi seized his chance and attacked his student from behind, but Shujinko quickly shifter his body around and raised his forearm, protecting himself from Kakashi's incoming fist. He retaliated by sending a right kick to his opponent's ribs, but Kakashi stopped it by grabbing his ankle. Then, using both his hands, he threw the Ozuma away like a ragdoll. Shujinko twirled around in midair and raised a cloud of dust as his feet slid across the ground, eventually coming to a halt.

"So you used a fake explosive tag and one of Naruto's shadow clones as a double distraction. Not bad, but it's still not enough," Kakashi commented. 'The way he came at me during that first attack… it didn't felt like he was using his natural speed. I've seen that technique before plenty of times, but to apply it in direct combat…' "Looks like someone has been practicing the Shunshin no Jutsu quite a bit these past few weeks. It's a rather unorthodox jutsu to use in a fight, if I do say so myself,"

"You're right, sensei. It is unorthodox, which is precisely what makes it so useful," Shujinko replied. His enlarged pupils and the golden marks that covered his eyes and reached his ears told Kakashi his student had activated the Karura Tensei, the Kekkei Genkai of the Ozuma clan. He now understood how Shujinko had been able to track him down so easily. "When you taught me this jutsu, you said it wasn't a battle-oriented technique, but I thought otherwise,"

The Shunshin no Jutsu was, in essence, the vitalization of the body through the use of chakra which allows the user to travel a variety of distances at great speed, to the point where the user looks as though they were teleporting themselves instead of moving. In and of itself, the Shunshin no Jutsu wasn't a complicated technique given how it fell into the D-rank category of jutsus. Most ninjas were able to perform it with barely any difficulty, using it as a convenient transportation method.

However, there were several reasons as to why ninjas almost never used the Shunshin no Jutsu for battle purposes. During close-quarter combats, measuring the desired distance and getting the timing right was hard enough to do, but the main problem was the momentum acquired in the seconds during which the shinobi went from one spot to another. Once the Shunshin no Jutsu had been performed, the sudden drop of speed left the shinobi wide open to enemy attacks, and attempting a second Shunshin no Jutsu immediately after required incredible reflexes and superb control over one's own velocity. The combination of these factors made the Shunshin no Jutsu a thoroughly impractical technique to use in combat.

Shujinko became aware of these risks early on once he began using the Shunshin no Jutsu, and at first, he considered giving up on the idea of incorporating the Shunshin no Jutsu to his fighting style. However, after days of careful research, he realized how much potential this technique had if he obtained complete mastery over it. During his investigation, the Ozuma came across the name of a certain Uchiha Shisui, who was nicknamed 'Shunshin no Shisui'. The more he read about him, the more impressed he became by his prowess, especially his ability to use the Shunshin no Jutsu flawlessly during the most intense battles. Several books even described Shisui as a living ghost capable of appearing and disappearing in a blink of an eye, leaving no traces behind whatsoever.

Inspired by him, and convinced that this was something worth investing effort on, Shujinko became determined to take the Shunshin no Jutsu to a whole other level until he could use it effectively in a fight. He worked on it in secret, away from the eyes of even his sensei. After three years of trial and error, as well as multiple scratches and bruises, Shujinko had finally learned how to control the Shunshin no Jutsu to the point where he could use it as a form of attack as well as a means of escape, using the Karura Tensei to enhance his reflexes and help him calculate when and where to use it.

Even so, his expertise with the Shunshin no Jutsu still wasn't on par with Shisui's, whose name alone used to strike fear into the hearts of his enemies. It would take him years of practice to acquire a similar level of mastery over the technique, but despite that, he was still satisfied with the results he had gotten so far. Of course, Shujinko was anything but a conformist, and he was determined to improve his abilities and become a renowned shinobi of Konohagakure.

"In that case, I better be cautious. I wouldn't want my student to surpass his sensei at such a young age," Kakashi said, half-joking and half-serious. He focused his gaze on Shujinko, analyzing each and every sudden shift of his body. It was a good thing that he was using his Sharingan because the next thing he saw was a blurry image of Shujinko coming straight at him.

Using the Shunshin no Jutsu once again, Shujinko leaped forward and attacked Kakashi with a straight kick. Kakashi withstood the attack by crossing his forearms in front of his chest. Performing a backward summersault, Shujinko pushed himself away from his sensei and the two of them engaged in a Taijutsu combat just like they had done many times during their training lessons together.

