Naruto (SI) Starting With Glint Glint Fruit

"You're not going to hide? Concealing your presence is a basic ninja skill, you know," Kakashi said to Naruto.

"Hiding means nothing if you don't have the strength. It's just a cat-and-mouse game," Naruto replied calmly.

"Hm..."

Kakashi thought for a moment and said, "That's true."

He agreed!!!

In the shadows, Sakura and Sasuke's eyes widened in shock.

They didn't understand why Kakashi would agree with Naruto.

Did that mean everything they learned at the academy was wrong?

Or... did Kakashi think Naruto was stronger than them?

But that couldn't be. Naruto was always the bottom of the class!

Naruto noticed Kakashi's expression turn serious, which made him guess that Kakashi had probably learned something about his real strength.

Otherwise, there's no way he'd say something like that.

But just knowing about it doesn't mean you can deal with it.

"Aren't you going to pull up your headband? If you don't go all out now, you won't get another chance."

Naruto also wanted to see what Sharingan Kakashi was really capable of.

But it seemed Kakashi didn't plan to use his Sharingan here.

"Ah, so you know something about me, huh?"

Kakashi scratched his head like he had a headache. "But this is just a training drill. Using *that* wouldn't be very... nice."

"Not nice?"

"Yeah. I'm afraid I might end up killing you all."

Kakashi's voice suddenly turned serious, and his Jonin-level presence made both Sasuke and Sakura tense up from where they were hiding.

But Naruto didn't show much emotion.

"Was that supposed to be a joke?"

He said calmly, then lifted his leg slightly.

"Kakashi, have you ever been kicked at the speed of light?"

In a flash of golden light, Naruto's kick landed before Kakashi could even react!

But Naruto didn't feel like he hit a real person.

He looked closer and saw that what he kicked had turned into a wooden log.

"Used the Body Replacement Jutsu ahead of time?"

Naruto didn't think Kakashi could pull off a replacement in the split second it took him to strike.

So if Kakashi still managed to dodge, it meant he had already predicted Naruto's move and reacted in advance!

"Pretty fast reflexes, huh?"

Naruto looked at the destroyed log and said flatly, "But if you dodged once, can you dodge a second time?"

There's no way Kakashi could always guess when Naruto was going to attack.

And Body Replacement isn't a move you can use forever.

At that moment, Kakashi stood on a tree nearby, watching Naruto with a serious face.

Naruto was right.

If Kakashi hadn't secretly watched Naruto's abilities earlier that morning and gotten prepared, that kick might've seriously hurt him.

And if he kept fighting Naruto head-on, it would be nearly impossible to dodge that kind of speed again.

Using experience and guesswork to avoid attacks won't always work—

Especially against something that fast.

"Man... this is a problem. If Naruto had better tracking skills and more battle experience, I wouldn't stand a chance."

"Even now, it's still pretty embarrassing to be pushed this far by a Genin~"

While Kakashi was stressing about how to deal with Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were already shocked all over again by Naruto's strength.

They couldn't believe the so-called loser Naruto was actually this fast.

And what was that strange jutsu that glowed gold?

Was this really Naruto?

"Kakashi, are you planning to just hide forever?"

Naruto's tracking and sensing skills weren't great, so if Kakashi really wanted to hide, he'd be hard to find.

But that didn't mean Naruto had no options.

If he used the Yasakani no Magatama to scan the ground, even if Kakashi was hiding underground, Naruto could find him.

But... he couldn't use that move.

The Yasakani no Magatama was just too powerful. If he wasn't careful, he might end up killing Kakashi and the others.

If a training exercise turned into a funeral, that'd be real fun.

"Being able to track and scout is part of being a ninja too, right?"

Kakashi's voice suddenly came from by the river.

Naruto turned to look and saw Kakashi standing on the water.

"Trying to use water to slow me down? Too bad—it won't work."

Naruto pointed a finger at him.

A laser shot out instantly!

Before Kakashi could react, it burned a hole right through the edge of his clothes.

Seeing the hole, Kakashi's face turned serious.

"Looks like I really did underestimate you, Naruto."

Right after he spoke, his body disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Of course—it was just a shadow clone, meant to test Naruto and find any weak spots in his abilities!

"Tch!"

Naruto wasn't a fan of this hide-and-seek kind of fight. If only he had Observation Haki already.

'Ai-chan, when will you give me a mission to unlock max-level Observation Haki?'

[Ding!]

[Please complete your current task first, Master~]

"..."

No point in asking.

Still, AI-chan's words reminded Naruto that the real goal of this mission wasn't to beat Kakashi or grab the bells—it was teamwork.

He walked toward the forest and shouted, "Sakura, Sasuke, come out. Do you really want to keep playing hide-and-seek with Kakashi and get taken out one by one?"

A few birds flew out from the trees, but no one responded.

From the looks of it, either Kakashi had already taken them out quietly, or they were being overly clever and stupid.

With no other choice, he had to go deeper into the forest to look for Kakashi or the others.

Not long after he went in, a bloody figure suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Naruto... h-help me~"

"Sakura?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

Even though she looked like a total mess, Naruto wasn't happy. He knew right away this couldn't be the real Sakura.

There's no way Kakashi would beat her up that badly!

The person in front of him was either Kakashi himself or one of his illusions.

And knowing how cautious Kakashi was, there's no way he'd show himself without knowing Naruto's weak spots first. So this most likely wasn't the real Kakashi.

Which meant... I'm under a genjutsu?

Naruto realized he actually had quite a few weaknesses.

Poor scouting skills, little combat experience, can't swim, and now genjutsu...

"Feels like Kakashi's just here to find all my flaws," Naruto muttered, then shot a laser that exploded near the fake Sakura.

Watching the unmoving Sakura, completely unaffected by the explosion, Naruto was sure he had fallen into an illusion.

But he didn't know how to break it—or at least not in a proper way.

Genjutsu works by messing with a person's senses and chakra flow.

To break it, the usual ways are disrupting your own chakra or hurting yourself.

Naruto didn't want to hurt himself, and he didn't know how to mess with his own chakra.

He didn't even know how to control his chakra at all.

So, for the moment, he had no good solution.

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