#16 - Chapter 16: Naruto's Weaknesses in the Battle against Kakashi

“Aren't you going to hide? Concealing your presence is a ninja's essential skill,” Kakashi said, looking at Naruto.

“Without strength, even the best hiding is just a cat-and-mouse game,” Naruto said indifferently.

“Hmm…”

Kakashi pondered for a moment, then said, “You're right.”

He agreed!!!

Sakura and Sasuke, hidden in the shadows, were shocked.

They didn't understand why Kakashi would agree with Naruto. Was everything they learned at the Ninja Academy wrong?

Or did Kakashi think Naruto was stronger than them?

But how could that be? Naruto was just a dead last!

Seeing the seriousness in Kakashi's eyes, Naruto guessed that he must have some understanding of his strength.

Otherwise, he would never have agreed with him.

But would knowing be enough to defend against it?

“Aren't you going to pull up your headband? If you don't go all out now, you won't have another chance later.”

Naruto also wanted to see the strength of Sharingan Kakashi.

However, Kakashi didn't seem to have any intention of using the Sharingan here.

“Oh, it seems you know something about me.”

Kakashi scratched his head, looking a bit troubled. “But this is just an exercise. It wouldn't be good to use that.”

“Not good?”

“Yeah, I'm afraid I won't be able to resist killing you!”

Kakashi's tone suddenly became serious, and the aura of a Jonin made Sasuke and Sakura, who were hiding in the shadows, feel nervous.

But Naruto didn't have any emotional fluctuations.

“Is that a cold joke?”

Naruto said calmly, then slightly raised his leg.

“Kakashi, have you ever been hit by a light-speed kick?”

A golden light flashed, and Kakashi didn't even have time to react before Naruto kicked him!

However, Naruto felt that his leg didn't hit flesh.

He looked closely and found that the Kakashi he had kicked had turned into a log!

“Did he use the Body Replacement Technique in advance?”

Naruto didn't think Kakashi could use the Body Replacement Technique to dodge the moment he attacked.

But Kakashi still dodged, which could only mean that Kakashi had predicted Naruto's movements in advance and reacted!

“Quick reaction, huh?”

Naruto glanced at the log he had kicked apart and said indifferently, “But you can dodge once, can you dodge a second time?”

Kakashi couldn't always predict the timing of Naruto's attacks.

And the Body Replacement Technique wasn't a panacea!

At this moment, Kakashi, standing on a tree not far from Naruto, was looking at Naruto with a solemn expression.

What Naruto said just now was right.

If he hadn't peeked at Naruto's abilities in the morning and prepared in advance, that kick just now could have seriously injured him!

And if he fought Naruto head-on again, it would be difficult for him to dodge such a fast attack a second time!

Relying on combat experience and information gaps to predict attacks couldn't always succeed!

Especially when facing attacks of this speed!

“Hmm… this is troublesome. Fortunately, Naruto lacks information gathering skills and combat experience, otherwise, I wouldn't have a chance of winning at all.”

“But even so, it's still embarrassing to be forced into this situation by a Genin~”

While Kakashi was struggling with how to deal with Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura had already been shocked a second time by Naruto's strength!

They couldn't believe that the dead last Naruto actually had such speed.

And what was that strange ninjutsu that emitted golden light?

Was this really Naruto?

“Kakashi, are you planning to keep hiding?”

Naruto's reconnaissance skills and combat experience were indeed insufficient. If Kakashi was determined to hide, it would be difficult for him to find him.

Of course, it wasn't like he had no way.

If he used the Yasaka Magatama to sweep the area, even if Kakashi was hiding underground, Naruto could find him.

But… he couldn't use this move.

The power of the Yasaka Magatama was too great after all. He was afraid that he would accidentally kill Kakashi and the others.

If the exercise turned into a funeral, that would be interesting.

“Reconnaissance ability is also a ninja's basic skill, isn't it?”

Kakashi's voice suddenly came from the riverside.

Naruto turned his head and saw Kakashi standing on the surface of the river.

“Trying to use water to restrict me? But unfortunately, that won't work.”

Saying that Naruto stretched out a finger towards Kakashi.

A laser beam shot out instantly!

Kakashi didn't even have time to react before the hem of his clothes was pierced.

Looking at the hole in the hem of his clothes, Kakashi's expression was solemn.

“It seems I still underestimated you, Naruto.”

After Kakashi said that, he turned into smoke and disappeared.

Obviously, this was just his shadow clone, specially used to test the shortcomings of Naruto's abilities!

“Tch!”

Naruto didn't like hide-and-seek games. If only he could master Observation Haki.

‘Xiao Ai, when will you release the task for max-level Observation Haki?’

【Ding!】

【Please complete the current task first, Master~】

“……”

Asking was useless.

But Xiao Ai's words reminded Naruto that the real goal of this mission was not to defeat Kakashi, nor to snatch the bells, but teamwork!

He walked towards the forest and shouted inside: “Sakura, Sasuke, come out. Do you really want to play hide-and-seek with Kakashi and be defeated one by one?”

A few birds flew over in the forest, but no one came out.

Judging from this situation, Sakura and Sasuke had either been quietly dealt with by Kakashi or were being foolishly clever.

Having no choice, he could only continue to go deeper into the forest to find Kakashi or the two of Sasuke.

Then, not long after entering the forest, a bloody figure suddenly appeared in front of him.

“Naruto… save… save me~”

“Sakura?”

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

Although he was happy to see Sakura in such a miserable state, he knew that this definitely couldn't be the real Sakura.

There was no way Kakashi would beat Sakura so badly!

The person in front of him was either Kakashi or Kakashi's illusion!

And Kakashi was a very cautious person. He wouldn't expose himself before confirming Naruto's weaknesses, so this most likely wasn't Kakashi's real body.

So… I'm caught in an illusion?

Naruto realized that he did have quite a few weaknesses right now.

Weak reconnaissance ability, lack of combat experience, can't swim, and illusions…

“Does it feel like Kakashi is here to find my weaknesses?”

Naruto muttered, shooting a beam of laser light in his hand, blasting around the fake Sakura.

Seeing Sakura standing still, unaffected by the explosion, Naruto confirmed that he was caught in an illusion.

It's just that he didn't have a good way to break the illusion, or rather, he didn't have a very professional way to break the illusion.

The principle of illusion is to interfere with other people's five senses and chakra flow to make others fall into hallucinations.

Those who are under the spell can disrupt their own chakra flow and self-harm to break the illusion.

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

He didn't even know how to control the chakra in his body.

So for a while, he didn't have any good ideas.