Starts In Konoha: Unlocking Shadow Clone

"Naruto, what is this..." Sasuke glanced at the small pool of water on the ground and immediately became alert.

"This is what I mean by 'perfect timing', Sasuke." Naruto chuckled, draping an arm over Sasuke's shoulder as they continued walking.

"But shouldn't we do something about it?" Sasuke frowned.

Naruto shook his head, "Why bother? We accepted a C-Rank mission, so our job is just to escort and guard against bandits. As for hostile Shinobi, that is a commission above B-Rank."

"So, how did you figure all this out?" Sasuke still seemed a bit puzzled.

"When that old man hired us, he repeatedly emphasized how badly he needed protection and even doubted our abilities. If nobody was out to get him, would he have really come all this way to hire us?"

Naruto smirked, with a hint of mischief in his eyes, "As the saying goes, you get what you pay for. If it's outside the mission's scope, it's none of our concern. Since he said we're not capable, we'll just let him think we're not."

"As expected of you!" Sasuke gave him a thumbs-up, grinning as he joined in the mischief.

Hearing Naruto and Sasuke's whispers, Kakashi couldn't help but cast them a curious glance.

Naruto held a finger to his lips in a 'shush' gesture, and Kakashi sighed, giving an 'OK' sign in response.

Meanwhile, Sakura and Tazuna remained oblivious, marching ahead with no idea what was about to unfold.

Then, the moment everyone walked past the puddle, the water surface began to ripple, and a black-haired man wearing a Kirigakure's forehead protector surfaced, scanning the surroundings for danger before fully emerging.

Another Kirigakure's Shinobi, who looked strikingly similar, appeared right behind him.

At the next moment, one of them whipped out an iron chain and leaped toward Kakashi. The second Kirigakure's Shinobi launched his own long chain to support the attack.

Their movements were swift and coordinated. And before anyone could react, Kakashi was completely entangled by the chains.

"One down!"

The two Kirigakure's Shinobi growled in unison and pulled the chains with great force at the same time.

The barbed chains acted like meat grinders, mercilessly shredding Kakashi to pieces.

Dust filled the air, and all that was visible through the haze were chunks falling to the ground.

It didn't take much imagination to conclude that Kakashi had been completely torn apart.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura screamed, her face full of fear.

But she didn't notice that Naruto, who was standing at the back of the group, was whispering, "Sasuke, Kakashi's finished his part. You're up next. Don't mess this up, got it?"

Sasuke nodded solemnly.

In the next instant, two Kirigakure's Shinobi appeared right in front of Naruto, binding him tightly with the chains.

"Two down!"

A cloud of dust rose again, and bits of debris seemed to fall to the ground.

Of course, Naruto wasn't actually dead.

Just like Kakashi, he had used the Body Replacement Technique to escape at the last moment, leaving behind broken wooden log as a decoy.

At this moment, Naruto was already hiding behind a tree, with Kakashi standing right next to him.

"Naruto, why are you here too?" Kakashi asked in confusion.

Before he could get an answer, there was another person beside him. It was Sasuke who had finished his performance.

"Yeah, why did you call all of us over here? We're messing with that old guy, but what about Sakura?" Sasuke asked, equally puzzled.

Naruto explained, "If Sakura always sticks with us, she'll never grow. She has to experience danger firsthand, only then will she truly mature. Don't worry. If things start looking bad, we can jump in at any time."

"Good point. Just two Kirigakure's Chunin… I could handle them on my own." Sasuke nodded thoughtfully.

After the three of them finished their discussion, they focused their gazes on Sakura.

Now, the only ones left on the scene were Sakura, Tazuna, and the two Kirigakure's Shinobi.

Tazuna's pupils shrank in terror, and all traces of drunkenness had vanished from his face.

Seeing Tazuna's pale, terrified expression, Naruto and Sasuke couldn't help but chuckle quietly.

But soon, Naruto and Sasuke couldn't laugh anymore.

To their surprise, Sakura showed no fear, instead, her expression darkened.

"Hell Viewing Technique… again with this Hell Viewing Technique. Naruto, can you stop with these boring pranks already? It's not funny!"

Sakura growled, pulling out a shuriken and charged at the two Kirigakure's Shinobi.

"Kid, you're the fourth one!" The two Kirigakure's Shinobi sneered and threw their chains again to tie up Sakura.

Ding! Ding!

Sakura took out two four-pointed shuriken from her ninja pouch and threw them directly along the chains' path.

The impact forced both chains to shift direction. Spotting the point where the chains crossed, Sakura threw another shuriken, piercing both chains and nailing them to a nearby tree.

The two Kirigakure's Shinobi, entangled by the chains, crashed into each other with a loud crash.

At the next moment, Sakura leaped over and stepped on the two chains, grabbing the masks of the two Kirigakure's Shinobi with her left and right hands.

"Kakashi-sensei, you don't need to play along with Naruto's antics anymore!"

Swish!

The masks were taken off, revealing two extremely grim and terrifying faces.

"Huh? Why aren't they Kakashi-sensei and Naruto?" Sakura was stunned.

Seeing this, Naruto and Sasuke exchanged bewildered glances. They had never expected that Sakura's train of thought was so strange that she actually thought it was an illusion caused by the Hell Viewing Technique.

Not only that, Sakura's skills had advanced so much over the past week. She had actually pinned the chains on their hiding tree with her shuriken and nearly hit them in the process.

It seemed Sakura had grown up, too… they'd just improved so rapidly that she didn't look like she had progress at all.

But now is not the time to think about these things. Naruto suddenly appeared behind the two Kirigakure's Shinobi using the Flying Thunder God Technique. Before the two Kirigakure's Shinobi could attack Sakura, he knocked them out directly.

"What's going on?" Sakura was still confused.

Naruto explained, "This time it's not my Hell Viewing Technique. These two are genuine Kirigakure's Shinobi. I didn't expect your strength to grow so fast. I'm impressed."

However, the explanation only made things worse. Sakura's eyes filled with horror as she processed the situation, "So… you mean Sasuke was really killed by these Kirigakure's Shinobi? No, that's impossible… Sasuke can't be dead!"

Unable to handle the shock, Sakura's eyes rolled back, and she fainted.

"Uh…this is…" Naruto was speechless.

"Looks like you went too far this time, Naruto." Sasuke said, walking out from behind the tree with a smirk, "If you don't clear this up with her properly, Sakura's never going to forgive you.

"Hey, this wasn't all on me. You both played along with the act. Isn't that right, Kakashi-sensei? As the Jonin Instructor, I think you should take on this heavy responsibility."

Naruto said, giving Kakashi an earnest look.

Kakashi coughed lightly and replied, " You're giving me too much credit. I dare not call myself your teacher. To me, you've always been my most gifted junior. So, you should handle this matter yourself."

Sasuke nodded and agreed: "Naruto, didn't you say once that a true man owns up to his actions? No dodging this one, hahaha!"

Watching the two of them brush off responsibility like it was second nature, Naruto felt like he could die of frustration.

'I'd spent my whole life outsmarting others, only to stumble here...'