After the young Jounin blocked two of Kakashi's punches with the dorsal side of his hands, Kakashi took a step forward and performed a spinning back fist at great speed, to which Shujinko evaded by ducking down. The Sharingan Warrior saw the opportunity to go for a rear horse kick, but the Karura Tensei allowed the Ozuma to stop Kakashi by grabbing his heel.

Then, once the attack had been stopped, Shujinko immediately countered by raising Kakashi's ankle upwards and delivering a strong kick to the leg Kakashi was standing on, striking his knee pit and sweeping him off his feet. The silver-haired Jounin lost his balance, but as he fell, he performed a rotation that allowed him to place both his hands on the ground before sending a kick with his free leg. Shujinko reacted by raising his left forearm, but the sheer strength behind the kick was enough to send him a couple of steps back, losing his grip on his sensei.

The golden-eyed teenager frowned. There was little point in facing Kakashi using hand-to-hand combat, at least in his case. Shujinko's Taijutsu style was quite similar to Kakashi's in terms of how they moved, and that was due to the fact that Shujinko had learned almost all of his Taijutsu from his sensei. Not to mention that Sharingan of his was quite annoying to deal with. 'Still, I have to stick to the plan. Naruto and Sakura should be able to switch things up,'

Kakashi charged forward, this time wielding a kunai. Shujinko pulled out a kunai of his own and faced him head-on. The sound of metal clashing against metal soon echoed through the forest like a song, a song played by ninjas with sharp weapons as their instruments. It wasn't long before the sensei and the student found themselves in a stalemate, both of them grabbing each other's right wrist with their left hand. With the two of them being right-handed, they couldn't move the hand with which they were holding their kunai without their opponent doing the same thing.

"Now, Naruto!"

The Kyuubi Jinchuriki jumped down from the top of a tree, holding a spiraling sphere of chakra. "Rasengan!"

The Yondaime's technique was aimed at both Shujinko and Kakashi. The Sharingan Warrior attempted to move out of the way, but Shujinko was not only grabbing his wrist firmly, he was also sticking his feet to the ground through the use of chakra. Kakashi had no other choice but to let go of Shujinko seconds before Naruto delivered the blow.

BAAAM

The Rasengan destroyed the spot where Shujinko and Kakashi had been standing on, leaving the ground shattered and fissured. Shujinko was standing with his back against a tree several feet away, having jumped back before Naruto's Rasengan had made an impact. "Oh man, I almost had him," Naruto said in annoyance before glancing at his teammate. "Are you okay, Shujinko?"

"Don't worry about me, I'm fine. It was a risky move but it was worth a shot," Shujinko replied while removing the dust out of his clothes. 'Man, that Rasengan technique of his packs a punch. I sure wouldn't like being on the receiving end of it,' he thought as he stared at the hole in the ground. 'If Jiraiya-sama was the one who taught him that, only Kami knows what else he's been teaching him,'

"So what now? Are we gonna move on to the second stage of our plan?" Naruto asked, to which Shujinko nodded.

"That's correct. This is the part where you come in, Naruto," he said before casting a subtle glance at a random tree not so far away from where they were. "Don't waste your time hiding there, Kakashi-sensei. I can feel your presence. Why don't you come out so that you can check our teamwork firsthand?"

Kakashi narrowed his eyes, crouching behind the trunk of a large tree. 'I keep forgetting Shujinko can sense my chakra when he's in Sage Mode, no matter how well I suppress it. I need to place a considerable distance between me and him if I want to disappear from his radar, but right now, there's no point in hiding,' he thought before standing up and walking out of his hiding spot, allowing himself to be seen by Naruto and Shujinko. "Well well, looks like you haven't lost all of your teamwork. Not a bad start, but you're gonna need more than just a couple of distractions if you want to succeed,"

"Trust me, sensei. Distractions aren't the only thing we have in store for you. We're just getting warmed up!" Naruto exclaimed as he crossed his fingers. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Several clouds of smoke burst into existence, revealing a total of forty shadow clones ready to have a go at it with the silver-haired Jounin.

'The sheer amount of shadow clones he can create still astonishes me,' Kakashi thought. 'Then again, strength in numbers has always been Naruto's thing. That much hasn't changed,' "Very well, then. Bring it on,"

"Haaaaaah!" Naruto's small army of shadow clones began its attack, charging at full speed. Kakashi jumped forward, landing on the center of the group and began to decimate the shadow clones one by one. Despite being outnumbered, Kakashi still retained most of his stamina and was able to fend them off using his Sharingan and his Taijutsu alone. It wasn't long before the number of clones was reduced to half.

