"Do you know? That Sasuke, don't look at him being so cold usually..." Naruto said mysteriously, "Actually, Sasuke, he... he..."
"Yeah, yeah." Sakura became more and more curious. She was extremely eager to know more about Sasuke, so she gradually moved closer to Naruto, wanting to hear what Naruto had to say in detail.
"Actually, Sasuke..." Naruto said with a sly smile, "He's really starved for love and attention. He works hard on his Ninjutsu training just to catch your attention, Sakura. Sasuke really hopes to fight with you and go on missions with you."
Although Naruto said so, he was thinking to himself: Right now, except for that man, no one can get into Sasuke's heart. You're still a long way from winning Sasuke's heart, Sakura. But I'll keep trying to bring the two of you together.
Sakura's face darkened at this moment.
"Huh?" Naruto noticed something was wrong and asked, "Sakura, what's wrong with you?"
"Naruto! Are you trying to fool me again?" Sakura swung a punch forcefully. Naruto quickly dodged, and Sakura's punch missed. At this moment, Sakura felt something strange.
Naruto actually dodged my punch. I've always been able to land my punches on Naruto before. Why did he dodge this time?
Sakura felt as if she had lost something. This Naruto, who could dodge her punches, seemed different from the annoying Naruto she was used to.
"I'm not kidding you, Sakura," Naruto said in a glib tone. "Yesterday, didn't Sasuke come to you? The first thing he asked you was where I was. You hugged Sasuke then, and he felt the long - lost love. All this was told to me by Sasuke."
"What!" Now Sakura had to believe it. Although it seemed a bit absurd, thinking it over carefully, it didn't seem impossible. It seemed plausible that Sasuke liked her.
In fact, these were just Sakura's wishful fantasies fueled by her love - struck mind. She was just fooling herself, but this feeling was very sweet. Sakura was now immersed in joy.
"Oops," Naruto knew he had deceived Sakura and quickly said, "Sasuke is in danger. He's at a disadvantage in the fight against Kakashi. Let's go and help Sasuke. We're a team of three."
"Okay," Sakura responded readily, looking very obedient, as if she was willing to follow Naruto's words.
At this moment, Sasuke was indeed at a disadvantage, but he wasn't in danger. Sasuke was filled with unwillingness. He had long sworn to kill that man. The driving force of his life was to kill that man with his own hands.
That man hadn't been killed yet. How could he stay here for too long? Sasuke wanted to become stronger, move forward, and stand in front of that man to end his life with his own hands.
"I'm going to defeat Kakashi," Sasuke said with full conviction. "I'm going to get the Bell. I'm going to become a Ninja!"
"Fire Release! Great Fireball Jutsu!" Sasuke quickly formed the Hand Seals, took a deep breath, put his right hand to his mouth, and exhaled forcefully. A huge flame shot out of Sasuke's mouth and rushed towards Kakashi.
Kakashi was shocked. He never thought a newbie straight out of the Ninja Academy could master an offensive Ninjutsu of this level.
Sasuke spat out a flame that rapidly expanded and eventually formed a huge fireball three meters in diameter, burning the ground where Kakashi was standing to a charred mess.
As the flame contracted, the fireball dissipated as well. A deep pit appeared in the ground where the Great Fireball Jutsu had burned, and thick smoke billowed straight up.
"He's gone!" Sasuke was greatly surprised. Due to his lack of combat experience, he was totally flustered for a moment.
"Where's Kakashi! Did he hide behind me? No!" Sasuke looked around, first to the left and then to the right. Finally, he thought of a possibility and quickly looked up at the sky and said, "Did he hide above?"
"Wrong, it's below!" Kakashi's voice came from the ground. Sasuke immediately felt something was wrong, but it was already too late to react.
The ground broke open, and a hand reached out. The hand that emerged from the ground grabbed Sasuke's ankle and pulled him into the soil. At this time, most of Sasuke's body was buried in the ground, with only his head still exposed.
Kakashi emerged from the ground and looked at Sasuke coldly. His expression seemed to say: Kid, you're at least a decade too early to beat me.
Kakashi squatted down and sighed, "Alas—with your current level, you'd better go back to the Ninja Academy. Stop trying to be a Ninja."
Just then, there was a sudden whistling sound through the air. Kakashi quickly dodged. Several Shuriken appeared where he had just squatted.
"Who is it?" Kakashi looked in the direction from which the Shuriken had come. Naruto was standing proudly on a tree branch, wearing a smug look on his face.
"Another good - for - nothing." Kakashi flashed and appeared behind Naruto. He grabbed Naruto's collar with one hand and wanted to throw him out. Suddenly, white smoke billowed from Naruto's body, and he disappeared into thin air.
"The Kage Clone Jutsu!" Kakashi didn't expect to have been deceived, but he was actually quite pleased.
"Sasuke, I'm here to save you!" Sakura rushed out and ran towards Sasuke.
"Don't even think about it." Kakashi also rushed over to stop Sakura. Suddenly, several dark shadows appeared in the air, forcing Kakashi to stop in his tracks. He looked up at the sky and saw more than a dozen Narutos jumping down from the air.
"Ahh...ah...ahhh..." The dozen or so Narutos shouted and attacked Kakashi together.
Kakashi didn't fight back. He let Naruto's clones entangle him. The other dozen or so Naruto clones swarmed up and tried to gang up on Kakashi.
Oh, my!
Naruto's clones made the scene incredibly chaotic, and Kakashi disappeared without a trace, as if he had vanished into thin air.
"Sasuke! Sakura!" Naruto dispelled the Kage Clone Jutsu and shouted at the same time, "Kakashi is hiding nearby. Only if we three join forces can we deal with him."
Because Naruto held Kakashi back, Sakura successfully rescued Sasuke. Kakashi, who was hiding nearby, was greatly shocked. He didn't expect Sakura to team up with Naruto to rescue Sasuke.
Kakashi was hiding in the shadows, watching Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura back to back, forming a triangular defensive formation. He couldn't help but say excitedly, "They are born ninjas!"
Sasuke said, "Why did you come back to save me?"
"Don't talk silly," Naruto said. "We're Team Seven. The three of us stand together through thick and thin because we're comrades." Naruto showed a beaming smile at this moment, but in his heart, he was thinking, "Do you think I want to come back to save you? If I don't do this, how can I pass this assessment..."
Sakura was secretly looking at Sasuke at this time, thinking in her heart, "Sasuke... How handsome he is..."
"Even if the three of you work together, you won't be able to get the bells. You're doomed not to become ninjas," Kakashi walked out openly and walked straight towards the three of them.
Sasuke and Sakura looked as if they were facing a great enemy, looking extremely nervous.
Naruto shouted, "The three of us, united as one, can achieve anything!"
Kakashi said viciously, "Give up! It's impossible to succeed!"
Naruto shouted even louder, "Sasuke! Sakura! Tell him! The three of us are of one heart and will never give up!"
Sasuke shouted, "We three will fight side by side."
Sakura showed a smile and nodded.
"Congratulations! You've passed the test!" Kakashi changed his expression and showed a look of great joy. In his heart, he was thinking, "How many years has it been? After all these years, I've finally met such outstanding Genin..."