Naruto, born from the world of his parents.

But this surprise was only momentary; children's moods are always unpredictable, and Kakashi had no interest in delving into it further.

He looked up at the sky and exclaimed, "What a beautiful day!"

"Don't change the subject, you king of lateness!"

Sakura roared instinctively, then suddenly felt something was wrong.

She looked at Naruto beside her and suddenly realized, "That's right, it's usually Naruto who does these stupid things."

Thinking about this, Sakura realized even more clearly that Naruto was different today.

"What happened?"

Sakura thought to herself that for the first time in her life, she began to care about this boy whom she usually avoided.

Naruto, who was being watched, was completely oblivious to Sakura's unusual behavior; all his attention was now focused on Kakashi.

"As expected, Kakashi-sensei has changed too. He just glanced at me, but didn't make any move. Is he pretending not to recognize me?"

Thinking about this, Naruto's doubts grew stronger.

"What's going on with this world?"

Whether it's genjutsu or another world, being ignored by his cherished comrades and seniors, even Naruto, who grew into the strongest rookie in Konoha's history under Minato's tutelage, felt waves of frustration.

But he concealed all his frustrations exceptionally well, without revealing them at all.

Kakashi rested his head on his hands, seemingly ignoring Sakura's question, and continued, "This kind of weather is perfect for exams."

"take an exam?"

Sasuke, who had been silent all along, unusually spoke up and asked a question.

"Yes, exams. You don't actually think that the childish exams at the Ninja Academy are the final hurdle to becoming a ninja, do you?"

Kakashi glanced at the three of them and said leisurely.

"Alright, enough talk, now I'll announce the exam rules..."

"Wait, wait, Kakashi-sensei, I have something else to ask you!"

Kakashi glanced at Sakura Haruno, who had interrupted him, and asked, "What's wrong?"

Sakura took a deep breath and asked, her voice trembling slightly, "You just said that the graduation exam isn't the final hurdle to becoming a ninja, does that mean the current exam is?"

"You are very smart."

Kakashi nodded, his voice suddenly turning incredibly cold.

"Being a ninja is not a child's game; it is a profession that involves walking the line between life and death. Therefore, only the most outstanding and excellent people can become ninjas."

"And this exam is to select the people from among you who truly meet the standards."

After saying that, he took out an alarm clock.

"Alright, enough with the nonsense. This alarm clock is set for twelve o'clock. You need to take the bell off me before twelve o'clock."

After saying that, Kakashi took out two bells, hung them in mid-air, and shook them.

"As I just said, anyone who fails to grab the bell before midnight will be eliminated."

"Clearance out?"

"Failure to pass the exam proves that you are not qualified to become ninjas. You can either go back to the ninja academy to continue your studies, or just be a normal person."

After saying that, Kakashi hung the bells on his waist, his eyes turning icy cold: "As your teacher, I feel it's necessary to remind you that you won't get these bells unless you're determined to kill me, so you can use your shuriken."

"Now, I'll say 'Ready, ready,'"

Kakashi had barely finished speaking when he felt a sudden jolt behind him. He jumped up and looked at Naruto, who had appeared under the tree at some unknown time, with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

"Really, I haven't even said that yet..."

No sooner had he finished speaking than he felt another gust of wind behind his head.

This time he didn't dodge. He grabbed the wrist that was about to touch him with one hand, and his expression became serious for the first time.

At the same time, "Naruto" beside Sasuke and the Naruto who ambushed him on the ground both turned into wisps of smoke and vanished.

Kakashi looked at the scene under the tree and couldn't help but exclaim, "Shadow Clone Jutsu? When did that happen?"

Naruto, whose hand was being held, smiled and said, "While you were explaining to Sakura..."

Upon hearing Naruto's answer, Kakashi paused for a moment, and was about to say something when he heard Naruto speak.

"Kakashi-sensei, I got it!"

Kakashi touched his waist, his pupils suddenly contracting.

He was indeed missing a bell from his waist.

Just as he was surprised, a leaf beside him emitted a wisp of smoke, and another Naruto emerged, holding a string of bells in his hand.

After handing the bell to Naruto, who was being controlled by Kakashi, Naruto also turned into a wisp of smoke.

Seeing this, Kakashi realized what was happening.

"Shadow Clone Technique and Transformation Jutsu? You really are surprising, Naruto Uzumaki."

"It was just a fluke. If you were to take it seriously, you would see through my plan at a glance."

"A win is a win. Okay, you've passed."

Naruto bowed slightly to Kakashi before jumping down from the tree.

It wasn't until then that Sakura snapped out of her shock. She stared wide-eyed at Naruto beside her: "Hey, you! How did you do that???"

Naruto smiled slightly and explained, "It was just a trivial technique. While Kakashi was explaining the exam to you, I used the Shadow Clone Technique to stay by your side. Then, I used the Transformation Technique to transform into a leaf and came behind Kakashi, creating another clone. Meanwhile, my main body went to the tree that Kakashi was most likely to jump to after being suddenly attacked, creating another clone. I used the Transformation Technique to disguise myself as a leaf, distracting Kakashi with my main body, and then used the leaf clone to steal the bell."

Hearing Naruto's words, Sakura's eyes widened in surprise. She never expected that this loser would have such a meticulous mind, but her expression remained disdainful.

"What? It's just a clone technique and a transformation technique. If Kakashi-sensei hadn't been careless, you would have been exposed long ago."

Naruto nodded in agreement: "Indeed, it was just good luck."

"Sasuke is still stronger, isn't he, Sasuke?"

Sakura's attempts to please her only earned her a rebuke.

"Shut up, you foolish woman! If you can remove the bell, you can insert a kunai. If this guy wanted to, he could have killed Kakashi-sensei just now!"

Sakura was stunned by Sasuke's angry rebuke and looked at Kakashi in disbelief.

Kakashi, somewhat embarrassed, rubbed his nose and said, "I hate to admit it, but it's true what this brat said. That's why I told you to approach the test with the determination to kill me."

After saying that, he looked at Naruto and said, "Alright, you can go and rest now."

"Please excuse me, Kakashi-sensei."

"Um?"

Kakashi caught the bell that Naruto threw to him and looked at Naruto with great confusion.

"They are my partners, and I cannot abandon them to go on alone. Consider what just happened as a warning to you."

Kakashi paused for a moment, then asked, "A warning?"

"Don't underestimate us."

After saying that, Naruto disappeared from the spot, and the next moment, the sound of metal clashing suddenly rang out.

Kakashi held up a kunai, looking at Naruto behind him, his lips under the mask curving into an incredibly upturned smile.

He grabbed Sasuke, who was attacking him, with his left hand, and looked at the two of them with an extremely serious expression.

"I have to admit, I'm starting to like you guys."

"I got it!"