At one point, Kakashi found himself surrounded by shadow clones coming at him from all directions, and so he jumped high into the air to escape. As he went up, three other clones jumped down from above, intending to catch the Copy Ninja by surprise. However, they hardly posed a threat to Kakashi, who opened a blank scroll and caught them with ease by wrapping them up.

"The Omote Renge!" Observing the fight in the background, Shujinko immediately recognized the technique of his rival Lee, having seen it more than once during the last three years.

Kakashi and Naruto's shadow clones began their descent back towards the ground. Although they looked quite similar, Shujinko could tell Kakashi's Omote Renge was a watered-down version of Lee's, as it lacked the same amount of speed and finishing power. It made sense since the Omote Renge placed the human body under quite a bit of strain and his sensei was dealing with regular shadow clones, so using such dangerous technique just to take out a couple of regular shadow clones would've been highly unnecessary.

BAAM

POOF POOF POOF

Watered down version or not, Kakashi's Omote Renge was more than enough to take care of the shadow clones, who all disappeared as soon as they met the ground. "I wonder who amongst you is the real Naruto," Kakashi asked out loud as he stood up straight, noticing how the rest of the shadow clones were suddenly standing still, as if waiting for something to happen.

"I'm right here, sensei!" Naruto shouted as he got out from behind a bush and started running towards the Copy Ninja. He was weaving the Tiger hand sign and his fingertips were aiming directly at Kakashi's lower back. "It's payback time, believe it!"

Kakashi's eyes widened so much they were nearly popping out of their sockets. "W-What!? Oh no!"

"SENNEN GOROSHI!"

Just before Naruto's fingers could go up somewhere they didn't belong in, Kakashi jumped away as fast as he could, saving himself from a very unwanted, very painful prostate exam. "Darn it, I thought I had him for sure this time," Naruto said. He hadn't forgotten the agony and the humiliation he experienced during Team 7's first bell test, and he really wanted to get back at Kakashi for having the nerve to stick his fingers into his private parts.

'That was too close,' Kakashi thought while drops of cold sweat rolled down his temples. 'I nearly saw my life flash before my eyes,'

Shujinko couldn't help but slap his own forehead. Of course Naruto would to try to pull one of his shenanigans in the middle of a battle. It would've been such a silly way of winning that it sort of made Shujinko glad that it didn't work out, if only for Kakashi's sake. 'No more goofing around. It's time to call in the big guns,' the Ozuma thought before raising his voice. "Naruto, clear off! Sakura, do your thing now!"

"Huh?" Kakashi watched as one of Naruto's clones jumped high into the air while the original Naruto fled the scene. Then, as the shadow clone began its descent, it released a cloud of smoke and revealed itself to be Sakura, who had used the Henge no Jutsu in order to blend in with the rest of the clones without Kakashi being able to notice it.

"SHANAROOOOO!"

BAAAAAAAAAAAM

Her fist obliterated the terrain the moment it made contact. Like a small meteorite falling from the sky, Sakura's punch destroyed large chunks of earth, deforming the layout of the battlefield to an extensive degree. Even the trees surrounding Sakura had fallen, and of course, the rest of Naruto's shadow clones had been annihilated. Kakashi himself was thrown away by the raw strength displayed by Sakura, which seemed to rival that of her master, the Godaime Hokage.

'Wh… What… What the hell...' Naruto, who was hanging from a tree branch after being told to get out of Sakura's way, was in complete shock. During the time in which they discussed their plan together, Shujinko had mentioned to him the physical prowess Sakura had acquired over the years due to her medical training, but witnessing it was something completely different. The thought of getting hit by one of those fists almost made Naruto soil his underwear. 'I really, really need to stop acting like an idiot in front of Sakura-chan. If I don't, she's gonna kill me for sure,'

Even Shujinko, who had seen Sakura's progress while she was learning from Tsunade, was still impressed. Thanks to her amazing chakra control, which only got better and better over the years, Sakura had learned how to focus her chakra in one specific point and release it all at once, causing untold damage to whatever or whoever received her punch. She was indeed a one-hit juggernaut, as well as an excellent medical ninja. It was amusing to compare her to her previous-self, given how abysmal the difference in strength and usefulness was.

Taking advantage of how dumbstruck his sensei was, Shujinko lowered his knees and performed the Shunshin no Jutsu, appearing right in front of Kakashi and delivering a left hook, smacking him hard across the face. The sound of his fist hitting Kakashi's face was heard loud and clear.

"Way to go, Shujinko! You got him!" Naruto cheered.

POOF

Nothing could be further from the truth. Kakashi's body became a log of wood that was sent flying back until it crashed against a tree.

"Kawarimi no Jutsu. I should've known he was about to use it," Shujinko said as he stared as his reddened knuckles. He then deactivated his Kekkei Genkai and gestured his teammates to gather up, which they soon did. "Kakashi-sensei is no longer here. He's escaping right now, most likely to rethink his strategy,"

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go get him now before he goes too far away!" Naruto shouted, impatient as ever. "The whole idea behind our plan is to press Kakashi-sensei and wear him out, so why are we giving him time to escape?"

While Naruto had a valid point, he failed to see the bigger picture. Pressing Kakashi and wearing him out was indeed the plan, but the way they went about it had to change since the first encounter against their sensei had already taken place. "Look at it this way, Naruto. Kakashi-sensei just saw some of our abilities which he was previously unaware of and he will react accordingly, meaning that we can't attempt the same tricks again. Since we're lucky to have time, we should use it wisely and come up with another tactic instead of repeating this one over and over again,"

Sakura nodded in agreement. "In that case, maybe the three of us should attack him all at once the next time we see him. If we take turns like we just did, he'll realize what we're trying to do and be ready for it,"

The Ozuma frowned. The three of them attacking Kakashi together could make it harder for the silver-haired Jounin to predict their moves, but it also made their teamwork less coordinated as they would be acting more independently. It's not like they could communicate with each other through telepathy or something. "Well, I suppose it's worth a shot, but we need to establish a few things before we act. Follow me, I have a few ideas we could try out,"


'Those three have certainly come a long way. They barely seem to be the Genins I used to teach,' Kakashi thought, looking over his shoulder as he hopped from one tree branch to another. Despite the briefness of the first assault, Kakashi was impressed by his old students, all of them. They weren't messing around and they had displayed good teamwork so far, even if the bells tied to his waist were still intact. 'I'm glad I spent these last three years working on my Sharingan and the lingering effects it has on my body, because I might have to use it at all times until this challenge is over,'

Naruto was showing growth. Though he was still as eager as ever, he seemed more focused now, calmer even. He waited until it was his time to act, and when he had to act, he didn't do so like a fool who could afford to spend tons of chakra. His skills with the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu had improved as well, although said improvement had more to do with how he used his shadow clones rather than how many of them he was able to dish out. And of course, Naruto had the Rasengan in his arsenal, a very powerful technique that only he, Jiraiya, and Kakashi himself knew how to perform. That blonde knucklehead was demonstrating a lot of potential.

Sakura's advancement was even scarier. Who would've thought that little bookworm who kept fawning over Sasuke would eventually become strong enough to resemble a second Tsunade? The Godaime Hokage had deliberately kept him in the dark regarding Sakura's training, only throwing bits of information here and there. Now he could see why she had done it, so that the pinkette would take him by surprise once the challenge had been issued. Well, Kakashi was surprised alright, and we would have to keep an eye on those fists of her from now on.

As for Shujinko…

|Flashback, Training grounds|

THUD

Shujinko fell on his back, sweating and gasping for breath. His skin and his clothes were covered in dirt and sporting several scratches after countless spars against Kakashi, who unlike his student, seemed to be in perfect shape. Six months had passed since Kakashi became Shujinko's personal sensei, and his rigorous training methods were putting the boy through the grinder.

"Well, seeing how we've been going at it for hours, I think you've earned yourself a little break," Kakashi commented as he pulled out his erotic novel. "I doubt your body can handle much more. If you keep pushing it, you might end up unconscious and I'll have to carry you back to your house like the last time,"

Shujinko could only cough in response. His lungs and his throat were on fire. All of his efforts were focused on taking in as much oxygen as he could. 'The boy has reached his limit,' Kakashi thought. Since the first days the two of them started training together, Shujinko began to realize just how much of a slave-driver in disguise his sensei could be, and like a masochist, he refused to ask Kakashi to take it down a notch. However, there was only so much punishment his body could take, and if he wasn't careful, Shujinko could end up wounding himself or draining almost all of his chakra.

"Here, let me help you," the Hatake said as he knelt next to Shujinko and placed a hand over the back of his head, slightly lifting him up. But as he did so, Kakashi noticed something.

There was a cut on his forearm.

It was little more than a thin line of red, a tiny scratch that had no blood coming out of it. To call it an injury would be an exaggeration as only a small child would cry over it. Kakashi hadn't even felt it up until now and could've spent the rest of the day without realizing it was there.

But it was there, and it had been Shujinko's doing. Kakashi furrowed his brow.

Then, Shujinko rolled over and stood on his hands and knees, sweat dripping off his face. "… Not yet… I can… still go on, Kakashi-sensei… One more time… Just one more time…" And slowly but surely, the Chunin rose to his feet. He was gasping for breath and his facial skin was red, but his golden eyes were shining with the untamable desire to keep improving and to keep moving forward. "I can't afford to get tired… I can't afford to rest… We only have two and a half years and we have to make the most out of it… So let's keep practicing…"

The Ozuma stood in a sloppy fighting stance, looking like he was about to drop at any moment. After spending so much chakra throughout the day, the only thing Shujinko could do right now was to engage in Taijutsu combat, but in his current exhausted state, there was no way in hell he could ever hope to win against Kakashi. His sensei could quite literally beat him with both his hands tied behind his back if he wanted to. Kakashi was well aware of this, but even so, he couldn't help but smirk. Seeing his student so motivated and driven reminded Kakashi of Shujinko's goal to surpass him. In a way, he felt happy about it.

In the shinobi world, there was no greater glory for a sensei to be surpassed by his students, for it meant that his students had been well taught. The relationship between a sensei and a student was a bond that linked the lives of many ninjas throughout history, for every sensei had been a student of another shinobi at one point, and once that student became a sensei and had a student of his or her own, that new student would become part of said bond and the cycle would repeat itself.

That way, individuals such as the Shodaime Hokage and the Nidaime Hokage were connected with Shujinko through the link of mentorship. Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama had taught Sarutobi Hiruzen, who went on to teach Jiraiya, who went on to teach Namikaze Minato, who went on to teach Hatake Kakashi, who was now currently teaching Ozuma Shujinko. In a world where ninjas were taught to lie, deceit, and manipulate people when they had to or whenever it suited them, such a bond was one of the few things that remained truthful and genuine.

Which was why the Copy Ninja couldn't bring himself to deny his student's request and stretched his back before adopting a fighting stance of his own. "Very well, then. Let's try this one more time,"

|End of flashback|

'… Yup, I think I did a decent job at training him,' Kakashi told himself. Despite his aloofness and his general lack of interest in many things, he had to admit that supervising Shujinko's training all these years had been a rewarding experience, if only a little.

Taking care of the golden-eyed boy's training had been, first and foremost, a task assigned to him by the Hokage, a pseudo-mission of sorts, and so Kakashi would've done it even if he wouldn't have wanted to. However, as he watched Shujinko succeed in his endeavors, it made him feel happy to know that he had had a hand in it, for he was not just helping a comrade to improve, he was helping his student forge his own path and reach his own goals. And like the seeds of a bonsai tree that had been carefully looked after, the Ozuma grew strong, and Kakashi was sure he would continue to do so over time.

A couple of hours had passed since the beginning of the challenge and the sunlight was starting to fade away. This suited Kakashi nicely, as it was his turn to make a move.


Aaaaaaand that was chapter 2. Hope you all liked it.

Sorry for the late update. I struggled with this chapter quite a bit. I originally wanted the bell test to start and end in one chapter, but I think I've kept you guys waiting long enough. Plus, I have to focus on my studies right now, so I might have to take a break for the time being.

Also, do you guys like how Shujinko has incorporated the Shunshin no Jutsu into his fighting style? In my opinion, it's a jutsu that should've been far more used in the series, and the mechanics behind the jutsu were never that heavily explained, so I had to do a little bit of research. Basically, Shujinko uses the Shunshin no Jutsu a lot better than most ninjas do, but definitely not to the point where he's like Shisui, whose skills with the technique were legendary. If you want a more graphic example, the best I can come up with is how Sasuke tried to cut Tobi in half using the Shunshin no Jutsu seconds before his fight against Deidara started. I'll make sure to add more details as the story progresses.

I know there weren't enough fighting scenes here, but I'm afraid that's all I can give you for the moment. I promise I'll do my best to upload the next chapter as quickly as I can, with more fight scenes and more strategies. This chapter served as an introduction to Team 7's abilities after three years, so the next upload will have fewer explanations and more action.

One more thing: FanFiction doesn't allow me to reply to the reviews posted by "guests", which I assume are the readers who aren't following this story or haven't favorited it yet. If you're a guest and want me to reply to something, send a PM or drop a review after following this story. I'll be happy to talk to you guys.

Don't forget to Review, Favorite & Follow

Ja ne!